Big Ten Championship

    The Big Ten Championship game was last weekend and two great football teams squared off. The Iowa Hawkeyes played the Mkchigan State Spartans at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indainapolis, Indiana. This game was highly anticipated because of all of the similarities between both teams. Both teams are phenomenal on defense and are some of the best in the country. They both have offensive lines that were nominated for the best in the country as well. This game was as good as it was advertised too. It was a hard-nosed, grind-it-out football with great defense and trench play. It took until the third quarter before either team scored a touchdown and it was Iowa on an 85 yard bomb to Tevaun Smith. However, the Spartans spent almost the entire fourth quarter driving the ball downfield and ran it in from one yard out with 27 seconds left to seal the game. Although the Hawkeyes didn't win they had a great season and now play Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

Colts Struggling

    Recently, the Indianapolis Colts have been playing football like some elementary school kids. They just lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Seriously this is not a joke, they actually lost to the Jaguars. Not only did they lose, but they got completely blown out and lost 51-13. There is so much wrong with what I just said I don't know where to begin. The Jaguars are one of the worst teams in the league, and to get blown out to them is flat out embarrassing. This loss breaks their streak of 17 straight wins versus teams in their division. As a Colts fan, I think we should just tank the rest of the season and try to get a high draft pick and just come back next season.

NBA MVP Predictions

      The NBA has seen some great talent so far this year and I'm going to give my predictions for my favorites to win the MVP award this year. 

     Stephen Curry has played great this season and is on pace to make history with his 3-point shooting. Steph has played lights out this year and has his Warriors on an 18 game winning streak to start the season. He is averaging 32 points per game this season which leads the NBA, but he doesn't get enough rebounds or assists as an MVP should get. He also doesn't play great defense which makes is case for MVP go down in my opinion.

     My fourth favorite for MVP this year is Sacramento Kings center, DeMarcus Cousins. He is the best center in the league I my opinion and has had a stellar year thus far. He is averaging 27 points per game as 11 rebounds per game. The only reason he isn't higher on the list is because of his team's record. If he led his team to more wins, I would definatley have him higher up. 

    Andre Drummond is my third favorite MVP candidate. Drummond has played well throughout his career, but this season he has gone absolutely bonkers. He is a rebounding machine, with multiple 20 rebound games this season and many more to come. He averages 18 points per game and 17 rebounds per game this season. Another crazy stat is that he averages about five more rebounds per game than the next closest player. 

 

    My runner up prediction so far is Oklahoma City point guard, Russell Westbrook. I believe he was snubbed of the award last season and is looking to win the award this season. He got his best teammate, Kevin Durant back from injury and this has been helping him put up crazy numbers this year. He leads the league in triple doubles, and averages 27 points/game, 10 assists/game and 6 rebounds/ game. 

   I'm probably being biased right now because he is my favorite player, but my favorite to win MVP this season is none other than LeBron James. James is leading the Cavaliers to a 13-4 record so far and has played great so far averaging 26 points/game, 8 rebounds/game, and 7 assists/game. I feel like people overlook James as an MVP candidate every year because he puts up insane numbers every season. These offensive numbers are great from LeBron, but his defense has been outstanding. When LeBron is the closest defender to a shooter this season, they only shoot 27%, the lowest shooting percentage from any defender. 

Thanksgiving Football

L       Week 11 was a great week of football mostly because there was lots of football on Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving, the Detroit Lions manhandled the Philadelphia Eagles in a 45-14 victory. Calvin Johnson has played well this season but nowhere near where he is used to. In this matchup against the Eagles, he returned to his old self and caught three touchdowns form quarterback, Matthew Stafford, who is also looking a lot better from the earlier portion of the season. In the second Thanksgiving game, the Carolina Panthers faced off against the Dallas Cowboys. The Panthers easily won the game  and became 11-0, but the big dea about this game was the season ending injury to Cowboys quarterback, Tony Romo. Romo fractured his collarbone and is out for the remainder of the season. This is huge for the Dallas Cowboys as they were looking to go on a late season run and potentially make the playoffs with Romo, but instead they will probably not be playoff contenders. In the final game of Thanksgiving, the Chicago Bears surprisingly bear their rivals in their division, the Green Bay Packers. This was a big win for the Bears, but also a huge loss for the Packers as they are hopeful Super Bowl contenders, they have lost four of their last five games and aren't on track offensively the past few weeks.

NBA Season

     The NBA season has been going on for about a month now and it has not been disappointing to say the least. There have been many great stars to the season such as the Golden State Warriors starting the season with a perfect record of 18-0. The Philadelphia 76ers have had the exact opposite of a good season as they have started 0-17 thus far. This comes as somewhat of a surprise to me because of the rookie star power of Jahlil Okafor who has been playing great this season. The 76ers have also set a new record of consecutive losses in Major American Sports history with 27 straight losses dating back to last season. The Eastern Conference champion, Cleveland Cavaliers have also started out strong and are currently at the top of the east this season with a 13-4 record. LeBron James however are not happy with this start as him and fellow veteran teammate, James Jones held a players only meeting to discuss how they are playing well as a team and they need to focus more. Personally, I think this is a great idea by LeBron because in order to knock off the Warriors, they are going to need to play their best and not slack off.

Peyton Manning Week 9/10

The Colts have been struggling mightily lately and needed a big win against the Broncos in week nine. The Colts did something that they haven't done all season, play the entire game. Normally, the Colts slack off most of the game and try to come back in the fourth quarter. The Colts played great defense against the Broncos all game long. However, in the fourth quarter, the Broncos drove all the way down the field but Manning was intercepted by Colts cornerback, Darius Butler. The Colts got the ball back and on a crucial third down, Broncos cornerback, Aqib Talib, tried to eye gauge Colts tight end, Dwayne Allen. There was obviously a penalty called, which gave the Colts a first down and just ran the clock out for the win. Peyton Manning also needed a little over 250 yards to become the NFL's all time leader in passing yards. The Colts' defense stepped up big time and stopped him three yards shy of his record. I don't know if that was a good thing or not for him not getting the record in Indianapolis because it would've been cool to see him break it in the stadium he played in for so many years but also it was crucial to stop him during the game so he didn't win. Peyton did go on and break the record in week ten against the Kansas City Chiefs. However, Peyton probably had the worst game he's ever had. He completed just 5/20 passes for 36 yards and had four interceptions. He got benched in the fourth quarter for backup quarterback, Brock Osweiler. It was later revealed that Manning had been playing with Plantar Fascia the past couple of weeks and that could've been a big factor in his poor play. I hope that this isn't his last game and that he is given another chance because he is a great player and I'd love to see him play at a high level a Peyton Manning took on his former team and the team that made him great, the Indianapolis Colts.

NBA Tipoff

        The NBA is back and in full swing ever since the Pistons vs. Grizzlies game tipped off Tuesday night. There have been so many great performances so far in just the two days of action. Reigning MVP and NBA champion, Steph Curry continued his great play from last season and finished with 40 points, six rebounds and seven assists in his season opener agianst the Pelicans. Pelican's star power forward Anthony Davis had a very rough night. He is a potential MVP candidate this year, but got off to a terrible first game. He shot 4-20 from the field and at one point was 1-16. He did play well on the defensive side as he blocked a shot off the backboard when Curry went in for a layup.

         There was also a great game that went down in Chicago as the Bulls took on their rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers came out and played a great first quarter, until they allowed a 17-2 run by the Bulls to end the quarter. The Bulls basically controlled the game until the fourth quarter when LeBron James started to take over. He was scoring at will and distributing and got the game down to just a 2 point deficit at one point. The Bulls got back on track and had an eight point lead with about a minute left. Then Kevin Love, who  had been quiet most of the game hit two big three pointers to make the game 97-95. The Cavaliers got the ball back with eight seconds left, but Pau Gasol blocked LeBron James at the rim with three seconds left, and Jimmy Butler knocked away the inbound pass to seal the victory for Chicago.

       On day two of the NBA, some of the best rookies played for the first time. Jahlil Okafor had a very good game, for his first time stepping on an NBA court. He finished with 26 points and seven rebounds. The Celtics got the last laugh in that game, as Isaiah Thomas had 27 points and seven assists to lead the Celtics to a 112-95 victory. The Nuggets first round pick, Emmanuel Mudiay played extremely well as he finished with 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds. The best game of last night was definitely the Thunder vs. Spurs game. The Spurs are an early championship contending team but they had to face the Thunder who just got Kevin Durant back from injury. Durant had a great game for not playing since early last season. He had 22 points and six rebounds, but the big story was Russell Westbrook having a monster game with, 33 points and ten assists.

NFL Week 7

    The NFL had a great week this past week as there were many great games to watch. The best game of the week, in my opinion, was the Jaguars vs. Bills game.  It was an overseas game and was played in Wimbley Stadium in England. The game was very surprising as the Jaguars(who aren't very good) got off to a huge lead against the Bills(supposed to be a playoff team). The Bills came back in the second half but didn't have enough to win it as the Jaguars held on to win, 34-31. Another big story line is the Baltimore Ravens, who won the Superbowl just a few years ago, lost to the Arizona Cardinals to fall to 1-7 on the year. The Ravens weren't supposed to be a phenomenal team this year, but were going to be a strong playoff team in the AFC. With Joe Flacco not playing very well and having the 29th ranked passing defense in the league, the Ravens struggles will continue to happen. The Colts also didn't play well this week as they lost to the Saints, 27-21. Yet again, The Colts did virtually nothing in the first half and attempted to rally in the second half when it was too late to win. There were some bright signs though, like the fact that wide receiver, T.Y. Hilton finally showed up in a big way and brought down two very long touchdown receptions.

Colts Week 7 Peformance

     The Indianapolis Colts lost their second straight game today to the New Orleans Saints. It was yet another terrible first half performance, followed by a great second half. The Colts got shout out the first half and followed it up with an outstanding third and fourth quarter, putting up 21 points. The Colts need to find a way to play more consistently, and actually do something in the first half, instead of just giving up points. Our losing is due to many things, but mostly our offensive line and our play calling. The offensive coordinator, Pep Hamilton, is terrible at his job. He calls run plays when we should pass the ball and pass plays in running situations. Sometimes his play calling does work though, but it is mostly just Andrew Luck making the play calls look good. Our other big thing thing that is holding us back is the offensive line. On almost any running play we get that is more than ten yards, it is basically guaranteed that there will be a holding penalty. Not only do we get holding penalties, but we also give Andrew Luck basically no protection, forcing him to have to get the ball off quickly. With the line collapsing, and Luck having to throw it so soon, it makes Luck look like the bad one for throwing interceptions. Many people are blaming Andrew Luck and head coach, Chuck Pagano for losing these games but that is not the case. Andrew is a very talented player, but with an subpar defense and a horrible offensive line, it's a surprise they even have three wins. People also blame Chuck Pagano for the play calling and bad coaching, but Pep Hamilton is doing the play calling and Pagano has been coaching the same way for four years so I don't think much of the blame goes on him.

NFL Week 6

    Week six of the NFL wasn't that great of football, and was probably the worst week yet so far. Not only did my favorite team lose, but almost all of the games were blowouts and weren't very interesting  to watch. However, there was one good game this week and it was the Browns vs. Broncos.  This was a very close and hard fought game that ended up going into overtime. The whole game, Peyton Manning had been struggling to get any rhythm down and threw three interceptions. With the game tied 23-23, the Browns had the ball with 44 seconds left, when Browns quarterback, Josh McCown threw an interception to give the ball back to the Broncos at their own 30 yard line. Peyton Manning then threw a deep pass down the sideline, to Emmanuel Sanders who caught the ball and was tackled in bounds. Sanders thought he was out of bounds and the clock had stopped, so he ran to the endzone and layed down to rest because he was tired. Since he was actually in bounds, the clock kept running adn the game went to overtime. The Broncos ended up winning in overtime by kicking a last second field goal. Other than this game, and the Colts' fake punt play, the NFL was kind of dull this past week and hopefully next week will be better.
     
       On another note, not related to play on the field, but off the field, Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady said this week that he wants to play another ten years. I personally think that this man is on a new kind of drug if he thinks that he can stay in shape for ten more years and be a legit quarterback in the NFL. First of all. he is 38 years old right now, which is already old to be a quarterback, and he is on a decline already and I can't imagine him trying to play another ten years. He is a serious crazy man if he thinks that at 48 years old, he'll be able to take a hit when he can barely take one now. Don't get me wrong though, it would bring me the most joy in the world to see Brady get rocked when he is 48 years old, but it would be best for him to just retire in a few years, and not get killed in ten years.

Worst Play in NFL History

    On Sunday Night Football one of the worst plays to ever happen happened. It was the Colts who hosted the Patriots in Indianapolis and the Colts were losing 27-21 in the third quarter. It was fourth and three and everyone expected the Colts to just punt the ball back to the Patriots. The Colts had other ideas. They lined up in an illegal formation, with wide reciever, Griff Whalen playing center and backup safety, Colt Andersen playing a quarterback position. Every other player was lined up staggered on the right side hash mark. I think the Colts were trying to draw the Patriots offsides for some reason and try to get the first down from penalty yards. Anyway, the Colts snapped the ball with about five Patriots players with only one player to block all of them. Obviously, Colt Andersen got tackled immediately and lost about two or three yards on a fourth and three play. To make matters worse, the Colts had the ball in their own territory and thus gave the Patriots the ball with only about forty yards to go. The Patriots ended up scoring six plays later and took a 13 point lead. I think that the Colts would've won the game or at least have had a better chance at winning if they didn't call that play ans would've just punted it. The Colts would have also won for sure if the refs didn't make and awful call  earlier by not giving the ball to the Colts after an attempted onside kick.

NBA Award Predictions.

      With the NBA season starting in nine days, I'm going to give my predictions for each of the awards given away this year.

       Starting with the Most Improved Player Award, I think that Giannis Antetokounmpo, small forward for the Milwaukee Bucks will win it after the season is over. Antetokounmpo is an extremely skilled player who is very large for his position and I think this will help him dominate his opponents. He also gained a lot of weight since the end of last season which will help him get to the rim better and hopefully finish at the hoop even more effectively.

      I think the Defensive Player of the year will be the center for the Utah Jazz, Rudy Gobert. Gobert is skilled big man on offense, but defensively is where he does most of his work. Defensive Player of the Year is often given to a player who is a very good shot blocker or proficient at getting steals. Gobert is a fierce shot blocker and rim protector which is why I think he'll win this award this year.

     My prediction for Coach of the Year is Los Angeles Clippers head coach, Doc Rivers. I expect the Clippers to be one of the best teams in the Western Conference and make it at least to the Western Conference Finals. Rivers has a lot of coaching experience and has built a great team around him in Los Angeles and I expect the Clippers to go far this year and for Rivers to be Coach of the Year.

     Rookie of the Year is probably the toughest decision to make because of all the great talent that came into the league through the draft. I narrowed down my top two choices to Jahlil Okafor from the Philadelphia 76ers and Emmanuel Mudiay from the Denver Nuggets. Okafor is a beastly big man out of Duke who will get a lot of touches this year because he doesn't play for a great team and the 76ers also have injured big men. Okafor is a very efficient player and has some phenomenal post moves which will work to his advantage in the NBA. Mudiay is my other choice for Rookie of the Year. Mudaiy is an extremely fast and athletic point guard who plays for a bad team which means he should be a huge part of the offense this year. He has some professional basketball experience too, as he played in China last year.

   Last but not least, I believe that the Most Valuable Player for the 2015-16 season will be LeBron James. James is 30 years old and has already won four MVP's in his career and I think he'll add a fifth to his collection. He is surrounded by a lot of great players which will help him get a lot of assists and of course he can do a lot of scoring as well. The Cavaliers are also plagued with injuries to start the season which means they will rely on LeBron more which should lead to some amazing stats this season.

NFL Week 5

    The NFL was very excting in week five and had lots of great story lines. First of all, the Colts won their third straight game this year after starting 0-2. This was yet another big win as they are now above .500 on the season and they did it all without Andrew Luck. This win also gives them confidence as they play their bitter enemy, the New England Patriots in week six. Some other headlines for week five was on Monday Night Football as the Steelers scored a last second touchdown to beat the Chargers, 24-20. Le'Veon Bell took the ball from the wildcat formation and jammed in a one yard touchdown as time expired. It was a gutsy call from Mike Tomlin for not kicking the field goal to tie the game and just go into overtime, but after all I don't think that they wanted to risk missing a fourth quarter field goal like they did in week 4. Another big headline this past weekend was about Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers threw his first interception at Lambeau Field for the first time since December 14, 2012. This is an amazing steak for a quarterback to have as he went nearly three years without throwing an interception at his home stadium. The Seahawks fell to 2-3 on the year as they lost to the Bengals in overtime. Bengals kicker Mike Nugent kicked a field goal to win the game for the Bengals. The Falcons also continued their undefeated season as they beat the Redskins 25-19 in overtime. Redskin's quarterback, Kirk Cousins threw a interception that was returned for a touchdown and gave the Redskins their third loss of the year.

NBA Western Conference Predictions

    Now that I've done my predictions for the playoff teams in the  Eastern Conference, it's time for me to do them for the Western conference.

     My prediction for the eighth seed in the west is the Sacramento Kings. The Kings were a decent team last season but lacked a will to win and finished as the 13th seed. This year, DeMarcus Cousins will step up and grow into an MVP candidate and adding Rajon Rondo to feed him this year will help the Kings make that extra push to be a playoff team. The New Orleans Pelicans are my prediction for the seventh seed for the 2015-16 NBA season. They have one of the best players in Anthony Davis and with his growth on the court and all of the help that they have at other positions, the Pelicans could even become title contenders this year. I think that the Grizzlies will become the sixth seed this year. They have all the pieces needed to go far in the playoffs. They have two phenomenal big men, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, one of the best guards in the league, Mike Conley and many other shooters and defenders to their arsenal as well. Even though the Golden State Warriors won the title last year, I have them at just the fifth seed. I think they got extremely lucky last year and their whole team is based off of shooting so I don't think that they'll be back to the championship this year.

     My top four teams in the Western Conference in order are the Spurs, Rockets, Clippers, and Thunder. The Spurs added Lamarcus Aldridge and David West in the offseason and that will definitely help them go at another title run. With Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili still going strong after many years in the league and Kawhi Leonard becoming the new star in San Antonio look for the Spurs to go strong at yet another title. Despite being plagued by injuries last year, the Houston Rockets still finished second in the west. This year, if they can keep Dwight Howard healthy and James Harden plays at the MVP level he's been playing at, the Rockets will go far. They also picked up point guard Ty Lawson from the Nuggets which could be that final step to creating a championship team. My second ranked team in the west is the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers kept thier main core of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan and added new pieces such as veteran forward Paul Pierce, shooting guard, Lance Stephenson, and power forward Josh Smith. The emergence of Austin Rivers and the shooting of J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford will also help the Clippers get the the NBA Finals. Finally, my top team in the Western Conference is the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder played great last year and finished as the ninth seed in the west all without having their best player and one of the best players in the league, Kevin Durant. With Durant back into the lineup, Russell Westbrook playing the best basketball he's ever played and Serge Ibaka, Enes Kanter and many other key role players, I think that the NBA Finals in 2016 will be the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder.
   

NBA Eastern Conference Predictions

    With the NBA season coming up within the next two weeks I am going to give my predictions on who will make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
 
Starting from the eighth seed moving down I think that the Charlotte Hornets will be the eighth seed after the 2016 season due to their star power from guard, Kemba Walker and center, Al Jefferson. With their leadership and the help from Jeremy Lin, Nicholas Batum, and Cody Zeller, the Hornets should make the playoffs in the east. My seventh seed is the Washington Wizards. John Wall is definitely going to step up this year after losing Paul Pierce in free agency and having Bradley Beal injured for a good part of the season. Despite losing players and injuries, the Wizards still have John Wall and other key role players that should bring them to the playoffs. I think the sixth seed in the east will be the Indiana Pacers. Although they lost David West and Roy Hibbert in free agency, they are getting back star forward, Paul George and also got shooting guard, Monta Ellis to help their cause. Drafting Myles Turner out of Texas will also give them a strong case to contend. My prediction for the fifth seed is the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors didn't really lose anybody in the offseason and added small forward, DeMarre Carroll to help them contend in the Eastern Conference.

     My top four teams in the east are the Bucks, Hawks, Bulls, and Cavaliers. The Bucks are an extremely young team and they are talented in every area of the game. With the addition of Greg Monroe, the Bucks should certainly contend this year. The Atlanta Hawks had a breakout year last season and finished first in the east. The only reason I have them worse for this season is because they lost DeMarre Carroll and I don't know if they can keep up the great team play from last season.
The Bulls finished third last season and I only see them getting better. With a hopefully healthy Derrick Rose, an all-star Pau Gasol, and a star in the making, Jimmy Butler, the Bulls could be a title contender this season. Last but not least, I think the Cleveland Cavaliers will finish first in the Eastern Conference. The were the runner ups in the NBA Finals last year and can only get better and I expect them to not only win the east, but also the NBA finals.

Seahawks vs. Lions

    During the Lions vs. Seahawks game last Monday night, there was a very controversial call at the end of the game which directly impacted the outcome of the game. The score was 13-10 and the Lions were losing late in the fourth quarter and they were in the middle of a game-winning drive. Quarterback, Matthew Stafford threw a strike across the field to wide receiver, Calvin Johnson who caught the ball and was running for the endzone to win the game when Seahawks safety, Kam Chancellor came up from behind and punched the ball out of his hands right before it crossed the goal line. The ball was bouncing around in the endzone when Seahawks linebacker, K.J. Wright hit the ball out of the back of the endzone for a touchback.

    This call sparked a lot of controversy among football fans as the NFL rules say that a player can not knock or punch the ball put of the endzone. There was a referee in perfect position in the back of the endzone but he did not make the call of illegal touching or really even come close to calling it. Had the call been made, the Detroit Lions would've had the ball at the Seahawk's one yard line and would have put them in perfect position to win the game. However, since the call was not made, the Seahawks got the ball back and just ran out the clock for the win.

NFL Week 4

     Week 4 of the NFL was another fantastic week of the football. As previously stated, my favorite team is the Indianapolis Colts and in week four they were able to get their second win of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The big part about this win was that they were able to get it without the best player on our team and our quarterback, Andrew Luck. Backup quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck was our starter for the game and he played very well for being almost 41 years old. A fun fact about Hasselbeck is that he is the oldest player in the NFL who isn't a kicker! Another interesting story line from this past week was Odell Beckham Jr., one of the best young players in the league, was caught punching Bills' defensive players after the plays were over. Beckham said that he would appeal his $9,000 fine because he told the media that he too gets punched all the time in games.

    There are only six teams left in the NFL who have not lost a game yet this season. Those six teams are the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, and the Denver Broncos. Of those teams, I think that the Packers, Falcons, and Panthers will keep their streaks alive for the longest amount of time. The Packers and the Falcons are the two best teams in the league right now due to their stellar defensive play and their ability to pass and run the ball at a very high level. The Panthers will also keep their streak alive longest due to the fact that they have a bye week in week five. The Broncos are struggling this year despite not losing any games, they have just played sloppily all year and will lose in week five to the Oakland Raiders. The Bengals are also undefeated, but I think they'll lose to the defending NFC champion, Seattle Seahawks. Lastly, I believe that the New England Patriots will lose in week five to the Indianapolis Colts. I tried to not be biased here, but I just don't see the Colts losing to the Patriots at home this year.

NFL Week 3

              Week 3 of the NFL was yet again very exciting! My favorite team, the Indianapolis Colts got their first win of the season against the Tennessee Titans. The Colts got off to a great start and piled up a 14-0 lead to start off the game. All of a sudden in the middle of the game, the Colts decided that they didn't want to win and then the Titans scored 27 unanswered points to take the 27-14 lead. Then the fourth quarter came around and Andrew Luck finally decided to be himself and lead a fourth quarter comeback. In the fourth quarter alone, Luck completed 11-13 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns. This is a great thing for him as he alone has had more turnovers this season than 30 NFL teams. This win is a huge confidence booster for the Colts and now we have even more momentum going into Jacksonville to get what should be an easy win for them to get them to 2-2.

             As for the other teams in the NFL, the Eagles got their first win of the season. It was a must win for them as they were 0-2 and their big off season addition, Demarco Murray, has been struggling very badly and is arguably the worst running back so far this season. The Cincinnati Bengals also got a big win over the now 0-3 Baltimore Ravens. This win extends the Bengals to 3-0 and are one of the last undefeated teams in the league. They had an impressive team performance, but in particular wide receiver, A.J. Green, had one of the best games of his career. The wideout hauled in ten catches for a whopping 227 yards and two touchdowns. This is big for them going deeper into the season because they haven't won a playoff game in 26 years so they are hoping they can get one this year.

              

Heisman Predictions

    Now that college football season id back and in full swing, it's time to start breaking some performances down and finding the best players in the nation. Every year, the best college football player is awarded with the prestigious Heisman trophy. Here are some of my favorites to take home the Heisman this year.

    USC quarterback, Cody Kessler is fifth om my Heisman watch list. Through his first four games, he has totaled 1297 yards and 15 touchdowns. In his game against Idaho in week 2, he threw for a career high 410 yards as they won 59-9. Kessler is a stud and has a bright future for the rest of the season and will likely be a top pick in the NFL draft.

    My next top Heisman candidate is Ezekiel Elliot. Elliot is the starting running back at Ohio State University, and had a brilliant game in the national championship and is becoming a Heisman hopeful this year. Through his first four games, he has had at least 100 yards in each and has tallied up five total touchdowns. He is a flashy player who breaks lots of tackles and hurdles players and is definately a fan favorite to win the Heisman this season.

    Trevone Boykin is my third favorite person to win it this season but is slowly climbing my list. He has 1470 passing yards and 15 touchdowns. One thing that sets him apart from other quarterbacks is that he has about a 70% completion rate and has only thrown three interceptions. Him and his TCU Horned Frogs are undefeated and look to stay that way behind Boykin's play.

    My runner up for the Heisman this year is Georgia Bulldogs running back, Nick Chubb. Not only does he have a cool name, but his play on the field is phenomenal as well. He has rushed for 599 yards and six touchdowns so far this season. One other amazing stat is that he now has 12 straight games with at least 100 yards.

Finally, my final player, and favorite to win the Heisman this year is LSU running back, Leonard Fournette. Fournette is a truly special player and has had multiple mesmerizing long runs this season. He has tallied up 631 yards and eight touchdowns through four games this season. Fournette's 631 yards through four games, is the most through four games in the past 15 years.

NFL Week 2

     We had yet another great week of football in the NFL this past weekend. There were a lot of phenomenal games that were played all around the country. In my opinion, the best game of the weekend was played in Arrowhead Stadium as the Denver Broncos played the Kansas City Chiefs. This game got a lot of attention because it was last Thursday and it was the only game of the day. The first 3 quarters were pretty good but it got really interesting in the fourth quarter. Down by 14 with 30 seconds left, the Broncos scored a touchdown to tie the game up at 24. The Chiefs received the kickoff, and got tackled, bringing their offense to the field with less than 30 seconds left. Everyone watching could've guessed that they would take a knee and let the game go into overtime. Instead, they decided to give the ball to their running back, Jamaal Charles to run the clock out. He took the hand off and ran away with the ball. As he approached the Bronco's defender, the ball got knocked out of his hands and was ran back for a touchdown with no time left by, Broncos linebacker, Bradley Roby.

       Many teams had players who were supposed to play well this week, but did not such as Andrew Luck, who threw three interceptions and fumbled the ball once against the stellar New York Jets' defense.Russell Wilson is another household name that did not play that well over the weekend. He only completed 60% of his passes and threw an interception as the Seahawks fell short to the Green Bay Packers. There were also some players that were not expected to play that well and played well above expectations. Adrian Peterson, running back for the Minnesota Vikings, only had 30 rushing yards in week one. this week, he churned out 134 yards in the Vikings win. Tyler Eifert, tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals missed most of last season with an injury. He returned over the weekend and had a huge impact for the Bengals. He caught nine passes for 104 yards and snagged two touchdowns as the Bengals narrowly beat the San Diego Chargers. The last breakout performer for the week was Arizona Cardinal's running back,  David Johnson. Johnson is a rookie out of Northern Iowa who returned the opening kickoff for  a touchdown and will hopefully have a big impact the rest of the season as their starter, Andre Ellington is out.

Kennedy Football 2015

   Cougars win again! Our Kennedy Cougars went to Pleasant Valley Friday night and got their fourth win of the season to extend their record to 4-0. In the Cougars first game of the season, they faced the Trojans from Iowa City. It was a tough game, but in the end, we came out on the winning side to get our first win of the season. Our second game was against Cedar Rapids Washington. There was a lot of hype surrounding this game because both teams are big and physical and ranked top 10 in the state(not to mention there was trash talking going on between the schools on social media). The game was a complete dogfight. We got out to a 21-3 lead early on, but the Warriors came back to take the 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter. We knew we had to step it up late if we wanted to win and we did. A late fourth quarter touchdown reception put us up 28-24 and we held the lead to stay undefeated. Up next for the cougars was North Scott. The Cougars were on a roll and could not be stopped by anyone(especially North Scott). We went on to whoop them 42-0. Our most recent game was against North Scott. There was a pretty bad rain delay that night and a lot of the night was spent waiting out a storm. Once the game got back on the Cougars didn't stop and got the 24-7 win over Pleasant Valley.

    A big part of our undefeated season so far is the student section. The Kennedy student section is like no other student section we have seen in previous years. There seems to be a new type of energy from the students this years. Being a part of it myself, I can tell you it can get pretty wild and hectic. Something that sets us apart from other schools is our school's population. We have a lot of students at Kennedy and that helps us get really loud during the games. The only bad thing about our student section is the freshmen. The majority of them aren't that loud and all they do is throw bottles around the whole game. Other than that the students, administrators, and pretty much everyone loves watching and listening to us cheer. The players themselves are probably the people who enjoy us the most. We cheer for them all game long and get them pumped up so they can win the game.

Iowa vs. Iowa State

     Iowa vs. Iowa State is one of the biggest football games in Iowa every year, and no doubt the biggest rivalry game in the state of Iowa. Every year, the two teams go head to head in a hard fought game. Over the past few years, the two teams have had some very good games that have gone down to the wire. Last year's game in particular was a heart breaker for all Iowa fans when Iowa State kicked a last-second field goal to win the game. However, this past weekend, my Hawkeyes scored two touchdowns in the last 3 minutes to beat the Cyclones 31-17. It was a good win for the Hawkeyes to extend their record to 2-0 on the year and gain some momentum as they head back to Iowa City to face the Pittsburgh Panthers. Iowa State on the other hand lost a tough game and now have to go on the road to face the undefeated Toledo Rockets.

      At the beginning of the game it was all Cyclones as they pulled out to an early 10-3 lead. The Hawkeyes responded with a corner touchdown pass to  wide receiver, Tevaun Smith. The Cyclones came back and scored a touchdown of their own to take a 17-10 lead. The Hawkeyes then drove down the field and were set up for a last second field goal when they went for a fake. Kicker, Marshall Koehn, ran the ball and almost converted the touchdown but was tackled short. At halftime, the Cyclones lead the Hawkeyes 17-10.The second half was much different as the Hawkeyes gained a lot of confidence off of Iowa State turnovers and eventually tied the game at 17. Going into the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes had all of the momentum and got into Cyclone territory with about 3 minutes left. Almost everybody watching the game was expecting Iowa to just run the ball and chew the clock to kick a last second field goal, but the Hawkeyes had a trick up their sleeve. They knew everybody was expecting a run, but decided to throw it and ended up throwing a deep touchdown in the corner of the endzone to lead 24-17. The Cyclones got the ball back and were trying to drive the ball down the field to tie the game but Iowa State quarterback, Sam Richardson threw a pass that was picked off by Iowa cornerback, Desmond King. Iowa finished the drive off with a touchdown and sealed the deal for the victory to win the Cyhawk Trophy.

NFL Week 1

     The NFL is back in town and week 1 brought a lot of excitement for fans all around the country.  People all around the country gathered to their TV's to watch America's favorite sport. Week 1 was very exciting for everyone because there were a lot of good story lines along with the start of football. How would Tom Brady do after having his suspension overturned? How would Adrian Peterson do coming off of his suspension? How would the Eagles do with their addition of DeMarco Murray? All  of these questions had all of us on our feet waiting to watch football again. Tom Brady had an outstanding week 1 in the Patriots 28-21 win over the Steelers. The quarterback threw for  288 yards along with 4 touchdowns. As for running back DeMarco Murray his debut for the Eagles didn't fair so well. He finished with 8 rushes for just 9 yards and 1 touchdown in the Eagles loss to the Falcons. Adrian Peterson also didn't play very well in his first game since last years season opener. Peterson finished with 10 carries for 31 yards and 0 touchdowns as the Vikings fell to the 49ers 20-3.  

        My favorite team in the NFL is the Indianapolis Colts. I wasn't very impressed with the Colts' season opener because they lost to the less talented Buffalo Bills 27-14. The Colts played poorly on offense and our wide receivers dropped a lot of passes and we couldn't get a reliable running game going. Our best wide receiver, T.Y.  Hilton also got injured during the game and could be out for a couple of weeks. The Bills are an average team who caught us off guard and unprepared for our first game of the season. However there were some good things that happened in the game such as, Vontae Davis holding the Bills' best receiver, Sammy Watkins, to 0 catches and 0 yards. Also, Andrew Luck played well for not having much help from the receiving core, throwing for 243 yards along with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Overall, week 1 was very exciting and depressing being a Colts fan but hopefully week 2 is even better and the Colts will come out with their first win.