Yankees-Phillies World Series Preview

I may actually get my pre-season World Series prediction right for once. I called the Yankees winning it before the season and I'm not going away from it now. I hope I'm wrong because I hate the Yanks, but I can't see the Phillies winning this series.

Starting Pitching
The two aces pretty much cancel each other out. Lee and Sabathia have both been phenomenal this post season. I'd favor Sabathia slightly though because he'll be pitching at home in two out of the three potential match ups. After the aces, the Yankees have the substantial advantage. It will be awesome to see Pedro pitch against the Yankees in the Bronx, but he is clearly over the hill. Cole Hamels has been shaky this post season at best. Burnett is inconsistent but can be nasty and Pettite is the playoffs vet.

Advantage: Yankees


Bullpen
The Yankees have Mariano Rivera and the Phillies have Brad Lidge. That speaks for itself. If that wasn't enough, the rest of the Yankees bullpen is better as well. Joba and Hughes can both go multiple innings, although Hughes has been shaky in the post season. The Yankees just have too many arms out there in addition to the best closer of all time.

Advantage: Yankees


Lineup
This is a big strength of both teams. Either side can pounce on you quickly if you make a couple mistakes. I like the patience of the Yankees lineup a little better. Jeter and Damon are a little better than Rollins and Victorino. Cano and Swisher are much better than Feliz and Ruiz. The middle of the lineups pretty much cancel each other out, with maybe a slight advantage to the Phillies. Ryan Howard and Jason Werth need to stay hot for the Phils to have any chance. Werth does mash left handed pitching for a .340 average and he gets to face two Yankee lefties. However, I still like the run that A-Rod is on better than anything the Phillies offer. He is killing the ball right now and playing with so much confidence. He is the difference for New York.

Advantage: Yankees


Defense
Both teams ranked in the top ten defensively this season. It's pretty much a wash.

Advantage: Even


Intangibles
You have to favor the Yankees here because they have home field advantage. They have yet to lose a home game yet this post season. They also have that Yankees mystique and seem to be on a mission this year. The Phillies won't be an easy beat, however, as they try to be the first NL team to repeat since the Big Red Machine in the 1970s. Still, the Yankees have too many advantages here.

Advantage: Yankees


Managing
Charlie Manuel has been here before and Joe Girardi hasn't. In addition, the Yankee skipper has over managed a couple of times this post season already, giving away outs, making too many pitching changes, and too many defensive replacements. I'll favor Manuel here because of his experience and because I don't think Girardi is a great field manager.

Advantage: Phillies


Final Analysis
The Yankees just have too much going for them right now. Looking at all of their advantages, the home field advantage, and the intangible factor, I have to stick with my pre-season pick.

Prediction: Yankees in six games

I hope I'm wrong.

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Vikings Finally Lose

Very disappointing Vikings loss on Sunday, but by no means should fans or players on this team be discouraged or concerned. The Vikes outplayed the Super Bowl Champion Steelers in their house and had every opportunity to win the game. The defense, especially the secondary, played great against a dangerous Steelers offense. The tripping call on Jeff Dugan was awful and one of the worst calls I've ever seen. We probably win the game if that call isn't made. Percy responded beautifully after the first Steelers defensive TD with a huge kick return TD. Incredible response from the kid. Vikings still should have won the game despite the tripping penalty, so I'm not going to put it all on that. They also should have run the ball more with Adrian, especially when they had first and goal from the 1 yard line in the third quarter and settled for a FG. Favre passed 51 times in Pittsburgh. That is way too many times. We can't get too pass happy and forget that we have the best running back in the game. Even though this week is all about Brett Favre returning to Lambeau, the game itself should be all about Adrian pounding it down that Packers ass.

Vikings-Steelers Preview

Ok, I finally had to come back to the blog. It's been awhile, I know. I doubt anyone has missed me. At the same time, I can't believe I stayed away throughout the Twins magical run to the playoffs, subsequent choke job against the Yankees, and Brett Favre's marvelous start with the Minnesota Vikings. It is the Vikings, however, and their game this week against the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers that brings me back to this blog. I've heard a lot of clamor from Great Football Minds that this will be the first loss for the Vikings. Despite this, I just don't see the Vikings losing this game after analyzing the match ups myself (surprise, surprise). There are two main reasons why:

1. The incredible Vikings defensive line. This, to me, will be the X-factor on Sunday. The Vikings defense is tied with Denver for the most sacks in the league with 21. The Purple will put a tremendous amount of pressure on Ben Roethlisberger this week. On top of the impressive sack total for the Vikes, the Steelers have allowed 16 sacks themselves (near the top in the league). Big Ben tends to hold onto the ball for a long time and scramble around in the pocket. He won't be able to do that this week. The loss of Antoine Winfield will definitely hurt, but the D line is the key to the game anyway. To negate some of the pressure, expect Mike Tomlin to go shotgun, spread out the wide receivers, and run the hurry-up (copyright New England Patriots on MNF two years ago). However, the Vikings will still bring the blitz and with no serious threat from the Pittsburgh running game, they can key in on Big Ben. Which brings me to my second point...

2. The Vikings exceptional balance on offense will cause problems for Pittsburgh. Yes, the Steelers do stop the run very well (3rd best in the NFL). However, so do the Baltimore Ravens and Adrian Peterson had no trouble burning them for 143. AD has had his best games against AFC North opponents this year (Ravens, Browns). Despite this success, Brett Favre will be the man who will really hurt the Steelers. Pittsburgh has to stack the line to stop Peterson, and Favre has been burning teams all year when they've done that. Yes, the return of Troy Polamalu will certainly help Pitt. However, Favre had no trouble against Ed Reed last week and the rest of the Steelers secondary is suspect.

If this game was at the Dome, I would have zero doubt that we would win. It does come at a bad time for the Vikes with Winfield out, but I just think we're still a more talented team and a hungrier team. The Steelers just don't have that Super Bowl swagger that they had last year. With 'Toine out and Big Ben playing well, Pittsburgh will score points. I expect it to be a shootout. The Vikings superior D-line and better balance on offense gets it done. Oh, by the way, the Steelers are getting outscored in the 4th quarter 55-16 this year. You thought the Vikings we're the only ones who couldn't close games. Good luck against Brett Favre with those numbers.

Prediction: Vikings 31, Steelers 27

SKOL.

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