By Zac Jackson
FOX Sports Ohio
January 23, 2010
Random, pre-football thoughts on a variety of subjects. No particular order, just wherever my fingers may take me...
1. I'm headed out the door shortly for the NFL conference title games. I may need a beer or two to properly cope with the fact the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl again. Now, maybe you'll read this later and I'll be wrong. But I doubt it. I even think the Steelers, who are not only one of the best organizations from top to bottom in the NFL but also one of the luckiest, could end up as a heavy Super Bowl favorite again against the Bears. I'm torn on the NFC game for a few reasons, one being that the field is all torn up. I love the Bears defense and their underrated big-play pop, but I don't trust Jay Cutler. And I really don't trust the Bears offensive line. I'll take Green Bay, 20-17, and the Steelers, 24-10. In the first meeting the Jets returned a kick for a score and took advantage of Troy Polamalu being out. The Steelers salivate when teams try to run against them. And they make their own luck, too.
2. If the Cavaliers are ever going to win a game, it might have to be Monday night in New Jersey. The bad news, among a bunch of bad news for the Cavs, is that the Nets are playing well in the wake of the big announcement that they won't be trading for Carmelo Anthony. And the Cavs aren't playing well, which you knew. I knew it would be bad, but the injuries and the lack of defense have made it really, really bad. A couple more weeks of this bad and the Cavs will basically clinch the most ping pong balls in May's draft lottery. At least that makes watching college basketball that much more interesting.
3. The Ohio State Buckeyes are more than interesting. They're very, very good. Saturday's win at Illinois was a testament to three things in particular: 1, their leadership, 2, Jared Sullinger's dominance and, 3, their all-hands-on-deck, true team approach. Sullinger isn't the only freshman who was huge in that game, and the more conference road games Aaron Craft and DeShaun Thomas get under their belts, the better they'll be. The law of averages says the Buckeyes are eventually going to lose, but with their ability to adapt and willingness to share the ball it's going to take a whale of an effort -- something like a 70 percent shooting night by a fired-up home team -- for a Big Ten team to beat them.
4. You may have read the reports that Carson Palmer wants out of Cincinnati. We know Marvin Lewis wants Chad out, but we aren't sure how that may play out. We know the Bengals are an absolute mess. The Bengals are such a mess that the Browns think the Bengals are a mess. It's a HUGE week for the Bengals as their coaching staff is coaching the North team at the Senior Bowl, and the timing of this Palmer thing is no coincidence. Marvin is, um, a little less than cheery with the media all the time, and I bet the questions this week will make for some good TV.
5. Looking at the week ahead...I'll do some more blogging on the importance of the Senior Bowl, we'll take an early big-picture look at the NFL Draft and I'll be in Columbus Tuesday night for Ohio State-Purdue. That's a really big one. The Columbus Dispatch reported that William Buford has a tender ankle, and the Buckeyes need him at both ends of the floor -- especially with JaJuan Johnson on the other side. Should be fun.
