Super Bowl XLIV Preview and Prediction

Offense, offense, offense. If you like offense, your going to be in for a treat Sunday. Super Bowl XLIV is setting up to be one of the highest-scoring "Big Game" in recent years, with the teams top two offenses from their respective league, the Saints for the NFC and the Colts for the AFC, will square off in Miami to battle for the NFL's ultimate prize.

The Saints are really the feel good story of the NFL, as they've come back tremendously strong after the disaster of Hurricane Katrina and have rallied that state behind them, but that's not why they're in the Super Bowl. They're there because they have the best quarterback in the NFC leading their charge and a surplus of speedy weapons like Reggie Bush, Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Rob Meachem and Jeremy Shockey surrounding him on offense. They're defense has also come a long, long way from just a few years back, as they are led by Pro-Bowl Linebacker Jonathan Vilma, Safety Darren Sharper, D-end Will Smith and CB Jabari Greer. Where as the Colts have been a powerhouse for much of the 2000's, and have continuously trotted out one of the leagues elite offenses' since drafting Peyton Manning in 1998. Providing Manning with options on Sunday will be All-Pro wideout Reggie Wayne, youngster Pierre Garcon and pro-bowl tight-end Dallas Clark.

I think the big key to this game will be the Indy defense and their health. The one guy who really makes the Indy defense go is their all-world pass-rushing defensive end Dwight Freeney, who's battling a bum ankle and will likely be limited in his playing time and his effectiveness on Sunday. He's a guy who makes the Colts defense so tough to pass on and if he's not able to go, or isn't himself in the game, it could really open up the Saints passing game. Then again, if the Colts can just get him on the field, it will force the Saints offensive line to adjust accordingly and he'd still probably require a double-team, thus opening up options for the Colts pass-rush. I'm expecting both teams to put up big offensive numbers anyway, so the key to the game will be turnovers, and the only really way to get Brees and Manning to each turn the ball over is to put pressure on them. The Colts do have the edge defensively, the Saints are coming off a five-turnover performance vs. Brett Favre and the Vikings. The key pass-rushing specialist on the Saints end is Will Smith, who isn't quite up to Freeney's level, but is coming off a career-high 13-sack season with 3 forced fumbles and he's going to have to lead the charge and get into the Indy backfield all afternoon.

Offensively, the wild-card for New Orleans will be Reggie Bush. Because of the Colts high-octane pass-rush, the Saints are going to have to keep them at bey by using screens and running draws and what not, and the guy who will be in the center of those type of plays will be Reggie Bush. The Colts bring a defense very similar to the Arizona Cardinal's (speedy defense with strong pass-rush and solid defensive backfield, but can get ran on) and Bush came up large in that game. Bush is also crucial in the return game and will be key in what kind of field position the New Orleans Saints will have. Pierre Thomas is going to be key as well as the Colts can be run on and their weakness is in between the tackles which is Thomas' area of work. If Thomas and Bush can keep the Colts pass-rush honest, then they'll likely score enough points to keep up with the high powered Colts attack. The Saints cannot be one-dimensional and stick with the pass only, they have to run the football.

For the Colts, they'll just need to stick to what they do best and that's let Peyton Manning exploit match-ups against Dallas Clark, Pierre Garcon, Austin Collie and Reggie Wayne. Or in other words, let Manning go to work and not hold him back whatsoever. One of the things that Manning is so terrific is taking advantage of miss-matches, and there is one seemingly on every pass play for the Colts. Indy, though, like the Saints, cannot become one dimensional with the pass, they need to get Joseph Addai involved early and often to keep the pressure off Manning. If the Colts play their game, I really think it will be theirs to lose. It's going to be a close one, there's no doubt in my mind on that part, but the Colts have been there before and Peyton Manning really is built for games like this. No knock on Brees, but the Saints aren't exactly on their hottest streak. They lost their last 3 games in the regular season and needed to force 5 turnovers to barely edge out the Vikings by 3 points in the NFC Championship. The Colts would have went undefeated had they played their first unit throughout the last 2 games, and they really haven't had a slip-up all season long.

My predictions is that Peyton Manning will be Peyton Manning and throw 3 TD passes and 350 yards through the air. Brees will do his best to match him, and I actually bet he'll throw for more yards (380+) than Manning, but not as many scores(2), but it won't be enough as the Colts pull it out, 31-27. Game MVP goes to Peyton Manning, but my darkhourse pick will be Dallas Clark.

A's Continue to Stay Busy

Continuing with what has been the most active A's offseason in recent years, the A's made a few more additions to their squad over the weekend, signing outfielder Gabe Gross and reliever Michael Wuertz and trading for infielder Adam Rosales and Willy Taveras.

The A's quickly designated Taveras for assignment though, as they now sort of have a logjam in their outfield. That's what makes the signing of Gross a little puzzling, but apparently the A's have him penciled in as their 4th outfielder. Adam Rosales should figure heavily into the utility-player mix once spring starts as he could be the favorite for that role. I'm a little surprised by the Taveras DFA though. He did struggle last year, but is just 2 seasons removed from a .320 avg, 33 stolen base season with Cincinnati, and could give the A's another speedy option off the bench. The A's are pretty stocked with light-hitting outfielders though and I guess they didn't see a spot for Taveras, but you'd think they could have probably gotten something for him. The Giants are a team that could certianly use an experienced leadoff man with speed like Taveras', and they may be in line to offer him a spring training invite. The A's do have Rajai Davis and Coco Crisp already on their center field depth chart, so it doesn't look like there were going to be a ton of at-bats for Taveras if he had stayed on the roster though anyway. Gross though, will bring an element that none of the other Oakland outfielders posses (unless Jake Fox start in right field rather than first base) in that he's got some pop. The left-handed right-fielder has hit 19 homers in 590 at-bats over the last 2 seasons, and as most Billy Beane acquisitions, he's a guy that will take a walk and can make a pitcher work. All Adam Rosales cost the A's was Aaron Miles, in what could end up being another steal by Beane. Rosales is a 26 year-old player with upside, albeit marginal upside, and the A's just had to part with 33 year-old Aaron Miles, who will struggle to stay on a major league roster.

The A's also agreed to re-sign reliever Micheal Wuertz to a 2-year, $5.5 million deal. Wuertz threw very well for Oakland last year after coming over from the Cubs, carrying an era of 2.63, a WHIP of 0.95 and a 4:1-K:BB ratio in route to striking out 102 batters in just 78 innings of work. Outside of Andrew Bailey, he was Oakland's most consistent reliever. Very rarely do we see Billy Beane shell out multi-year deals to veteran mid-relievers, but Wuertz has a solid track record and I think this is going to end up being another good move for Oakland. Depending on how Joey Devine's health is coming into spring, Wuertz could end up as the A's primary set-up man for Bailey, but if Devine is ready to go in Spring, he'll probably get that spot. The A's bully looks like it's pretty much finished as they will likely carry these 7: RHP Andrew Bailey, RHP Michael Wuertz, RHP Brad Zieglar, RHP Joey Devine, LHP Josh Outman, LHP Gio Gonzalez (long reliever), LHP Brad Kilby.

Super Bowl Preview: With the A's staying so busy recently, we haven't had a chance to get into the NFL playoffs much yet, but in our next post, we'll break down this Sunday's Super Bowl match-up between the high-powered offenses, New Orleans and Indianapolis, so stay tuned for that, it should be up Wednesday or Thursday!!!

A's Sign Ben Sheets

In an un-expected move, and one that could drastically improve their rotation, health impending, the A's inked free-agent right-handed starting pitcher, Ben Sheets. The deal guarantees the former Brewer's ace $10 million in 2010.

This move really surprised me just in the simple fact that I didn't expect to see the A's throw $10 million at any one player, let alone a starting pitcher coming off an injury wipe-out season. Don't get me wrong, Ben Sheets has the potential to justify that salary, I just don't think there were many other teams that would have given him that much after missing a full season of play. In fact, I was thinking Sheets would get right around 5-6 million guaranteed, with incentives that could make the deal reach $10 million, but the A's went ahead and gave him the $10 mill guaranteed anyway. Sheets sounds confident in his health though, judging by his press-conference. And like I said, if he is indeed healthy and ready to contribute 30 starts atop the A's rotation, he'll be well worth $10 million, especially to the A's. I really like how Sheets fits in there, as he can lead some of their younger arms like Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson. If Justin Duchsherer gets healthy and on track, the A's have the potential for a top rotation. The way I'd line them up if I were Bob Geren and Billy Beane is: Sheets-Braden-Duchsherer-Anderson-Cahill. It's tough to find a brighter set of five throughout the American League and that is a rotation that would rival their cross-bay rival Giants' as one of the better rotations in baseball.

The A's aren't quite done yet either. Billy Beane made mention that the A's were still pursuing a utility infielder and possibly a veteran reliever. There has also been whisper of the A's bringing back Johnny Damon, who had his worst season of his career in Oakland in 2001. I think an add of Ben Sheets now makes the A's relevant in the AL West, but an add of Johnny Damon could make a good A's offseason even better. Just look at what the A's have accomplished this winter. They've added some much needed right-handed power and a couple of young starting positional players in Kevin Kouzmanoff and Jake Fox without giving up a whole lot. Not too mention, they got themselves a potential 5-tool outfielder in Michael Taylor. They also signed Coco Crisp to a 1 year deal to shore up their outfield defense and add some speed to their lineup. Add the re-signing of Duchsherer and the addition of Sheets and the A's have had themselves an event-full offseason. I don't know that they're quite up to pace with the Mariners, after what they've done, and the Angels, but they look like a .500+ team who are keeping pace with an improving division.

Raiders Seeking New Coach

Although Tom Cable is still officially holding the head coaching job on the Oakland Raiders, it appears it's only a matter of time before Al Davis and Co. go in a different direction.

The Raiders reportedly reached out to Stanford head coach Jim Harbough, although Harbough has made it pretty clear that he wants to stick around Palo Alto for a few more years. At least that's the stance that Harbough is taking publicly. Other than the guy who's brought the Cardinal back to relevance, the Raiders have shown apparent interest in former Giants' head coach Jim Fassel, and former Niner and Raider offensive coordinator, Mark Trestman. Fassel was recently coaching in the UFL, while Trestman has spent the last couple of years in the Canadian Football League. Amidst all the speculation, Cable is still keeping his confidence that it'll be his job and that he believes he's the right man for the job. I just think it's a matter of time before a move is made, but unfortunately for the Raiders, there in a position where they need to find someone willing to come to them because they obviously aren't going to land their top choice in Harbough. The Oakland Raider head coaching job has to be one of the least desirable jobs in the NFL, as it's basically a position to be Al Davis' puppet, which is the reason why they always have a tough time finding a candidate with good credentials who actually wants to coach for them.

Whether it's an NFL retread like Fossil or Trestman, or a newer, younger guy like Tom Cable and Lane Kiffin were, I think it's only a matter of time before a move is made. Davis wouldn't have this much public interest in other candidates if he didn't indeed have a plan in mind, but what has me scratching my head, is why hasn't he made the move to officially release Cable yet? I just can't see a situation where Cable returns to Oakland after the circus year they had in 2009. Davis wants someone who will come in and work JaMarcus Russell into being an NFL QB, and I think that's why he's showing so much interest in those offensive guys like Trestman and Fossil, and of course former NFL QB, Jim Harbough. I highly doubt he'd except the role, but a guy who could really fit well in Oakland I think would be Steve Mariucci. He is an offensive mind who's had a hand in developing a few very good quarterbacks, including Brett Favre. "Mooch" is no fool though, and the Raiders would have to throw a whole truckload of money at him to have him even consider coming into this mess.... More on this situation as it comes!

BASJ'S NBA All-Star Selection Post

With the NBA season right at it's official halfway point, I thought now would be a good time to post our picks for both the Eastern and Western Conference rosters for next months NBA all-star game. So here is my un-biased view on how I think each conference's 15-man roster would break down if the game were to be played this weekend:

Western Conference Roster

Starters

PG: Steve Nash (Edges out Paul because he's played more, both having very similar years)
SG: Kobe Bryant (Pretty much a shoe in for this spot each year as continues figuring out different ways to beat you)
SF: Kevin Durant (Barely edges out Melo, but Durant is tremendous scorer and just keeps getting better)
PF: Dirk Nowitzki (Having another Dirk-type year, 25/8/3 per night with solid 3-pt shooting)
C: Tim Duncan (In order to start the best 5, they'll have to play Duncan at center, another 20/10 year from Duncan)

Bench:

G Chris Paul-NO (Having another MVP type season, but has missed a few games)
F Carmelo Anthony-Den.(Melo's on pace for a career year, Leads NBA in scoring)
G/F Brandon Roye-Por. (Keeps getting better each year, very Lebron-esque)
F/C Carlos Boozer-Uta. (Healthy and averaging a double-double with 19/10.5)
F/C Zach Randolph-Mem. (Underrated big is a consistent double-double, 20/11)
G Monta Ellis-GS (Ellis stepping up big time, career year and a leader for Warriors)
G Deron Williams-Uta (Another underrated, doing his best CP3 impression in Utah)
F/C Amare Stoudemire-Pho. (Not having his best year, but still at 21 and 9)
F Rudy Gay-Mem (Very solid all-around player can score, rebound and defend)
G Baron Davis-LAC (Having nice rebound year, leading to Clips back to relevance)

Eastern Conference

Starters

PG Dwayne Wade (More suited for 2, but east lacks a true point worthy of starting)
SG Joe Johnson (Quietly has become one of the NBA's best all-around talents)
SF LeBron James (Mr. Amazing might be in his last AS game as a Cav, carries the Eastern Conference)
PF Chris Bosh (Putting up career year with 24 and 11, top PF in game right now in my opinion)
C Dwight Howard (Isn't having his best scoring season, but still dominating in every sense of the term)

Bench

C Brook Lopez-NJ (Former Stanford great having breakout year for NJ)
PF/C David Lee-NY (Rare talent that plays about 6 inches bigger than his size)
G/F Andre Iguodala-Phi (Very good player that hasn't reached potential)
G/F Paul Pierce-Bos (Having another typical Paul Pierce season, 18/5/4)
G Rajon Rondo-Bos (Stepping up his assists and scoring this year for Boston)
F Gerald Wallace-Cha (The super-athletic Wallace is having a huge year)
G Derrick Rose-Chi (Started slowly, but 20 ppg and 7 apg last month)
F Antwan Jamison-Was (Big scorer and rebounder doing both well again)
G Stephen Jackson-Cha (Averaging 21 ppg, 5 rpg and 1.5 spg since trade)
F Danny Granger-Ind (One of best 3-point shooters in league scoring 25 ppg)

Spring Training Right Around the Corner

Spring Training is right around the corner, and the A's and Giants both have some finishing up to do regarding finalizing their respective rosters before the mid-February reporting dates.

The A's have actually been a little more active than the Giants this off-season, as they both search for ways to improve their offense's. We've been discussing the Giants in-depth all winter long over at one of our partner sites, The Giants Baseball Blog, and encourage our readers to visit there for more in-depth Giants analysis, but we've only had the chance to discuss the A's a few times here this off-season, and I wanted to take a look at what their roster is setting up to look like in the spring. Just a couple days ago, the A's announced a new contract for their DH/RF'er over the last couple of years, Jack Cust. The 31 year-old Cust has been a guy the A's can count on for upwards of 25 homers, 75 RBI and an above average OBP, even though he doesn't hit for a particularly high average. The only knock on Cust besides the low average is his knack for striking out. He's whiffed 546 times in 1389 at-bats with Oakland, which is rate of more than 1 k for every 3 at-bats.

Cust's return, along with the signing of Coco Crisp and the trade for Jake Fox should help Oakland's offense out a bit, but they're still lacking that big middle of the order bat that Eric Chavez was supposed to provide. Jake Fox could very well become a 30 hr-a-year guy with full-time at-bats, but he's going to be learning a brand new league and is still a pretty raw ballplayer in terms of major league experience. Crisp needs to rebound from a sub-par, injury riddled season in Kansas City and try to regain that form he had in Cleveland, and I think playing with the low-pressure Oakland A's might be a good setting for him to do just that. The A's will also have a full season of Scott Hariston who, like Fox, has 30+ home run potential if given a full-load of at-bats.

The A's lineup seems to be taking shape, and with the return of Justin Duchscherer, their pitching staff is rounding into shape as well. There was some whisper earlier in the off-season that had the A's as one of the teams interested in 21 year-old Cuban phenom, Aroldis Chapman. The dominant 21 year-old lefty is drawing interest from a lot of teams with bigger checkbooks than the A's, so I don't necessarily like their chances of signing him, but I can't help but think of the capabilities of that young staff if they did. The same could be said for the Giants. Think of that potential of a Lincecum-Cain-Chapman-Bumgarner-Sanchez five-some could be! The A's don't have themselves a true number one starter like the Giants do though, and Chapman could eventually become that guy. I really like Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson Dallas Braden and Duchscherer, and adding Chapman into that mix could eventually give the A's a dominant young rotation.

The number I've been hearing as far as contract offers being thrown at Chapman has been in the 5 year, $25 million range, which is obviously a lot for a 21 year-old arm without much of a track record. It would basically be like giving a college junior drafted in the amateur draft a 25 million dollar contract. That's a pretty big number when you consider that guys like Tim Lincecum only got around 2-3 million guaranteed when drafted. Left-handed starting pitchers who throw 100 mph and have the stuff that Chapman has just don't come around very often, and I think this kid is going to be something special. Here is a video from the 2007 World Baseball Cup of Chapman and and you can get a pretty good look at just what kind of stuff this kid brings to the table. Billy Beane, and too a lesser extent, Brian Sabean, should do whatever they realistically can to get this guy in the Bay Area.

Warriors Talk: We haven't quite gotten into as much Golden State Warriors talk here as I'd like to, but I did want to make sure our readers are checking out The Warriors Rundown regularly for updated Warriors analysis and chatter and the strength of their NBA Basketball Schedule this year.

49ers Finish Up 8-8

The NFL regular season came to an end after Sunday's games, and the Niners ended up right were a lot of people picked them to finish at the beginning of the season, at 8-8.

Alex Smith and Frank Gore once again paced the Niners offense, as they went into St. Louis and handed the Rams a sound beating. It took the first half for the Niners to get their offense in sync, but once they did, they started rolling. Alex Smith connected with Vernon Davis for the 49ers longest touchdown pass of the season, a 73-yard catch and run in the 4th quarter that helped put the game away. Frank Gore also had a huge second half, rushing for 2 touchdowns and the majority of his 107 rushing yards. The performance gave Gore 1120 rushing yards on the year along (2nd best in his career) with a career high 10 rushing td's. He also pitched in 406 receiving yards and 3 td receptions as well. Pretty impressive numbers when you take into account the 3 full games he missed at the beginning of the season. And keep in mind, the Niners offensive line was far from a dominant unit. I can't wait to see what Gore can do next year with an improved O-line in front of him and finally a legit passing attack to run off of.

Smith was once again solid, yet unspectacular as he threw for 222 yards and a score, good for a passer rating of 97.6. After a rough 2 games vs. Arizona and Philly in weeks 14 and 15, it was good to see Smith finish out the year in strong fashion. He avoided turning the ball over in the final two games and carried a combined QB rating of 97.6. The Niners haven't yet officially named Smith the starting quarterback for the 2010 season, but don't think there's any question as to whether or not he'll be back under center for them when training camp starts in July. I really believe a full set of mini-camps and a full training camp, working with Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree and Josh Morgan, not to mention the same offensive coordinator for the first time in a while, will work wonders for the Niners passing game. These guys really started to get in sync wit Smith towards the end of the year, and the more time they get with each other in the offseason, the better off they'll be once the season starts. Smith's final line for the 2009 season wasn't too bad, but his win/loss record has to improved next year. He finished with 2350 yards passing in 10.5 games, good for an average of about 225 ypg passing. He threw for 18 scores and 12 picks and a 81.5 passer rating. The touchdown ratio (18 TD's in 10.5 games) is a solid stat, but he needs to drop the interception ratio a bit. But it's his 4-4 record as a starter that the Niners are going to want to see improve. In order to make the playoffs, they need to be better than a .500 team, and if they all develop accordingly, and add the pieces they need to add during the offseason, then they'll be right there with Arizona as far as the favorites in the NFC West. With the playoffs right around the corner, we wanted to encourage you to check out Doc's for all your NFL playoff betting, including NFL Playoff Brackets and NFL Playoff Schedules.

*Note: For more in-depth coverage on the surging Golden State Warriors and the impressive play by Correy Maggette and Monta Ellis, check out our partner site over at The Warriors Rundown. Brian has been providing analysis, basketball odds and in-depth game reviews 3-4 times a week and is doing a tereffic job. Make sure you drop by and get his take on the GSW's.