Hello Again

Wow, it's been a long hiatus. I'm going to start reposting on this blog to go along with my weekly podcasting role on Two Nates on Sports. Hope to talk/write to you guys soon!

Two Nates on Sports: 3/4/2017 (Episode 16)

Super Bowl LI Preview: Patriots vs. Falcons

The big game in my hometown is tonight. Let's break it down.

QB: Tom Brady vs. Matt Ryan 

Brady is trying to win his record fifth Super Bowl and cement his status as the greatest of all-time. He came back from a 4 game suspension due to the Deflategate scandal and had an awesome regular season, throwing 28 TD, with just 2 INT, while leading the Patriots to the top seed in the AFC. In the playoffs, he bounced back from a rough performance against the top-ranked Texans defense, by carving up the Steelers in the AFC Championship game to the tune of 384 passing yards and 3 TD. The blueprint for the Falcons defense is to confuse Brady with coverages long enough for their pass rush to get to him. Meanwhile, Matt Ryan was named the NFL MVP last night, and for good reason. He led the Falcons to the top ranked scoring offense, throwing for 4944 passing yards and 38 TD, in a career rejuvenation under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan's tutelage. He has been lights out in the playoffs in shredding both the Seahawks and Packers defenses.

Edge: Even

RB: LeGarrett Blount/Dion Lewis vs. Devonta Freeman/Tevin Coleman

Blount was 8^th in the NFL in rushing during the regular season but has struggled to find room to run in the playoffs, as he's averaged only 3.3 yards per carry. New England's running game opens up their playbook and allows play action down the field. A key in this game will be whether Blount and Dion Lewis, who scored three touchdowns against the Texans in the divisional round, can have an impact against an Atlanta defense which has yet to allow a rushing touchdown this postseason, but has given up 100 yards per game. Meanwhile, the Falcons have one of the most dynamic running duos in the NFL, with Devonta Freeman, who finished 9th and Tevin Coleman, who finished 33rd in rushing in the regular season. Both are skilled enough to run in between the tackles and outside, while also being able to catch the ball out of the backfield. They will need to have an impact on this game for the Falcons to lift the Lombardi Trophy.
Edge: Falcons 

WR/TE: Julian Edelman/Chris Hogan/Martellus Bennett vs. Julio Jones/Mohamed Sanu/Taylor Gabriel

The Patriots lost their biggest receiving threat in Rob Gronkowski for the season with a back injury, but the Patriots have had no-names step up and fill the void, as has been the case for the past decade. Julian Edelman is the team's leading receiver (4th in the league with 98 receptions) and is a matchup nightmare in the slot position, because is so shifty and good at running routes. Chris Hogan has emerged in the playoffs as a downfield threat, with 275 receiving yards and 3 TDs. Martellus Bennett has filled in aptly for Gronkowski, although he is battling a nagging knee injury going into this game. 

Julio Jones showed the world how good he was in the NFC Championship Game as he had 9 catches for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns in decimating the Packers' secondary. His combination of size, speed, and leaping ability is why the Falcons gave all those draft picks to get him, and he has stayed healthy this year to be Ryan's #1 downfield threat. Sanu and Gabriel are solid route runners who are sure-handed second and third options, respectively.
Edge: Falcons 

Offensive Line:

The Patriots ranked 9^th in run blocking and 6th in pass blocking, according to Footballoutsiders.com. Meanwhile, the Falcons ranked 10^th in run blocking and 23^rd in pass blocking. I think the New England o-line against the Atlanta pass rush is the matchup that will decide this game. The Falcons have to get pressure on Brady to make up for a secondary susceptible to big plays. 
Edge: Patriots

Defensive Line:

The Patriots d-line excels against the run but has struggled to pressure on opposing quarterbacks this season. Trey Flowers (who led the team with 7 sacks) is the best pass rusher and DT Alan Branch and Malcolm Brown are disruptive as well against the run. They will have to slow down Freeman and Coleman tonight to make Atlanta's offense one-dimensional. The Falcons defensive line has struggled against both the run and the pass at times this year. DT Grady Jarrett had 3 sacks in the regular season and Jordan Babineaux can makes plays as well, but that unit will have their hands full trying to make plays against a good Patriots offensive line.

Edge: Patriots

Linebackers:

The Patriots linebacking core is led by Dont'a Hightower, who had 65 combined tackles from his inside linebacker position, along with 2.5 sacks. Rob Ninkovich is a good edge rusher as well who had 4 sacks in the regular season. For Atlanta, OLB Vic Beasley led the league with 15.5 sacks and will need to be contained by the Patriots' offensive line to keep Brady on his feet. MLB Deion Jones was a contender for defensive rookie of the year, and for good reason, as he had 75 tackles in the regular season and has 11 in their two playoff wins.

Edge: Falcons

Secondary:

The Patriots have one of the best secondaries in football, with safety Devin McCourty, and two great corners in Logan Ryan and Malcolm Butler. They'll face a stiff test against the speed and precise route running of the Atlanta receivers. Atlanta's strength in the secondary are the two safeties, Keanu Neal (72 tackles in regular season) and Ricardo Allen (61 tackles), who are playmakers that make a lot of tackles in the running game. How CB Robert Alford and Jalen Collins play against Patriots' shifty receivers will be key in this game. I think not having top corner Desmond Trufant will hurt a lot.

Edge: Patriots

Special Teams:

The Patriots always have a good special teams, even with kicker Stephen Gostkowski having an up and down season kicking field goals.  They have excellent kick and punt coverage teams and a good return game with Dion Lewis or Danny Amendola. The Falcons' kicker, Matt Bryant, is virtually automatic, especially indoors. Their kick and punt coverage teams are OK, as well as their return game with Eric Weems.

Slight Edge: Patriots

Bottom Line:

For Atlanta to win, their defense has to confuse Tom Brady with their coverages, which will force him to hold the ball and potentially make mistakes when under pressure. They have to be able to get the ball down the field to secondary receivers like Sanu, Gabriel, as well as their running backs, especially if Butler locks down Julio Jones.

For New England to win, their offensive line has to win against the Atlanta defensive line and protect Tom Brady. Their receivers need to take advantage on the outside against the inexperienced Atlanta corners. Defensively, they need to stop Atlanta's ground game first and prevent the big passing plays down the field from Matt Ryan.

In the end, it's going to be a shootout, which will be welcome, after last year's defensive struggle. I think New England is able to contain the Falcons on the ground, and their secondary is able to make enough plays against the Atlanta playmakers. As he did the last time the Super Bowl was in Houston, Tom Brady marches his team down the field and cements his status (not without controversy) as the greatest QB of all-time, with his fifth ring. And an awkward moment with commissioner Roger Goddell.

 30, 27

Playoff record: 10-0

All-time Super Bowl record: 3-4

Two Nates on Sports: 1/28/2017 (Episode 11)

Two Nates on Sports: 1/21/2017 (Episode 10)

Two Nates on Sports: 1/14/2017 (Episode 9)

Los Angeles Chargers: Pure Greed and Stupidity

The San Diego Chargers are no more. 55 years of history flushed down the toilet in the latest episode of the "NFL Greed Chronicles".

I'm sure you've heard the story by now: Chargers owner Dean Spanos and the city of San Diego were unable to come into an agreement on a deal to construct a new stadium to replace the ancient Qualcomm, all because Spanos wanted public money that the city simply didn't have to fund his new stadium. When the other NFL owners were unwilling to give Spanos more free money than the $300 million the NFL already offered, he felt like he had no choice but to move to LA.

But why? Economically, Spanos could have easily ponied up the money for the stadium - the team has to pay $650 million in relocation fees - that money could have easily been used to build that stadium in San Diego. Instead, they will be second-class tenants in a stadium shared with the slimy Stan Kroenke and the Rams.

In addition to ripping out the hearts of loyal fans who have stuck with a mediocre franchise through 5 decades, there simply is no fan base in LA for the Chargers. They have no history there except one season in 1960.  They will have to fight an uphill battle trying to win over fans who either
1) Aren't NFL fans (along with all the entertainment options in L.A., there's also 2 baseball teams, 2 basketball teams, a hockey team, a soccer team, and two marquee college football universities) OR
2) Are fans of other teams (namely, the Rams and Raiders, who had longer histories in the city).

Spanos is going to have to hope its the latter, as it looked bad this year even for the Rams, who had horrific attendance at the Coliseum after fans got over the initial spectacle and realized how bad that team was. The Chargers have had a better record over the past 10 years, with a couple playoff appearances, but not by much. In order to capture fans immediately, they need to start winning before the Rams can recover.

The NFL is a business run by lawyers and billionaire owners who want to make money, I understand that. But the depth to the lack of awareness about what fans will be able to take is astounding.No, Robert Kraft, there will be ZERO fans making the two hour drive to continue to root for a team that left their city to a join a rival city.

At some point, enough is enough. Yes, the NFL has the most popular sport, by far, in the country, It will remain that way for a while. But keep going down this road of pure greed - whether it be London games, Thursday Night Football, alleged expanded season/playoffs, continually plucking franchises out of cities chasing the money - and fans are going to turn off eventually.

By the way, that logo is hideous and a straight rip-off of the Dodgers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

2017 NBA All-Star Voting

The NBA All-Star voting is a little different this year, with fan vote only constituting 50% of the total vote to determine the starters, and with good reason.

Kobe Bryant got a lifetime achievement award in starting last year, and the first returns had journeyman center Zaza Pachulia (due to his apparently international popularity in the country of Georgia) amongst the starters in the frontcourt for the Western Conference team.

Anyways, there's only 4 days left to vote and with that in mind, here are my picks for the All-Star starters in 2017. You can make your selections (for anyone except Pachulia) at vote.nba.com or using Twitter or Facebook with the player's name and #NBAVote.

Eastern Conference:
G Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors (22.4 PPG, 7.2 APG, 4.9 RPG) 
Lowry has been the best player on a Raptors team keeping pace with the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
G Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets (23.1 PPG, 5.5 APG, 4.2 RPG)
Walker is playing the best basketball of his career, 4th in the league in clutch baskets, keeping Hornets afloat in Eastern Conference.
F LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers (26.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 8.2 APG)
Best player in basketball, let's move on.
F Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls (25.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 4.6 APG)
Solely the man in Chicago now, Butler has responded with career high average in points, in keeping a Bulls team competitive in East.
F Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (23.3 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 5.6 APG)
Probably the most improved player in the game this year, he has improved his jumper while doing a little bit of everything for Milwaukee.

Western Conference
G James Harden, Houston Rockets (28.5 PPG, 11.8 APG, 8.4 RPG)
The Rockets are the biggest surprise in the NBA this year, and Harden leads the league in assists and has 11 triple doubles this year, including a ridiculous 53 pt, 17 reb, 16 ast statline.
G Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (24.7 PPG, 5.9 APG, 4.4 RPG)
OK, this should probably be Russell Westbrook if you look purely at the stats, but as a Rockets fan, in a close race between Harden and Westbrook, don't want to give Westbrook any free votes.
F Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors (26.0 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 4.6 APG)
The most scrutinized offseason move, Durant has accommodated himself nicely in the Bay, leading the highest scoring team in the league in scoring.
F Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs (24.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.1 APG)
His continual growth as a go-to offensive scorer, in addition to his great defense has the Spurs 2nd in the West.
F Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans (29.1 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 2.2 APG)
He's putting up ridiculous numbers, despite facing double teams night in and night out, on a team that is seriously devoid of much NBA talent.

Two Nates on Sports: 1/7/2017 (Episode 8)