America’s favorite impression making gymnist, McKayla Maroney, made it to a couple of games this week. Needless to say… She wasn’t impressed, y’all!

Take the Thursday night game featuring the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. She really thought Brandon Weeden could have stepped it up for the Browns…

» Continue reading “McKayla Is Not Impressed, NFL”

Over 300 of the nation’s top NFL prospects will descend up on Indianapolis and Lucus Oil Stadium to participate in the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine. The event is essential for athletes with dreams of becoming NFL stars. The event starts Wednesday and goes through Feb. 28.

Here’s a little about what should be expected from the combine. Scouts also go over any medical or character concerns they may have about the athlete. NFL.com has a pretty nice section about the combine so make sure to check it out!

Robert Griffin III is one of the big names scouts will be taking a look at this week. He said he’s excited about “wowing” scouts. Here’s what RG3 had to say:

“I’m excited to wow them in the interviews with the type of offense that we run, just so they can understand it’s not as simple as some people make our spread out to be. It’s a different kind of spread,” Griffin said. “Although I don’t agree with it, but people say I just burst on the scene this year, so no one knows much about me, whether NFL GMs or analysts, so I get a chance to put my best foot forward.”

Griffin added that he will save his throwing for scouts for the March 21 pro-day at Baylor. The Baylor pro-day was moved up to avoid having to perform on the same day as Stanford’s Andrew Luck.

Wasn’t that nice!

Elsewhere around the league:

* Representatives for Cortland Finnegan will meet with Tennessee Titans officials this week at the combine to discuss a contract extension. According to NFL.com, the Titans could elect to use the franchise tag on Finnegan could reach a value of $10.6 million for cornerbacks in 2012.  Here is a little more on the All-Pro.

* Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden hopes for more good things out of quarterback Andy Dalton next season. Gruden certainly expects great things from Dalton in his sophomore season. Here’s more on Gruden’s statement on Dalton.

* Ron Jaworski thinks age played a role in his move from MNF analyst to an analyst on other ESPN programming. Here’s what Jaws said, “They just feel that a two-man booth was the way to go. Obviously, I’m the odd man out. I’m the 60-year-old guy and Jon’s the young guy that they believe is the future. I’m not going to argue with that.”

Here’s a little more on Jaws comments and here’s a little more on the move by ESPN to go to a two-man booth.

Miranda Remaklus is senior reporter for Aerys Offsides. She’s also a contributor to Aaron Miles’ Fastball in the MLB section. Follow her on Twitter, @missmiranda. 

Ron Jaworski will not be in the booth with Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden next fall.

Yeah, I’m not surprised either!

Tirico made an appearance this week on the Dan Patrick Show. Patrick, a former ESPN guy, grilled Tirico on why Jaws was getting the boot from the booth. Tirico was a little shy!

Here’s the dirt:

“I don’t know the management specifics of the how and the why,” Tirico said, via ProFootballTalk.com.

“… I did say ‘Why?,’ and honestly I’m not going to share that with everybody because that’s not everybody’s business. And the answer I got I believe.”

Any guesses as to who could become the third member of the booth in the fall? Comment!

Moving along… » Continue reading “Relax! No More Uncomfortable Jaws Moments”

Drew Brees

The New Orleans Saints are perfect. At least this November.

They started the month with a wins over the Bucs and the Falcons. Coming off last week’s bye, the Saints are on top of the NFC South. They face the New York Giants at the Superdome.

The Giants’ month has not been so successful. While they won against the Patriots, the past two weeks have seen close losses to the 49ers and the Eagles. They’ll be looking to spoil NOLA perfection.

The Saints are making the passing game look Brees-y and are averaging over 300 passing yards a game. While the Giants secondary hasn’t been great this year, they do have one hope against New Orleans in the air–the pass rush.

The Giants are tied for second place in sacks in the league, with nine different players recording at least one sack. The Saints look vulnerable against the pass rush. Drew Brees has been sacked 19 times this season. But, numbers can deceive.

The Saints are also leading the league in pass attempts, so Brees has only been sacked on 4% of the Saints’ passing plays. That’s one of the lowest numbers in the NFL. It’s a match-up worth watching because the last time the Saints lost (waaaaaaay back in October), it was to a St. Louis team that successfully put pressure on Brees.