Lakers Snag Win 3 vs. Bucks

The wins keep coming for the Lakers and the wins helped them end February on a high note after a lackluster month. Jordan Clarkson was the Lakers top performer again with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists, but Wayne Ellington was given all the credit for this game as he put up 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists to spark a 36 points 4th quarter barrage from the Lakers to pull away from the Bucks 93-101. Robert Sacre added 12 points and Carlos Boozer added 10 points to round out the Lakers starters. Jordan Hill and Jeremy Lin tacked on the same point total with 14 points coming off the bench.

Final Score: vs. Milwaukee 93-101 [W]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20150227/MILLAL/gameinfo.html?ls=slt

Highlights:

Next Game: vs. Oklahoma City (03/01) <= Q-by-Q, Halftime, and Full Recap (03/01 Cancelled)

Lakers Rally vs. Jazz + Raiders Cut Tyvon Branch

To tank or not to tank? That is the question. The Lakers chose to discontinue tanking and tack on a winning streak is such a long while. Jordan Clarkson was the Lakers' top performer, scoring 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists as the 2nd round Fil-Am rookie helped the Lakers pull one away in Utah 100-97. Wayne Ellington added a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Carlos Boozer added 14 points against his former team. Jordan Hill was the leading scorer off the bench with 16 points and Ed Davis recorded a near double-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds.

Final Score: @ Utah 100-97 [W]
Full recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20150225/LALUTA/gameinfo.html?ls=slt

Highlights:

Next Game: vs. Milwaukee (02/27)

Onto Raider news, just today the Raiders cut Strong Safety Tyvon Branch from the team. Overall, it's a loss, but it's understandable. Ever since he was franchised back in 2012, he just couldn't stay healthy on the field. He was placed on IR after Week 2 against the Jaguars two seasons ago and then last season, placed on IR again. Tough break for him after having a decent tenure with the Raiders. This gives Raiders more options in the offseason. Either they go after a free agent, draft a Strong Safety, maybe trade down and get Landon Collins or stay with the 4th pick and go after a Safety later in the draft, or re-sign Brandian Ross, continue to develop him and start a new project on last year's 7th rounder, Jonathan Dowling, who in my opinion, has some Kam Chancellor potential in him (same height, just needs to bulk up a little weight). Well, thank you Branch for giving your all 6 years in the Silver and Black and Raider Nation wishes you luck in your future.

Full article: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000474424/article/oakland-raiders-to-release-tyvon-branch

Lakers Outlast Celtics in OT

Even with both teams at their absolute worst, they just keep adding another chapter in their historical rivalry. Jeremy Lin rekindled his "Linsanity" form as he was the Lakers' top performer off the bench with 25 points and 6 assists on 10-15 shooting as the Lakers dispatched the Celtics 111-118 in OT. Wesley Johnson was the next leading scorer off the bench with 22 points on 9-11 shooting, quite possibly his best output in his two years as a Laker. Nick Young added 19 points and Jordan Hill added 10 points to round out the bench. Carlos Boozer was the only starter in double-figures as he returned to the starting lineup, putting up 12 points and 8 rebounds.

Final Score: vs. Boston 111-118 (OT) [W]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20150222/BOSLAL/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Next Game: @ Utah (02/25)

Lakers Fall to Nets After Break

Tank mode continues for the Lakers, even after the All-Star break. Ed Davis was the Lakers' top performer off the bench, recording a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds, but the Lakers couldn't keep up with the Nets after their 40 point barrage in the 3rd quarter, losing 114-105. Jeremy Lin was the top scorer off the bench, racking up 18 points and Jordan Hill added 12 points. Both Ryan Kelly and Jordan Clarkson added 12 points and Robert Sacred chipped in 13 points to round out the starters.

Final Score: vs. Brooklyn 114-105 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20150220/BKNLAL/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Next Game: vs. Boston (02/22)

Lakers Trail Blazed by Trailblazers Prior to All-Star Weekend

Jordan Clarkson bounced back from Tuesday night's game vs. the Nuggets as he was the Lakers' top performer with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, but Portland was too much for the Lakers, beating them 86-102, piling on more misery into the break. Wayne Ellington added 16 points and Robert Sacre added 12 points to round out the starters. Wesley Johnson was the leading scorer off the bench with 12 points.

Final Score: @ Portland 86-102 [L]
Full recap: www.nba.com/games/20150211/LALPOR/gameinfo.html?ls=slt

Highlights:

Next Game: vs. Brooklyn (02/20)

Lakers Collapse vs. Nuggets

Alright welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' game vs. the Denver Nuggets where the Lakers put up a good fight in their return home from the 4-game Grammy road trip, but the effort just wasn't enough as the Lakers fell to the Nuggets 106-96.

Very uninspiring game to watch on national TV with both teams having long losing streaks, but the Nuggets just snapped that just now. With the way the Lakers started and lead, it could be safe to assume that they got this in the bag, but this is not 2008-2011, no Laker lead is safe anymore. As usual, the lack of talent, lack of consistency, and insurmountable injuries are playing a factor, so no surprise that the Lakers would clamp down the stretch, especially when they don't have anyone on the floor who has experience in leading a team to victory in crunch time.

The Positives

Carlos Boozer, 21 points, 10 rebounds, 8-15 shooting. Nowadays, Boozer is the one leading all scorers and putting up consistent number off the bench. He may have started slow this game, as he was struggling to get a shot up, but he came through in the 2nd half in vain. Instead of settling for jump shots, Boozer was getting to the basket, making layups look easy. He faked out J.J. Hickson big time in one play for the easy deuce although it was clearly obvious Hickson thought there was help defensively. Booze played his heart out tonight, hustling and scoring off the bench.

Wayne Ellington, 18 points, 8-13 shooting. He started out near perfect, missed a couple of shots to lower his percentage, but I thought Ellington played a clean game out there. To describe it, he was more patient with his shot selection and eluding defenders to get a cleaner look at the basket. Like I said in the halftime post, he showed more fundamentals and by doing so, he made high percentage shots. So kudos to Ellington for improving his game tonight. Hopefully, we can see that on a day-to-day basis.

The Negatives

Turnovers. The Lakers barely turned the ball over in the first half. In the second half, it was a whole different story. As bad as the Lakers are right now, those killers turnovers have been seen a lot and this game was just another example of imploding when the team is just about to rally. Lin accounted for half those turnovers with 5 of the Lakers' 10 and some of that resulted from either dribbling too much or trying to make a desperate pass.

Nick Young, 12 points, 4-12 shooting. Will the real Swaggy P please stand up? He'll score double figures, but the numbers are not going to be that impressive with the way he is shooting as of late. Of course he had the highlight 4 point play, but other than that, nothing from him all game long. The bench is good, but the bench is much better when he is scoring at will and at some point, he has to have one of those games. He's the 2nd option in scoring besides Kobe right? Then, he's gotta live up to that.

Conclusion

Overall, it's the game pattern. Lakers make it competitive, but when the player on the opposing team scores 30 or more, the game is loss and in this case, they got burned by Ty Lawson big time. As a Laker fan, I'm not surprise because he has given headache performances like that in the past. Lakers lose again, water is wet, simply put, it is what it is. The Lakers go on the road again tomorrow to take on the Trail Blazers, so expect a quick recap for that considering it's not nationally televised. I'll see you guys after the All-Star break.

02/10: LAKERS vs. Denver Nuggets Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: DEN 106 LAL 96

Ty Lawson is just a thorn in the eye for the Lakers' defense. It was a good effort for the Lakers to try and tact on a win after debacles in the Grammy's road trip, but the lack of talent and the hamper of injuries showed for this Laker squad. Another loss, and yet it is for a common good to tank and get the top pick. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: DEN 71 LAL 70

And the Nuggets have gotten their act together offensively. At one point, the Lakers' lead was 52-59 and after that fast break dunk by Tarik Black, the Lakers couldn't get anything going offensively and Ty Lawson kicked it into overdrive and did what he has done to us countless times in the past, blowing past our guards and scoring. Luckily, an and 1 by Boozer and jumper by Young are some of the plays that are keeping the Lakers hanging right now, otherwise with the way the Nuggets played this quarter, it would've gotten out of hand.

Q2:

Score: DEN 45 LAL 48

The Nuggets are hanging around, despite some piss poor play from the starters. The Lakers though, they're getting a lot of second chance possessions + points as they are just completely wiping the floor in the rebounding game and that's the reason why they have the leverage right now. We had a JAVALE MCGEE sighting. Talk about the Nuggets playing desperate. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: DEN 24 LAL 29

In a matchup against two of the bottom dwellers in the West, a good start for the Lakers offensively. They started with 7-0 run, I thought the offense looked very sharp. The Nuggets offense then got going after a timeout by B. Shaw, but I thought the offense has been consistent all quarter long. Wayne Ellington played a big part in that, getting off to a good start with 11 of the Lakers' 29 points. Other than that, just a good start for the Laker offense, getting it going early. It's just what the doctor ordered.

LAKERS vs. Nuggets Halftime Post

Score: DEN 45 LAL 48

Alright welcome in to the halftime post of the Lakers' matchup with the Denver Nuggets where the Lakers hang on to a three point lead, leading 45-48 at the half.

The Positives

Wayne Ellington, 13 points, 6-7 shooting. A great first half for Ellington, he's making it "Wayne" against the Nuggets' lackluster defense. I like the fact that Ellington is playing fundamental basketball out there, faking a defender, taking one more dribble and shooting the jump shot and he's constantly finding the high percentage shot this game.

Rebounding. The overall rebounding numbers may sound close as the Lakers out-rebound the Nuggets 19-26 because both teams are tied in the defensive rebounding category, but the Lakers are just killing Denver right now in the offensive rebounding. 11 offensive rebounds to 3 rebounds and the Nuggets have a high energy guy in Kenneth Faried and they're just getting pummeled right now on the offensive boards.

The Negatives

Nick Young, 2 points, 1-5 shooting. We can put the bench shooting as another negative too because aside from Jeremy Lin on a perfect 3-3 shooting, the shooting performance from the bench is lackluster overall. However, the one person I'm looking at is this guy. Swaggy P has been loafing on his shot selection and scoring off the bench to the point Lin and Boozer and sometimes Davis has to pick up his slack. He's gotta get back to that 20+ point performance off the bench and it starts with him making his shots.

Bottom Line

Great game so far. I'm just joking right there. All kidding aside, the Lakers gotta start turning up the defense against a Nuggets team that are just playing lazy and uninspired right now. The offense has gotta get back up and perform like it did in the first quarter. This game should not be close as it should considering the way the Lakers have started early on. Let's see what happens in the 2nd half.

Lakers Thumped by Cavs

The Lakers go winless on their annual Grammy road trip and Sunday's game was evident. Jordan Clarkson was the Lakers' top performer with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists on 6-14 shooting, but they couldn't catch up with the Cavs as the Big 3 of LeBron, K. Love, and Irving combined for 82 points to help rout the Lakers 105-120, piling on the misery of this road trip while the Lakers continue to pile on themselves for a top pick. Wayne Ellington added 12 points to round out the starters and Ed Davis was the leading scorer off the bench with 16 points and 9 rebounds on 6-7 shooting. Wesley Johnson racked up 15 points and Jeremy Lin added 11 points to round out the bench.

Final Score: @ Cleveland 105-120 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20150208/LALCLE/gameinfo.html?ls=slt

Highlights:

Next Game: vs. Denver <= Q-by-Q, Halftime, and Full Recap Posts

Lakers Fall to Magic

*Again, playing catch up, although this game was indeed yesterday and still recent.*

The Lakers are nearing the end of their annual Grammy road trip, but they still can't find a way to win on the road. Ryan Kelly had his breakout game so far into the season as he was the Lakers' top performer with with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, but the Lakers like the Bucks game dragged this game into OT and wound up losing 97-103 behind Tobias Harris' 34 point performance and Nikola Vucevic's 25 point performance for Orlando. Robert Sacre and Wayne Ellington both had 10 points to round out the Lakers' in starting figures. Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer had to pick up the slack for the bench as both scored 14 points while Nick Young dropped a horrible goose egg this game and was non-factor. The Lakers will try to avoid to finish the road trip winless as they travel to Cleveland tomorrow.

Final Score: @ Orlando 97-103 (OT) [L]
Full recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20150206/LALORL/gameinfo.html?ls=slt

Highlights:

Next Game: @ Cleveland (02/08) <= NO Q-by-Q, Halftime, and Full Recap posts

Lakers Buck'd in OT Wednesday

*Playing catch up. I apologize for not delivering any of these on time and a lot of factors are playing into that (semester long research paper, semester long presentation, an upcoming essay, etc). Just to let people know I have a life outside this blog. So expect a lot of me being behind in quick recaps and possibly contracting some  more coverage of nationally televised games. Again, I apologize and hopefully things get back to normal ASAP and I have to play a big role in making that happen.*

8 players from the Bucks vs. a full 10-man rotation for the Lakers and the Bucks still win. Carlos Boozer was the top performer on Wednesday with 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists on 13-21 shooting, but the Lakers couldn't find a way to get the win as the Bucks beat the Lakers 105-113 with 20+ point performances from four Bucks players (Mayo, Knight, Antetokounmpo, and Middleton). Wayne Ellington added 19 points and Robert Sacre scored 10 points to round out the Lakers starters in double figures. Nick Young and Jeremy Lin joined Boozer in dropping double figure point totals off the bench with Young scoring 16 points and Lin adding 11 points despite a horrid 2-12 shooting. Ed Davis didn't join them in scoring double-figure points, but he was a monster on the boards, grabbing a career high 20 rebounds (good for my fantasy team, even though this season's pretty much a lost cause).

Final Score: @ Milwaukee 105-113 (OT) [L]
Full recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20150204/LALMIL/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Lakers Lose to Knicks

If you guys are wondering why this post is so late, I wanted to give everybody time to look at my postings for Super Bowl Sunday, that's why and yes I realized that ESPN decided not to do the Lakers-Knicks game and leave it to the teams' local channels MSG and TWCSN. Two of the most valued NBA franchises are now two of the most sorry NBA franchises except the Knicks endured more losing seasons like this than the Lakers have. Sunday afternoon wasn't the case. Carlos Boozer was the Lakers' top performer off the bench with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, but the Lakers couldn't find a way to contain Carmelo Anthony as Anthony's 31 point performance was the deciding factor to help the Knicks top the Lakers 92-80. Wesley Johnson was the 2nd leading scorer off the bench with 11 points and Jordan Clarkson was the lone starter in double figures with 19 points.

Final Score: @ NYK 92-80 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20150201/LALNYK/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Next Game: @ Milwaukee (02/04)

Patriots Dethrone Seahawks for Super Bowl Victory

Alright welcome in to a special full recap post of Super Bowl XLIX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks where the Seahawks are no longer the defending champions as the Patriots knock off the Seahawks 28-24 in a wild finish thanks to a game winning drive orchestrated by Tom Brady once again and a Malcolm Butler interception in the end zone.

What a wild finish! A divine catch, a fight at the end of the game, no-names being big heroes on the grandest stage in all of football, this Super Bowl had it all. Patriots fans, you can take off all that winless since Spygate, Deflategate, etc. because giving credit where credit is due, the Patriots stood calm and collected despite being down 10 when both Seattle’s offense and defense turned it on. Once that 4th quarter hit, Tom Brady became Tom Brady and masterfully executed a game winning drive.

Seattle Seahawks

(+)

Chris Matthews, 4 receptions, 109 yards, 1 TD. He played some hardball this game. Even though the Seahawks lost, you gotta give it up for this kind of performance. Matthews was just a special teams player all season long, and to put up these kinds of numbers in the big game is just unbelievable. The Seahawks couldn’t get anything going on offense until Wilson hit one long play to this guy to set up a Marshawn Lynch TD. With Baldwin and Kearse being shadowed by Revis, McCourtey, and Arrington, Matthews stepped up his game to give Seattle’s offense something.

Marshawn Lynch, 24 carries, 102 yards, 1 TD, 1 receptions, 31 yards. How do you not hand off to Lynch for the go ahead score with your title on the line is beyond me? Sure, the Patriots’ defense had some good highlights stopping and bringing down Lynch, but once he finally hit his stride, he was impossible to stop in the ground game. Beast Mode was on for this game and he has outrushed New England’s running backs 102-53. It’s impossible to run over a defensive line when Vince Wilfork is waiting on the other end, but still Lynch was unstoppable for the Seahawks.

(-)

Play calling in the final seconds. I touched on this while talking positive about Lynch and I’m going to ask it again, how do you not hand off the ball to Lynch? The Seahawks had an identity of running the football till the defense tires out. You have one timeout left, Lynch just got you to the half yard line or 2 yards, why not punch it in? To abandon what you usually do on offense at the goal line, I am just completely dumbfounded. Run it with Lynch down their throat, read option with Wilson, that’s something that Seattle fans will talk about for the remaining offseason.

Sportsmanship. Pass it on. If you’re going to lose, lose with class. The Seahawks defense got caught with an encroachment penalty as the Patriots were about to try and get out of their own end zone to avoid a safety. Then ensuing play, Seahawks pulled something ala Greg Schiano and all of a sudden they started a fight resulting in a 15-yard penalty. Now, you see why some people hate the Seahawks because of their lack of class and dignity. Yeah, play until the final whistle blows, but once it’s game, set, and match, take the loss and prepare for next season to come back stronger.

New England Patriots

(+)

Tom Brady, 37 of 50 passes, 328 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs. Tom Brady joins the pantheon of the great quarterbacks with 4 rings, joining Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw. As a Raider fan I hate this guy with a passion, I can’t stand him, but this stage is no surprise to him. As you guys saw, Brady’s been announced the Super Bowl MVP. Seattle managed to get to him like once or twice, but once they get pressure on him, Brady released the ball to a receiver for first down yardage.  Aside from the two INTs, Brady has been consistent, beating Seattle’s defense with the short passes and his quick release.  Honestly, put the Brady-Manning debates to rest. I think we all know who we want when the game is on the line in the playoffs. Aside from all the hate for Brady, I can’t deny his greatness.

Julian Edelman, 9 receptions, 112 yards, 1 TD, 1 rush, 7 yards. Wes who? With the game Edelman had in the biggest stage, he constantly burned the Seahawks’ pass defense all game long. I said it before, look at the tape in the San Diego game when the Seahawks had no answer for Eddie Royal, the Patriots exploited that with quick passes to Edelman. He had a chance to haul in 2 TDs, one he should’ve caught to cut the lead to three, but the Patriots eventually cut it to three with a pass play to set up a Amendola TD. This guy is the reason why Patriots fans don’t miss Wes Welker in the slot and with the game he had this game, there should be no mention of Wes Welker to Patriots fans.

Malcolm Butler, 3 tackles, 3 pass defensed, 1 INT. It’s a game of no names! If there’s one defensive we want to see from the Patriots to come up with the biggest play to seal the Super Bowl, we’d expect it to be Revis or Browner or McCourtey, but Malcolm Butler, he has his name stamped on here. Prior to that INT, he came up with a big play of deflecting a ball to Jermaine Kearse that would’ve put Seattle back into New England territory and he came up huge to make it fourth down. And in his big moment, with the game on the line, Butler picks off Wilson to give the Patriots their fourth Super Bowl championship. You can’t write a better fairy tale than that. There may be a lot of positives for the Pats, but Malcolm Butler, for sure is one of those under-the-radar positives.

(-)

Running game. Seattle’s the #1 rush defense, it’s understandable as to why New England’s running game can’t get going. They tried to ground and pound with Blount, then play finesse with Vereen and they just couldn’t get anything. Luckily for Vereen, he managed to burn Seattle’s defense in the screen game softening up this negative more. Credit to the Seahawks’ defense, they kept this running game in check.

Conclusion

Congrats to the Patriots for winning a hard fought Super Bowl. This team has gone to four straight AFC Championships, two Super Bowls in that span. It’s really tough with all those regular season games, practices, postseason games to do something like that, especially in a physical game like football. I’ll give the Patriots 100% credit for that. Their perseverance through all that plus the Spygate scandal and the Deflategate investigations, there’s not a way to summarize that kind of perseverance the Patriots had to go through. As for the Seahawks, they’ll be back and contend in the NFC West again, but that last play will be looked at forever as the play that lost them the game and a chance for a repeat. Yes, there a lot of questions for the Seahawks going forward. Is Marshawn Lynch going to stay? That’s one of the most asked questions the Seahawks have to answer once the offseason hits. Anyway, crazy game, but at the end of the day, the Patriots are the last team standing. Thank you guys for following my coverage for the 2014 NFL Season and Super Bowl XLIX. Once you guys finished reading this, we’ll go back to our normal lives cheering for our own team again and looking forward to the offseason and the draft. I’ll see you guys later.

Congrats New England Patriots Super Bowl XLIX Champions!

(photo courtesy of: espn.com)

SUPER BOWL XLIX: New England Patriots (AFC) vs. Seattle Seahawks (NFC) Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: NE 28 SEA 24

The biggest mistake ever by the Seahawks to not let Lynch punch it in after making it to the half yard line to set up a game winning TD and cap it off with the defense getting an encroachment penalty and not let Brady attempt to get out of his own end zone to run the clock out. What a crazy game with Kearse getting a reception off of his feet to set up a potential game winning TD for the Seahawks. This is a game for no names with Chris Matthews getting it going for Seattle's offense and stepping up big, but in the end, the undrafted rookie, Malcolm Butler came up big with an INT for the Patriots. The Seahawks had a chance to repeat, but not letting Lynch run for a TD on their one yard line for the go-ahead score will be looked at forever. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: NE 14 SEA 24

Seattle opened this game up just quite a little bit. The offensive execution is much better and Chris Matthews continues to have the game of his life on the big stage. Seahawks' defense is feeding off the energy of that offense getting going as they managed to pick Brady off yet again to set up a Wilson TD to Doug Baldwin. Could've had another red zone trip if Jermaine Kearse didn't drop that deep ball and that could be huge for the Patriots driving right now as they attempt to make yet another comeback orchestrated by Tom Brady.

Q2:

Score: NE 14 SEA 14

All deadlocked at 14. With the pace this game is going in, it's going to be a grudge match. The Patriots offense continued to roll with 2 TDs from Tom Brady, but the Seahawks responded back with a run TD by Lynch and a pass TD to Chris Matthews from Russell Wilson. Seattle's offense may have started slow, but they are playing the role of catch-up this quarter. When the Pats score, the Seahawks answered back. Gutsy call by Pete Carroll on that last drive to go for a TD. They call him "Big Balls Pete" for a reason. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: NE 0 SEA 0

Well, I didn't have to change the score. There's no quick score 12 seconds into the game this time. I thought the Patriots did a great job controlling the majority of the quarter offensively. They kept Seattle's defense out there with a lot of power running plays and quick throws. The Seahawks had to play "bend but don't break" defense during the Patriots' long 2nd drive and they didn't break as Jeremy Lane picked off Tom Brady to give the ball back to Wilson, Lynch, and company on Seattle's offense.

Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Post

Score: NE 14 SEA 14

Alright welcome in to the special halftime post for Super Bowl XLIX between the Patriots and the defending champion Seahawks where it's all tied up at 14 a piece.

(+)

NE: Julian Edelman, 3 receptions, 41 yards, 1 rush, 7 yards. I said in my preview, the only thing that could hurt Seattle’s secondary is New England’s small, yet swift receivers like a Julian Edelman. That prediction is coming true. Sure Brady passed to LaFell and Gronk for the TDs, but Edelman has done most of his damage in the Patriots’ quick passing game to set up most of those TDs and he got a nice gain off a receiver sweep. So far, the Seahawks have no answer to figure out Edelman and the Patriots’ spread offense.

NE: Shane Vereen, 1 rush, 1 yard, 7 receptions, 42 yards. LeGarrette Blount may be doing most of the damage in the running game, but when the Patriots are looking to the screen game, they go to Shane Vereen for that. They have done that for the most part of the game, especially when Seattle’s pass rush is clamping down the pocket. Luckily for Brady’s quick release, he’s able to find Vereen in most cases and he’s able to field decent gains, especially during 3rd down.

SEA: Chris Matthews, 2 reception, 55 yards, 1 TD. First off, you guys are going to ask, “who?” This is the same Chris Matthews that fielded an onside kick to set up a game tying rushing TD by Lynch against the Packers in NFC Championship game. He’s started to come on in these few games. The Seahawks are known to pick up these no-name or undrafted players and in games like these, they answer the call. Chris Matthews is doing exactly that. Seattle’s offense couldn’t get anything, until Wilson hit a long ball to Matthews to set up the Lynch TD and another TD before time expired in the first half.

(-)


SEA: Offense, before Wilson hit that ball to Matthews, the Seahawks’ offense couldn’t get anything. Credit to the Patriots’ defense, they were winning the one-on-one press coverage, not giving Seattle’s receivers any space to get open and they have managed to get Wilson to scramble. Chandler Jones managed to get a hand on him and Revis got a hand on him. Seattle’s O-line’s got to do a better job in pass protection, especially when Wilson’s pocket collapse, there has to be that extra blocker for him to extend the play a little more.

Bottom Line


The Seahawks get the ball to start in the 2nd half after deferring. They have to ride Chris Matthews while he’s hot because that’s the only the offense can get anything big. That plus running the ball with Beast Mode and trying to get Doug Baldwin or Jermaine Kearse going should get the Seahawks’ offense to stride. For the Patriots, they have to continue to wear down Seattle’s defense with the short throws, slants, crossing routes, screen passes to give the #1 defense a tough time and once opportunity arises, start giving the ball to Rob Gronkowski. Let’s see what happens in the 2nd half.

Won't be Covering Lakers-Knicks

You gotta have a thick head to schedule this game on national TV during Super Bowl Sunday. Anyway, the Lakers start their Grammy road trip tomorrow at the Garden, but I will excuse myself out of this one since I agreed to have a luncheon with family members. I will be back in time to cover Super Bowl XLIX though.