Major League Baseball- The Complete Preview- Part 1: The NL East

Remember me? Yeah I think you do. I am The Rabbi, Video Editor of On The Sportslines. This is one of the greater times of the year when it comes to sports! The Final Four is this weekend of Indianapolis, signaling the end of college basketball, and Opening Day is less than a week away, signaling the beginning of baseball. Over the next few days, I will go division by division through this year’s MLB teams. This is the time of the year when all teams believe they can win the World Series (no seriously, there’s got to be some people in KC who believe this). Now, I will start to break each team down, as quickly as I can. We will predict over/unders as well. If you don’t know what an over/under is, it is a set number Vegas has for wins for each baseball team, and you have to predict if you think they’ll go under or over. We start today with the NL East, home of possibly the biggest favorite in any division in baseball. The numbers are from Betus.com

Philadelphia Phillies- Number: 92 ½

The crème de la crème in the NL, and as I said in the open, my biggest lock to win their division is Philadelphia. Watch the NL playoffs the last 2 years, and realize that the Phillies have a record of 14-4. They will be more dominant in the NL, in my honest opinion, than the Yankees will be in the AL.

The lineup, make no mistake about it, is the best in baseball. There is truly only one weak spot in the lineup offensively, in catcher Carlos Ruiz. However, he’s one of the best defensive catchers in the league and is over .300 in the postseason. Rollins, Utley, Howard, Victorino, Werth, Ibanez, Victorino. If even two of these seven names struggle, the other 5 of those names can pick them up. This lineup is the deepest in baseball, and all of them are coming off career years, consistent every year hitters, or can be even better than they were last year.

The pitching staff is in a little bit of question, but not at the top. Roy Halladay is not a question. He’s going to be talked about as the Cy Young leading candidate, and why not? He’s averaged 17 wins the past 4 seasons in the AL East, where the last 3 AL champions have come from. Move him to the NL, and he can be most dominant. However, in the trade for Halladay came the departure of Cliff Lee, who was easily the most dominant pitcher of the 2009 postseason. If Cole Hamels doesn’t get back to 2008 form, people will regret losing Lee, despite his injuries already. Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, and Kyle Kendrick will make up the rest of the rotation, and outside of the Braves, there’s probably no better 3-4-5 that you’ll find in this division. Closer is another issue, but get to the World Series and your troubles are hidden. Brad Lidge will try to recreate his 2008 magic in 2010, and after elbow and knee surgery, he may.

The Phillies haven’t gone over the 93 win level even in this two year World Series run. I believe there will be fewer questions this year for the Phillies and a lot more answers…at least until September.

The Pick: Over 92 1/2

Atlanta Braves- Number: 86 ½

Good news, bad news time. The good news is the Atlanta Braves were in prime position to make the playoffs next year, after improving in most assets of the game, most notably pitching in 2009. Bad news: this team lost a ton of weapons in the off-season and will have an offense dependent on a 37 year old aging superstar and a 33 year old free agent acquisition. Not good.

That 37 year old is Chipper Jones. Don’t think he can go .264-18-74 again this year and the Braves offense can improve because of it. The 33 year old is Troy Glaus. He only played in 14 games last season, and is starting a 4 year contract batting CLEANUP? Oh boy. Former Yankee crowd favorite Melky Cabrera was traded here in the off-season, but he will start the season the same way he left New York, in a platoon, this time with Matt Diaz. You can blame named starting 20 year old right fielder Jason Heyward for that. He is one of the Braves best offensive prospects in a long time.

Javier Vasquez and his under 3 ERA was traded away to the Yankees, leaving Jair Jurrgens, Derek Lowe, and should have been NL rookie of the year Tommy Hanson to anchor this rotation. Vasquez was expendable in this deep rotation, but will be missed, especially if Tim Hudson and Kenshin Kawakami perform. The bullpen is not so deep. Take Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano out, put Tommy John surgery survivor Billy Wagner in. You’re depending a lot on a guy who hasn’t really closed since mid 2008.

I usually like the Braves as an over. I’m sick of guessing wrong though with them. I did when they were winning one million consecutive division titles, and more sick when they’re disappointing. I thing there are too many questions, this is an under for me.

The pick: Under 86 ½

New York Mets- Number: 82 ½

Oy. Living in New York one of the major questions on sports talk radio is this: how do you fix this team? Well, you change the personnel first, which did not happen in the off-season. The GM is the same one that led the Mets to no playoff appearance in the last 3 seasons. The Manager is the same that led the Mets to their worst record in years in 2009. 72 wins to 82 +? Don’t think so.

The lineup may be the best in major league baseball, but there are three problems. If you’re a Met fan repeat these problems after me….power, depth, and injuries. 2 out of the 3 best power hitters on this team are either injured or coming back from injury. Carlos Beltran may not be back till May (and that’s diagnosis #1!). Jose Reyes is back hitting, but his opening day availability is in question (not good if you have tickets to that Citi Field opener). #2 is the power, and in particular David Wright. Sure, the .300 batting average is nice, but Luis Castillo has that. What the Mets need is at LEAST a 20+ homer season from Wright, and probably more, especially with Carlos Delgado not providing any power this season. 3^rd is this: Daniel Murphy, Alex Cora, Angel Pegan, and Luis Castillo. Injuries be damned, you cannot have any of these guys on an opening day lineup! There you go Mets fans, the 3 major issues in hitting.

Then there’s the rotation. Johan Santana is #1 and injury free, however #2- #5 are scary inconsistent, bordering on bad. Pelfrey, Maine, and Perez have had horrible spring trainings, and with the media pressure in New York, there’s not exactly going to be a bunch of atta boys and confidence boosts from New York media. Last year, I actually thought this team could bounce back and actually win the NL. This year, fool me once shame on me, fool me twice….

The pick: Under 82.5

Florida Marlins- Number: 81 ½

Hanley Ramirez. Josh Johnson. Dan Uggla. All are stars at their positions, and usually the Florida Marlins would have traded these 3 names right now to keep themselves in financial stability. However, all 3 are going to be in Marlins camp for a long time, but when will the playoff appearances start coming. The Marlins was 87 last year.

The lineup for this team is good at certain positions (the aforementioned Uggla and Ramirez, and rookie of the year Chris Coughlan). However, the end of that lineup is suspect, in Ross-Maybin-Sanchez, and it may not be enough to gain more RBIs when you get to the bottom of the order. The pitching staff is also a question mark after #2. #3 starter Anibal Sanchez has had injury issues, and there is no proven solid starting pitcher after that. Then there’s the closer….Leo Nunez starts the season at the position, but they’ve never been stable at that position since Kevin Gregg was closer in 2008. I like this team a lot though, and I think they’re going to make a solid playoff push this year, so that 81 ½ is a little low for me, this team should at least be in the mix for a Wild Card spot.

The pick: Over 81 ½

Washington Nationals- Number: 70 ½

This is one of the lowest numbers of any team in Major League Baseball, and rightfully so. Never before has a team with a new stadium looked this pathetic so quickly. The Nats are losing fans in just their stadium’s 3^rd season, and this team has no where to go but up, right…..right? Well, let’s just say to reach this number, the Nats need to improve their win total by ELEVEN. ELEVEN, just to get to 71.

The lineup isn’t awful, but projected #6 hitter Elijah Dukes was released prior to the season, as the Nats didn’t want the trouble anymore with his attitude. The stalwarts of this team in the lineup are Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn, 2 of the better power hitters in the game who might be even better with sufficient protection. New acquisition Jason Marquis has made the playoffs in each of his last 3 seasons (kind of in jeopardy there). Ivan Rodriguez will catch for this team, and he’s had a postseason pedigree (in jeopardy also, no). The one major talk this season for this team will be when does pitching phenom Stephen Strausberg reach the major leagues? That number of 70 ½ is too high, especially for a team that reached triple digits in losses last 2 seasons.

The pick: Under 70 ½

Tomorrow: The AL Central, where the Minnesota Twins will be favored yet again despite their lack of closer and lack of roof in Minneapolis.

HOLIDAY HOT STOVE - NEW YORK STYLE

Holiday Greetings. Jay from "On The Sportslines" here with a little Holiday Hot Stove - New York style for you.

Around this time of year Santa and MLB GM's have a lot in common. Both are checking their list and checking it twice. Both have the goal of bringing joy to others this season. The difference is that while Santa is checking to see who's been naughty and who's been nice; GM's are checking to see who's still available to fill the holes on their team.

This year's Winter Meetings were productive and so far this off-season there has been a decent amount of activity and player movement either by trade or Free Agent signings. That said, there is still a wide gap between baseball's Haves and Have Nots. Nowhere is that more evident than in my own backyard.

The Yankees (who quite literally play in my backyard of The Bronx) have not stood pat in the aftermath of their 27th World Series title. They identified positions that needed to be addressed, upgraded, changed, what have you and set about making it happen.

They felt a need to upgrade their outfield, so they worked a multi-team deal that got them Curtis Granderson - an All-Star Centerfielder in the prime of his career who can hit, hit for power, run, throw, catch and cover the expansive acreage that is Yankee Stadium's outfield. In exchange they gave up some spare parts at both the Major and Minor league level.

They felt the need to upgrade their starting rotation. They didn't feel Chein Ming Wang would be the same so they let him go. They dabbled in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, but in the end decided to go with a Plan B option and they traded for Javier Vasquez. Vasquez didn't have a great first go around with the Yankees, but that was 5 years ago and since then he is one of only two pitchers with 1,000 innings and 1,000 strikeouts. The other is Johan Santana. He'll eat innings, strike guys out (238 last season - second only to Tim Lincecum) and keep the Yankees in the games he pitches. What more could you want from a 4th starter? The cost? Again, nothing the Yankees couldn't afford to lose. Melky Cabrera? I'll miss the Melk Man, but Granderson took CF away from him. LF? Brett Gardner can handle that. Other options? Well, the Yankees have their eye on super-sub Mark DeRosa who would be a nice addition to the team.

The Yankees also said good-bye to Series MVP Hideki Matsui (who signed with the Angels and should nicely fill the DH role vacated by Vlad Guerrero leaving as a Free Agent) and look like they will let Johnny Damon find employment elsewhere. Both will be missed by the fans, but letting both go are sound baseball decisions. Matsui is on his last legs (literally - his knees have been shot for awhile now) and Damon's spot can be filled by Gardner or another more cost-effective option.

The second go-around for Nick Johnson has me skeptical. When healthy, Johnson had a line-drive, gap-to-gap swing and a slick glove at 1B. But staying off the DL has been a problem for this once-promising pinstripe prospect. He wouldn't have been my first choice as primary DH and back-up 1B, but Brian Cashman has earned my respect so I'm willing to have an open mind about it.

None of these moves broke the bank or cost the Yankees a ton of prized prospects - both of which are things the Yankees have been guilty of in the past - and all have the potential to improve a team that had the best record in baseball last season.

All of this stands in STARK contrast to what's NOT going on in Queens. What has happened to the Mets over the last 2-3 years has been tragic. This is a team loaded with solid players. 3B David Wright, SS Jose Reyes and CF Carlos Beltran are among the best players at their respective positions in all of baseball. Johan Santana is one of the PREMIER starting pitchers in the game and Frankie "K-Rod" Rodriguez is an All-Star closer. Not a bad nucleus to build an annual playoff contender around.

But herein lies the problem. The Mets - namely GM Omar Minaya - don't seem to be doing any building. Look, I'm willing to give the Mets a pass on last season due to the RIDUNKULOUS number of player games lost to injury, but come on Omar, you can't seriously tell me that when you look at your team you can honestly say that if everyone is healthy the NL East is the Mets to lose.

The Mets have holes almost everywhere. Some small, some GAPING. 1B needs a Carlos Delgado in his prime upgrade. Daniel Murphy is a likeable kid with some potential, but he's not the long-term answer there. K-Rod needs a set-up man. JJ Putz seemed to be the answer, but he got hurt and now the Mets have let him go. And in the head-scratching-est move of the off-season, the Mets seemed to sign every Free Agent BACK-UP catcher out there. Sorry Omar, quantity isn't going to give you quality there.

But all of that pales in comparison to the Mets plan to acquire an outfielder with a big bat. What plan you ask? EXACTLY! It's no secret that the Mets are in dire need of a power hitting corner outfielder and this offseason two All-Stars are available. Jason Bay and Matt Holliday are a couple of guys who can give you 25-30 homers and 90-110 RBI. They'll hit somewhere between .280 (Bay) and .315 (Holliday) and play a pretty decent outfield to boot. Both are perfect fits on paper for the Mets.

And yet for some reason only Omar's psychic knows, the Mets have been more passive than Ghandi in their pursuit of these two. News flash Omar, you and the Mets no longer have the luxury of just sitting back and waiting for guys like Bay and Holliday to fall into your lap. You may reside in New York. You may have plenty of Wilpon money to throw around. You may have a nice new ballpark. But you're no longer one of baseball's HAVE's! You have to WIN, or at least be consistently competitive in order to be so arrogant as to just sit back expect the cream of the Free Agent crop to just show up on your doorstep asking to come and play. Sorry, but what's happened to the Mets over the last three years has hurt their property value as a prime neighborhood for A-Listers.

And if that's not bad enough, the Mets - who like most teams, could use another decent starter - didn't even extend an offer to Jason Marquis! Marquis is a decent 3rd or 4th starter who can eat innings and keep your team in games he pitches; and here's the kicker: HE ACTUALLY WANTS TO PLAY IN NEW YORK! For the Mets! As a New Yorker born and raised, it's all he ever wanted. But no, Omar didn't even consider it.

In a nutshell, that's the difference between the Yankees and the Mets. The Yankees know how to build a house, keep it in good shape once it's finished and make home improvements when the need arises.

The Mets need to take a few pages out of the Yankees playbook. Houses don't build themselves Omar. Especially when the supposed architect doesn't seem to have a blueprint.

I'm The Rabbi, and I'm the Video Editor of On The Sportslines.

Before we get to Part 6 of the bowl preview, a little update. Jahvid Best of California will NOT play in the Poinsettia Bowl, which is in less than a week. I picked Utah before and I sure am not changing that now. No switch of points though.

That being said, hold on to your hats for....

The Rabbi's Bowl Preview Bonanza- Part 6!

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl- Dec 31st
Houston (10-3) Vs. Air Force (7-5)

Why Watch: This is the only one of two rematches this bowl season, and with the high powered offense of Houston and the strong rushing defense of Air Force you’ll thank the Armed Forces people they invited both teams back.

Matchup: Houston put up 460 yards per game through the air this season to be the nations top team in yards per game. That formula was almost BCS-buster worthy too, but there’s always that one team who impresses during the non conference campaign and then falls to the back of the pack. Houston is that team. If they were in the Big 12 south, with wins over Oklahoma State and Texas Tech (the Ok State game when they were Top 5 in the nation), but good things fade. Losses on the road to UTEP and UCF along with a conference title loss to East Carolina sent the Cougars here again. This is Houston’s 5th straight bowl. The Air Force academy is in a bowl for the 3rd straight year. A little disappointing this year at 7-5, all 5 of Air Force’s losses were to bowl teams (including the unholy MWC trilogy of TCU, Utah, and BYU, but the Falcons gave TCU their closest win this year, as they only won by 3). However, all but 1 of Air Force’s wins were against non-bowl teams (the 1 is Wyoming). By the way, Houston won this game last year 34-28, under 252 yards and a TD from their QB Case Keenum and 153 yards on the ground from their running back Bryce Beall.

Who To Watch: Beall and Keenum are back for this game, but we’ll focus on the man who may be playing his last collegiate game in the QB Keenum. 5,449 yards through the air and 43 Touchdowns (against 9 INT’s) may make Keenum a little desirable, you would think. His highest total through the air this year? 559 yards vs. Southern Miss. Only 1 game did Keenum fail to throw for 300 yards this year. So who stops this attack? Maybe you just keep the ball on the ground. Air Force’s one-two running punch of Jared Tew and Asher Clark will try to do that, combined they rushed for over 1500 yards this season.

Prediction: Not as easy, especially since it is a rematch from 2008. All logical signs though point to Houston, and I think they’ll want to finish 11-3. I pick the Cougars and 16 points here, so I’ll take the mid road.

Brut Sun Bowl- Dec 31st
Oklahoma (7-5) Vs. (21)Stanford (8-4)

Why Watch: You rarely get to see 3 people in a game who have rushed for 1,000 yards in a season, but you do here in El Paso.

Matchup: Stanford, making their first bowl appearance in 8 seasons, led by Jim Harbaugh making his first bowl appearance, is very happy to be here. The expectation was just to make a bowl this year. The Cardinal started the season 4-1, albeit against weak competition, and then would closely lose their next 2 against Oregon St and Arizona. Then the world took notice, with a 3 game winning streak. In it they took out Oregon the week after they demolished USC, and then demolished USC themselves the week after. Only a loss to Cal stood between Stanford and the Rose Bowl. Oklahoma is probably a little disappointed to be here. The national title hopes were demolished after a season opening loss to BYU, their conference title hopes were demolished with their 4th loss in 5 years to Texas. Also included were losses to usually Sooner Pinatas Nebraska and Texas Tech. Only a shutout victory against Oklahoma St on rivalry weekend (keeping the Cowboys out of the BCS) is what the Sooners can hang their hat on this season.

Who To Watch: About those 1,000 yard rushers. Both Sooner backs Demarco Murray and Chris Brown went over 1,000 yards in 2008, but each just averaged a little over 700 in 2009. Brown’s graduating, but Murray may be getting ready for a 2010 Heisman run cause he’ll be back next season. Then there’s Stanford back Toby Gerhart, who took the 1,136 yards and 15 TD’s in 2008 and improved it by 600 yards and 11 TD’s in 2009. The 1736 yards and 26 TD’s got Gerhart 22 voters points away from the 2009 Heisman. Against 3 big teams, Oregon, USC, and Notre Dame, Gerhart went for 223, 178, and 205 yards respectively. Wow.

Prediction: I believe Oklahoma would qualify as a big team. Despite Oklahoma rising up in their bowl after their last mediocre season after a title game (2006) and Andrew Luck, Stanford’s QB for most of the year out for this game, I still like Stanford and 17 points.

Texas Bowl- Dec 31st
Navy (8-4) Vs. Missouri (8-4)

Why Watch: It’s your patriotic duty to watch Navy! They meet Missouri for the first time in 48 years in this huge contrast of styles.

Matchup: Obviously as you know if you’re into college football, Navy’s style is running. They do a lot of it, ranking fourth in the nation on the ground. That ground game gave them another list of victims in 2009: Notre Dame (for the 2nd straight year), SMU, Air Force, and Army (knocking them out of bowl contention), and almost Rose Bowl Bound Ohio State. This is the 7th straight bowl for the Midshipmen. This is the 5th straight bowl for Missouri, but there was not as much excitement in the first year of the post- Chase Daniel era. They started the season 4-0, but then lost 4 out of their next 5. The tigers did win their last 3 to get to 8-4, not scoring less than 30 points the final month of the season.

Who To Watch: Chase’s replacement in 2009 was sophmore Blaine Gabbert. Blaine had 23 TD’s and 7 INT’s this season, and threw for 250 yards in 8 of the 12 games this season for the Tigers. He’s possibly on his way to building his own legend. Navy counters, on the ground with quarterback Ricky Dobbs. Yes, the QB was Navy’s leader on the ground this year, adding 24 Touchdowns, and passing some guy named Tebow on the list of all time Rushing TD’s in a career by a QB. Him and Junior Vince Murray will give the Tigers fits to tackle.

Prediction: Not sure. Navy has the recipe to beat a lot of teams, and have been here before, in the Houston Bowl in 2003, losing to Texas Tech. Navy’s played 3 BCS conference teams though in this current run of bowls...and lost all 3. But Missouri’s resume, just plain sucks. I’ll put a huge wimpout 4 on this one with the Tigers.

Sunday NightI'll post Part 7...and by then the bowl's will already be in 2010, how sick is that? See you Sunday.

I'm The Rabbi, video editor of On The Sportslines.

No NFL column this week, we'll look at the playoff picture after Week 15 next week. Oh yeah, and as a Giant fan...I don't wanna talk about it.

Now, we continue the path to covering all of this year's Bowl Games with Part 5 of our series....

The Rabbi's Bowl Preview- Part 5!

Champs Sports Bowl- Dec 29th
(15)Miami (9-3) Vs. (25)Wisconsin (9-3)

Why Watch: If you see both teams in bigger bowls in the 2010 bowl season, you’ll be sorry you missed their match up here in the Citrus Bowl.

Matchup: If you could’ve started a season any louder than Miami, you’d break the sound barrier. A memorable win over FSU on Labor Day, plus wins against Georgia Tech and Oklahoma, had people proclaiming Miami is back! Eh, not so fast my friend (credit Lee Corso). Losses to Clemson and North Carolina didn’t set the world on fire, and in Miami’s last 4 victories, only 1 came to a bowl team, and that was the fading fast South Florida ballclub. Wisconsin’s start of their season was grand too, at 5-0, but they were overmatched vs. conference powers Ohio St and Iowa after that start. Add to that, in their 4-3 finish to their season, not one of those 4 wins came against a single bowl team. However, after the doldrums of last season, both Miami and Wisconsin powered back with solid defenses, and Top 40 in the nation offenses to go with it.

Who To Watch: For Miami, their star sophmore QB Jacory Harris is hit or miss. 8 out of his 17 INT’s came in the 3 losses for Tha U, but Harris threw for multiple TD’s in all but those 3 losses in 2009. For Wisconsin, the Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year John Clay is ALL hit. He’s 247 pounds and he is powering. 1400 yards in 2009, and 16 TD’s, with 9 of those Touchdowns coming in the cold months of November and December in the Big 10.

Prediction: Newsflash though. This game is in Florida. The Hurricanes will dictate home crowd and will dictate style, which for them will hopefully be shootout. Miami has the passer, the Badgers don’t. Give me Miami and since I haven’t gone big in a while, give me 25 with it.

Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl- Dec 30th
Bowling Green (7-5) Vs. Idaho (7-5)

Why Watch: On the blue turf of Boise St., you can see a team from Idaho not named Boise St. that has some damned good talent.

Matchup: Ah the Vandals of the University of Idaho. They did go 4-4 in conference this year but, they started the season 5-1, and looked pretty strong offensively. How strong offensively you ask? Try not scoring less than 20 in ANY game this year offensively. However, in all but one of their matchups, they let up more than 20 points, including letting Nevada and Boise State put up 70 and 63 against them late in the season. They also let Utah State score 52 for good measure. This is Vandals first bowl in 11 years and their 2nd as a FBS school On the other side is Bowling Green, who improved by one game from last year’s disappointing 6-6 record under new head coach, Dave Clawson. Bowling Green started 1-4 (with their only win over Troy, they did lose to Boise and Missouri along the way), but finished the year 6-1, with their only loss to eventual MAC champs Central Michigan. The Falcons are bowling for the 2nd time in 3 years.

Who To Watch: Well, with Idaho, it’s gotta be offense. We’ll go with Senior Wideout Max Komar, who went from 0 TD’s in 08 to 10 in ‘09. 8 of those TD’s came in the final 5 weeks. If 10 TD’s is pretty good...try 18. That’s the # of time Bowling Green’s Freddy Barnes went into the end zone this year, 16 receiving and 2 rushing. Barnes caught a TD in each of his last 7 games, 5 of those multi TD affairs. Both teams will go through the air here.

Prediction: This one’s too tough for me. Bowling Green is statistically the better team, but despite playing there once this year (actually both teams have played in Boise), the atmosphere may really be out of both team’s element. I’m gonna go with Idaho here with the lowest possible number, 1.

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl- Dec 30th
(20)Arizona (8-4) Vs. (22)Nebraska (9-4)

Why To Watch: OK, so the prospect of the runners up in two major conferences doesn’t excite you? Then how about seeing the followup for Cornhusker Ndamukong Suh’s 4 sack, 12 tackle Big 12 championship game that made him the first Heisman Defensive finalist in 12 years?

Matchup: Believe it or not, Nebraska’s season could have been a lot better or a whole lot worse. The season ended up at 9-4 with the “phantom 1 second” Big 12 title game as loss #4, but the other 3 losses hurt too. Losing a lead in the final 120 seconds against Va Tech? Ouch. 9-7 loss against Iowa State? Double ouch. Those losses almost are erased by Nebraska’s five game winning streak up to the Big 12 title game that included a championship clincher against Kansas State. Almost. Then there’s Arizona, who had two tough losses against BCS teams (losing at Iowa by 10, and against Oregon by 3 in double OT), and inexplicable losses (Cal and Washington, which were the major dagger to Rose Bowl hopes). However, Arizona established their place in this bowl with 2 gritty wins to end the season, both on the road (Arizona State and the once mighty USC). Both teams are in their 2nd straight bowl this year, hopefully continuing on the road to redemption.

Who To Watch: For Nebraska, surprise!, it’s Mr. Suh. The man who won every post season defensive award known to mankind, had a season to remember. 82 tackles, 12 sacks, 24 QB hurries, 3 blocked kicks, double digit broken up passes. Remember, he was double teamed a lot of the time too, like the Big 12 title game especially. Suh very well could go #1 in the NFL draft in 2010. Oh yeah, Arizona’s here too. They are lead by QB Nick Foles. He can put up gaudy numbers (415 against Stanford, 384 against Washington) or he can manage the game well. He’s only a sophmore, so a bowl like this is a maturing process for the young man.

Prediction: Time for Suh to go out in the um, SuhnSet (I’ll be here all week!). Arizona is another hit or miss team, but so is Nebraska. Both teams can be ugly, but I feel that if both teams play ugly, the Huskers win. The Huskers want to get back on the field after the title game, so I’ll go with them and a strangely confident 15.

Part 6 tomorrow my friends, hang tight.

I'm The Rabbi, video editor of On The Sportslines.

Congrats to Alabama RB Mark Ingram for winning Alabama's first Heisman. It's amazing that the man is the 3rd straight sophomore to win the award, after a sophomore never won it before.

I thought if you looked at stats, it probably should have gone to 2nd place finisher Toby Gerhart. He had more yards this season, and performed well in every single game he played in, while Ingram stumbled against Auburn.

However, 2 things locked up the Heisman for Ingram:

1. The fact that he played the final weekend of the season, while Gerhart didn't. 6% of the voters put their ballots in early this year.

2. The SEC Title game performance, which effectively eliminated Tebow, and the Big 12 title game, which was a terrible enough game for McCoy that it killed his chance then and there. A little better, and McCoy is your Heisman winner.

Now, for what you have been waiting for.....

The Rabbi's Bowl Bonanza Preview- Part 4


Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl- Dec 27th
Kentucky (7-5) Vs. Clemson (8-5)

Why Watch: Again, the Sunday Night Football matchup may be crappy for Week 16, and you’ll get to see a future start on Sunday’s, Clemson QB C.J. Spiller.

Matchup: Exceeded expectations perhaps? Clemson loyalists were tired of picking them to win the ACC Atlantic year after year for fear of disappointment. This year, Clemson and first year full time head coach Dabo Sweeney gave fans a Atlantic Division Championship and were very close to an ACC Title. However, there was that mix of Tiger disappointment, as they lost at reeling South Carolina late in the year and at pitiful Maryland. However, note the 5 losses from Clemson were by an average of less than a touchdown. Kentucky is one of 10 SEC teams going bowling, but they go bowling with a 3-5 conference record. However, all 3 victories were on the road, 2 against bowl teams, and were 6 points away from an undefeated road conference slate. The team that was known in the beginning of the season for giving golden boy Tim Tebow a concussion, finished the season 5-3, with all 3 losses by less than a touchdown. Kentucky looks for a 4th straight bowl victory here.

Who To Watch: How do I love Clemson RB CJ Spiller? Let me count thee ways. Is it the 1100 yards he had rushing this year? Is it the fact that in the ACC title game he had 233 yards on the ground? Maybe it’s the 9 TD’s he had in November and December? The answer to all of those questions is yes. For Kentucky, it’s Randall Cobb. The all everything of Kentucky had 15 TD’s of his own this year, whether it’s in the Wildcat, in normal formation, kickoffs, or punts. He can do it all.

Prediction: I feel like Clemson may be deflated being here, so I’m gonna pick the Wildcats. However, like the upsets before it, I’ll go low on confidence points, and make this one a 10.

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl- Dec 28th
Texas A&M (6-6) Vs. Georgia (7-5)

Why Watch: Because it’s two big name programs and two big name coaches, despite expectations not being anywhere near met in 2009.

Matchup: Starting with A & M, they are back in the bowl picture after a year absence. The Aggies, and former NFL head coach Mike Sherman, started the season 3-0 (all against non bowl teams), then would drop their next 3 (all against teams .500 or better), then would go on to win their next 2 (but only one more win after that). A & M wins with one thing: offense. They are in the Top 25 in the nation in both passing and running, even though they did a lot of those stats against some poor defenses. Good thing the Georgia Bulldogs have a poor defense though. At the end of the regular season, Georgia had to fire their defensive coordinator, their Linebackers Coach and their D Ends Coach. Of course, this was after their upset at ACC Champs Georgia Tech. However, 5 losses is the most of Coach Marc Richt’s tenure (including whoppings by rivals Tennessee and Florida), and the Independence Bowl bid is the teams first since 1991.

Who To Watch: When you’re TD-INT ratio is 28/6, I kinda notice that. That’s why Aggie Junior QB Jerrod Johnson gets the spotlight, especially after his 342 yard, 4 TD performance vs Texas. It’s Georgia Bulldogs’ QB Joe Cox’s last game, but he looks to make it count. A 22/14 TD/INT ratio this year is not spectacular, and when you add that 4 out of his last 5 games he passed for under 200 yards, that’s not great either. However, he only had 2 INT’s in his last 4 games, and 12 for the other 8, so Joe Cox is becoming a game manager.

Prediction: Not confident either way here, I like Georgia though cause when A & M played Arkansas this season, they got shellacked. I’ll give the Bulldogs this one with 11.

EagleBank Bowl- Dec 29th
UCLA (6-6) Vs. Temple (9-3)

Why Watch: Temple and bowl don’t go in the same sentence everyday, but when they do, you should watch.

Matchup: Just a few years ago, Temple was kicked OUT of the Big East, but after they were an independent, they moved over to the MAC this year. Good call. Even though they lost their first two games against state rivals (Villanova and Penn St.), Temple responded to win the next 9 in a row, and was one win away from a MAC Title game berth. They lost that game sadly to Ohio on Thanksgiving weekend. After a one year absence, UCLA is back in a bowl. Unlike the other 65 teams that qualified, UCLA had to wait till yesterday to get their spot, when Army lost to Navy. UCLA went 6-6 in 2009, with a 5 game losing streak (all to bowl teams) in the middle of the season. The only win UCLA had against a bowl team this year was back in Week 2 at Tennessee.

Who To Watch: Two defensive stars for UCLA: Pac 10 Defensive MVP Brian Price, and FS Rahim Moore, who has a nation leading 9 INT’s in 2009. For Temple, it’s running back Bernard Pierce. He landed on the first team Freshman All American team, and was the MAC Offensive Freshman of the year. 1,308 yards and 15 TD’s does that for you.

Prediction: I’ll go Temple, not too confident about this one either though, so I’ll add 8 to it.

Tuesday comes Part #5. We will see 4 ranked teams in the next part of the preview, so hang tight!

I am The Rabbi, video editor of On The Sportslines.

What you are about to read now is the 3rd of the 11 part bowl preview bonanza series. This is Part 3 of the spectacular. Geez, when I started this, Brian Kelly was the coach of Cincinnati! Yeah, the memories.....

OK, enough reminiscing, it's time for Part 3.

The Rabbi's Bowl Preview Bonanza! Part 3!


Little Caesars Bowl- Dec 26th

Marshall (6-6) Vs. Ohio (9-4)

Why To Watch: This is usually the most boring of the bowls, so I honestly have very little to say. But if you wanna see what Frank Solich is up to, here is where you find out.

Matchup: Solich is the coach of Ohio now, who finished the season 7-2. However, they had a loss to Central Michigan in the MAC title game, but find themselves where the MAC champ usually would be, thanks to the conf champ opting for the GMAC Bowl. Ohio, in their 2nd bowl in 3 years after not making one for almost 3 decades, didn’t lose a game by more than 11 points this year. Marshall, a former member of the MAC, makes a bowl for the first time as a Conference USA participant. However, with a 6-6 record in conference, and a 31 point loss in their finale versus SMU, coach Mark Snyder resigned a day after that game. As of now, no replacement has been named.

Who To Watch: Darius Marshall (ironic) of the Thundering Herd rushed for 1,000 yards for the 2nd season in a row, but improved his TD numbers from 5 last season to 11 this season. Senior QB for the Bobcats, Theo Price, threw for 19 TD’s this season (against 10 INTs), but was fighting a sprained ankle in the loss in the MAC Title game.

Prediction: Easy for me. Marshall is coachless, and is a lot more up and down than Ohio. This seems a little easier here, so I’ll put 22 points down on this one for the Bobcats.

Meineke Car Care Bowl- Dec 26th

(17)Pitt (9-3) Vs. North Carolina (8-4)

Why to Watch: The coaching matchup: former NFL coaches Dave Wannstedt and Butch Davis (both off the Jimmy Johnson tree) meet up with their very talented college teams.

Matchup: However, both had their ups and downs in 2009. North Carolina especially. Their high point came in a 4 game winning streak late in the season which included a win against conference darling Miami, and wins at BC and Virginia Tech, 2 places where it’s difficult to win at. However, couple that with losses against NC State and Virginia (each with 2 conference wins this year), and this season was a disappointment for UNC, as they find themselves here for the second straight year. Pitt on the other hand...yikes, what could have been. Only a 7 point loss against NC State prevented them from a 9-0 start, but you can’t find a more heartbreaking way to end the season. 3 point loss against West Virginia on a last second field goal first, 1 point loss to lose the conference championship and a BCS spot thanks to a botched extra point and a furious comeback by undefeated Cincinnati. Disappointment usually reigns over at Pitt, but nothing like this year.

Who To Watch: Shady who? Pitt fans got to forget about Mr. LeSean McCoy quickly as freshman Dion Lewis ran for 1,640 yards and 16 TD’s. He will DEFINITELY get some play for Big East POY next preseason. For UNC, their 6th ranked defense in the nation is lead by Defensive End Robert Quinn, who had 11 sacks. It’s UNC’s first All-ACC player at that position since a guy named um....Julius Peppers. I think you know him.

Predicition: Gonna surprise you here. Just when you think UNC is out, they pull you in. I think this is a better position for them, and they impressed me the most in that Va Tech game on a Thursday when they were the underdogs, so give me the Tar Heels, but I’ll only give this one a 5.

Emerald Bowl- Dec 26th

Boston College (8-4) Vs. (24)USC (8-4)

Why Watch: To see a classic matchup between...wait, is that USC in a non major bowl? Does Pete Carroll even know where the Emerald Bowl is?

Matchup: The answer by the way is San Francisco. Tale of an underachiever and an overachiever here. The underachiever here is USC, who had their 7 year conference championship streak ended. What began with a promising start with a win early in the year AT Ohio State took a turn for the worse from there. We saw their usual shocking loss at Washington, but then it fell further. A blowout loss at Oregon, a shocking blowout loss at Stanford, and a loss at home against Arizona, and USC had their second worst year of the Pete Carroll Era. USC has played in the last 4 Rose Bowls, that streak ends here. As for the overachiever, in BC, nothing was expected in the first year post Jeff Jagodzinski. However, they started the year 4-1 and put together a nice resume in '09. However that one loss was against Clemson (in early September) and that was the difference in BC being denied a 3rd straight trip to the ACC title game.

Who To Watch: For BC, it’s running back Montel Harris, who put together FIVE 130 plus yard games in his last six games, including 264 in a win over NC State. For USC, it’s safety Taylor Mays, who despite his injuries early in the year, earned himself an all Pac-10 spot for the second straight year.

Prediction: Not gonna surprise you here. I think USC comes out motivated to prove that this team, while young, will reclaim their Pac-10 throne in 2010. BC does not match up. I’m taken the Trojans and 30 points.

I am The Rabbi, again, editor of On The Sportslines. While I am doing my bowl bonanza preview, we are gonna try something different for our NFL column this week. I will focus on one issue in the world of football and try to give my thoughts on it. This week: it's the undefeated.

Is it really that hard to go 19-0?

The pursuit of perfection. The last few years, it hasn't seem that hard to at least start. We saw the 05 Colts start their season 13-0 (no Super Bowl or playoff win), the 08 Tennessee Titans start 10-0 (no Super Bowl or playoff win), and of course the 07 New England Patriots begin their campaign 18-0 (and as well all know victim number 16, the Giants rose up to stop the 19-0 bid).

It's almost a burden to be an undefeated team going into December. ESPN starts devoting whole sections of their show to YOUR team, everybody who has seen their teams fail starts to hitch their wagon to you (or go totally against you and wish you failed), all the moves you do get scrutinized, and that's even before you go to the playoffs and try to get the elusive wins number 17, 18, and 19 (and again, just look at New England 2 years ago).

It is 2009, and we only have 16 days until Christmas. Yet, the NFC and AFC each have their own little ratings present. Both teams by the way won a grand total of ZERO playoff games a year ago.

Let's start with the NFC and the New Orleans Saints. 3 years ago, they were the darlings of the NFL going from a 2 win team to a team that was close to a Super Bowl appearance in Miami. Now, the New Orleans Saints are a powerhouse, with a high powered offense that's as good as that team, they are on a pace we haven't seen since the St. Louis Rams and the greatest show on turf a decade ago. The Saints and Drew Brees spread the ball out like no other team has almost ever had in NFL history. There are SIX players on this team with 28 catches or more. That's amazing. Add to that Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell leading a solid running attack, and both could reach the 800 yard level on the ground this season. However, it's the opportunistic defense that makes the Saints what they are right now. They have 23 INT's, that's the most in football. Their give/take number is +15, second in the NFL. They may have a defense that only ranks 18th in giving up yards per game, but that one mistake you make, they take advantage. That's what makes a championship team. They may have had a ton of close games (they've had 4 that could have gone either way), but all of them went in the W column, that's all that matters.

Then there's Indianapolis. The Colts are lead by America's QB Peyton Manning, but America's coach Tony Dungy is gone. Why has this team clicked on all cylinders? I honestly have no idea. Every single year though, the Colts get on a run, whether it be the 9 in row they had to end in 2008, or the 12 in a row they had to begin this season. The Colts have played great games (that Sunday Night Football game at Arizona), and have played close games (Week 1 vs. the Jaguars, Week 2 At The Dolphins, Week 8 vs San Francisco...you get the picture). This team only has 1 true #1 wide receiver, a rookie #2 wide receiver in Pierre Gason (who? yeah.), and a semi-decent rushing attack. What do they do in the end though? They win. They win ugly but they win nevertheless.

Neither of this team is gonna even come close to the stats or the swagger of the 07 Patriots, but why can't they go undefeated. When you see things like the Saints did Sunday against the Redskins, or what happened with the Colts when they hosted the Patriots back in Week 10, the only question I can come up with is...why not? We don't have to have a powerhouse 19-0 team, the Saints may not have the championship defense, the Colts may not have the consistency, but they both have QB's who can win in the end, and personnel that's been there before.

So when you think that it's impossible to go 19-0, talk to me in about 1 month and a half, when we could be preparing for the 18-0 Saints taking on the 18-0 Colts.

The Rabbi's Bowl Preview Part 2!

Once again, I am Rabbi, the video editor of On The Sportslines.

OK, as I said I'm going 3 at a time with these, and I'm willing to show commitment here. So, as you start your shopping for Christmas, let's look at the bowls that will take you up till Christmas.

By the way, the numbers to your left next to the teams represent their ranking. That ranking is from the last BCS Standings.

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl- Dec 22nd
(18)Oregon State (8-4) Vs. (14)BYU (10-2)

Why Watch: This Tuesday Night Delight will be your first time to see ranked teams in the bowl season, and it’s 2 ranked teams at that.

Matchup: For BYU, it’s a case of deja vu all over again, this is the teams 5th consecutive year playing in this bowl (BYU has a 2-2 record in those games). After a season opening win against than national title hopeful Oklahoma, things were supposed to be different. That changed with a shocking blowout loss at home against FSU and a non competitive game against the team that they want to be now, TCU. However, BYU should be proud, as this was a year where they stayed a Top 25 team from moment 1. Their opponents, Oregon State had some good moments this season (winning at Cal and against Stanford), but the team who took apart USC could not get it together in their 3 biggest games of the season (hosting Cincinnati, going to USC, and the Pac-10 Title Civil War game last week), and find themselves in their 10th straight bowl, but still look to capture the magic of 2001, when the team went to the Fiesta Bowl.

Who To Watch: Not hard here. For BYU it’s Max Hall, who was an early Heisman Hopeful, and although he never match his extremely high expectations, he still finished with 30 TD’s and 3,000 plus yards. For Oregon State, it’s Rodgers. Pick one. Jacquizz had 1,800+ yard rushing and receiving, his brother James had just about 1,300 all purpose yards.

Prediction: Eh, I liked the Beavers play in the Civil War, but I feel like BYU wants to make a statement that TCU can’t in its bowl, and beat a higher up team. BYU wins, and put 14 points on it.


S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia- Dec 23rd
(23)Utah (9-3) Vs. California (8-4)

Why Watch: To see the team that gave Alabama their last loss (that would be Utah) play in the season after their undefeated season.

Matchup: That Utah team was expected to fall back a little after the undefeated 08-09 season, and that’s what they did. They played 3 ranked teams (Oregon, TCU, and BYU) and lost all 3 of them. Utah’s mojo was pretty much weakened by the Oregon game, and destroyed when they had to make the visit to Fort Worth. However, the most damaging of the losses was the BYU won, which they lost in overtime, 26-23. They will try to bounce back from that game against their opponent in Cal. This season, and every Cal season is described like this: lots of hype to start (#6 in the nation after a 3-0 start), hard fall (consecutive losses at Oregon and at home against USC by a combined score of 72-6!), little sliver of hope (wins in consecutive weeks over Arizona and Stanford, dashing each’s Rose Bowl hopes), and the grand finale in which they don’t show up (42-10 loss at Washington! The Circle is complete!). It’s amazing with the talent Cal has every year why they haven’t been to a BCS game by now.

Who to Watch: For Utah, it’s Linebacker Koa Misi, who for the 2nd straight year was an all MWC selection at linebacker. For Cal, hopefully he recovers, it’s Jahvid Best. Another one of the scrum of Heisman candidates when the year started, Best had 1,000 all purpose yards from scrimmage in what was basically 8 games (he got injured early against Oregon State last month, and the concussion kept him out the rest of the year.)

Prediction: Utah has won 8 bowl games in a row. They took care of Alabama last year, should have the motivation to knock off another BCS-conference opponent. Take the Utes with 23 please.


Sheraton Hawaii Bowl- Dec 24th
Nevada (8-4) Vs. SMU (7-5)

Why To Watch: If you only saw Nevada in their season opener versus Notre Dame, you missed a lot of one the highest powered offenses in the nation. Plus, June Jones in coaching in Hawaii again!

Matchup: It’s SMU’s first bowl since 1994, and the Mustangs look to take full advantage of it. Again, nothing was amazing impressive about the team from Texas in June Jones second season, but they did win 4 out of their last 5 to get to this point. However, their only victory against a bowl team is a 7 point win over eventual Conf Champ East Carolina. For Nevada, the nations 2nd ranked offense and top rushing offense (With 3 1,000 yard rushers!), their non conference season started out horribly at 0-3, but then 8 straight wins were rattled off by the Wolfpack to put them to the brink of a WAC Title. Sadly for them, Boise State pushed them off that brink, and despite only losing by 11, the game was never really that close. Does that linger here? Nevada’s last bowl win WAS the Hawaii bowl 3 years ago.

Who To Watch: For SMU, they would not be here without the efforts of wide out Emmanuel Sanders, who despite having 2 QB’s, still caught 91 balls for 1,200 plus yards. For Nevada, Vai Taua was the leader of the 1,00o yard rushing gang, running for 1,345 yards, and HE MISSED 2 GAMES! He went for at least 95 yards in all of his games this year.

Prediction: The numbers say Nevada, but beware. They lost an early game this season versus Colorado State, so different conference styles might give them trouble. I’m gonna give this one the unlucky 13 points.

Friday! 3 solid bowls for the day after Christmas, including the first non important bowl in what seems like a lifetime for USC.

The Rabbi's Complete Bowl Preview 2009-10!

I'm the Rabbi, video editor of On The Sportslines. This is one of my favorite times of year. You can say how much the bowl system is only for money, how the bowl system is flawed and how it's ludicrous how it all works, but I say different. Is 33 bowls a bit much? Yeah, probably. But the fact is, 66 teams get to play one more game. A lot, and I mean a lot of players get that one last competitive game to play in their college football careers. Plus, the holidays are a whole lot more fun.

You want a 8 team playoff? Then we're gonna complain about the 9th and 10th team left out. Want a 16 team playoff? Then we'll complain about teams 17 and 18. I want to see college football action late season, not imagine about what could have been. Plus, bowl games make schools money, bowl games get schools recognition. For god sakes, I wish I went to a 1-A school sometimes for the atmosphere. I went to Hofstra, who's president decided this week that college football was too much of a financial burden, so they cut the entire program. That sucks.

So here's how this will work, I'll preview each of the bowls, and at the end I'll give confidence points. Confidence points= how sure I am each team will win. I'll do it from 1-33. I'll try to have these out every couple of days, so you know what you're watching and who you're watching. We're going from first...to the very very last. Since Bowl season is not that far away, let's get started with Part 1.

New Mexico Bowl- Dec 19th
Fresno State (8-4) Vs. Wyoming (6-6)

Why watch: It’s the beginning of the bowl season! You get your fill of college football after 2 weeks...actually forgot about Army/Navy this week so it’s 1 of no actual football!
After that, I got nothing for ya.

The Matchup: Well, the first two New Mexico Bowls featured, well, New Mexico, and the last two featured the perennial pretenders to Boise State’s WAC throne, Fresno State. The Bulldogs, now in their 3rd consecutive bowl, had modest expectations going into the season and beat basically every team they were supposed to on the schedule, only losing to 2 undefeated teams (Boise and Cincinnati), and 2 more talented teams (Nevada and at Wisconsin in 3OT) along the way. Fresno is 19th in the nation in offensive yards per game, having only scored less than 20 once. Meanwhile Wyoming, under first year head coach Dave Christensen, the former off. Coordinator at Missouri, had an up and down season en route to a 6-6 record, needing a last minute field goal against Colorado State to claim bowl eligibility. Despite giving up over 100 points more than they scored, the Cowboys are bowling for the first time in 5 years.

Who to Watch: For Fresno State, Ryan Matthews, who rushed for 100+ yards in all but one of the games he played in. For Wyoming, it’s anyone who is trying to stop Ryan Matthews, cause they probably won’t.

Prediction: Fresno State solidly, but I’m only putting 20 confidence points on it cause sometimes these games cause strange things.

St. Petersberg Bowl- Dec 19th
Central Florida (8-4) Vs. Rutgers (8-4)

Why Watch: To see the darlings of New Jersey in their 5th (yes, I said 5th) straight bowl, as they go on the road, again, versus George O’ Leary’s boys.

The Matchup: The boys of Rutgers wanted to make another trip to Florida for recruiting purposes, and now they got it. The season began about as bad as it could for Rutgers, losing by 32 in a national televised game, at home, to the Cincy Bearcats. The Big East was lost then and there, but the Scarlet Knights semi bounced back. They did lose two more close home games against teams that were just a little better (Pitt and West Virginia), but did win road games in the last seconds with long TD passes (at UCONN). All in all, Rutgers kinda sorta righted the ship, save for an embarrassing 18 point loss at Syracuse 3 weeks ago. UCF will basically be at home for this game, so they’ll bring the crowd. However, the only signature win on their resume this year is a 5 point win against Conf USA division winner Houston late in the season. Although, save for Miami and Texas, two top 15 teams, Central Florida either won or lost by less than a TD in all their games. UCF is winless in their previous 2 bowl games.

Who to Watch: For Rutgers, it’s Tom Savage, who had a 12-6 TD/INT ratio this year, and plays very well for a freshman, although he has freshman moments. For the Golden Knights, it’s sophomore rusher Brynn Harvey, a 1,000 yard rusher with 14 Tds.


Prediction: They have had solid wins on the road this season, so as much as I love Conference USA, I got to go with the boys from Piscataway to win another bowl game, but I’ll only put 9 confidence points on it.

R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl- Dec 20th
Southern Miss (7-5) Vs. Middle Tennessee (9-3)


Why Watch: Cause both teams are 30th and 31st respectively in the nation in offense. Plus, the Sunday Night Football game that week might be Vikings-Panthers, I think this is a solid alternative.


Matchup: The Eagles rebounded from a 3-3 start to finish 7-5, a game better than last regular season. The difference from this year and last? Um, a better defense, one that may be just a tad bit better than the team that beat Troy last year in this bowl 30-27. (The Sun Belt winner is supposed to go here, but Troy declined for another bowl). That opened the door for Middle Tennessee State. The team is only in it’s 11th year of FBS football, and is going to it’s 2nd bowl (both times because of Troy declining bowls). Middle Tennessee, who’s off coordinator is former Auburn off coordinator/scapegoat Tony Franklin, has a defense to match it’s offense, 1st in the nation in tackles for loss and 4th in the nation in sacks.

Who To Watch: Let's focus on the QB's here. For Southern Miss, it's Martevious Young, who led his team to a 4-2 record (with both losses by 14 points), late in the year, throwing for 200+ yards in 4 of those games. His counterpart is Dwight Dasher, who's thrown for 26 TD's in 09, but be careful, he has 5 multi-INT games this season, but when he's good he's good, all of Mid Ten State's wins he's led his team to 27 or more points.

Prediction: While Southern Miss has the experience, this is a Blue Raiders team from Mid Tennessee that’s won 6 straight. They’re hot, I’ll take them here, but again, too much of an unknown factor, only putting 6 points here.

Don't worry, we get a little juicier with the matchups Wed, including a fun matchup involving 2 ranked teams BEFORE Christmas. See you Wed.

I'm The Rabbi, video editor of On The Sportslines. This will be a very shortened version of the 10 things that happened in the NFL this week, with a new and full list to come next Monday:

10 Things To Happen Thanksgiving Day Weekend

10. The NFL's Thanksgiving Day games being the biggest bore we have seen in a long while. All 3 games were un-competitive, and the one that should have been the closest game, the Giants and the Broncos, was actually the biggest blowout. The G-Pups 26-6 loss in Denver puts them on life support going into week 13, and the Dallas Cowboys can not only go to 9-3 on the season with a win in NY, but pull the plug on the Giants as well.

9. Whether it's the fact that Jason Campbell is still a good QB (ha) or something else, you can never count the Redskins out. For the second straight week they lose by a field goal or less on the road, this time against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles keep pace with the Dallas Cowboys, and barring any hitches, the two will meet on the final week of the season in Dallas with the NFC East probably on the line.

8. Despite almost 200 yards for Larry Johnson and Bernard Scott, the Cincinnati Bengals prove themselves to be the worst when it comes to facing the worst. The Bengals only beat their in state rivals by 12 points in their two meeting this season, and their three losses make you collectively shake your head. Home to Denver in Week 1 (Denver may not win another road game rest of the year), the loss at Home to Houston Week 6, and the Oakland loss 9 days ago. Detroit's next...watch out!

7. Jacksonville: Bad team that seems good. The Jaguars have been outscored 92-20 in their 3 losses versus the NFC West (ARI at home and the two road games at SEA and SF), and beat a one win Rams team by 3...at home...in overtime. They beat the Titans by 20 at home...and then lose to them by 17 4 weeks later on the road. Their winning record may be a product of a bad schedule.

6. Miami: Good team that seems bad. Sunday was their worst loss of the season, losing by 17 on the road in Buffalo. But A) they never win there and B) the score was tied in the 4th. The Dolphins, despite playing the AFC's Big 3 (NE, IND, SD), have been in almost every game. However, as is in a lot of cases, the year after a team has unexpected success, it gets balanced out with unexpected disappointment.

5. Young-Leinart II ends with Vince Young on top again. The now regular Titans QB took on the backup Cardinal QB in a great one. Leinart wasn't too bad with 220 yards and a steady game that kept his team in till the final gun. Yes, the final gun, when Vince Young would make the last play of the game finding a leaping Kenny Britt (From: Uh, Rutgers), for the game winning TD. VY had a career day, throwing for 389 yards, engineering a 99 yard drive in 2:30 minutes for the win, and oh yeah, winning his 9th straight start. The move that owner Bud Adams demanded earlier should have been done a while ago. At least the Titans, and maybe the Cards too, have solved their QB situation for beyond.

4. Houston sees their season tumble in just three weeks. In three straight divisional games, they have had the lead going into the 4th quarter, and ended up the 4th without the lead and without the W. This one hurts even more than the two games that they lost with Kris Bron FGs cause the Texans had the colts dead to rights in the first half. Up by 17 at one point in the half, up by 13 at halves end. Didn't matter. The Colts continue their winning streak with a 28 point second half, and now the streak is at 20 regular season games, and can tie the streak for longest regular season winning streak this Sunday versus Tennessee, winners of 5 straight.

3. No Ben, no problem! The Steelers and Ravens play another classic thanks to the mastery of one Steeler QB Dennis Dixon, owner of one NFL pass before the game, and Ray Rice, who has taken over the Darren Sproles memorial "Fastest Little Man in the NFL" role with a monster game of 150 All Purpose yards. Yet it was one bad play off of Dixon's hands that cost them the game. Paul Kruger of the Ravens caught that errand Dixon pass, and immediately put his team in FG range. The Ravens finally got one over Pittsburgh, made sure the Steelers didn't get a win without Big Ben, and now the Ravens and Steelers are in 6-5 mediocrity misery together.

2. Who is this team? The Patriots went to 1-4 on the road Monday, with a combination of Drew Brees lighting the secondary up like we're in Rockefeller Center, and the New England Patriots offensive game, becoming offensive in the 2nd half. Only letting Randy Moss get 3 catches, forcing Brady into 2 INT's and making the Patriots try to win the game on the ground? For a banged up Saints secondary, that's the answer to 11-0. Now the Patriots try to regain that late season magic, or their playoff appearance this year might me as meaningless as they thought this game was.

1. Speaking of the Saints, here's a way to keep pressure on an undefeated team: make them have to play for something till the end. The Saints are 11-0, the Vikings are 10-1. They may not lose again this season. For all the talk all the time on should teams put the pedal to the medal for the immortality of pulling a 72 Dolphins, look at it this way: the Saints have to. Just one loss by the Saints, and they will not be controlling their destiny anymore when it comes to home field advantage. What do they want for a possible NFC Title Game on Jan 24th? The friendly confines of the Superdome, or the even louder confines that are not so friendly of the team being helmed by Brett Favre? Thought so. See you next week.

I'm The Rabbi, editor of On The Sportslines, welcome to your Week 11 Football Recap.
OK, I know you're sick of it, and I am too. So here my friends is the last definitive word on the Patriots 4th and 2-gate you've been hearing all week in their loss to the Colts. Was the decision stupid? Of course it was! No team in it's right mind would go for it unless they had the cockiness of Bill Bellicheck. But PLEASE remember two things:

1. That drive was doomed from the beginning when Bill had to take a timeout so NE wouldn't be called for too many men on the field. Seriously Bill, couldn't you have been more careful or had just taken the penalty so you had the timeout in your back pocket?

2. New England called timeout before the 4th and 2 play and Indy called timeout to make sure they kept the 2 minute warning. I think Indy outsmarted New England more than New England outsmarted themselves on that final drive.

Now the numbers said that New England had a better chance of going for it than they did in punting. All I got to say is this...ARE THEY NUTS? Since when did numbers mean the world in football. We all saw how World Series manager Joe Girardi got killed for that in the ALCS in baseball cause he took out a hot reliever for a better matchup. Maybe the media wants to see the good in the dumb decision Old billy made. Which leads us to this....

TEN THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEKEND IN FOOTBALL- THE GOOD/BAD EDITION...OR IS IT THE BAD/GOOD EDITION?

1. Good: Playoff games for all BCS Conferences.

For those who like playoffs, listen up. By virtue of their 44-41 OT win against Arizona Saturday night, Oregon will now host Oregon St a week from Thursday with a Rose Bowl bid on the line to the winner. Add that to what we will see December 5th when Pitt hosts Cincinnatti for a BCS auto bid plus what the Big 10 had 9 days ago when Ohio St and Iowa played for the Rose Bowl. Yup, all 6 BCS conferences, one way or another have conference title games this year. The bad: the Big 10, Pac 10, and Big East couldn't get their "title" games sponsored. Oh well.

2. Bad: Possible blowouts in 2 conference title games.

In the ACC, Georgia Tech will face Clemson. Tech hasn't lost a single game since they lost in September at Miami. Clemson hasn't lost in their last 6. In the Big 12, Texas will be an overwhelming favorite versus Nebraska. 7 out of 9 times this decade the Big 12 title game has been decided by 2 TD's or more, with the favorite winning all but once (good for Texas). However the good is that both the Huskers and the Tigers have nothing to lose, so expect them to go down...with a fight. Good: As for that "other" Title game in the SEC, we will preview that on its own next week, along with a requiem for Mr. Charlie Weis.

3. Good: San Diego looks like a Super Bowl team.

Since losing week 6 to Denver, the San Diego Chargers looked like a much different team. 5 straight has brought them up to 7-3 after a 32-3 win yesterday over Denver, and now this team is in a great position to get the 2 seed in conference. Ladanian Tomlinson is not dead yet, with another TD yesterday (and how bout fullback Mike Tolbert getting 50+ yards of his own!), Phillip Rivers is one of the steadiest QBs in the league, and all of a sudden the competiton of the Chargers (mainly Denver) has folded like a cheap suit. Bad: Norv will be very paranoid on when the collapse will actually come.

4. Bad: The Cleveland Browns blow a 3 TD lead, go to 1-8.

All thanks to the efforts of one Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions...oh and a big time pass interference call late. Stafford threw for 5 TD's and 422 yards, and thanks to that 5th and final- untimed- last play of the game, the Lions have 2 more wins than their fans expected in 2009. Oh and Stafford has had what is a typical rookie season, 4 games with QB ratings over 74, and 4 games with a QB rating under 60. Good: Cause of what happened at the end, people actually realize the two teams played yesterday.

5. Good: The New York Jets know what type of rookie they have.

Answer: a bad one when he's good he's real good, when he's bad he's real bad. Yesterday's 31-14 loss against the Patriots can go up there with his loss against the Bills for worst game by Mark Sanchez in his 10 game career. He went 8-21 for 136 yards, and esentially gave the Patriots 17 points because of his turnover (the 3rd time you can say he was the most major part in a loss this year, the New Orleans game in Week 4 the other). Mark needs to keep the turnovers down, he's up to 16 now, or an average of other an INT and a half per game. Bad: Especially for Jets fans, Kellen Clemens may get one more start as a Jet QB if this keeps up.

6. Bad: Jay Cutler. Oy.

The Bears starting QB's INT number is 18, with just one that gave the game to the Philadelphia Eagles the win last night 24-20. But it's not just that. Just look at Jay Cutler's numbers: 24-43, 171 yards. Not only is Jay Cutler's not accurate, he's scared and more off than ever. Three times in last night's game, he missed wide open WR's for TD's. I honestly think both Cutler and Sanchez are more harm than good right now and would honestly both deserve a benching. The Eagles played solid, but not 100%, and it still was enough. Good: Next year's #1 dra...oh. Um, the chance that they can still make....help me out here?

7. Good: The Giants are off the schnide.

And you can thank Eli Manning for every bit of it. He passed for 391 yards, through 2 TDs to his primary red zone target Kevin Boss, and had 4 WR's with over 60 yards recieving. In the 34-31 OT win over the Falcons, Eli looked as sharp as he ever did. Take away the 3 game stretch in October (NO-ARI-PHI), and Eli has done a lot to cover his teams non existent running game (only 88 yards, and now Brandon Jacobs is injured) this season. Bad: the defense gave up a 2 TD lead late against a soild passing team. Not good when you have a stretch at DEN and hosting DAL and PHI up. The defense can't do this again.

8. Bad: The Cowboys and the #7 go together well.

That's for the number of points they've scored in the last 2 weeks. However, this time it was good enough for a 7-6 win over the Redskins. While the fact that Tony Romo got it together in the 4th, this time the lack of a rushing game for Washington was as important here. It allowed the Skin offense to be too predictable, and let Romo develop throughout the game. You know what they say, a win is a win is a win. Good: 7 also equals the number of wins for Dallas AND they host the 3 win Raiders next week. Wait, 3 win Raiders? More on that in a moment.

9. Good: Everything is even keel in the AFC North.

That's cause the Steelers and Bengals both lost yesterday. In the 20-17 loss to Oakland for the Bengals The 4th quarter issues for Cincy (giving up 10 points in the quarter and a late fumble in the game) combined with Jamarcuss Russell not screwing it up for Oakland (cant do it when you're on the bench, thank you Bruce Gradkowski), were the difference. Pittsburgh just was in a dogfight in their 30-27 OT loss (see post below for more, courtesy of Mr. Jay Kaplan), morely cause they were down from the get go thanks to the EIGHTH GAME IN A ROW where Pitt let up a special teams TD. Not winning you many games there. Bad: Chances for a 2 seed (thanks to San Diego and Wild Card (thanks to 6-4 Jacksonville) less certain after yesterday.

10. Bad: The Colts Were ugly yesterday.

Let's just get this out of the way now: Good: THEY WON! The Colts 17-15 win over the Ravens yesterday shows that winning ugly is not a bad thing at all. 2 INT's, 1 Fumble? No problem! Not when the competiton was playing down (since the bye the Ravens offense has gone back into a sort of shell). And the defense was playing up (playing the same bend but not break D we've seen for a while now), Along with the Saints wining yesterday,we now enter post Thanksgiving with TWO 10-0 teams, when at this time last season we had none. The toughest challenges might be in the way for both next week, with the Saints hosting that last 16-0 team, the Pats, and the Colts going on the road to play a team they almost lost to at home, the Texans.

See you next sunday night, and happy Turkey Day to all!

THE FRUSTRATION OF BEING A STEELER FAN

Jay from "On The Sportslines" here. Those of you who know me or regularly watch the show know that I am a DIE-HARD Pittsburgh Steeler fan. What you may not know, unless you too are a Steeler fan, is just how frustrating that can be.

Now I know you're looking at me the same way my boy AP does when I say that. AP is a LOOOOOOOONG suffering Cleveland Browns fan, so he can't fathom that a fan of the team with the most Lombardi trophies would have anything to complain about. As he so often reminds me, "Dude, at least your team WINS."

Yes, the Black and Gold do win. Only the Patriots and Colts have more regular season wins in this decade coming into the season. Only the Patriots have more playoff wins and Super Bowls wins this decade than the Steelers.

When you root for a team that ALWAYS loses, you get numb to it. AP's passion for the Browns is no less than mine for the Steelers, but he's so used them playing badly and losing that his emotional investment isn't what it used to be. A Steeler fan's emotional investment would break the Richter Scale.

Spend a day like I did today (and like I do on a decent portion of the 16 football days that the Steelers play) in a Steeler bar filled from stem to stern with rabid fans in Black and Gold and you might begin to understand.

Yes, the Steelers do win more than they lose, but they NEVER do either the easy way. They don't get blown out nor do they blow their opponents out. In their 6 wins, their average margin of victory is 10.33 points, but most of that has happened in the second half or fourth quarter which means that us fans spend anywhere from 30-45 minutes riding a roller coaster of exhilaration and frustration before we can exhale a HUGE sigh of relief.

In their 4 loses, their average margin of defeat is 3.75 points and in all of them, the Steelers were ahead or had a chance to win but lost in the fourth quarter, thus subjecting their fans to pretty much an ENTIRE game on that same roller coaster before we collectively spew forth a stream of expletive-deleted invective. Today's overtime loss on the road at Kansas City was a prime exhibit.

The Steelers allowed the opening kick-off to be returned for a touchdown (they seem to allow special teams returns for TD's every week). Coaster going down. They followed that with a dominant 17 point second quarter giving them a 10 point lead at the half. Coaster going up. The third quarter was all Chiefs. Outscoring the Steelers 10-0 largely due to a pair of Ben Roethlisberger interceptions. Coaster going down. The high of the go-ahead touchdown was followed by the low of KC once again tying the game with a TD which ultimately sent the game into OT.

The Steelers won the toss and drove down the field, but just as they reached the outer edge of Jeff Reed's FG range, they INEXPLICABLY ran a sweep that lost 2 yards, knocking them out of FG range instead of just running it straight up the middle. They then elected to punt which resulted in a touchback (does ANYONE know how to execute a Coffin Corner punt anymore?). The Steelers then did the other thing they seem to do every week: give up a HUGE pass play that leads to a score. Matt Cassel to Chris Chambers, 61 yards. One chip shot FG later and the Steelers had their second 2-game losing streak of the season.

Every time the Steelers got a big run or pass play; every time they sacked Cassel; every time they stuffed the Chiefs, the bar was in ecstasy. Every time Ben was sacked or threw a pick; every time the Steelers were unable to convert a third down; every time the Chiefs scored, the entire bar was in agony. When it was all over and the Steelers had lost, there was absolute silence. You'd have thought someone had died.

I know, I know, a lot of you reading this will have ABSOLUTELY no sympathy for me and that's fine. But don't tell me that all you long suffering Browns, Jets, Lions and Raiders fans (I know that I'm leaving some others out, my apologies for the oversight and your suffering) wouldn't sell your football souls to go through the whiplash-inducing change-on-a-dime emotional roller coaster that just flat out drains Steeler fans every week - win or lose - especially if it meant you had a better than 50-50 chance to make the playoffs practically every season.

Steelers have done a lot of winning in my lifetime, including all 6 of those Super Bowls. Cheering them on to victory has been joyous as all heaven. It's also been frustrating as all hell.

ARTISTRY IN INDY

Jay from "On The Sportslines" here. Before I get into this post, I have to give one last congratulatory missive to my BFF (aka "The Other Half of My Brain") and host of our show, Nisa Cirulnick, on her engagement. Congrats Nisa Marie (you too AP)!

Those of you who regularly watch our little television program know that I have - on occasion - invoked William Shakespeare in my closings. Ever wonder what it was like to watch his genius unfold live at the Globe Theatre in London? Or what it must have been like to actually watch Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel; or hear Beethoven's 5th the first time it was ever played?

No? Well, I did as I watched Peyton Manning and Tom Brady Sunday night. There have been other QB's in NFL history who have had great overlapping careers, but few like these two. Set the Super Bowls, MVPs, Pro Bowls and even stats aside (yes, I know, that sounds crazy coming from me) and just simply watch these two play the position.

Both the Patriots and the Colts play what I call "Fast Break Football", a phrase I first coined back when Jim Kelly and the Bills were running roughshod over the NFL back in the '90s with their "K-Gun" offense.

"Fast Break Football" is now referred to as the "Spread Offense" and is run in various forms by practically all football teams, both college and NFL. But I dare anyone to tell me (sorry Mr. Brees) that any QB runs this wide-open, high-flying, 85-yard-TD drives-in-93 seconds offense better than Brady and Manning.

When they go head to head you just know that no matter what the score is at any point in the game, somehow it will come down to whichever one of them has the ball last. These two are an ESPN "Top Plays" segment unto themselves.

Defense is irrelevant in Patriots-Colts games. Defensive Coordinators might as well take the approach to stopping Manning and Brady that opposing NBA coaches took when playing Michael Jordan in his prime: "You can't stop him, you can only HOPE to contain him". Most of the time they couldn't. Just like most of the time no defensive scheme can contain Manning or Brady.

They've had solid running games behind them and no running games behind them. They've done it with no-name WR's and with BIG NAME WR's. It just doesn't matter, Manning and Brady just carve up defenses with the skill and yes, artistry of a master craftsman plying his trade at a level others can only aspire to.

Manning, gesticulating wildly before every play, moving his chess pieces around before the snap with definite method to what seems to be madness. Brady, calm and cool, calling the cadence while looking over the defense, zeroing in on the match-up that will result in a big play.

They both threw for over 300 yards and at least 3 TDs Sunday night - okay, so I couldn't keep the stats COMPLETELY out - and it did come down to who had the ball last (I won't get into Belichick's decision to go for it on 4th down - I'll leave that to the Rabbi). This time Peyton walked away the winner in the latest chapter of this ongoing, Canton-esque duel.

An AFC Championship Game match-up is possible (which sadly will mean that somewhere along the post-season way, my Defending Super Bowl Champion Steelers were knocked out), as the 9-0 Colts and 6-3 Patriots are far and away the class of their respective divisions. AGAIN.

I feel sorry for the NFC Champion. I highly doubt that they will be able to provide the winner of Manning- Brady, 2009 Part Deux (and the rest of us) with the same high drama and QB artistry in the Super Bowl.

Thus I'm hoping that the New Orleans Saints do manage to come marching into Miami on February 7, 2010. Drew Brees is the only other QB who has a chance to match Manning or Brady throw for throw, TD for TD. Patriots-Saints or Colts-Saints could be a very entertaining game, but for this former QB, nothing in the NFL right now tops Patriots-Colts, or more to the point, Brady-Manning.

Artistry, thy name is Quarterback. Quarterback, thy name is Manning or Brady. All others are mere mortals.