The Hot Corner Column

Well, this is the last week that I’ll have the privilege of writing about Mt. Lion football games for awhile. The seniors stepped onto the field at Callaghan stadium for the final time and put on a dominant showing against West Virginia State. The season did not go at all as anyone expected. We all assumed that another undefeated season and playoff berth were in store. Did we as fans jump the gun? Were these expectations reasonable? I believe the answer to both is yes. 

Programs improve from year to year and turnaround happens much quicker in the college game because every four years the rosters are different. This year, head coach Garin Justice had the task of rearranging an offensive line that lost several players to graduation and that isn’t easy to replace. In addition to these changes other programs in the Mountain East Conference became more competitive this year as five teams finished at .500 or better. Although this team didn’t exactly live up to the expectations that we set for them, it is a good building block. A down season after a dominant one is certainly humbling and should make this team that much hungrier to return to what the point they were just a year ago. 

Switching gears to the NBA, what a season it has been for Andre Drummond! The Detroit Piston’s star is averaging 20 points and twenty rebounds per game through the first 2 weeks of the season and I can’t remember a more dominant string of games from a rebounding perspective. Keep an eye on the guy as he helps Detroit usher into the playoffs for the first time since 2009. 

Another NBA superstar who is tearing the league apart is the reigning MVP Steph Curry. I work at Hibbett Sports part time and over the last week I can’t tell you how many people came in and asked for Curry merchandise. From shoes to jerseys people asked for anything that had Curry attached to it. Needless to say Curry’s dominance (he’s averaging 33.9 points a game while blowing teams away night after night) has led to off the court success, and I don’t see that ending anytime soon. The Warriors are 7-0 and are averaging a win margin of 19 points a game. I know it’s early and injuries and fatigue set in but is it outlandish to rule out a run at the 95-96 Chicago Bulls record of 72-10? I think not especially if Steph Curry can sustain this utter dominance. 

Moving from the NBA to the NFL, another unbeaten team lost this past weekend and sure enough it was one I sang praises to, the Denver Broncos. For the first time all year the Colts put together a complete game to knock the Broncos from the ranks of the undefeated. I’m not sure if something finally clicked with the Colts or a new offensive coordinator helped, but their performance was a breath of fresh air that was drastically needed. The remaining unbeaten teams are the Cincinnati Bengals, the New England Patriots, and the Carolina Panthers. I can’t foresee a scenario where the Patriots lose anytime soon, but with their patchwork offensive line expect teams to bring more pressure to potentially disrupt Brady. I believe the Bengals are the next team to lose. Carolina is at the point where they just know how to win and they have a star in every level of their defense. I don’t quite believe in Cam Newton right now, but at the same time he doesn’t get much help from his receiving core outside of TE Greg Olsen. Carolina has an easy enough schedule that the possibility of going 16-0 isn’t completely off of the table but it is unlikely year in and year out. I think Carolina will finish 14-2 while New England goes 15-1. 

Naturally, as an Eagles fan I’m going to touch on their game against Dallas this past week. I predicted when Romo went down that the Cowboys would go 0-8 without him. Well, so far they’re at 0-6 and it doesn’t get any easier. Romo should be back for the Thanksgiving game against the Dolphins, so I did get my math wrong, but the end result of Romo’s absence could end up being 0-7. This week Dallas visits Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that has shown flashes and could put the final nail in the Cowboy’s coffin. I expect that to be the case even in a weak NFC East. 

Getting back to the Eagles I saw flashes that really wowed me. The running game was absolutely dominant and Bradford has improved. He is making better decision with the football and is receiving help from his receivers. Jordan Matthews is somebody who really benefitted from a big game in Dallas. Matthews, a receiver who was expected to breakout and have a big year has struggled with drops and as a result has received a lot of scrutiny. A game winning TD pass in overtime can be a huge confidence booster going forward, possibly enough to help raise the Eagle’s level of play enough to propel the team to a playoff berth in the weakest division in football.