Monday Morning Mehta 9/25/06

Edition #177
September 20, 2006

http://www.mondaymorningmehta.blogspot.com/

Next week's MMM will be a Tuesday edition. Eagles/Packers review as well as the Baseball playoffs starting.

Phillies

As a part of my "I don't care about the Eagles until Nov. 26th" declaration, let's start with the Wild Card leading Phillies today.

The Phillies go an impressive 5-1 on the week to open up a half game lead in the Wild Card standings as we go into the final week of the season. How are they doing it? Answers below.

- Cole Hamels. I can't name a better pitcher in the NL since the all star break. When you have an ace, and he has been just that, things become so much easier.

- Consistent starting pitching. Jon Lieber has been solid since early August. Jamie Moyer has given stability instead of whatever that was we got from Scott Mathieson. Brett Myers has made Philadelphians forget his incident from earlier in the year. Incidentally, doesn't that seem like years ago?

- Pitching Pitching Pitching. The bullpen has been strong. I know as soon as I say this, I'll regret it, but here goes: Geoff Geary has been very good this year. Gotta give credit. Tom Gordon's return has also helped. The loss of Arthur Rhodes is also huge (Note: This is meant in a positive - we lose Arthur Rhodes and the bullpen is BETTER).

- Ryan Howard continues to come up with clutch hits. If he's not MVP I'm not the greatest sports writer in the world (or in my own mind).

- Jimmy Rollins has been doing his Mickey Mantle impersonation hitting homers from both sides of the plate. There's two guys on this list who probably expect me to retract everything bad ever written in this space about J Roll, but that's about all I can muster at this time.

- Resurgence of Chase Utley. He's looking like Utley again after a bad month. Maybe his girlfriend has something to do with it (see below).

- You can't argue with his results, but there's something about Joe Girardi's managing style I just don't like. I'm sure any coach would love to get that young talented team if the rumors are correct that he's on his way out.

The Phillies have a makeup game today against the Astros which will make up the half game difference. Every game from here on out is obviously a must win game, but the difference between being tied with 6 games left, and up 1 game in the standings is huge. (Insert Thanks Einstein here)

The Phils will face Washington and Florida on the road to end the season. The advantage I see the Phils having here is not only are these teams struggling, but the home crowd won't be a factor. It's been Halloween all year in Florida, and I would expect a ton of Phillies fans at the dump known as RFK.

Dodgers and Padres are also on the road this week. Dodgers have @ Col and @ SF while the Padres are @ StL and @ Ariz for 4.

What happens on a three way tie? The Padres/Dodgers would play a one game playoff for the division, the loser playing the Phillies on Tuesday for the wildcard. This is a crazy scenario which seems to always have a chance every year, but never does. Note: This wasn't the rule before 2004

Prediction? One game playoff vs. the Dodgers at CB Park next Monday. Phillies/Dodgers Monday at 3pm, followed by Eagles/Packers across the street at night.

Around the League

Playoff picture is set in the AL with the formalities of clinching games and seeding left. It looks like the Tigers & Twins will make the playoffs and battle for the AL Central. The Yanks and A's have the other two divisions. Home field is still up the air also.

A very disappointing last two weeks by the White Sox. A terrible stretch of games (1-7) killed any chance they have of getting into the postseason.

The worst playoff team is going to be the St. Louis Cardinals. The pitching is a mess for the most part, and their closer Jason Isringhausen is out for the season (he blew 10 saves this year but still had a decent ERA). Braden Looper is the closer right now and he's already blown his only opportunity. Astros fans, it's a pipe dream I hope the Phillies put you out of your misery today!

Anyone see the Padres win yesterday? Trevor Hoffman got the save and now holds the all time save lead. You would've thought the Padres won the World Series the way they celebrated breaking a record of a guy not even in the Hall of Fame (Lee Arthur Smith).

EAGLES

The Eagles start out strong and defeat the 49ers 38-24. Let's break this one down.

Game Positives:

- Brian Westbrook. A huge game by the most important non McNabb Eagles offensive player. Now I expect Westbrook to go into a hyperbaric chamber the rest of the week. Oh wait, we play the Packers next? Why even play em??

- Mike Patterson. Any defensive lineman that runs 98 yards and still looks pretty refreshed deserves a game ball.

- Reggie Brown. You like to see Brown step up with Donte Stallworth on the sidelines, and Brown did with his first 100 yard game.

- Bounce back win. Even though it's the 49ers, it was nice to see the Eagles come out of the gates firing again after last weeks abysmal loss.

Game Negatives:

- Anybody directly responsible for pass coverage. Cornerbacks, safeties, linebackers, whatever. I thought a decent front four pass rush was supposed to solve this?

- The Lewis brothers. Greg Lewis for his fumble in the first half and Michael Lewis overall. I hate to pat myself in the back, mainly because I do it so much, but I nailed this Michael Lewis player from day one. He's constantly out of position and wants to be a big hitter more than a big player. The Eagles have so much talent on defense that he's able to freelance some, but he's also exposed often.

- Dhani Jones. A staple in this section for the last few years, Dhani continues to make exactly one semi decent play in a game, while making multiple semi terrible/bonehead plays.

Overall a win is a win is a win in the NFL. The Eagles move to 2-1 and sole possession of first place in the NFC East. The first half of the Eagles schedule is a cakewalk and is looking like it just got a bit easier with Chris Simms going down in Tampa. They need to be 6-2 after the first 8 to be in decent shape for a playoff push.

People from all over have been asking me, "Why do the Eagles break out to these big leads, then seem to let up?". Even in the Texans game the Eagles didn't put away Houston. The Eagles have heard all offseason about how they were a .500 team, not really a contender, too many weaknesses, etc. This is a team that believes it's a Super Bowl team. They are so eager to prove to everyone they are and say, "Look, I told you so we're back" that they play well in the beginning, and then start believing the can just cruise. "Look at the score, I told you we're great". In the NFL, you can't let up even for a minute.

Another more obvious reason is the lack of commitment to a running game and running the ball 25 times in the 2nd half. I think Westbrook has the ability to be a 25 rush back, but is Andy Reid willing to risk that with his fragile back? I say the Eagles just suck it up, give the Steelers a 5th or 6th round pick, and get Duce Staley back here. He's doing nothing in Pittsburgh and could certainly be the 2nd half run the clock out back the Eagles need.

Around the NFL

Best Game: Steelers/Bengals. The Steelers lost this one because of Ben Roethlisberger and Bill Cowher. Cowher could've won this game with Roethlisberger throwing the ball about 4 times. The Bengals can't and couldn't stop the Steelers running game. But Cowher got pass happy and this led to turnovers.

Worst Game: I think I'm just going to leave the Dolphins in this column the whole year, with the Titans as my backup. As it were, they played each other yesterday. There's also something annoying about watching football on what you think it grass, then turns into dirt around the 30 yard line (the Marlins field)

Jags/Colts: The Jags showed me they can play with Indy even on their fast track. December 10th is the rematch in Jax.

Overrated award: I guess the Ravens have got to get credit for winning but they really aren't this good, are they? This defense will be exposed against good offenses again.

They should be 0-3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Giants get utterly killed by the Seahawks (despite the late garbage points) and fall to 1-2, and should be 0-3. Jeremy Shockey after the game: "We got outplayed and outcoached. Write that down," Shockey said. "They were in different defenses than we thought they were going to be in. They did different things that we haven't seen." Plaxico Burress was benched for the 2nd half after not trying hard. What a mess. This was a major explosion waiting to happen, as it was clear they were dogging it for the most part last week against the Eagles.

Is that the Eagles? Carolina comes close to blowing a 20-7 lead to Chris Simms and the Bucs only to pull it out on a last second Jon Kasay FG. Simms had his spleen removed after the game. You don't hear that often. Definite new found respect for Simms who played through internal bleeding and such.

It's time to panic in New England. They haven't played well so far this year and they're getting beat off both sides of the ball. The offensive and defensive lines don't look very good, and that has been a staple of the Patriots success. Can anybody in that division beat them though?

Da Bears move to 3-0 with an impressive road win against their division rival Vikings. The Bears are already 3-0 in the division and will probably cruise to the division title. Rex Grossman has been terrific and led the Bears on an impressive TD drive in the final minutes of the game.


Ryder Cup

The US gets trampled by the Europeans once again and pretty much embarrassed as they lose the Ryder Cup. Tiger Woods was a so-so 3-2 and had the most points on the US squad. Phil Mickleson was an absolute disaster and has not played well at all since his meltdown at Winged Foot and the US Open.

Anyway, there's about 600 theories as to why the US doesn't play well, and here's my top reasons in order of importance (most important first)

1. The Europeans have better players. Why is that so hard to understand? David Toms is either the 4th or 5th best player on the US team. I would take every single Euro player plus Ian Poulter and Miguel Angel Jimenez over Toms. Why is Poulter & Jimenez relevant? Well these guys who are very good golfers couldn't even make the European team. The Europeans were stacked this year.

2. They use a whole continent to get players, not just one country. This was a fair fight when it was Britain vs. US. Now that all of Europe is open, the field of good players has grown dramatically for the Europeans.

3. The "having fun" rule. Scott Verplank said it the best yesterday. He said in his match with Zach Johnson that he played poorly himself, but pretty much just played cheerleader to Johnson, kept him loose, made jokes, had fun, and Johnson and Verplank won their match. Lehman only played Verplank, probably the best "team" guy on the US squad once in fourballs.

I'm exhausted. That's a lot of writing. Read Ed's stuff now....

NHL Week in Review By : Ed Wasser

OK before I get back to the NHL preview let me set the record straight on one very important topic. Yes I do think that Phillies second baseman Chase Utley's fiancé is cute and yes I would date her but this is Chase Utley we're talking about here; we're not talking about some two bit wanna be writer. Utley's overcoming his slug like personality to be the king of Philadelphia. Right now Utley could look at the Eagles cheerleader calendar like it was a menu. I'm just saying take your time before walking down the isle Chase, there's plenty of fish in the sea. Back to the preview....

Detroit Red Wings.....This could be an off year for the Wings. Of course an "off year" for the Red Wings means they'll still make the playoffs and have stretches of complete dominance. They lost Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman retired, and they re-signed Dominic Hasek who was on his way from his hospital bed to the old age home. But they are still the Red Wings. Their defense is unrivaled, Pavel Datsyuk is the most underrated player in the league, and they have the coolest chant in all of sports (when goalie Chris Osgood makes a big save the crowd chants OZ-ZY!!!) So I guess I pretty much destroyed my own off year argument. Sorry.

Edmonton Oilers.....The NHL and Stanley Cup Finals loser hang overs go together like Flavor Flav and a gold grill. Washington (1998), Buffalo (1999), Carolina (2002), and Anaheim (2003) all died the year after their near misses. This should be no exception, especially after losing Chris Pronger, Michael Peca, and Sergei Samsonov.

Florida Panthers.....I was always told that if you don't have anything nice to say to not say anything at all. OK, one little thing. This team will suck. Goalie Roberto Loungo was the only reason that the Panthers had any respectability last year at all and now he's gone. Oh, and don't forget that their front office is a mess too.

Los Angeles Kings.....The Kings had a pathetic power play last year plus they had the worst penalty killing percentage in the league. That's rough. Plus they have a lack of overall talent at every position. At least the Kings have some young talent coming up so they should be competitive in a few years.

Minnesota Wild.....I hate this team. I hate their boring defensive style of play, I hate their coach (Jacques Lemaire) who invented the neutral zone trap, and I especially hate their ridiculous uniforms. They picked up Mark Parrish, a decent player who has played for the Panthers, the Islanders, and now the Wild, the three levels of NHL hell. They may clutch and grab and otherwise cheat their way into the playoffs but they don't have the talent to make a serious run.

Montréal Canadiens.....I don't know why but I like this team. Last year they were inconsistent, especially the scoring, and this year they have a coach (Guy Carbonneau) who has zero head coaching experience on any level. But they got Sergei Samsonov for offense and this kid Cristobal Huet is starting to become a real star in goal. Me thinks they're on the right track and they could surprise people.

Nashville Predators.....They were the first team to really understand the new NHL. They have more speed then a Hell's Angels bar, Tomas Vokoun is a solid goalie who is rarely out of position, and now they picked up Jason Arnott. This is going to be a strange year when the damn Predators and the Ducks have a very serious chance to win it all.

New Jersey Devils.....This team is like a cockroach, they just never die. There was no reason for them to make it to the second round of the playoffs last year, none....but they did. They had a coach quit in the middle of the season (Larry Robinson), Patrick Elias had hepatitis A, defenseman Dan McGillis and Alexander Mogilny turned out to be complete free agent busts and they were even sent to the minors, Scott Stevens retired, Scott Niedermayer went to Anaheim, and yet they still had a 15 game winning streak and almost beat the Canes in the playoffs. So it would make sense for them to have an off year but these are the Devils...never, EVER bet against them.

New York Islanders.....What can I say? This team is total and complete chaos from top to bottom. The only thing, and I mean ONLY thing, they have going for them is Miroslav Satan who is a solid scorer and a lights out shootout guy. Other then that the Islanders are a total disaster. And they once had a ton of rabid fans but last year they had the worst attendance in the league and it should get worse this year.

New York Rangers.....So they surprised a lot of people last year by making the playoffs and that line starts here. The new rules helped Jaromir Jagr immensely and goalie Henrik Lundqvist came up big by helping to cover up for their crappy defense. Lundqvist also came up big covering up for players like Darius Kasparaitis Michael Rozsival who LOVE to take stupid penalties. Jagr had a big year last year but he's carrying way too much of the offensive load for the Rangers. Jagr played all 82 games last year, if he goes down this year they're in big trouble.