Monday, December 10, 2012

12/10: Quick Hits

Greetings! Short on time today so here we go with the NFL First...

  • The Falcons went down in a heap by a score of 30-20 in Carolina. Cam Newton was other-worldly in this one, but Atlanta couldn't move the ball in the first half at all and that was the culprit of the loss. I would take it as an aberration, and while no one is "terrified" of the Falcons these days, this is still a top-flight team. 
  • Seattle beat Arizona 58-0. There is no analysis for that, but it was awesome.
  • Dallas and Washington both won on last-second field goals to extend their NFC East and playoff chances for another week. The biggest story, though, is a knee injury to Robert Griffin III, but fortunately it appears to not be serious. 
  • There were two fringe upsets on Sunday. Philly knocked off Tampa Bay on the road, which basically ends the season for the Bucs. Enjoy your off-season. And Minnesota knocked off Chicago at home behind 154 yards and 2 touchdowns from Adrian Peterson. He's officially on the march to 2,000 yards. 
  • Finally, the Giants absolutely annihilated the Saints 52-27 to make everyone remember why they love the Giants. It was the coming out party for rookie RB/returner David Wilson who had 100 yards and 2 touchdowns rushing, and 227 yards and a TD in the kick return game. Impressive stuff.
Elsewhere...
  • There was big news in the world of Major League Baseball as the Royals and Rays pulled off a trade last night. Wil Myers, the #1 prospect in all of baseball, heads to Tampa Bay along with Jake Odorizzi  and Mike Montgomery in exchange for James Shields and Wade Davis. I've yet to see a credible person say that the Rays didn't absolutely fleece Kansas City here. Myers is basically a sure thing at this point, and because of MLB's salary structure, he's assured to be a bargain for years and years. He has the upside of a top-5 player in all of baseball, and those guys don't just come into the market. Kansas City acquires the best pitcher they've had since Greinke in the form of Shields, and there's certainly value there. Wade Davis is probably just a high-upside reliever at this point, but he's also a commodity. That said, Shields is paid handsomely for his production and has reached his ceiling at nearly 31 years old while Myers is going to out-pace his salary hugely for years. Kansas City got desperate to fill a starting pitcher need, and the crazy thing is that Shields/Davis for Myers (straight-up) would've been a win for Tampa and they still managed to get KC to throw in two upper-tier pitching prospects. I'm at a loss. 
What to watch for on Monday (in chronological order)...
  • 7:00 - NBA - Pistons @ Sixers (NBA-TV) - What an abysmal game. Great choice for national TV! Anyway, tune in to watch Andre Drummond for the first time if you haven't seen him.
  • 7:30 - NBA - Hawks @ Heat (SportSouth) - The much better option for your early viewing. The red-hot Hawks have won 9 of 10, but Miami on the road isn't a fun place to go. 
  • 8:30 - NFL - Texans @ Patriots (ESPN) - The best MNF game of the season so far. I think these are the 2 best teams in the entire NFL, and this should be awesome.
Enjoy!

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