Packers and the Patriots

In a major week 13 game that many are calling a "Superbowl preview" the packers take an impressive win over the Patriots in Lambeau field with a final score 26-21. The Packers improve to 6-0 at home for the season



A critical aspect of this games was Green Bay's ability to stop New England on defense. The Packers where able to play a strong man coverage which was surprisingly able to limit Gronkowski's activity for the day.

On the other side of the ball, Rodgers was another key to this game for the Packers on offence. Rodgers had no turnovers in this game, with two touchdowns and over 300+ yards. apart from having phenomenal individual stats for the game, Rodgers also did an exceptional job at reading New England's offence. Rodgers was able to escape the Patriot's defensive line, and also being active in the pocket and taking off for first downs when his receivers are fully covered.


This game could really have gone either way, as Tom Brady threw a perfect TD that was dropped by the receiver that would've been the game winning score with only a little more than two minutes left in the game.

Tony Romo and the Cowboys

Suffering their latest loss on Thanksgiving day to the Eagles, Romo and the Cowboys have been bumped back down to the wildcard hunt in order to make the playoffs. The Eagles dominated the game on both sides of the ball, outscoring and limiting Romo to a score of 33-10.

The Dallas Cowboys have been known to  struggle in the month of December, the most critical part of the season. December is the time in the season where the playoff picture is pretty clear, and the Cowboys have always slowed down during this month, giving their rivals the opportunity for the division. The 'boys have three straight home losses currently, and have 3-4 record at home so far this season. It is perhaps in their benefit to have 3 out of 4  away games as the season whines down.

Tony Romo

Despite serious injuries, Romo plays every week, and needs all the time he can get in between games to rest his body and prepare for every game. Tony Romo did not play his best on Thanksgiving day against Philadelphia, not to take anything away from the Eagle's defense, but also due to the fact that it was a short week to rest. Romo had just finished beating the New York Giants just 4 days earlier, and did not practice on those days due to the fractures in his back.  This week, the Cowboys are back on a normal practice schedule, and will play the Chicago Bears on Thursday night football.

Dallas is 5-0 on the road this year, and will need that momentum as they head to Chicago to play a bears team that crushed them last season. the rest of the season for the Cowboys doesnt get too much better as they head to  Philly to try to redeem themselves against the Eagles, hosting the red hot Colts, then heading to Washington DC to face Colt Mccoy and the Redskins, a team that bested them earlier this season by a slim margin.

Cardinals Seahawks, Patriots Lions

Fitzgerald sprains MCL but remains hopeful to play against Seattle this Sunday. The Arizona Cardinals have the best record in the NFL, first place in the NFC West division and have a comfortable 3 game advantage on their Sunday rival Seattle for the division. The Cardinals are 9-1 going confidently into CenturyLink Field home of the defending champions. The Key for the Seahawks will be making Arizona's offense one dimensional. Arizona is a known passing team, making it Seattle's goal to limit the run, tighten up on their defenders and make the Cards force a few interceptions and limit their scoring like they did against the Lions in week 11.



The Detroit Lions seek their best 11 game streak (7-3), as their 4-game win streak was ended in Arizona the week before, but will have to go through Rob Gronkowski this Sunday who has six TD's in the last five games to do so. Very few defenders in the NFL are able to limit Gronkowski, especially in the Redzone. During the Patriot's 6-game winning streak, Gronk has caught 40 passes, for 587 yards and six touchdowns. This will be a tough football games for the Lions, but another key to this game will be on the Offensive/Defensive line. Along with trying to stop the unstoppable Gronkowski, the Lion's second and equally as daunting task is to intensify their D line and putting as much pressure on Brady as possible.

Cavaliers vs Wizards in DC 11/21/14

 


The Cavaliers face Wizards in DC tonight for an anticipated and hyped game by the giant picture of James in the Washington Post. James and the Cavs are off to a slow start this season, mirroring James's start in Miami with the Heat in his first season. ESPN announcers say that James could just be "following the formula" as we all know nothing in the NBA can be considered overnight success. The Cavs are 5-5. if the Cavs lose tonight it would be the first time a LeBron team would be under .500 to start the season since '07-'08 season.



On the other hand, the eastern conference rival the Washington Wizards have gone off to a good start at 7-3, the best 10 game start in 40 years that lead to the playoffs and a playoff loss against the Golden State Warriors. The first thing John Wall said to the media at the Verizon center is "man tonight must be a big game", due to all of the controversy with an in-division rival that is expected to go further, but has not performed to the level that Washington has. Cleveland is expected to go succeed mostly because of LeBron James, but also because of its other big 2 stars, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. Personally, I don't think the Cavs' defense is ready for some of the big games in the season, not to mention the post-season, and will get rolled over by the high performing teams in the West. Tonight's game can be described as the up and coming Washington Wizards against the "reconstituted" Cleveland Cavaliers.

 With all of this on the Cavaliers how can they still be favorited to win the east and go far in the playoffs?

Bradley Beal has rejoined the team back from a left wrist injury. Players say he is back and not limited in any capacity, he lead scores with 21 points and 3 assists against the Mavericks in their previous game, but the challenge will be reincorporating him into the flow in the line up.


 

Washington Wizards: Off to a Great Start

With nine games into the season, the Washington Wizards seemed to be prepared to pick up where they left off last season with an impressive run in the playoffs. The Wizards are currently 7-2, and have only lost to 2 of the best teams in the league so far, the Heat and the Raptors.

Part of the Wizards' success comes from having a productive off-season, and acquiring talent that will give the Wizards addition support throughout the season. Two big names that bring attention to the new roster: Paul Pierce and Kris Humphries. Humphries is a seasoned forward that has just undergone surgery in his small and ring finger after lacerating it on a game against Chicago on 10/6. Humphries has missed a few weeks from this result but will be back in action soon. Pierce on the other hand, brings a plethora of experience to the team, being that it is his 17th season in the NBA. He is edging toward the end of his career, and hopefully it will be worth the 2-year deal the Wizards made with him in July of 2014. At 37 years old, Pierce is still aiming for success in Washington, and gives the fans the privilege of seeing him finish at his best for our home team.

Washington Redskins: Playing Terrible Football

Today's TakeDown will feature the Washington Redskins and how their plans for the 2014-15 season have not really panned out so far. This blog post is dedicated to all the 'skins fans who are blind with optimism at the beginning of each season, and then make excuses for them at the end of every disappointing season.

Big Names Don't Help

The Redskins (as usual), are playing terrible football and losing to teams they can and SHOULD be beating (Giants, Vikings, Buccaneers). The Redskins organization fascinates me in the sense that it has not accepted losing as the norm, and has utilized considerable resources to bring in star talent and new coaching every few seasons as needed, but it never seems to help much. This is the one reoccurring pattern that I keep seeing with the Redskins. A new big name is brought in, fans get really excited and think "this is it, the redskins will be good this season", and never seems to work out. Names like McNabb, Haynesworth, Joe Gibbs, Mike Shanahan, Pierre Garcon, RGIII,  and DeSean Jackson have been among those who have brought hope to the team in recent years but have not led to any long term success.

Redskins' Brief Success

To be fair, the Redskins have had a glimmer of success in recent memory. After drafting rookie RGIII in the 2012 season, the Redskins went on to win the NFC East division game against the Dallas Cowboys to advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Washington lost against the wild card contender Seattle Seahawks at home with a score of 24-14.

With all things considered the Redskins DO have the potential to make some serious noise in their division and do have a very good roster to work with. For starters, they have some of the best RB's in the league in Alfred Morris and Roy Helu. Going back to the 2012 season for the 'skins, Morris' 1,613 yards accounted for 90% of the Redskin's total yards for that magnificent season. Kerrigan is quickly making his name for himself with 9 sacks in the season, and Jackson remains on the top 10 list for best receivers in the league. RGIII is questionable at best, and still is a source of criticism, but on certain days he does add tremendous value to the team.

 Future Failure?

Who knows what the answer will be to get the Redskins to play at the level they should be at, my opinion is that the players are not to blame collectively, but perhaps coaching staff is at fault. This is still Jay Gruden's first season with the Redskins so let's give him the benefit of the doubt that he is still evaluating the team's strengths and weaknesses. The Redskins definitely have the talent to be a great team, but it is their in-game strategies, play calling, and Quarterback leadership that have to change to in order to be successful. Who knows if this will ever happen, but the Redskin's games are fun to watch regardless of what side you're on.

Browns at Bengals

 Andy Dalton's Performance was not very impressive on Thursday night to say the lease. the browns also did a good job working as a team and not focusing on individual performance. Andy Dalton continues to disappoint in Cincinnati, many speculate that he does not have what it takes to be a dominant QB in the NFL. His performance in the playoffs last season was the source of all of all the doubt associated with him, and his inability to win clutch games. This inexperience was apparent on Thursday night's game as the Bengals led by supposedly one of the best QB's in the league, where embarrassed at home by division rival the Cleveland Browns. Final Score of the night was 24-3 Cleveland.

Andy Dalton

 More controversy during the off season due to his hefty contract negotiation evaluated at $96 million for 6 years. The Bengals organization would be pretty upset with themselves if Dalton's performance doesn't improve, and see themselves at the bottom of a tough AFC North division.


On the other side of the field was Brian Hoyer and the up and coming Cleveland Browns. Hoyer has been overwhelmingly good and has won 6 out of his last 8 games. So far this season he has thrown 10 TD's with only 4 interceptions for 2,212 yards, not too shabby for a backup quarterback! He is quickly gaining momentum and comfort as the starting QB for the Browns and some say he has a better chance than Manziel.

 The questions the Browns have is whether or not to pull the plug on Hoyer and turn it to Manziel? Doing so might cause Hoyer to sign to another team when he could be at the prime of his career at 29 years old. Othe questions include:What kind of value is Hoyer worth, what could he bring to an NFL team if released? Can Manziel stack up to what Hoyer has done so far?

Indianapolis Pacers Hire Marketing Firm

One of the NBA's recently successful yet devastated teams, the Indianapolis pacers have hired Shamrock sports & entertainment to attract national sponsors outside of the Indianapolis market.


The Pacers did reach some level of success last season as they made the NBA playoffs, beat the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, defeated the Washington Wizards in the second, and lost to the Miami Heat in the semi-finals. For an NBA team returning from a championship run the season before, it is still disappointing to fall short after going so far the season before. Despite all the in-game success, the Indianapolis Pacers are also victims to devastating injuries to some of their starters. Their main star Paul George is expected to miss the entire season with an open tibia-fibula fracture, C.J. Watson is out of the line up with an injured right foot, David West has missed 3 games and counting because of a sprained ankle, and Rodney Stucky is the latest Pacer on the injured list because of a sore foot. With this giant list of injuries varying in severity, how does this impact the organizations sponsors? are people less interested in the Pacers with their star athlete on the shelf?

 When I think Pacer and gaining sponsorship through ads I think of the Paul George Gatorade Fierce ad where he cuts through a defender and leaps up for the slam dunk as Gatorade is seemingly coming out of him in mid air. With that image alone, if it where to air on TV now, it would just remind me how the Pacers have done well in the past few seasons, and how it is most likely all over.



According to sportsbusinessdaily.com the pacers have 130 sponsors when the average NBA team has about 75-80. Shamrock and the Pacers are aiming to get more national brands in nine separate categories including foreign automotive, tires, house hold products, and home improvement. The deal these two organizations have made will last for 18 months, and the renewal will depend on Shamrock's size of clients at the the conclusion of the 18 month period. It will be interesting to see all the variables in the situation including if Shamrock can successfully gain national sponsors for the team, level of fan interest, and how far the Pacers actually get this season when everything is said and done.

The NFC East Free-for-All

After another great week of football today's TakeDown will review how the teams in the NFC East are looking at this point after week nine. The NFC East has always been an unpredictable division, and it has been known to come down to the last game in the season to decide its champion. The following will be a quick rundown of each team, their recent activity, and what inside analysts Herm Edwards and Merril Hoge believe they should do via espn.com.



Eagles (6-2 1st in NCF East) Nick Foles and the eagle had a scare against the Texans on Sunday, ans Foles went down on a hard sack fracturing his collar bone. Foles will be out indefinitely, a cracked clavicle means being out for at least one month depending on the severity of the injury. Coming in for Foles as a backup QB was former Jet Mark Sanchez.
Sanchez's offensive style is a bit quicker than Foles' at the same time it would be more beneficial to run the ball more often using Mccoy instead of relying on Sanchez  to throw the ball despite 202 yards and 2 touchdowns yesterday against Houston. Foles is set to get an MRI on Monday, and it will be interesting to see how long he will be out for, and if Sanchez can step up for the first place team in the division.

Tony Romo

Cowboys (6-3 2nd in NFC East) Romo- fractured back on Monday night against Redskins, Weeden came in but couldn't get the win against the 'skins on Monday or against the Cardinals on Sunday. They go to London to face the jags this up coming week, before having a bye the week after. The 'boys should be able to beat the jags without Romo, as they should run the ball more often. Murry is the key to winning for the Cowboys. in games he has run the ball 20+ times is 17-1.

Robert Griffin III

Redskins (3-6 4th in NFC East)- lost to vikings this past Sunday,  and remain in last place in NFC East with no sign of improving. This team has gone through a lots of distractions recently due to the constant change at the quarterback position with the overall team record at 3-6. Analysts still believe RGIII is the best option to win games, Griffin played well on Sunday despite the 29-26 loss to Minnestoa. A banged up RG3 is still better option than Colt McCoy for the Washington Redskins.

Giants (3-4 3rd in NFC East); play tonight on mnf against the Andrew Luck and the Colts. Andrew Luck is 0-2 on Monday night football games, Eli Manning and the Giants have a great opportunity to improve in the division and capitalize on other teams injuries. The Giants are 8th in total defense, but only 13 sacks in seven games. They need to get pressure on luck up front and set the pace for the rest of the game as they too face several injuries hindering Manning from taking the Giants to a better record.

NBA Season-Ticket Sales Record

Its almost time for another basketball season, and the TakeDown for today will discuss how the NBA is growing and maintaining its fan base from which players are where, to how the league is being managed.

According to Sportsbusinessdaily.com's inside analyst Terry Lefton, the NBA is set to break a new record for their season-ticket sales, due to a variety of marketing strategies.


Corporate Moves: The Executive Vice President of the NBA's marketing and operations division Amy Brooks, says that the league estimates a growth of about 50,000 new full-season tickets, giving the league a new record of over 275,000 tickets for the upcoming season. Marketing the league in such a way has also caused a season-ticket renewal rate of 80-85% for the upcoming season, the fifth consecutive season above 80%.

NBA Fantasy: FanDual is a sports fantasy company who has just made a big impact at the NBA team reaching a $2 million deal with the Orlando Magic. The New York based company has also backed a $70 million deal in new financing to influence a potential league wide deal in the sponsoring fantasy sports category. The league currently discusses the possibility for FanDual as well as competitors to land a league wide deal, as a ban from selling advertisements to league wide fantasy companies was lifted this past September.

Brazil's interest in Orlando: Orlando has been focusing their marketing strategies to Brazilian tourists who consistently travel to Orlando in the winter months. Largely due to the Disney experience, but it is interesting to see if the Magic can capitalize on the city's preexisting tourist attraction. Magic CEO Alex Martins says that the team is now working with Brazilian Management companies in order to sell to the influx of international visitors.

Magic CEO Alex Martins wants include Magic games with Disney for Brazilian visitors
Photo credit: AP IMAGES

Miscellaneous: The league's most well known player and marketing idol LeBron Jame's return to Cleveland and the rebranding of the Charlotte Hornets have also been responsible for an increase of season tickets for the '14-'15 season. Both teams are atop of the list of leaders for the leagues leaders in full-sales, but Brooks also credits the marketing success to more teams using the LinkedIn Sales navigator tool. The navigation tool helps sales it helps find more targeted leads, and gives the opportunity to sell not just in season-tickets, but suits and sponsorships. She say it is a "lead-generation tool" that gives teams a tremendous edge in using social media to boost business.

Cowboys Redskins Pregame Talk 10/27/14

Many say that there is no longer such as an intense rivalry among the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins, but if you have ever spoken to a fan on either side, you can see just how significant a game with the respective divisional rival really is. Tonight they will play in Arlington TX, as the Cowboys look to improve their record to 7-1, with a heated rivalry that players themselves say that still exists.



From espn.com's Todd Archer, Dallas' starting tight end Jason Witten has played 22 games against the Washington Redskins  and summarizes the uniqueness of playing this team specifically:

“I think anybody who comes within each of those organizations understands,” Witten said. “It’s just really hard to explain. But there’s the passion that I think you feel from the fans and both the organizations, the owners and then of course just the game, it just seems like the atmosphere and the tempo is just at a higher level.”

Jason Hatcher speaks on rivalry

Archer also includes a possible element of hate among the two rivals, more so on the side of the Redskins and Redskins fans. Recently added to the Redskin roster in the off season, Jason Hatcher says there is more hate on the Redskins side. After spending eight seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, Hatcher is experiencing the rivalry on the other side, for the first time tonight.

“I’ll tell you what; they hate Dallas more than Dallas hate us over here,” Hatcher said on a conference call Thursday leading into the "Monday Night Football" contest at AT&T Stadium. “They really hate Dallas.”

“Everywhere you go, grocery store or whatever, these guys, they’re hard-nosed fans. They know their players. It’s all you hear wherever you go, man. Facebook, Twitter, whatever you’re on, they hate Dallas. They got signs up everywhere down here. It’ll be great for the fans to experience a great Monday night game with a big rivalry. It’s great for the fans.”

To me, the rivalry is very much alive, and it is something that makes watching the game even more enjoyable (depending on who is wining) and unites fanatics to band together against the other team. having the game be on a Monday night, it adds to the suspense for who is going to win and how intense the game will be with all type of football fans watching. I wish good luck to both teams, and will definitely be tuning in with friends.