What a Month

March was the month of the sports gods. The heart of the NBA season, baseballs spring training, the MLS adding two new teams, and a sprinkling of the NFL helps make March one of the best months for sports fans.

The NFL created a frenzy of free agency by moving the NFL scouting combine up to late February, and moving the NFL draft up to late April kick starting trades and signings almost every hour.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/

Jacksonville started spending money by signing former Broncos Tight End Julius Thomas and Defensive Tackle Jared Odrick for a total of $46 million in guaranteed money.

And then Miami stepped in to outspend their instate rival Jaguars by signing star free agent Ndamukong Suh to a six year - $114 million dollar contract where he will make $26.5 million of it in 2015.

The Jets brought back Cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Darelle Revis for big money. Philly made waves by letting star free agent receiver Jeremy Maclin go to Kansas City to reunite with head coach Andy Reid, signing star cornerback Byron Maxwell to a $63 million deal, and trading quarterback Nick Foles to the Rams for the ACL-less Sam Bradford.

That strange trade started an uproar questioning whether Eagles coach Chip Kelly actually knows what he's doing.

Then running back DeMarco Murray signed with the Eagles partially thanks to the recruiting of Bradford to come join him in the city of brotherly love, to much of the Eagles fans confusion.

And let's not forget, Kelly traded star running back LeSean McCoy to the Bills for young linebacker Kiko Alonso.

The MLS's two new teams, New York City FC and Orlando SC kicked off their first seasons to a 1-1 draw in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. New York City FC followed up the draw with a 2-1 win against the New England Revolution on their new home turf, Yankee Stadium.

MLB spring training is in full swing (pun intended), with all teams getting ready for opening day in mid April. Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Yasiel Puig all planning to take their teams to the playoffs again.

And finally the NBA is heating up with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cavs making a late push for the top seed in the east making top 10 plays nearly every game, along with the Golden State Warriors likely coasting into the top spot in the west.

Follow me @BSzabo24 and Matt at @Coochigross on Twitter. And check back regularly for more coverage of all the hottest in sports.

Old School vs. New School

Often, in games of importance, we find Older Brother vs Little Brother. The experienced veteran vs the kid fresh out of college.

Super Bowl XLIX will be the same case. Hopefully a more exciting championship game than last years sad excuse of an athletic competition. But, in many ways this is a sad final game of the season.

We are now nearing the end of Tom Brady's career, and a legacy that will likely retire along with him. Brady, now in his 15th season behind center, at age 37, will likely be calling it quits soon. And with an unproven Jimmy Garoppolo to follow in his footsteps, Patriot fans shouldn't have much to look forward too.

Yet, Seattle has everything to look forward too. They have the seventh youngest team as of the 2014 cut day. They have a young QB with all the fundamentals along with his brilliant decision-making while passing and running the ball (Russell Wilson also ran for 849 yards and six touchdowns). And arguably the best fans in the NFL with the 12th man.

The battle of "Time to rebuild" against "Everything to look forward too."

Tom Brady while towards the end of his career put up 4,109 yards and 33 touchdowns and nine interceptions with, lets be honest, below average receivers. But Peyton Manning has shown us that great play will come to an end.

Russell Wilson had another phenomenal regular season with 3,475 yards, 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He helped keep the Seahawks consistent throughout the season by using his both his feet and allowing Marshawn Lynch to use his as well to lead the league as a team in rushing yards per game with 172.

Both have a few things in common as well; Brady and Wilson both attended Big Ten schools (Michigan and Wisconsin respectively), both were drafted by MLB teams, Brady by the now defunct Montreal Expos, and Wilson by both the Rockies and Rangers. Wilson can also have his second Super Bowl in his third season.

If Brady can still escape from the pocket and accurately deliver the ball deep downfield to his mish-mosh of receivers like Shane Vereen, Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman and Gronk, then he might have a successful last few years in the NFL.

When Brady leaves, Wilson will likely be in his prime. If Pete Carroll sticks around and can keep dialing up plays for one of the most athletic quarterbacks in the NFL Wilson might make it six championships just like Brady. Wilson, with a win in Super Bowl XLIX, can be the face of the NFL.

Enjoy the game today everyone, and someone please give Tom Brady a high-five after they win tonight please.

Follow me @BSzabo24 and Matt at @Coochigross on Twitter. And check back regularly for more coverage of all the hottest sports.

NFL Championship Weekend: Analysis and Predictions

With this frigid January weather comes nothing else but the NFL Championship weekend. At 3:05 PM ET the Seattle Seahawks will play host to the Green Bay Packers, and the wind will be roaring just as load as the “12^th Man.”

The wind is expected to be blowing at speeds no less than 15 miles per hour at game time, with a ceiling of 21 miles per hour. It will be a tough day for kickers and quarterbacks, and that plays into Seattle’s hand. In addition to that wind, the rain is coming down fast and hard at CenturyLink Field.

After last week’s win against Dallas, Aaron Rodgers was quoted saying that he thinks he only has 120 minutes left in him. His hobbled calf is the reason for him saying that, but he isn’t shying away from anyone.

Everyone knows that he can’t move like he normally does, and because of that he isn’t nearly as effective. Like Dallas, Seattle is going to try and make him throw the ball. They take pride in their run defense, and their 3rd ranked front 7 will do everything in their power to stifle the Packers ground game.

Packers head coach Mike McCarthy will need some creative run schemes to break through into Seattle’s secondary. With the intense wind, moving the ball through the air will be difficult as it is, and with the NFL’s best secondary on the other side, it just magnifies Green Bay’s problem.

When Rodgers drops back, he needs to send Eddie Lacy, John Kuhn or James Starks into the flat. Also, he’ll have to keep Lacy or Kuhn on his blindside. Rodger’s calf injury needs extra protecting, and I expect that will be John Kuhn’s primary assignment.

Kuhn is the x-factor for Green Bay today; he needs to be able to do it all. Lead blocking for Lacy and Starks is his first task, but he has more to do. Kuhn is an excellent blocker, and he’ll be in the backfield on the majority of Rodgers’ drop backs to help protect his blindside.

Also expect to see Kuhn in a lot of short yardage situations, both pass and run. He’ll be in to generate a push over the line of scrimmage, whether he gets the ball or not. He’ll also be sent to the flat to pick up short yardage, and that can be on every down. Kuhn is vital to Green Bay’s offensive success every week, but look for him even more today.

But offense isn’t the only issue for Green Bay. They need to figure out how to contain Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson. In Seattle’s 36-16 week 1 beat down of the Pack, Lynch totaled 124 yards and two scores, while Wilson totaled 220 yards and threw for 2 touchdowns.

Seattle dominated every aspect of the game and experts don’t think Green Bay has the necessary personnel to match Seattle’s firepower. Russell Wilson gets it done with one of the weakest receiving cores in the NFL, if not the weakest, and 2 backup tight ends.

Stacking up both sides, Seattle has a clear-cut advantage.

Position	Green Bay	Seattle
Quarterback		Advantage
Running Back		Advantage
Wide Receiver	Advantage
Tight Ends	Neutral	Neutral
Defensive Line		Advantage
Linebackers		Advantage
Defensive Backs		Advantage
Special Teams		Advantage

Seattle is just too good. They have proven themselves time and time again this year, and are playing with more fire than ever. Most people agree that Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas are the two best safeties in the NFL, with Richard Sherman being the best cornerback. With an injured Aaron Rodgers, it’s tough to see the Packers escaping with a win. But with Rodgers’ new pre-snap call, “New York Bozo,” anything is possible. After all, people are calling it the new “Omaha.”

But despite that, Seattle will win the NFC Championship game, and advance to their second straight Super Bowl.

The AFC Title game is a lot more up in the air than the NFC. The Indianapolis Colts will be visiting the New England Patriots on this rainy New England Sunday. Unfortunately for these two teams, they will not escape the rain. There’s a 90 percent chance of precipitation until tomorrow morning, and with the 12 miles per hour wind gusts, this game may also be decided on the ground.

Depending on how muddy the field is, and how hard the rain falls, passing the football may be removed from the game plan. Nobody wants to see a low-scoring, muddy affair to decide who goes to the Super Bowl, but it might be that way.

When these teams go to the pass, they’ll need to use 2-RB sets. One will stay in and block, and the other will release into the flat. Or, both backs will release into the flat. Check downs are the huge source of yardage in rainy/windy games, and I would expect nothing less from Brady and Luck today.

The keys to victory for both sides are dependent on the weather, because both teams are pass-heavy. But the advantage goes to New England, and their x-factor in Shane Vereen.

It’s incredibly difficult for anybody to predict what Patriot running backs will do, but Vereen needs to perform. He excels in the flat, and it cannot be stressed enough: the flat is the key to victory today. The reason the Pats have the advantage is because they have the better backfield. Vereen, LeGarrette Blount and Julian Edelman can and will be utilized.

On the other hand, the Colts really only have youngster Dan Herron. Trent Richardson is out with a family emergency, and that leaves the little-known rookie Zurlon Tipton to fill in as the backup running back. The Colts don’t have a good backfield, and Luck will be forced to carry these Colts to the finish line today.

The Patriots are the favorite here, but if the weather isn’t too formidable, Luck has what it takes to pull off the upset.

Taking the weather into account, and the actives and the inactives, Tom Brady and his Patriots will make it back to the Super Bowl for the 6th time in the Brady-Belichick era.

Rules in the NFL: Do they penalize the player? Or the game?

The more I watch the NFL, the less football I see. The defensive holding, the pass interference, the roughing the passer and “completing the process” are not football. This is a prominent issue in the NFL, and it needs to be addresses as soon as possible.

This year, the NFL implemented stricter penalties on the defense. It’s all designed to help wide receivers, and it’s unnecessary. There’s a lot of discretion to be used on these calls, and therefore people have lost track of what the rule is.

The referees have been overly energetic this year, particularly in the secondary. Every Sunday, yellow flags would light up the sky. Those same yellow flags drew lots of confusion, but a second look revealed the "penalty."

The replay pops up, and it would show a defensive back brush a wide receiver with his hand or forearm on, say, a crossing route, and the official tosses a flag. It didn't impede the receiver's progress at all, and ultimately had no affect on the play. But more often than not these flags come on third down. There were too many defensive holding calls (5 yards and an automatic first down) extend drives that should have been stopped.

There's a table closer to the bottom of this article, so if you keep reading you'll see just what I mean by referring to the officials as "overly energetic."

This was a call that one of the aforementioned officials made. Keenan Allen was flagged on this play for offensive pass interference. This is the same kind of "contact" that defenders have been flagged for all year.

Now back to defensive holding... A lot of people seem to not know the entirety of the rule, but that's because it's true definition has been lost over the years. But Sportingcharts.com explains it well (To visit their page click here).

"Defense players need to be physical with their opponents, and legally they can. There is a 5 yard area from the line of scrimmage where a defensive player can legally use his hands on an opposing player, but outside of that five-yard mark, if a player holds his opponent, the defense will be assessed a 5 yard penalty and an automatic first down. 

Defensive players are only allowed to use their hands outside the 5 yard zone to protect themselves from "impeding contact" coming from a receiver.

If a pass is deflected or batted down then it's free for defensive players to hold, use their hands/arms, etc."

This defensive "holding" call had an enormous impact on the NFL this year, and most fans and players are of the mindset that it cannot be allowed to continue. Wide receivers already have a huge advantage... They know where they are headed, and the defensive backs do not. That makes it incredibly difficult on the defensive back, and penalties like this prevent them from even touching receivers downfield. It's just overkill.

In an interview with ESPN's Greg Garber, the once star-cornerback for the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles, Nnamdi Asomugha, shared his thoughts on the matter. "It's like an all-star game now. Fans want to see points. The higher-ups know that, and make life a lot harder on us. I think -- I don't think, I know -- the cornerback position is the most difficult to play in all of sports."

It's hard to compare positions from different sports, especially individually sports, but a lot of people have said that cornerback is the toughest position in football.

But he is right about one thing; the rules need to change. The scoring averages per game amongst the whole NFL are the highest since 1965, when there were just 14 teams. The main reason for this are these strict calls refs are being forced to make.

And speaking of strict calls, have you guys seen the roughing the passer penalties this year? It’s easier to play Jenga blindfolded than it is to hit a quarterback without being flagged.

The worst, and most pathetic rule to protect a quarterback is that a quarterback can never be hit in the head. No matter how they’re head is hit, or how hard they are it, whether incidental or on purpose, it is a crisp 15-yard penalty. For example, J.J. Watt was rushing Andrew Luck earlier this year. The Colts had the ball in Houston territory, and on a critical 3rd and long Watt was flagged for roughing the passer. He was a few yards away from Luck when the ball was released. Watt leaped forwards, swatted the pass, and his momentum and follow-through caused him to brush the side of Luck’s helmet. The Colts got the first down, scored on that possession, and later won the game.

This scenario is just one of many in which the quarterbacks head played too great a role in a game. But another scenario that is just as bad is the “Brady rule.” It’s another 15-yarder for illegally hitting the quarterback, but this one is for contact below the knees. Just because a tackle below the knees hurt Brady, no one can touch a quarterback below the knees or the flag is flying.

So the only place to hit a quarterback is his midsection. But you have to be careful! If you hit him too hard, it can be considered pile driving the quarterback, which, you guessed it, goes for 15 yards. If you slam the quarterback to the ground: 15 yards. If you lead with your head, it goes for 15 yards.

So you see what I mean?

Here’s a chart to show the penalties called in the entire NFL since 2006. These obviously aren’t all of them, but they are the ones that are facing the most objections from the fans and players.

(Click here for the full website and list of penalties).

Year	Total Number of Penalties	Defensive Holding	Illegal Contact	Roughing the Passer
2006	3046	261	82	102
2007	2930	226	79	60
2008	2867	234	72	58
2009	3031	251	85	67
2010	3100	258	68	86
2011	3288	281	68	100
2012	3213	304	62	93
2013	3135	313	37	89
2014	3386	386	102	98

Things started to take a turn for the worst in 2009, after the “Brady rule” was implemented. Roughing the passer shot way up because of that, and because the numbers haven’t gone down, it shows that the refs are allowed too much discretion, and the defenders aren’t allowed enough leeway when tackling the quarterback.

But the defensive holding calls… It’s unbelievable. The number of times it’s been called has seen a significant rise every year except 2006-07. But none of it, comes close to the abomination of this year’s officiating. 386 defensive holding calls?! That’s 73 more than last year, and that doesn’t even include all the times that it was offset by an offensive penalty, and the times it wasn’t accepted because the catch was made anyways. If you factor all of that in, the number is closer to 450.

And the Illegal Contact penalty saw a dip every year since 2009, until it reached an all-time low, 37 flags in 2013. But wait! It was called an all-time high, 102 times this season, an increase of 65 flags thrown! These numbers speak for themselves, and in my mind, it all boils down to the same thing: Roger Goodell needs to go.

Youtube user Brian Tuohy made a compilation of NFL calls in 2013, and threw in different headlines that expresses the current state of NFL officiating, and the rulebook itself. To check out his video click here. Even though it's all from last year, it's still applicable in most aspects as to what's happening this year.

Bottomline: penalties have too much of an impact on the game of football. Respected NFL Insider Adam Schefter said it perfectly yesterday in a tweet.

“Never good when a rule, not a player, helps decide the game."

And he couldn’t be more accurate.