Les Miles: Worst coach of a ranked team in football

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

It must be maddening to be an LSU fan. It must be even worse being the person that writes Les Miles' paycheck.

Throughout his tenure with the Tigers, Miles has been scrutenized for his terrible calls and especially for his lack of ability to manage a clock. But to this point, he's been able to dodge bullets and hasn't given LSU any real, tangible reason to fire him.

After Saturday's gift win over Tennessee, Miles made another Matrix-like bullet-dodging move, thanks to an illegal substitution penalty on the Vols. For those of you who didn't see it, with about half a minute remaining in the game, LSU was stopped on the Tennessee two-yard line with no time outs. Miles sends players in for a late substitution and runs one final play, which ends up being a bad snap to the quarterback on a rushed play that ends the game. Only it didn't end the game. Tennessee, in response to LSU's substitutions, made subs of its own and ultimately puts more players on the field than it took off. That gave LSU one more chance, which they took into the end zone for a touchdown.

Miles' stupidity was trumped by the stupidity of another coach and as a result, LSU doesn't drop in the AP poll and actually gained a spot in the USA Today rankings.

But Miles' bosses have to be looking at him extremely skeptically. He's wriggled his way out of situation after situation that could have led to his termination, but this game is possibly the last straw. How many more times is LSU going to allow him to take his team to the brink? Even one loss in such an embarassing fashion could lead to the unemployment line.

Chris Maza is the owner of the Maza's Musings sports blog. Check out this post and others at http://mazasmusings.wordpress.com.

Week 4 Picks: Chad vs Jim

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Well, I was lucky to win last week, but let's see what happens during week 4. Just like last week, we differ on just 3 games

Who cares about Red Sox-Yankees

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Red Sox vs. Yankees in the final regular season series of the year. Sounds good, right?

Wrong.

What a useless series.

And who would typically say that when these two hated rivals face off?

But there's simply nothing to play for. The Sox will not be heading to the playoffs, but the Yankees will.

The only thing New York has to play for is to win the AL East. Oh, yeah, and the top record in the American League.

But at what cost? Will the Yankees rest some guys, or go all out to simply win the Division? That's why Joe Girardi gets paid the big bucks.

After tonight's rainout, the Yanks-Sox will have a doubleheader on Saturday and finish up on Sunday.

But is anyone -- even the diehard fans -- going to sit glued in front of the TV to watch this meaningless series? If you are, get a hobby. And fast.

Let the playoffs begin. This 162-game regular season is such a grind, not to mention those four-plus hour Red S0x-Yankees game.

I may never say this again, but who cares about a Red Sox-Yankees series.

Nevada sure is fun to watch

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

I'll be honest. Before Notre Dame played them in 2009, I hardly even knew that Nevada had a major college football team. Now I watch them every opportunity I can.
Sure, the Wolfpack play in the WAC - which would be a completely obscure football conference if not for Boise State - and they'll never play for a national title, but they are just such an exciting team to watch.
And now they're also a ranked team for the first time since 1948 after beating BYU.
Nevada is fifth in the nation in scoring offense with 44.8 points per game. Last year they ranked sixth in that category and the year before, they ranked 12th.
What's at the root of the Wolfpack's offensive success? A little offense called the pistol and a guy who would be in the thick of Heisman discussions if he played in a different conference - Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick is ranked 39th in the nation in passing with 231 yards per game. He's thrown seven touchdowns and just one interception. Not bad. But throw on top of that the fact that he's averaging almost 113 yards on the ground, which is 15th in the nation among all rushers, not just quarterbacks, and the fact he has more rushing touchdowns than Michigan's Denard Robinson and you've got a dynamic player there.
Oh, let's not forget that Nevada also has a running back that is ranked 14th in the nation in rushing and has added five touchdowns of his own.
The one thing holding Nevada back in the past has been its defense, which ranked 86th in scoring defense last year and honestly, that's what made their games that much more exciting. But this season, the Wolfpack is averaging less than 19 points allowed per game, an impressive improvement over last year.
Boise State is still by far the best team in the WAC, but Nov. 26 in Reno is one game I'm hoping finds its way onto the television schedule. It should be one to watch.

Chris Maza is the owner of the Maza's Musings blog. See this post and a host of other features on his page at http://mazasmusings.wordpress.com

Staff NFL picks: Jim Ingram vs. Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Staff Report

The showdown has been set. Staffers Jim Ingram and Chad Garner will go head-to-head every week to see who knows the most about football. It's a simple process: Pick each game, not vs. the spread, and see who has the best record at end of the season.

HERE ARE THE PICKS:

CHAD JIMMY

SF AT KC SF SF

DET AT MIN MIN MIN

BUF AT NE NE NE

ATL AT NO NO NO

TEN AT NYG NYG NYG

PIT AT TB PIT PIT

CIN AT CAR CIN CIN

CLE AT BAL BAL BAL

DAL AT HOU DAL DAL

WAS AT STL WAS WAS

PHI AT JAX PHI PHI

IND AT DEN IND IND

OAK AT ARZ OAK ARZ

SD AT SEA SD SEA

MIA AT NYJ NYJ MIA

MONDAY NIGHT

GB AT CHI GB GB

(record) (0-0) (0-0)

Faulk a giant loss for the Patriots

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

The Patriots absorbed a big loss in Sunday's game vs. the hated Jets. Third down specialist Kevin Faulk was injured in the game and it was found that he suffered an ACL tear to his knee.

Obviously, not good news for the Patriots.

Around the country, it may not seem like a big loss at all since Faulk isn't a great tailback or even a full-time starter.

But everyone here in Patriots Nation really knows how important Faulk was to the success of this team.

Faulk is that total team player that every coach hopes to have on his team. He didn't complain about not starting, he was great in the locker room, he helped the young guys and he produced every time he was allowed to touch the football.

On the field, Faulk was the secret weapon not many clubs have. On third down, you could bet Faulk was in the backfield or split out wide. Faulk was a great draw running back, but his best trait was catching the ball and picking up much-needed first downs. Didn't it seem like every time the Pats were in a third-and-long situation, Faulk got his paws on the pigskin and picked up a first down to keep a drive alive? Lets not forget about how great he was picking up blitzes and keeping Tom Brady clean from attacking defenders.

Basically, Faulk did it all from that running back slot. And since the Pats decided to trade away Laurence Maroney, they are left with aging Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris and the Law Firm to carry the load. Yes, no one from that above list can do what Faulk did. The depth in the backfield isn't good, either, so expect to see Brady throw more passes. It' a big loss, no doubt about it.

Future Super Bowl Champs? Not Yet.

By Dan Shouse
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

I admit it. I bought into the hype that was the New York Jets. I actually thought that maybe Rex Ryan was right when he stated that the Jets were the future Super Bowl champs.

With all the talk, with all the player acquisitons such as Jason Taylor, Santonio Holmes, LT, and Antonio Cromartie, there was reason to beleive that he Jets were the real deal. Now it looks like they may a complete mess.

I normally don't like to read too much into one game, but Monday's loss to the Ravens was telling. It was a huge game for the Jets, and they fell flat on their face.

Opening a new stadium on national TV, against a top team like the Baltimore Ravens, you would have expected the Jets to be on top of their game. Instead they looked like pretenders instead of contenders.

Now the Jets get to face an angry Patriots team who had to sit around all off season hearing about how the Jets had passed them as the class of the AFC East. There now is a ton of pressure on the Jets this week. An 0-2 start, with both loses coming in the Meadowlands, could put Gang Green in an early season hole from which they cannot recover.

The problems for Jets start with QB Mark Sanchez. It almost looked like Jets did not have faith in their young QB. Maybe Tedy Bruschi was right about Sanchez being a front runner. Maybe he is not ready for prime time. After all, he was not even able to crack 80 yards passing. As good as the Ravens are on defense, there is no excuse for putting up those kind of numbers. The best you can say is that he did not turnover the football, but at some point he will have to make plays.

The entire offense looked inept, not just Sanchez. Shonne Greene looked terrible. The only time you heard Braylon Edwards name was for a penalty. And speaking of penalties, how about the Jets defense. All night long, the Jets bailed the Ravens out of 3rd and long with penalties. That shows a lack of discipline. All the talent in the world means nothing if there is a lack of focus and discipline. That all starts with the head coach. If Rex Ryan cannot display self discipline, then how can anyone on his team be expected to show discipline.

Maybe the critics were right about the whole Hard Knocks thing. Now an an angry Patriots team comes to town. You know the Patriots will be ready, and you now Tom Brady will not make mistakes. The Patriots defense may not have the talent of the Jets, but at least you know they will be well coached and not beat themselves with penalties. Can you say the same about the Jets after what we saw in week one? I don't think so. Expect the Jets to fall to 0-2.

It will be a fun week for New York sports radio, that much is certain.