hawkeyecub

Why did OSU punt there instead of running around and taking the safety? Why didn't Maclin just dive ahead and give them a chance at the hail mary from the 45?

lol, Greene will be back next year. He's good, but he's not 'one and done' good. First of all, to laugh at it like it's outrageous is just wrong. There's plenty of speculation and the coaches believe it's a distinct possibility. I'm not saying he's a sure fire first-round pick. But he's the best back in the Big Ten this year (yes better than Ringer) and has been one of the 3-4 most productive in the country. He's 3rd nationally in yardage and has the most yards per carry of any back in the country with over 100 carries. He's one of two backs in the country who have had 100 yards in every game this year. The guy is 23 years old already, obviously isn't an academic scholar and running backs have a short shelf life. If he's projected to go inside of the 4th round, it would make sense for him to leave. And as far as NFL scouts wanting to see more than 1 year of a guy, that's not all that true at RB.

Wait for them to put more time back on the clock here.

I have absolutely no idea what they saw to overturn that.

Didn't see much of the OU/Texas game because I was watching the Iowa game but it seemed like OU was getting hosed every time I turned to it. Really surprised about the Minnesota/Illinois game. I had Minnesota to cover but wow. Oh and Shonn Greene is an absolute beast. It's a shame we couldn't get out of our own way in the red zone and couldn't hold on to the ball in the last 3 games or he would be getting the press he deserves. Unfortunately we probably only will have one year with him. Indiana was a bad team up front on both sides but it was nice to see us crush a Big Ten team for the first time in a while. Stanzi played really well in the second half.

Vikes didn't drive for Howry. A scoring drive against the Saints always consists of exactly what Gus did, which is to throw the ball as hard as you can because the Saints can't defend the deep pass to save their lives. Their scoring drive in the fourth when they were down by seven consisted of Gus throwing TWO 30+ yard bombs to Berrian. Then their final scoring drive was Gus throwing it as hard as he could and getting the pass interference down by the goal. Not sure what you're arguing. Yes they gave up huge plays. But when you go 7 plays for 75 yards (4/4 for 80 yards) to score, that's a touchdown drive. When you go 6 plays for 51 yards to set up a field goal, that's a scoring drive. I didn't say they were long, sustained, time eating drives. I said they drove for two scores in the fourth quarter and they did.

The title of this thread doesn't agree with this post. This post basically states Stone's opinion that Lee is expendable, etc. while the title suggests that Stone has information that Lee will be traded. Stone said he believes that Lee will be traded but just backed it up with what the op said. Of course he also talked about how he would be leery of picking up Harden's option because he can't pitch every 5 days (said something like every 9th day) and that kills your rotation. Said of course he's almost unhittable when healthy but rarely is and walks too many batters. He would just pick up the option to use him in a trade.

they didn't get thoroughly outplayed in the "not pissing the ball away" phase of the game, which often decides the game more than those other three phases. The defense also played very well outside of the first quarter. The Vikings got every possible break and call in the first half and it was amazing. I've never seen a Vikings game like it in my lifetime. But people are neglecting the fact that after Bush's two returns, the Saints had a 7 point lead in the 4th quarter with the Vikings at their own 25. They had to drive for a touchdown, held the Saints to a long field goal and then drove down again for the winning field goal.

Not sure why you're shocked about that. Illinois' three wins: EIU, UL-Lafayette, Michigan. That's almost Notre Dame-like bad. They don't deserve to be ranked right now. Im looking more at their losses than I am their wins. They have 2 losses, both to top 10 teams. Illinois was in both of those games, and just dismantled a Michigan team, who beat Wisconsin. That's fine, but anytime you lose a game or two, you're going to drop in the polls. It doesn't matter if you lose to an unranked team or the #1 team in the nation. Michigan State just barely beat a horrible Iowa team and has beaten nobody, but they are ranked. Illinois is being punished to much for losing to 2 top 10 teams. Oh well Illinois schedule sets up very well for them from this point on. Horrible Iowa team? Obviously not that good, but horrible? That's either out of dislike for Iowa or you're going overboard trying to make your point. They've lost 3 games (2 of them against ranked teams on the road) by a combined 9 points. They have one of the best backs in the country, a very good o-line and a very good defense. The passing game was terrible at times and they've had problems with turnovers and red zone scoring.

Sports really suck. 3rd straight game Iowa should have won. Completely dominated the second half. 2 possessions with 1st down inside the 15 totaled 0 points. 2 more possessions with 1st down inside their 35 totaled 0 points. We lost by 3. In the last 3 games (decided by a total of 9 points) there have been a total of 10 fumbles by Iowa or the opponent. Every single one of them has been recovered by the opponent. Can't wait for the Vikings to cap off this wonderful weekend tomorrow night against the Saints.

Howry, at least he got us off to the start we needed in the playoffs with the HR. Obviously the boot on the ground ball was equally big, but come on. Sorry, I don't give him a pass for one good at bat all series. The time was for him to put up or shut up. The rest of the series he was terrible. He had opportunity after opportunity to come through and he Howry the bed. I don't want to hear anymore talk from the Cubs, just get it done. DeRosa drove in 4 runs in 12 AB's this series. The rest of the team drove in 2 runs in 104 AB's. And tonight when he had an easy chance to drive in a run, he blew it. Why are you defending a guy that played like Howry this series? The only reason I single him out, is because he is the one that is always running his mouth on his blog. Stop blogging and start producing. Granted it is not his fault entirely, but next year he should do a little less talking and a little more producing. Are you serious? First of all, he drove in 80% of our runs in this series. But yes blame him for our futile offense because he failed tonight. Secondly, how is he "running his mouth" on his blog? And for all of your tough guy, stop blogging and start producing talk, do you really believe that his blog affected his performance. Get a clue I think the truth is somewhere in between here. Yes, he drove in 4 runs. But ultimately, his booting of that DP ball was the most impact thing he did all series. And his hacking at this first pitch (a pitcher's pitch, no less) in a key AB tonight screamed of pressing. The homer in game 1 was big because the game was scoreless at the time, but his double in the 9th of game 2 was really superfluous. To be honest, I like DeRo, but he has struck me fora long time as a guy who tries to do too much in big spots. But I am sure no one his harder on him than he is on himself. But there is plenty of blame to go around. Good points and I'm not absolving him of any blame. But to single him out and rant about his blogging while claiming he's running his mouth (saying you're sorry for playing poorly and will try to do better is running your mouth?) is nuts. Basically the entire team under-performed. That's really all there is to it.

Howry, at least he got us off to the start we needed in the playoffs with the HR. Obviously the boot on the ground ball was equally big, but come on. Sorry, I don't give him a pass for one good at bat all series. The time was for him to put up or shut up. The rest of the series he was terrible. He had opportunity after opportunity to come through and he Howry the bed. I don't want to hear anymore talk from the Cubs, just get it done. DeRosa drove in 4 runs in 12 AB's this series. The rest of the team drove in 2 runs in 104 AB's. And tonight when he had an easy chance to drive in a run, he blew it. Why are you defending a guy that played like Howry this series? The only reason I single him out, is because he is the one that is always running his mouth on his blog. Stop blogging and start producing. Granted it is not his fault entirely, but next year he should do a little less talking and a little more producing. Are you serious? First of all, he drove in 80% of our runs in this series. But yes blame him for our futile offense because he failed tonight. Secondly, how is he "running his mouth" on his blog? And for all of your tough guy, stop blogging and start producing talk, do you really believe that his blog affected his performance. Get a clue

Stop it

Howry, at least he got us off to the start we needed in the playoffs with the HR. Obviously the boot on the ground ball was equally big, but come on. Sorry, I don't give him a pass for one good at bat all series. The time was for him to put up or shut up. The rest of the series he was terrible. He had opportunity after opportunity to come through and he Howry the bed. I don't want to hear anymore talk from the Cubs, just get it done. DeRosa drove in 4 runs in 12 AB's this series. The rest of the team drove in 2 runs in 104 AB's.

False choice. You can construct a team that is balanced with good hitters from both sides of the plate *and* build a team that is great in the regular season. It does not have to be an either/or. The point is, this team still crushed RHP despite not having the balance you desire. I don't see how you quantify exactly what is "good" RHP and prove that we were able to destroy bad RHP but not scratch across 7 runs in 3 games against above average RHP. It wasn't a flawless team but it was the best team in the league. That's Hendry's job.

Yep. Best regular season of my lifetime flushed down the toilet in a massive October failure.

Good call. Lee was obviously the villain in this series. And there is minimal blame to be put on Hendry. He put together a near 100 win team that didn't show up for the playoffs. That's not on him. They played tight and coughed it up. He made decisions that made them heavily right-handed, making them vulnerable to a team with lots of good right-handed pitching. Bull Howry. They scored the most runs in the league vs. RHP and had the second best OPS vs. RHP over 161 games. Stats against all RHP != stats against good RHP. Okay. So constructing a team that's good against "Good" RHP is more important than constructing a roughly 100 win team that was the best team in the league, best offense in the league, best against RHP and best against LHP. That makes sense.

Good call. Lee was obviously the villain in this series. And there is minimal blame to be put on Hendry. He put together a near 100 win team that didn't show up for the playoffs. That's not on him. They played tight and coughed it up. He made decisions that made them heavily right-handed, making them vulnerable to a team with lots of good right-handed pitching. Bull [expletive]. They scored the most runs in the league vs. RHP and had the second best OPS vs. RHP over 161 games.

[expletive], at least he got us off to the start we needed in the playoffs with the HR. Obviously the boot on the ground ball was equally big, but come on.

Good call. Lee was obviously the villain in this series. And there is minimal blame to be put on Hendry. He put together a near 100 win team that didn't show up for the playoffs. That's not on him. They played tight and coughed it up.

You don't think "Epic Failure" label on every misplayed ball or swing and miss is hilarious? It's a good thing that hasn't gotten old and tired by now.

Me three. After Hill gave up the HR to Young on the first pitch and our offense looked exactly the same, I watched more of the Iowa game than the Cubs. As long as Harden is close to healthy and we get the win like we should, I think/hope the team will loosen up and remember that they're the best team in the league. Very confident in Lilly to pitch a gem in L.A. for game 4.

Why in the heck would you just want it over? Just win one game at a time. It has been done before. Exactly. Win game 3 (which we should) and you're talking about having to win 2 games over 3 days, one in L.A. one in Chicago. Neither would be poor pitching matchups. I'm as disappointed as anyone and am not overly optimistic but I sure as hell don't just want it over.

For some reason I was more upset/angry/disappointed during the playoffs last year. These first two games I've just almost felt numb, in a state of shock trying to figure out what's going on. This doesn't feel real.

I still don't get the Stanzi love. he's really not any better. our offensive line was terrible with their pass protection today, and Pitt had pretty good coverage when either QB was given time to throw. they had no business losing that game today and should have won by at least 10. Shonn Greene should have been given the damn ball on the 2nd to last series instead of passing every down. I couldn't disagree more. How do you figure Stanzi isn't any better? You really don't notice a HUGE improvement in accuracy and decisiveness between the two? That's absolute craziness. How many bounce passes has Ricky thrown? Many of Jake's completions (2-3 more today) are in bad spots where guys have to slide to catch them. The o-line wasn't that bad. Jake's lack of decisiveness cost us 2-3 sacks because he got happy feet and panicked. I figure Stanzi isn't better because he's not. both have been inconsistent to terrible in stretches this season. we must have been watching a different game if you think the o-line wasn't that bad. they did a great job with the run, and I'd give them a D for their pass protection, though it did improve as the game went on You know he's not better because he had a bad stretch in one game during his first career start in terrible weather? When else has he been terrible or inconsistent in any game? As far as the o-line, I think you've already shown that you're watching a different game than everyone else. Re-watch the game and look at the sacks. There were maybe 3 legit sacks on the day. One of them was Greene making a poor block in pass pro. Jake took 2-3 sacks because of his happy feet and indecisiveness yet again. So you really do not feel that Stanzi is a more accurate passer? You really do not feel he puts more touch on the ball? You really do not feel that he makes quicker decisions? How many times have you seen Stanzi bounce a routine 8-yard pass for a first down? Most importantly Stanzi CLEARLY performed better in the first half of yesterday's game and it wasn't close. Yet he didn't get a snap in the second half. We've seen what Jake is and what he will be. He's now played 17 games and even though the entire supporting cast around him is improved, he is performing exactly the same and has the exact same weaknesses.