Writer: Anthony Iles

In another AFC North battle for the second week in a row the Bengals hosted the Ravens. The game went back and forth. Bengals defense kept Ravens in check all game. Bengals offense went in waves as Burrow was dealing with his sore right calf muscle. Bengals had a turnover on offense in the second half when they were in the red zone and moving the ball better. This turnover was costly and in the end the Ravens were able to run the clock out without giving Burrow a chance to win or tie to go into overtime. Burrow reaggravated his calf late in the game. We will see how he does versus the Rams next week when they host the Rams on Monday night football. Bengals are 0-2 and in a similar position as last season. They will bounce back,

Who Dey!!!!!

Date: Wednesday September 13, 2023

Writer: Anthony Iles

In any given week anything can happen in the NFL. The start of the season had a lot of different situations for each team.

Chiefs vs Lions started off the regular season on Thursday night football with the Chiefs raising their Championship banner for winning last season Super Bowl. Both teams kept answering one another and at the end of the game the Lions got an opportunity to take the lead in which they were able to get a TD and make the extra point to go up by 1 point. Defense then stayed strong shutting down the Chiefs. Lions were able to run the clock out and beat last years Super Bowl champs 21-20. TE Kelce did not play for the Chiefs and the WR group missed a lot of key passes. We will see how this WR core performs as the season goes along because most were backups except for Valdes-Scantling.

Falcons came out strong against the Panthers and won 24-10. The Ravens beat the Texans 25-9 however they had multiple injuries to key players: left tackle Ronnie Stanley, safety Marcus Williams, center Tyler Linderbaum, cornerback Marlon Humphrey & RB Dobbins (season ending knee injury). It looks like the 4 starters on this report besides RB Dobbins will not be able to play vs the Bengals next week.

Bengals went to Cleveland to play the 100th matchup against one another. Once again home field advantage worked for the Browns as they came out and got a 10 point lead in nasty rain and gloomy weather. Bengals had opportunities in the 3rd quarter and in the first half of the 4th quarter to tie or take the lead but could not get in sync on offense. I expected it to be a close game and hoped the Bengals offense could get in sync but it didn’t work out this time. Like these last 3 seasons Burrow has not played much during training camp. This has resulted in the last 2 seasons of a slower start within the first 2 games of the regular season. They will look to get back on track at home vs the Ravens on Sunday for Week 2. A win for the Bengals can out them tied for 1st place in the AFC North with the Ravens. The Browns face the Titans. I look for a drop off with the Browns as RB Henry is in town, I expect Bengals, Browns, and Ravens to be 1-1 after week 2.

Jags came into Indy and beat the Colts 31-21 as I expected them too as the Colts are in rebuild mode this season. Bucs with new starter QB Mayfield (no more Brady) traveled to Minnesota to face the Vikings. Mayfield willed his team to a 20-17 win. The Saints were at home and faced the Titans in a close battle as the Saints pulled away at the very end to get the W 16-15. 49ers steamrolled the Steelers 30-7. Cardinals played at Washington as both are rebuilding and Commanders won a close battle 20-16. Bears hosted the Packers as they faced QB Love (no more Rodgers). Packers took control of the game and won 38-20. Broncos hosted the Raiders and new Raiders QB Garoppolo edged out Broncos QB Wilson to get the win 17-16. Dolphins and Charges had a high scoring game as the Dolphins outlasted the Charges to get the W 36-34. Eagles faced the Patriots with Patriots newly acquired RB Elliott. He had a solid all around game with rushing and catching passes minus his fumble. Eagles took care of business winning 25-20. Rams went to Seattle and roasted the Seahawks 30-13. However, the most lopsided win of the day belongs to the Giants vs Cowboys game as the Giants must have forgot there was a game and lost 40-0. Ouch!!!

The night cap was the anticipated Jets vs Bills as QB Aaron Rodgers made his first start as a Jet. Introductions were loud and proud and Aaron got to lead the team onto the field. This would be his most running and production he could give. 4 plays into his season as the Jets QB1 he got tackled and took a bad step which resulted in a ruptured Achilles. His season is over even before it could begin. It is a massive blow to this Jets team as they had free agents sign on to play with Rodgers. Example is his best friend and longtime Packers WR Cobb. Also former Packer WR Lazard. RB Cook also signed on. Bills had their chances but Allen got too wild and threw 3 interceptions and a fumble. That hurt their offense flow and they lost at the end in OT as a punt return TD by undrafted rookie WR Xavier Gipson ran back the game winning TD for 65 yards! QB Zach Wilson is the starter again as he had struggled as he was their former starter. Will he be able to stay consistent to help them get enough wins to be a playoff team? Or will they have to wait until next year to hopefully have Rodgers back and health for at least 1 to 2 more years before he hangs up his cleats for good?

Stay tuned for Week 2 as it begins Thursday night Vikings @ Eagles!!

Lets Go Bengals! WHO DEY!!

Date: Wednesday August 30, 2023

Writer: Anthony Iles

The 2023-2024 NFL Season is about to begin. It is going to be a fun season.

Aaron Rodgers is now a Jet…..how will he perform? Russell Wilson in year 2 at Denver……will he play better? Lamar Jackson signed a long-term deal with Ravens as he was threatening to leave…..Beckham joins as WR for 1 season….. How will Ravens do? Browns have QB Watson to start the season…..will they get better or expectations haunt them……..the Bengals reloaded and the core is back with great draft picks and free agents. Can the Bengals get to the Super Bowl and win it in year 4 with JB9….I believe 🙂 How will the Chiefs do with having a new offensive coordinator? Not much has been said about that but look for a different feel to their offense this season. Will the Bills win their division this year?

Get ready for a fun season!!

Message me your thoughts about this upcoming NFL season!

Have a great Labor Day weekend!!!

Who Dey!!!

Date: Wednesday May 10, 2023

Writer: Anthony Iles

The quarterfinals matchups in the NBA Playoffs are intense. So far, it has been a good NBA playoffs this season,

In the Eastern Conference we have the #5 New York Knicks vs #8 Miami Heat and #2 Boston Celtics vs #3 Philadelphia 76ers. The Heat are up 3 games to 1 on the Knicks. If the Heat close out their game vs Knicks tonight they will make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. I think the experience of the Heat will help them accomplish that. It is nice to see the Knicks finally make the playoffs but if you are a Knicks fan you must be disappointed they have fallen down 3-1. The Celtics vs 76ers is a close matchup with 76ers leading the series 3-2. They play Thursday night. If the Celtics win they will force a game 7 vs 76ers. If the 76ers win they will make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

In the Wester Conference we have the #7 Lakers vs #6 Warriors. The Lakers have taken charge of the series and lead 3-1. They play tonight. If the Lakers win they will make it to the Western Conference Finals. If the Warriors can lock don on defense in the 4th quarters of these games they would be ties 2-2. The defending champs need to play their A game to get the W and get the series to 3-2 and add pressure on the Lakers. The other matchup is the #4 Suns vs #1 Nuggets. Denver leads this series 3-2. The Suns have had their opportunities but every other game they give it away. They play tomorrow night and will need the W to force game 7. Based off how the series is going so far, the Suns will win to get to game 7.

This is an exciting week for these playoffs. Every team remaining except for the Celtics and Warriors have a “UK” player on their playoff roster:

Knicks: PF Julius Randle & SG Immanuel Quickly

Miami: PF Bam Adebayo & PG Tyler Herro

Boston Celtics: 0

76ers: PG Tyrese Maxey

Lakers: PF Jarred Vanderbilt & C Anthony Davis

Warriors: 0

Denver: PG Jamal Murray

Suns: SG Devin Booker

*Other notable NBA teams having UK players that were in the playoffs were:

Timberwolves: C Karl-Anthony Towns

Thunder: PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander & C Olivier Sarr

Kings: PG De’Aaron Fox; PF Trey Lyles; & SG Malik Monk

Date: Wednesday May 3, 2023

Writer: Anthony Iles

The 2023 – 2024 NFL has begun. What a kickoff to the upcoming season. Multiple trades have occurred and the draft was good for a lot of teams.

Aaron Rogers finally got traded to the Jets after a couple of weeks of negotiating. Today, Rogers best bro, Randall Cobb, signed a 1-year deal to play with the Jets. Nathaniel Hackett is the offensive coordinator for the Jets now. He is Rogers former OC when they were Packers. Before QB 8 (Rogers college number) joined the Jets he had a meeting with them and he had a wish list of people he would like to join the team if he signed with them. WR Lazard (Packer with Rogers); WR Cobb (Packer with Rogers); TE Mercedes Lewis (Packer with Rogers); and WR Beckham (coming back to NFL after his 2nd ACL tear in knee). Two of the 4 wish list people came true. Free Agent Packer WR Lazard signed with Jets and Free Agent WR Cobb signed a 1-year deal with Jets, TE Lewis is unsure if he will play in NFL this upcoming season or retire. WR Beckahm signed a 1 year deal with Ravens 2 weeks ago. The Jets will be better than last season because of having a steady QB. Former starter for Jets, Zach Wilson, is still on the team and listed as QB 2. This will surely be the beginning of the end for his tenure as a Jet.

Lamar Jackson finally agreed to the Ravens 3rd offer. It was less than their previous offer and with Lamar not having an agent it reflected in how he went about the negotiating process with the Ravens. WR Beckahm will be the #1 WR and WR Bateman will be the #2. They drafted WR Zay Flowers from Boston College. He will be their #3 WR along with TE Andrews lining up with them. Backup QB Pro Bowler Tyler Huntley signed to be the backup again.

The Bengals drafted well with first few rounds going with defense. Below are their picks:

1st round #28t Bengals chose DE Myles Murphy from Clemson.

In the 2nd Round at pick #60 they got a dynamic player in CB DJ Turner II from Michigan.

The 3rd Round pick at #95 is Safety Jordan Battle from Alabama.

The 4th Round pick at #131 they chose WR Charlie Jones from Purdue. He is a solid WR and will be the 4th WR on the depth chart and also compete for kick return and punt return duties.

The 5th round pick #163 is RB Chase Brown for Illinois. He fits the Bengals running style.

In round 6 pick #206 they selected WR Andrei Iosivas from Princeton. He has a lot of potential and has great upside to be a dangerous weapon. Stay tuned.

In the 6th round again at #217 Bengals chose Punter Brad Robbins from Michigan. This will be a good challenge for current punter Drue Chrisman who took over during the season for long time Pro Bowl punter Kevin Huber.

The 7th round (final round) at pick #246 Bengals chose CB D.J. Ivey from Miami (FL).

All of these picks fit the Bengals well. With this draft and their free agent upgrades to the offensive line and at TE the Bengals are going to be even better and make another run to the Super Bowl.

We will know in June if RB Mixon takes a pay cut to stay on the team as the starting RB or if he gets released. Stay tuned with that.

Titans drafted UK QB Levis in the 2nd round 2nd pick of 2nd round. He was disappointed during the first round that he never got picked but he got very excited Titans got him. He can be the successor to QB1 Tannehill as he is on his last year of his contract which he has had since 2019 when Titans got him from a trade they did with the Dolphins and it rejuvenated his career and has been a solid QB for them until last year as injuries and production dipped.

Get your popcorn ready !!! This is going to be a fun NFL season!!

WHO DEY!!!!