Patriots-Giants Predictions & How Bad Are The Bobcats?
Feb
1
Written by:
2/1/2012 11:52 PM
There is a small football game this Sunday that will represent the end of the 2011-2012 NFL Season. Peyton Manning has been in the headlines as much, if not more, than the two quarterbacks actually playing in the game this weekend. Rob Gronkowski’s high ankle sprain has been a major source of interest this week. The focus so far this week has been on essentially everything but the game. As the game draws closer, the focus has to become more about the Patriots and the Giants. Just a few random thoughts about this game:
· Can the New York Giants defeat a Bill Belichick Patriots team for a third time in a row?
· Can the Patriots secondary slow down this efficient Giants passing attack?
· Does Chad Ochocinco actually get on the field for this game?
· Deep down, would Peyton rather see his brother Eli get a second trophy, one more than Peyton currently has, or see his rival Tom Brady win yet another one?
· Which coach has more to gain by winning this game?
The Patriots are a 2.5 point favorite this weekend and I think the wrong team is favored in this game. The Giants have been playing playoff football for over a month now and they will finally reach the pinnacle Sunday evening. I do not see how the Patriots can stop the Giants. I will go with the NFC East and say GIANTS 31 PATRIOTS 27.
OTHER RANDOM THOUGHTS
· UFC on FOX 2 earned a 2.6 final rating and 4.7 million viewers for UFC coverage Saturday night, down 16% in ratings and 17% in viewership from the network’s first UFC telecast in November (3.1, 5.675M). Keep in mind Saturday’s telecast lasted over two hours and included three different bouts. By comparison, the November telecast was just one hour long and featured only one fight.
The Rashad Evans/Phil Davis fight was the highest rated of the three Saturday, earning a 3.4 rating and over six million viewers. Earlier in the night, the Chael Sonnen/Michael Bisping fight earned a 2.7, and the Demian Maia/Chris Weidman bout earned a 2.2.
For some perspective, the second EliteXC bout on CBS earned a 1.7 and 2.6 million viewers in July 2008, down from a 3.0 and 4.9 million for the inaugural telecast two months earlier. The second Strikeforce telecast on CBS drew a 1.8 and 2.9 million in April 2009, down from a 2.5 and 4.0 million for the inaugural telecast the previous November. (Courtesy of sportsmediawatch.com)
· The ACC Basketball Season is almost halfway over and FSU has to be the biggest surprise. A 33 pt victory at home over UNC and a last second win at Duke, all within a week, were big wins for the program and Leonard Hamilton. The key for FSU in the back half of the year will be how they handle being the hunted versus the hunter.
· How bad are the Charlotte Bobcats? The Bobcats, last season, had a tremendous opportunity to capture the fans here. The NFL was looking at a lockout, Panthers were coming off a brutal season, and the Bobcats did not capitalize. Now, the Panthers have their franchise player in Cam Newton and people have a renewed interest in them. The Bobcats have the worst record in the NBA. As people are really watching their entertainment dollars these days, the product on the court at Time Warner Cable Arena is just not entertaining. I have run into more people at games in Chapel Hill this season that I used to see at Hornets/Bobcats games than ever before. They all say the same thing: it is much easier and more entertaining to drive 2.5 hours to see the Tar Heels play versus the fifteen minute drive downtown. As I am sitting here, a score in the Bobcats-Blazers game just ran across my screen: Bobcats 48 Blazers 92. I was always taught that numbers do not lie.
· The NFL Pro Bowl needs some serious discussions held about the future of the game. When the fans are booing your all-star event, some reassessment needs to be done on the complete package.