Chicago Bears: Anyone who knows me personally knows how devastated I was by the Bears firing Lovie Smith after they failed to make the playoffs last season. I felt the firing was completely unjust because Smith was pretty successful during his tenure with the Bears and all 6 of their losses in 2012 were to playoff teams. They were a good, but not elite football team and finishing just shy of the playoffs (at no fault of their own mind you, the Vikings had the tiebreaker and picked up a late victory against the Packers in Week 17 to clinch the last wild card spot in the NFC) isn't reasonable grounds for firing in my opinion. My aggravation further continued when they hired CFL export Marc Trestman who hasn't coached in the NFL in almost 10 years over Bruce Arians, who has proven his offensive wizardry consistently for the past five years or so as the offensive coordinator with the Steelers and Colts. Now that the season has started, I have calmed down a bit about the hiring of Trestman, but he still has a lot to prove. He is an alleged offensive guru and was successful in his last NFL coaching gig with the Raiders in 2003, but his time away from the NFL is still a bit troublesome. I am hopeful that his coaching skills do catch on and the Bears can finally click offensively after years of being near the bottom of the league. Aside from my uncertainty with Trestman, I like a lot of the moves the Bears made this offseason. Top free agent pickups tackle Jermon Bushrod and tight end Martellus Bennett should be integral parts in this offense this season. Bushrod gives the Bears a legitimate tackle and should help cut down the amount of times Jay Cutler gets clocked this season, while Bennett gives Cutler the legitimate red-zone threat they have lacked since Greg Olsen got traded to the Panthers in 2011. The rookies they brought in have impressed as well. Initially I was skeptical about their first two picks guard Kyle Long and inside linebacker Jon Bostic, but both have impressed mightily in the preseason. Long has brought additional stability to the previously porous offensive line and laid down some monster blocks in both pass-protection and opening up holes in the running game. Bostic has stepped in nicely to fill the monstrous shoes left by the retirement of Brian Urlacher with great lateral quickness and a number of big plays (the hit he laid down on Chargers wideout Mike Willie a couple of weeks ago was absolutely beautiful.) The new guys are going to be key if the Bears are going to reverse their fortunes and finally make the playoffs. This season is also a make or break year for Cutler, who is set to become a free agent after this season. He needs to play more consistent football if he wants to get paid and more importantly, silence his critics and lead this team to the promised land. Cutler clearly shines at times and I expect the revamped o-line to help his cause, still he needs to string together consistent strong performances to reach his full potential as a player. Even with the new focus/number of offseason moves on offense, there's no denying this is still a defensive team. The defense may be seasoned, but everyone is still productive. Charles Tilman is coming off the strongest year of his career, Tim Jennings was a ballhawk last season and should only continue to improve this season, Major Wright is one of the most underrated safeties in the league and has shown considerable improvement each year he's been in the league, Henry Melton is a forced to be reckoned with the middle of the line, Juilus Peppers is still a feared pass-rusher at 33 and Lance Briggs is the new leader on this defense now that Urlacher is gone. If Shea McCllein and Chris Conte can step their game up then this defense will be damn near flawless and just as strong as they've been in past years. The Bears have more than enough talent to become a force this season, they just need their revamped offense to deliver the goods if they want to contend with the elite teams in the league.
Detroit Lions: I don't care who you are, you have to feel for the Detroit Lions. Their 2012 campaign saw lady luck repeatedly shitting on their dreams as they finished 4-12 (10 of their 12 losses were by 10 points or less) despite finishing in the top half of the league in almost every statistical category and coming off a playoff berth in 2011. The Lions hope to have luck on their side this year and turn things around after last year's undeniably rough and disheartening season. A big reason for optimism in Detroit is the addition of running back Reggie Bush to their ranks. Bush is tailor-made for Jim Schwartz's offense with a great set of hands and excellent elusiveness in the open field. I fully expect Bush to take some of the pressure off of Calvin Johnson and make this offense more dynamic and balanced right away. No one is going to question the Lions offense talent with the addition of Bush, Johnson coming off his record-breaking year and franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Lions problems are pretty much exclusive on their defense. While their secondary was alright last year, they really can't be trusted. Ron Bartell and Chris Houston are both spotty at corner and unless rookie Darius Slay proves to be dynamic, this team will face the same issues defending they pass last year. They also lack a proven pass-rusher now that Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch are gone. Rookie Ziggy Ansah is about as raw as a prospect comes and I don't expect Israel Idonjie to duplicate his 7.5 sack season he had with the Bears last year. Thankfully for the Lions, they have a dangerous interior line combo in Nick Fairley and Ndamukong Suh so one of these guys could end up surprising as a pass-rushing threat. The Lions look to be in better shape than last year and they are just two years removed from a playoff berth, but the competition level of the NFC North and another tough schedule could prove to be too much for them to handle.
Green Bay Packers: There really isn't anything too dramatically different about the Packers in 2013. Aaron Rodgers is still one of the most consistently dominant quarterbacks in the league, the receiving corps is incredibly deep and their defense can still make big plays and get takeaways despite giving up a lot of points. One of the few new things for the Packers is the new-found confidence in the running game. The Packers have struggled to find a solid back since Ryan Grant's last good season in 2009. Alex Green, James Starks and DuJuan Harris struggled mightily last season after veteran Cedric Benson went down early in the year, forcing them to become arguably the most one-dimensional offense in the league (and at least part of the reason the 49ers crushed them in the playoffs.) These woes seem to fixed in the form of promising rookie Eddie Lacy. After a not-so-flattering picture of Lacy looking vastly overweight hit the internet, it looked like the Packers had taken another dud running back. But Lacy managed to silence his critics almost immediately with consistently impressive performances in the preseason and throughout training camp. Unless he suddenly becomes Mark Ingram 2.0., Lacy looks like he is going to be a solid back on the professional level. As I stated earlier, the Packers are returning most of their roster and when you have a team that has achieved the success they've had in recent years, which all but guarantees continued success for this team. Even losing Pro Bowl wideout Greg Jennings to their rivals the Minnesota Vikings and cutting ties with future hall-of-fame safety Charles Woodson didn't really hurt them because of the depth and large amount of young talent they've have on this roster. There are few teams that are in as good of a position as the Packers: Their offense is dominant, their defense is stable and is capable of making big plays, they are well-coached and they have the experience to make a run for the title.
Minnesota Vikings:Adrian Peterson is a freak. That's really all that needs to be said about the 2012 Vikings season and the star running back's comeback from a torn ACL that lead to him coming just 7 yards of the single-season rushing record. The performance of Peterson carried the team all season and led to an unlikely playoff berth. I don't expect Peterson to repeat those heroics thus making the Vikings a non-factor. Don't get me wrong, I expect Peterson to do well this year, I just don't expect him to be the absolute unstoppable force he was last season. If Peterson doesn't pull the same superhuman performance as last season, the Vikings don't have the talent around them to string together a successful season. Christian Ponder is pretty much a lost cause at quarterback and his terrible arm strength makes the Vikings passing game very limited (even with a pretty good receiving corps anchored big free-agent pickup Greg Jennings and Pro Bowl tight end Kyle Rudolph in the mix.) Their defense, while not bad, is certainly not good enough to be a force and make up for their inability to pass the ball. Peterson can only do so much, they are going to have reassess their quarterback situation if Ponder continues to struggle. Despite their quarterback trouble, there is still some hope for the Vikings. They made quite the splash in the draft picking up three first-round picks in defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, cornerback Xavier Rhodes and wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson. All 3 of them have tremendous potential and although it may take some time for these guys to develop, the Vikings can take pride in the fact that they have three potential standout players in the making within their ranks. The Vikings are a team that I can't completely write off because of Adrian Peterson, but I don't expect a repeat of last year's surprise playoff run.
Projected Standings for the NFC North:
1.Green Bay Packers (12-4)
2.Chicago Bears (9-7)
3.Detroit Lions (7-9)
4.Minnesota Vikings (6-10)
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Album Review: letlive.-The Blackest Beautiful
The Blackest Beautiful marks a bit of a shift in tone for the California post-hardcore juggernauts. A majority of the tracks on The Blackest Beautiful are a lot poppier/melodic than the material on Fake History. There are still flashes of the biting intensity that ruled Fake History (album opener "Banshee (Ghost Fame)" may be the hardest-hitting track of their entire career and "27 Club" is a 7+ minute whirlwind of pure, unadulterated bedlam,) but for the most part the compositions on this record are a lot tamer than its predecessor. Don't get me wrong, letlive. still knows how to pulverize the listener, it's just in shorter, more sporadic bursts. For every groovy, wild section, there is a soft melody to immediately counteract it. I will fully admit that the calmer approach to the music is a majority of the reason it took me awhile to warm up to this record. After they repeatedly took your head off in the past, it takes a bit of getting used to a more subdued and less intense songwriting on this album. Thankfully after a decent number of spins, my stubborn-ass has come around to appreciating what letlive. has done with their music on The Blackest Beautiful.
As always is the case with letlive, their biggest strength as band is the vocals of Jason Butler. The music is strong on its own, but there's no denying that Butler is the heart and soul of this band. This record's more melodic tone allows Butler ample time to shine vocally. He gives some of his most emotional and well-round performances of his career throughout this record. Butler always bears his soul and puts every ounce of himself into every single vocal performance he gives, but tracks like "Younger", "Dreamer's Disease" and "The Priest and Used Cars" are remarkably powerful even by his lofty standards. Other tracks including "Empty Elvis", "White America's Beautiful Black Market and "That Fear Fever" make full use of Butler's extensive range (not to mention provide explosive hooks that will get absolutely beaten into your head.) Butler is just one of those rare talents that is able to combine raw emotion with an outstanding singing and screaming voice. I don't mean to sound like an asshole or a biased fanboy, but letlive. would not be nearly as special of a band as they are if they had someone other than Butler doing vocals.
The Blackest Beautiful is another strong release from letlive. It doesn't have the same manic and bone-crunching bite that made Fake History such a groundbreaking release, but The Blackest Beautiful makes up for it with a great understanding of melody and a plethora of memorable choruses. The actual songwriting and vibe of the record may be different than their earlier material, but the honest emotion is still very much present and that's what letlive's music has been about from the beginning. The Blackest Beautiful successfully establishes a new chapter in the career of letlive. This is a band that is very much determined to turn the genre of post-hardcore on its ass, no matter how crushing or pretty the track or album is. Long live letlive. and may they continue to stir the musical pot as long as they can possibly can.
4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Banshee (Ghost Fame)
2.That Fear Fever
3.27 Club
Monday, August 26, 2013
NFL Preview: NFC East
Dallas Cowboys: Another year, another round of bloated expectations for the Dallas Cowboys. This is a team that always gets endless hype and is expected to do big things every year, but to be honest I don't expect any different results for this team this year. The same core roster that has blown it year in and year out is still in place this season. They certainly don't lack talent: Dez Bryant is emerging as one of the best receivers in the league, Jason Witten is one of the consistent and productive tight ends of all-time, Sean Lee is arguably the most underrated inside linebacker in the league and is only getting better by the season and DeMarcus Ware is one of the most feared pass-rushers in the game, the problem is the team can't put that talent together into a winning record and/or playoff berths. Tony Romo puts up good numbers, but he makes way too many mistakes (the amount of INT's he throws in the redzone is insane) and has continuously shown he can not perform in the clutch. Romo has the tools to be a elite quarterback, but the vast number of mistakes he makes and his inability to perform in key situations will keep continue to keep his team out of the playoffs unless he magically it turns it around (and at this stage of his career, that we nothing short of divine intervention.) On top of Romo's woes, the Cowboys can not run the ball for the life of them. DeMarco Murray is talented, but he is constantly injured and backups Phillip Tanner and Lance Dunbar lack experience and haven't been impressive during their brief stints on-the-field. Unless rookie Joesph Randle is a surprise stud or Murray magically remains healthy for the first time in his career, their woes in the running game will continue. There really isn't much to say about the Cowboys that hasn't been said a million times before: The team has all the talent in the world, they just fail to perform consistently and in big-game situations. Unless they break their annual mold, I don't see the Cowboys leaving the realm of disappointment anytime soon.
New York Giants: The Giants are coming off a disappointing 9-7 post Super Bowl campaign where their ever-fluctuating play that was evenly split between complete dominance and complete incompetence kept them out of the playoffs. I fully expect this team to come back and establish far more consistent play this season. Tom Coughlin is far too good of a coach and there is far too much talent on this roster for the woes of last season to rear their ugly head again. At least on paper, they appear to be in much better shape than last year. Eli Manning was up-and-down last year, but he should benefit from having a (presumably) healthy Hakeem Nicks back in the fold (who is also in a contract year and looking to get paid like the other top wideouts including teammate Victor Cruz did,) the emergence of Ruben Randle as a legit number 3 wideout and counteracting the loss of tight end Martellus Bennett with the equally, if not more reliable Brandon Myers. Not to mention, Victor Cruz should be hungry to prove himself worthy of all the money that was just thrown at him after inking a long-term contract in July. On the other side of the ball, this was a defensive unit that way underperformed in 2012 despite having a plethora of talent. Justin Tuck may have lost a step and is still battling a slew of injuries, but I fully expect the rest of the front 7 (especially Jason Pierre-Paul) to have a bounce back year. They further showed they don't want a repeat of last year's defensive struggles by adding lot of veteran depth this offseason. Defensive tackles Cullen Jenkins and Mike Patterson should help stablize the middle of the line, while inside linebacker Dan Connor gives them an improvement over the shaky Chase Blackburn and safety Ryan Mundy is easily the best defensive back they've had since Jason Sehorn. The Giants may be determined and appear to be in better shape than a year ago, but they still have some lingering questions. Most notably, their running back situation is a bit of mess. David Wilson has plenty of potential and showed flashes last year of absolute dominance, but he's also made his fair share of mistakes and could possibly have a hard-time being the feature back. The other option Andre Brown is a monster in the redzone, but lacks the explosiveness to be an every down back. The Giants will likely settle for split-time between the two of them until one of them breaks out. There's definitely room for both these guys to flourish, unfortunately there's also a lot of uncertainty surrounding them both. The Giants also have a very shaky secondary. The aforementioned pickup of safety Ryan Mundy was a good move and should improve their pass defense from last year, it's just that their cornerback situation is still pretty disastrous. Prince Amukamura has never really lived up to the hype since being drafted in the 1st round in 2011, Corey Webster is rapidly declining, newly re-signed Aaron Ross is just alright and Terrell Thomas is a decent nickel/dime corner, but lacks the skill set to be an everydown corner. Their play as a unit is going to come down if Amukaamura can finally become the top corner he was expected to be out of college and if either Ross or Webster returns to their play of a few years ago. The Giants aren't flawless by any means, but they have more than enough talent to become a threatening team in the league again.
Philadelphia Eagles: In my eyes, there is no team that is more intriguing or a bigger crapshoot going into the 2013 season than the Philadelphia Eagles. This mysterious aura and cause of all this excitement/worry is their new head coach Chip Kelly. Kelly was absolutely dominant in his tenure as the head coach at the University of Oregon. His up-tempo offense revolutionized the college game and caused a laundry-list of issues for every single opponent they faced. The big question is can this style of offense translate to the NFL? The players are certainly enthused about it and the glimpses we've gotten in the preseason have looked pretty promising. That being said, the jury is still very much out on whether or not this high-speed offense will work on the professional level. Aside from the whole Chip Kelly business, the Eagles can take solace in the fact that quarterback Michael Vick appears to be rejuvenated. Vick has struggled mightily the past two seasons after being dominant in 2010, but this year for whatever reason, the fire appears to be back. His performances throughout the entire off/pre-season process have been consistently impressive with the zip on his passes returning and his instincts appear to me back in prime form. This promising play helped beat out him second-year player Nick Foles (who played relatively well last year in relief of Vick) to get the starting quarterback job. If Vick can keep it up in the regular season, the Eagles could see themselves suddenly launched back into the thick of things for the NFC East battle. Adding to Vick and the rest of the offenses confidence, is the improvements made at the offensive line position. Last season, this is a team that seemingly couldn't block anyone: Vick and Foles were getting hit left and right when they tried to pass, LeSean McCoy had to improvise a lot to find rushing lanes and injuries plagued the whole unit causing the presence of continuity amongst the lineman to be all but nonexistent. This year, the unit could not be more different. All-pro tackle Jason Peters is back after missing all of last season with a ruptured Achilles, Rookie Lane Johnson is an absolute athletic freak who has the potential to be one of the most dominant tackles in the league right away and lone bright spot from last year Evan Mathis, should benefit big time from not being the only guy on the line who knows how to block. The Eagles biggest problems know appears to be on the defensive side of the ball. They brought in a LOT of new guys on defense this season (most notably nose tackle Issac Sopaga, outside linebacker/defensive end Connor Barwin and cornerback Cary Williams) so the growing pains are to be expected, but thus far the unit has looked pretty terrible. It's clearly early and the preseason isn't necessarily reflective of what is going to happen when the regular season starts, but the signs so far are not even remotely promising (especially for a unit that struggled throughout last year.) The Eagles are incredibly hard to peg going into this year, but it's hard to deny the amount of intrigue that surrounds them at the moment. Hands down the biggest boom-or-bust team in the league this season.
Washington Redskins: Wait did you hear that Robert Griffin III tore his ACL in the playoffs last year? In case you forgot, every major sports media outlet will remind you daily that it happened and that his status for Week 1 is in question. The whole buzz around RG3 and the question marks around his knee is humorous to me. This is a kid who is only 23 and had the same surgeon who was responsible for rebuilding Adrian Peterson's knee prior to last season (You may have heard he did pretty well last year coming just a mere 7 yards shy of breaking the all-time rushing record.) With his talent, diligence and positive feedback regarding his rehab from multiple medical sources, I don't expect RG3 to be held back by his knee in the slightest. Hell, I'd say he could be even better than before. The barrage of doubters should serve as motivation for him to go out and take the league by storm yet again. However RG3's success is largely going to come down to if his top target Pierre Garcon can stay healthy. As you can tell by the numbers from last year (1-5 when he was out of the lineup, 9-1 when he was in,) RG3 likes to throw to Garcon and this team is at the top of their game when he is on the field. Thankfully for RG3 and the Skins, Garcon hasn't had injury problems aside from last year and as long he is healthy, this team will succeed. Further cementing Griffin's confidence is the return of his second favorite target, tight end Fred Davis, who missed the second half of last season with an Achilles injury. Davis is still young (27) and could be in-line for the best year of his career if his chemistry with Griffin continues to grow. Of course another big asset (and I do stress big asset) is their bulldozer running back Alfred Morris. Morris shocked and awed last season with 1,613 yards on the ground. While I don't expect another 1,600 yard+ season, Morris should continue to be very effective in 2013 thanks to his smarts and powerful running style (as long as Mike Shanahan doesn't run him into the ground.) After a lackluster year last season, I fully expect the Redskins defense to come back with a vengeance this year. The return of outside linbacker Brian Orakpo is going to be huge for this entire defense. With Orakpo out of the lineup last year, this team lacked a consistently explosive presence. With the return of Orakpo, Adam Carriker and the emergence of Ryan Kerrigan last season, this defense should be much improved this year. Unless the injury bug plagues this team this year, I fully expect this young and talented team to build upon their success from a year ago.
Projected standings for the NFC East:
1.Washington Redskins (11-5)
2.New York Giants (9-7)
3.Philadelphia Eagles (8-8)
4.Dallas Cowboys (6-10)
New York Giants: The Giants are coming off a disappointing 9-7 post Super Bowl campaign where their ever-fluctuating play that was evenly split between complete dominance and complete incompetence kept them out of the playoffs. I fully expect this team to come back and establish far more consistent play this season. Tom Coughlin is far too good of a coach and there is far too much talent on this roster for the woes of last season to rear their ugly head again. At least on paper, they appear to be in much better shape than last year. Eli Manning was up-and-down last year, but he should benefit from having a (presumably) healthy Hakeem Nicks back in the fold (who is also in a contract year and looking to get paid like the other top wideouts including teammate Victor Cruz did,) the emergence of Ruben Randle as a legit number 3 wideout and counteracting the loss of tight end Martellus Bennett with the equally, if not more reliable Brandon Myers. Not to mention, Victor Cruz should be hungry to prove himself worthy of all the money that was just thrown at him after inking a long-term contract in July. On the other side of the ball, this was a defensive unit that way underperformed in 2012 despite having a plethora of talent. Justin Tuck may have lost a step and is still battling a slew of injuries, but I fully expect the rest of the front 7 (especially Jason Pierre-Paul) to have a bounce back year. They further showed they don't want a repeat of last year's defensive struggles by adding lot of veteran depth this offseason. Defensive tackles Cullen Jenkins and Mike Patterson should help stablize the middle of the line, while inside linebacker Dan Connor gives them an improvement over the shaky Chase Blackburn and safety Ryan Mundy is easily the best defensive back they've had since Jason Sehorn. The Giants may be determined and appear to be in better shape than a year ago, but they still have some lingering questions. Most notably, their running back situation is a bit of mess. David Wilson has plenty of potential and showed flashes last year of absolute dominance, but he's also made his fair share of mistakes and could possibly have a hard-time being the feature back. The other option Andre Brown is a monster in the redzone, but lacks the explosiveness to be an every down back. The Giants will likely settle for split-time between the two of them until one of them breaks out. There's definitely room for both these guys to flourish, unfortunately there's also a lot of uncertainty surrounding them both. The Giants also have a very shaky secondary. The aforementioned pickup of safety Ryan Mundy was a good move and should improve their pass defense from last year, it's just that their cornerback situation is still pretty disastrous. Prince Amukamura has never really lived up to the hype since being drafted in the 1st round in 2011, Corey Webster is rapidly declining, newly re-signed Aaron Ross is just alright and Terrell Thomas is a decent nickel/dime corner, but lacks the skill set to be an everydown corner. Their play as a unit is going to come down if Amukaamura can finally become the top corner he was expected to be out of college and if either Ross or Webster returns to their play of a few years ago. The Giants aren't flawless by any means, but they have more than enough talent to become a threatening team in the league again.
Philadelphia Eagles: In my eyes, there is no team that is more intriguing or a bigger crapshoot going into the 2013 season than the Philadelphia Eagles. This mysterious aura and cause of all this excitement/worry is their new head coach Chip Kelly. Kelly was absolutely dominant in his tenure as the head coach at the University of Oregon. His up-tempo offense revolutionized the college game and caused a laundry-list of issues for every single opponent they faced. The big question is can this style of offense translate to the NFL? The players are certainly enthused about it and the glimpses we've gotten in the preseason have looked pretty promising. That being said, the jury is still very much out on whether or not this high-speed offense will work on the professional level. Aside from the whole Chip Kelly business, the Eagles can take solace in the fact that quarterback Michael Vick appears to be rejuvenated. Vick has struggled mightily the past two seasons after being dominant in 2010, but this year for whatever reason, the fire appears to be back. His performances throughout the entire off/pre-season process have been consistently impressive with the zip on his passes returning and his instincts appear to me back in prime form. This promising play helped beat out him second-year player Nick Foles (who played relatively well last year in relief of Vick) to get the starting quarterback job. If Vick can keep it up in the regular season, the Eagles could see themselves suddenly launched back into the thick of things for the NFC East battle. Adding to Vick and the rest of the offenses confidence, is the improvements made at the offensive line position. Last season, this is a team that seemingly couldn't block anyone: Vick and Foles were getting hit left and right when they tried to pass, LeSean McCoy had to improvise a lot to find rushing lanes and injuries plagued the whole unit causing the presence of continuity amongst the lineman to be all but nonexistent. This year, the unit could not be more different. All-pro tackle Jason Peters is back after missing all of last season with a ruptured Achilles, Rookie Lane Johnson is an absolute athletic freak who has the potential to be one of the most dominant tackles in the league right away and lone bright spot from last year Evan Mathis, should benefit big time from not being the only guy on the line who knows how to block. The Eagles biggest problems know appears to be on the defensive side of the ball. They brought in a LOT of new guys on defense this season (most notably nose tackle Issac Sopaga, outside linebacker/defensive end Connor Barwin and cornerback Cary Williams) so the growing pains are to be expected, but thus far the unit has looked pretty terrible. It's clearly early and the preseason isn't necessarily reflective of what is going to happen when the regular season starts, but the signs so far are not even remotely promising (especially for a unit that struggled throughout last year.) The Eagles are incredibly hard to peg going into this year, but it's hard to deny the amount of intrigue that surrounds them at the moment. Hands down the biggest boom-or-bust team in the league this season.
Washington Redskins: Wait did you hear that Robert Griffin III tore his ACL in the playoffs last year? In case you forgot, every major sports media outlet will remind you daily that it happened and that his status for Week 1 is in question. The whole buzz around RG3 and the question marks around his knee is humorous to me. This is a kid who is only 23 and had the same surgeon who was responsible for rebuilding Adrian Peterson's knee prior to last season (You may have heard he did pretty well last year coming just a mere 7 yards shy of breaking the all-time rushing record.) With his talent, diligence and positive feedback regarding his rehab from multiple medical sources, I don't expect RG3 to be held back by his knee in the slightest. Hell, I'd say he could be even better than before. The barrage of doubters should serve as motivation for him to go out and take the league by storm yet again. However RG3's success is largely going to come down to if his top target Pierre Garcon can stay healthy. As you can tell by the numbers from last year (1-5 when he was out of the lineup, 9-1 when he was in,) RG3 likes to throw to Garcon and this team is at the top of their game when he is on the field. Thankfully for RG3 and the Skins, Garcon hasn't had injury problems aside from last year and as long he is healthy, this team will succeed. Further cementing Griffin's confidence is the return of his second favorite target, tight end Fred Davis, who missed the second half of last season with an Achilles injury. Davis is still young (27) and could be in-line for the best year of his career if his chemistry with Griffin continues to grow. Of course another big asset (and I do stress big asset) is their bulldozer running back Alfred Morris. Morris shocked and awed last season with 1,613 yards on the ground. While I don't expect another 1,600 yard+ season, Morris should continue to be very effective in 2013 thanks to his smarts and powerful running style (as long as Mike Shanahan doesn't run him into the ground.) After a lackluster year last season, I fully expect the Redskins defense to come back with a vengeance this year. The return of outside linbacker Brian Orakpo is going to be huge for this entire defense. With Orakpo out of the lineup last year, this team lacked a consistently explosive presence. With the return of Orakpo, Adam Carriker and the emergence of Ryan Kerrigan last season, this defense should be much improved this year. Unless the injury bug plagues this team this year, I fully expect this young and talented team to build upon their success from a year ago.
Projected standings for the NFC East:
1.Washington Redskins (11-5)
2.New York Giants (9-7)
3.Philadelphia Eagles (8-8)
4.Dallas Cowboys (6-10)
Saturday, August 24, 2013
NFL Preview: AFC West
Denver Broncos: For a team that had such a dominant year in 2012, The Broncos have had their fair share of misfires in the past 7 months. The team is still reeling from the heartbreaking loss to the Ravens in the AFC divisional round, a game they could have easily won if it wasn't for late mistakes and ultraconservative play-calling. Fast-forward to the offseason, where the team loses top defensive playmaker Elvis Dumervil due to an error with a fax machine receiving his reworked contract past the deadline, leading to his release and eventual signing with the Baltimore Ravens. Making matters even worse, star outside linebacker Von Miller just got suspended for the first six games of the year for violating the league's substance abuse policy and veteran cornerback Champ Bailey could miss some time with a sprained foot. The Broncos defense is going to need have someone (most notably the starting outside linebacker duo consisting of up-and-comer Wesley Woodyard and newly-signed Shaun Phillips, who was pretty productive as a pass-rusher for a number of years with the Chargers that has the daunting task of replacing Miller and Dumervil) step up early in the year with their three biggest playmakers on the sidelines. Miller, Bailey and Dumervil were the heart and soul of this defense and the losses of all 3 could be monumental for this football team that had such a stifling defense last year. On top of their defensive woes, their offensive line is in disarray with center Dan Koppen and guard Justin Boren out for the year and center J.D. Walton currently on the PUP list. The whole line has been shuffled with a few guys playing out of position to fill the voids (guard/center Ryan Lija was brought out of retirement and guard John Moffit was just brought in via trade from the Seahawks to try to stop a bit of the bleeding, we'll see if it works out.) It's not all downhill for the Broncos though. Even with all the issues they've encountered this offseason this is still a supremely talented football team. Peyton Manning proved last year that he has a lot left in the tank as he lead this team to a 13-3 record and was consistently productive week in and week out. Manning's options may have gotten even scarier with the addition of slot-receiving god Wes Welker. The Broncos were already in good shape after the emergence of Demaryius "Bay-Bay" Thomas and Eric Decker last year (who I expect to only get better this year,) now they are even scarier with Welker in the fold. There are only a few offenses were Welker's skill set could be properly utilized and the Broncos are very much one of them. This trio of wideouts (along with the tight end pair of Jacob Tamme and Joel Dressen) is going to be absolutely awful for opposing secondaries to cover simply because every single one of these guys can burn you at any given time. The Broncos certainly have some obstacles to overcome, but with the number of veterans and depth on this football team they should be fine and when Miller/Bailey return, they should be near the top of the heap for contending for a title.
Kansas City Chiefs: A year after being the single best 2-14 team of all-time, the Chiefs had arguably the best offseason in the entire league. The complete overhaul started with the addition of head coach Andy Reid. Despite an off-season with the Eagles last year, there's still no denying that Reid is one of the best coaches in the league and his experience alone should help get this team out of the league's gutter fast. The Chiefs then addressed their quarterback woes of the past couple years by acquiring Alex Smith from the 49ers. Smith may not be a flashy, future hall-of-fame player, but he's consistent and doesn't make a whole lot of mistakes. The Chiefs continued their nice offseason moves by bringing in a ton of affordable, low-key pickups to bolster their depth on both sides of the ball. Wide receiver Donnie Avery gives them a productive and legitimate number 2 receiving option, tight end Anthony Fasano is a reliable pass-catcher especially in the redzone, cornerback Sean Smith was quietly productive with the Dolphins last year and veteran Dunta Robinson may not be the shutdown corner he once was, but he still has the skills to be a great option as a nickel back. These guys are all nice complimentary pieces that will only help their largely underrated skills players including running back Jammal Charles, wide reciver Dwayne Bowe, inside linebacker Derrick Johnson, outside linebacker Justin Houston and cornerback Brandon Flowers be that much more productive this year and fit in nicely if one of them happens to go down with an injury. The Chiefs new additions paired with the talent they already have make them a team that should be able to rise from the bottom of the league last year to being a team on the cusp of a playoff berth this year.
Oakland Raiders: From a team that is much-improved in the Chiefs to a team that has somehow got even worse in the Raiders. This is a team that is seriously looking all but completely hopeless going into the season. The few bright spots for this team last year (Carson Palmer, Desmond Bryant, Brandon Myers, Phillip Wheeler) are gone and the team is bringing in an insane amount of new starters on both sides of the ball. Admittedly, a few of the guys they brought in defensively (Nick Roach, Kevin Burnett and Charles Woodson, who clearly is content with the one Super Bowl ring he earned with the Packers by choosing to join the Raiders over the Broncos this offseason) are talented, they just have too many problems (such as a lack of a pass rush and proven run-stuffers on the defensive line) for any of these guys to really be a huge factor. This team is about as much of a mess as you can possibly get. At least fellow stinkers like the Jets and the Jaguars have a few standout talents in key positions, the Raiders most effective players are on the offensive line and kicker (Sebastian Janikowski seriously might be the best player on the roster.) Offensively they are pretty much doomed with the unproven Matt Flynn starting at quarterback (his only standout play was with the incredibly talented Packers against a Vikings team that absolutely awful,) a running back in Darren McFadden who has shown flashes of talent but can't remain healthy for the life of him and a receiving corps that is suspect at best (Top option Denarius Moore is about as inconsistent as they come and Rod Streater and Jacoby Ford aren't exactly number 1 wideout material either.) The Raiders long-suffering reign of losing since their 2002 trip to the Super Bowl doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were picking 1st in next year's draft.
San Diego Chargers: The Chargers may have changed coaches and philosophies this offseason, but they haven't done enough in my eyes to turn their fate around. New head coach Mike McCoy did wonders last season with the Broncos offense and clearly knows how to run a potent offense in this league, the problem is that he has absolutely none of the weapons he had in Denver in his new digs in San Diego. Phillip Rivers is rapidly declining and about as untrustworthy of a quarterback you can have in the NFL, Ryan Matthews has continually shown that he is nothing more than an average running back and aside from the aging Antonio Gates, none of the receivers can be trusted on a consistent basis (their most legitimate threat, Danario Alexander, is already knocked out for the year with a torn ACL.) Unless McCoy waves a magic wand and brings back the Rivers of yesteryear when the Chargers were a perennial playoff team, get Matthews to repeat his fluke productive season from 2011, rapidly turns around their poor offensive line play from a year ago and have either Malcom Floyd, Vincent Brown or Robert Meachem (who has suddenly become terrible since signing with the Chargers last year) become a standout, consistent wideout overnight, I just can't see this offense being dangerous this season. I will say that at the very least this team has a solid defense and has some rookies with definite potential going forward. Even with Melvin Ingram sidelined for the year and Shaun Phillips departing for the Broncos, the Chargers still have a lot of guys that can get to the quarterback. Up-and-coming defensive end Kendall Reyes has looked great in preseason action and should build upon his 5.5 sack rookie campaign last year, Corey Liguet is quietly becoming one of the more dominant defensive ends in the league and the addition of veteran sack-master Dwight Freeney further solidifies them as one of the most dominant pass-rushing attacks in the league. They also benefit from having a draft class that has a lot of upside and has the chance to come in and contribute right away. D.J. Fluker is probably the biggest gamble of all the top-rated offense lineman in this year's rookie class, but he certainly has the size and the pedigree to succeed in this league, Keenan Allen could be a very good wideout if he gets has act together off-the-field and fixes his character issues and Mant'i Teo could end up being one of the biggest steals of the draft with his on-field smarts and great hands to cause problems in the passing game. The Chargers aren't a complete lost cause due to a talented defense, but their highly-troubled offense makes them a team that can't be trusted to succeed at the moment.
Projected standings for the AFC West:
1.Denver Broncos (11-5)
2.Kansas City Chiefs (9-7)
3.San Diego Chargers (6-10)
4.Oakland Raiders (2-14)
Kansas City Chiefs: A year after being the single best 2-14 team of all-time, the Chiefs had arguably the best offseason in the entire league. The complete overhaul started with the addition of head coach Andy Reid. Despite an off-season with the Eagles last year, there's still no denying that Reid is one of the best coaches in the league and his experience alone should help get this team out of the league's gutter fast. The Chiefs then addressed their quarterback woes of the past couple years by acquiring Alex Smith from the 49ers. Smith may not be a flashy, future hall-of-fame player, but he's consistent and doesn't make a whole lot of mistakes. The Chiefs continued their nice offseason moves by bringing in a ton of affordable, low-key pickups to bolster their depth on both sides of the ball. Wide receiver Donnie Avery gives them a productive and legitimate number 2 receiving option, tight end Anthony Fasano is a reliable pass-catcher especially in the redzone, cornerback Sean Smith was quietly productive with the Dolphins last year and veteran Dunta Robinson may not be the shutdown corner he once was, but he still has the skills to be a great option as a nickel back. These guys are all nice complimentary pieces that will only help their largely underrated skills players including running back Jammal Charles, wide reciver Dwayne Bowe, inside linebacker Derrick Johnson, outside linebacker Justin Houston and cornerback Brandon Flowers be that much more productive this year and fit in nicely if one of them happens to go down with an injury. The Chiefs new additions paired with the talent they already have make them a team that should be able to rise from the bottom of the league last year to being a team on the cusp of a playoff berth this year.
Oakland Raiders: From a team that is much-improved in the Chiefs to a team that has somehow got even worse in the Raiders. This is a team that is seriously looking all but completely hopeless going into the season. The few bright spots for this team last year (Carson Palmer, Desmond Bryant, Brandon Myers, Phillip Wheeler) are gone and the team is bringing in an insane amount of new starters on both sides of the ball. Admittedly, a few of the guys they brought in defensively (Nick Roach, Kevin Burnett and Charles Woodson, who clearly is content with the one Super Bowl ring he earned with the Packers by choosing to join the Raiders over the Broncos this offseason) are talented, they just have too many problems (such as a lack of a pass rush and proven run-stuffers on the defensive line) for any of these guys to really be a huge factor. This team is about as much of a mess as you can possibly get. At least fellow stinkers like the Jets and the Jaguars have a few standout talents in key positions, the Raiders most effective players are on the offensive line and kicker (Sebastian Janikowski seriously might be the best player on the roster.) Offensively they are pretty much doomed with the unproven Matt Flynn starting at quarterback (his only standout play was with the incredibly talented Packers against a Vikings team that absolutely awful,) a running back in Darren McFadden who has shown flashes of talent but can't remain healthy for the life of him and a receiving corps that is suspect at best (Top option Denarius Moore is about as inconsistent as they come and Rod Streater and Jacoby Ford aren't exactly number 1 wideout material either.) The Raiders long-suffering reign of losing since their 2002 trip to the Super Bowl doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were picking 1st in next year's draft.
San Diego Chargers: The Chargers may have changed coaches and philosophies this offseason, but they haven't done enough in my eyes to turn their fate around. New head coach Mike McCoy did wonders last season with the Broncos offense and clearly knows how to run a potent offense in this league, the problem is that he has absolutely none of the weapons he had in Denver in his new digs in San Diego. Phillip Rivers is rapidly declining and about as untrustworthy of a quarterback you can have in the NFL, Ryan Matthews has continually shown that he is nothing more than an average running back and aside from the aging Antonio Gates, none of the receivers can be trusted on a consistent basis (their most legitimate threat, Danario Alexander, is already knocked out for the year with a torn ACL.) Unless McCoy waves a magic wand and brings back the Rivers of yesteryear when the Chargers were a perennial playoff team, get Matthews to repeat his fluke productive season from 2011, rapidly turns around their poor offensive line play from a year ago and have either Malcom Floyd, Vincent Brown or Robert Meachem (who has suddenly become terrible since signing with the Chargers last year) become a standout, consistent wideout overnight, I just can't see this offense being dangerous this season. I will say that at the very least this team has a solid defense and has some rookies with definite potential going forward. Even with Melvin Ingram sidelined for the year and Shaun Phillips departing for the Broncos, the Chargers still have a lot of guys that can get to the quarterback. Up-and-coming defensive end Kendall Reyes has looked great in preseason action and should build upon his 5.5 sack rookie campaign last year, Corey Liguet is quietly becoming one of the more dominant defensive ends in the league and the addition of veteran sack-master Dwight Freeney further solidifies them as one of the most dominant pass-rushing attacks in the league. They also benefit from having a draft class that has a lot of upside and has the chance to come in and contribute right away. D.J. Fluker is probably the biggest gamble of all the top-rated offense lineman in this year's rookie class, but he certainly has the size and the pedigree to succeed in this league, Keenan Allen could be a very good wideout if he gets has act together off-the-field and fixes his character issues and Mant'i Teo could end up being one of the biggest steals of the draft with his on-field smarts and great hands to cause problems in the passing game. The Chargers aren't a complete lost cause due to a talented defense, but their highly-troubled offense makes them a team that can't be trusted to succeed at the moment.
Projected standings for the AFC West:
1.Denver Broncos (11-5)
2.Kansas City Chiefs (9-7)
3.San Diego Chargers (6-10)
4.Oakland Raiders (2-14)
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Album Review: Earl Sweatshirt-Doris
Doris sees the now 19-year old Earl Sweatshirt growing up in a big way. Much to the dismay of some of his old fans, his days as the kid who only raps about raping and killing women are pretty much over. Instead, Doris is full of low-key, gloomy songs that are heavy on symbolism and self-reflection. While his Odd Future cohort Tyler, the Creator branched out a bit earlier this year with his new record Wolf, Sweatshirt all but completely abandons the sound that made him a talking point in the world of hip-hop and makes Tyler's sound change look tame in comparison. The beats are jazzy and loaded with keys and oft-kilter drum patterns and he has settled into a new flow that is much slower and laid-back than in the past while still maintaining a powerful and confident edge to contrast the understated sound he's established. Sweatshirt may have changed stylistically, but one thing has not changed from his first album, his knack for witty wordplay and crafting complex, intense verses. Just about every verse on this record is smart, nuanced and wildly impressive from a technical standpoint. At such a young age, he already has a pretty firm grasp on what achieves longevity in this industry: consistency, originality, flow, lyrical punch and quality production (which is about the only thing Doris lacks at times, the rest of these Sweatshirt has in spades.)
Doris also sees Sweatshirt bringing in more guest artists to diversify the music and aside from two abysmal verses from Tyler, the Creator (who I'm a fan of normally, he just dropped the ball on these tracks) on "Sasquatch and "Whoa", the cameo appearances deliver. Fellow Odd Future members Domo Genesis and Frank Ocean deliver some of their most impressive verses to-date (Ocean especially shines on "Sunday", which is by far the most honest and just plain best verse he's ever laid down. He's a great singer as well, but I would love to hear a full-length hip-hop record from him someday.) Odd Future has shown considerable growth as artists since first bursting onto the scene in 2010 and it shows with the quality of the material members of the group have been outputting this year. The verses from Odd Future members are definitely good, but the work from non-OF members Mac Miller and Vince Staples outshine them. Miller continues his 2013 hot streak with a banger of a verse on "Guild". Keeping up with the theme of the album, Miller has made considerable strides as an artist recently and seems geared up for a long career making quality music. The real surprise here is though is the work from the pretty much unknown 20-year-old Vince Staples. He delivers three verses on three of the best tracks on the album ("Burgundy", "Hive" and "Centurion") and this is no coincidence, the kid can flat-out spit. He keeps up blow for blow with an established rare talent like Sweatshirt, which is no easy feat. Hell, his verse on "Hive" could very well be the best verse on the entire record. I would not be at all shocked if this record launches Staples's career to the next level, this kid has the potential to be an absolute force in the world of hip-hop.
The long wait for Doris pays off in droves. Sweatshirt has successfully channeled the intensity and lyrical prowess that made him an internet phenom into something this is radically different than anything he's done in the past. It's insane that this is the same kid that dropped Earl in 2010. While Earl was an impressive album, it's refreshing to see him change things up and deliver a much more focused and grown-up release that builds further upon his strengths as an artist. I have a good feeling that things will only continue to look up for Sweatshirt after the release of Doris. With his new sound and enhanced focus added to his consistently impressive lyricism, his next release could end up being the genre-defining masterpiece that listeners know he is capable of making. Well done Mr. Sweatshirt and keep up the good work as one of the brightest young stars in hip-hop.
4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Hive
2.Centurion
3.Sunday
Movie Review: Kick-Ass 2
Kick-Ass 2 picks up right where the last one left off. Dave Lizewski a.k.a Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has retired from crime fighting but has inspired numerous citizens to become superheroes and start fighting crime. Mindy McCready a.k.a. Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) is still honoring the legacy of her father by continuing to fight crime after his death. Hit-Girl eventually convinces Kick-Ass to put the suit back on, but after their first mission together, Mindy's guardian Marcus (Morris Chestnut) makes her swear to stop fighting crime and start acting more like the rest of the girls her age. After Hit-Girl reluctantly quits crime and starts to assimilate to the life of a normal teenage girl , Kick-Ass joins up with a newly-minted group of crime fighters knows as Justice Forever led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey). After a period of limited activity, the group faces a huge threat from Chris D'Mico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) known as at The Motherfucker, who wants revenge on Kick-Ass for killing his dad and hires a team of hardened criminals to become a gang of supervillians and rip apart Dave's life at the seams. With all this chaos happening around her, Mindy has to decide if she wants to stick down her path of normalcy or become Hit-Girl again and save a city that desperately needs her help.
Kick-Ass 2 benefits from having a lot of the same charms as the first one. Writer/director Jeff Wadlow does his best at creating a similar comical, gory and energetic atmosphere while not ripping off the manic vibe Matthew Vaughn established in the original. Wadlow isn't as skilled of a filmmaker as Vaughn, but he more than holds his own with the film and for better or worse, stays more faithful to the lunacy of the comics then the first one did while adding a surprising amount of heart for a dark film with such a high body count. Keeping with the continuity of the original, the cast makes this material shine. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is just as likable as the nerdy title character. He grows more into the character and become more of an actual hero than just a dude running around in spandex. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is even more entertaining as the rich-kid who goes completely off the deep end after the death of his father. The role of The Motherfucker is so unlike everything else he has done in his career and he captures the bat-shit insanity and smugness of the character so well. Mintz-Plasse will always be known as McLovin', but this role deserves to be right up there in his career highlight reel. Once again like the original, Kick-Ass 2 belongs to Chloe Grace Moretz. This film is actually more of Mindy's story than Dave's as she is seen having an identity crisis of whether she should try to fit in with the in-crowd of girls at her school or follow her heart and her dad's vision and fight crime and keep the city safe. Moretz nails the expanded role giving Mindy/Hit-Girl more depth and continues to show why at only age 16, she is one of the most consistently great actresses in Hollywood. In addition to the returning characters, I really liked how the new heroes were integrated into the story and the presence of more average people helping to clean up the streets added to the comic value. None of them have substantial roles, but they all make the most of their time on-screen (especially Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes, the ex-mob enforcer turned born-again Christian crime fighter and Donald Faison as Doctor Gravity, a copy writer who is armed with a spiked bat) and help the giant, blood-soaked finale be that much more satisfying. Kick-Ass 2 is a whole hell of a lot of fun and while it may not entirely live up to the original, it's a worthwhile sequel that captures a lot of the magic that made the original special.
4/5 Stars
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
NFL Preview: AFC South
Houston Texans: The Texans had another nice run last season driven by their booming offense and their fast defense anchored by the freakish J.J. Watt and his 20.5 sack season. Despite their dominance at times, they played poorly in the latter stage of the season and got bounced very easily by the Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs. The 2013 Texans have pretty much the same roster in place and are very much in the hunt to make a run at a title again this year. The biggest plus for the Texans this year is the return of inside linebacker Brian Cushing. Cushing missed the last 11 games of the season after tearing his ACL against the Jets in Week 6. When Cushing went down, the defensive play got a lot more sketchy and this talented unit will benefit big time from having their captain back on the field. Adding to the leadership on defense is the addition of future hall-of-fame safety Ed Reed. Reed has clearly lost a step on the field, but his experience and intelligence should help this average Texans secondary become better immediately . On the other side of the ball, the Texans finally added to their receiving arsenal when they used their first-round pick on wideout DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins is the most polished receiver of this rookie class at the moment and has impressed mightily so far with his sure hands and route-running ability. The fact that he gets to work with a proven elite receiver in Andre Johnson should also do wonders for his game. If I was gambling man, I would say Hopkins will be the most impactful rookie receiver this season (Yes I like him even more than Tavon Austin.) The Texans didn't really do much else this offseason, which is both a good and bad thing. This team has clearly has established themselves as a very good football team and the continuity on the roster is always a good thing for team chemistry, but they haven't done much to push themselves to the next level. They are going to have to play consistent football throughout the year and not solely rely on Arian Foster and Andre Johnson to win them games. The Texans are an undoubtedly talented football team with elite players on both sides of the ball that should return to the playoffs yet again this year, they just need to play at a consistently high-level and not stumble in the clutch if they want to compete for a championship.
Indianapolis Colts: It can't be disputed that the best and most surprising story of the 2012 season was the Indianapolis Colts. The team dealt with extreme adversity with head coach Chuck Pagano missing a majority of the season after being diagnosed with leukemia and beats all odds and made the playoffs with a young, unproven roster and an interim head coach in Bruce Arians at the helm. With Pagano back in the building and another year of experience for this team, the Colts could be right back in the thick of things this year. Second-year quarterback Andrew Luck should improve vastly from his 18-INT season a year ago. Save for his turnovers, Luck played quite well last year throwing for 4,000+ yards and the combination of more experience and his college coordinator Pep Hamilton joining him him in Indy all but assure Luck will be much improved this season. Hamilton's presence should also ease a lot of the issues of Bruce Arians leaving and Luck's familiarity with Hamilton's offense assures a smooth transition for him this season. Further helping out the Colts offense is the addition of running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who is pretty consistent despite a lingering foot injury and could thrive as the feature back in Hamilton's rush-heavy offense. The Colts also bolstered their receiving corps by picking up speedster Darius Heyward-Bey to add to their legion of promising young receivers. Heyward-Bey admittedly isn't the most polished or sure-handed receiver, but he's got top-flight speed and if paired with T.Y. Hilton or LaVon Brazill, could create a lot of matchup problems with the sheer amount of quickness on the field. No one is doubting the Colts talent or depth on offense, their problems are pretty much solely on defense. Their defense is just below-average on the whole. Sure Jerrell Freeman is an emerging inside linebacker and Vontae Davis is a solid corner, but the rest of the defense lacks high levels of talent or is just too old to produce consistently (Robert Mathis is not even close to the scary pass-rusher he once was.) Time will tell if free-agent pickups LaRon Landry, Ricky-Jean Francois and rookie defensive end Bjoern Werner work out, but none of these guys are sure things in helping to improve this defense and they very well could be bound for mediocrity again. The Colts have a lot of promise on offense with a boatload of emerging young talent, but the amount of question marks and non-factors on defense will keep them from going far in the playoffs.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Ahhh what to say about the Jacksonville Jaguars? There really isn't anything going right for this team at the moment. Second-year wideout Justin Blackmon is suspended for the first four game of the year for getting a DUI in the offseason and his character problems are far outshining his play on the field, star running back Maurice Jones-Drew is coming back from a Lisfranc injury and they still don't have a reliable quarterback or defense that can stop anyone. When the one star player you have (Jones-Drew) is a complete question mark after returning from a major injury, you know you're are in trouble and if even if he bounces back seamlessly, the team doesn't have the talent around him to do anything and given that he is in a contract year, this could be the last of Jones-Drew we see in Jacksonville. The lone bright spots for the team is new coach Gus Bradley seems to very enthusiastic about the team and his motivation and smarts could incite a spark on this not-so-talented roster and a strong draft class that includes highly-touted tackle Luke Jockel, ballhawk safety John Cyprien and the incredibly versatile offensive weapon Denard Robinson, who can lineup everywhere from quarterback to wide receiver. These rookies are a bit of a bright light on a team that is clouded in darkness (and by darkness I mean a ton of recent draft busts and holes at pretty much every position on the field save for wide receiver and offensive line.) Unless a miracle happens in Jacksonville, the only thing the Jaguars will be playing for this year is a chance to get Jadevon Clowney in next year's draft (and with their so bad it's almost impressive honor of having three consecutive seasons finishing with the fewest sacks in the league, they better hope he falls to them.)
Tennessee Titans: After a few years of being near the bottom of the league, the Titans quietly made a lot of key additions to bolster their roster this offseason. They addressed their biggest issue on the interior line by signing the elite Andy Levitre and using their first-round pick on top-prospect Chance Warmack to be their new starting guards. If you watched the Titans last season you know that Chris Johnson or any other running back on the roster could not run up the middle due to lack of holes and were forced to run outside because they had no other option, Levitre and Warmack should fix that problem immediately and Johnson and the rest of the Titans backs should benefit greatly from it. Further helping Johnson's cause is the addition of Shonn Greene. Greene is coming off a 1,000 yard season with the Jets and will help Johnson get the rest a small, explosive back needs to be in top-form. Greene is a bruiser and if he plays like he did last season, he and Johnson could be one of the top running back tandems in the league. On the other side of the ball, the Titans made a bold move by picking up a pair of veteran safeties in George Wilson and Bernard Pollard. Wilson and Pollard bring experience and consistent production (not to mention hard-hits) to a relatively young unit that is still a work in progress. The Titans may have made a lot of nice moves this offseason to improve their team, but they are going to need to have some players at key positions improve if they want become competitive. Third-year quarterback Jake Locker has been relatively unimpressive in his career thus far. While his play has never been completely awful, he's only rarely shown that he can be anything more than a competent ball-control quarterback. He's going to need to be that reliable, franchise guy they drafted him to be or the Titans are going to be stuck in the bowels of mediocrity as long he is starting. In Locker's defense his subpar performance can be somewhat attributed to the his middling reciveing corps, which remains a question mark going into this year. Top-wideout Kenny Britt has all the talent in the world, but is oft-injured and gets in constant legal trouble off-the-field. Second-year wideout Kendall Wright has potential, but didn't have that strong of a rookie year. Nate Washington is reliable, but isn't talented enough to anchor a receiving corps on his own. New pickups Kevin Walter, Delanie Walker and Justin Hunter are shaky for different reasons: Walter is getting old and his production has declined substantially over the past few seasons, Walker has never been the sole starting tight end so his flashes of brilliance with the 49ers might not translate to the Titans and Hunter, who the Titans traded up for in the draft, has been nothing short of awful in training camp and the preseason thus far. The receiving unit isn't completely hopeless, but they are going to have to play better than they have in recent years. Their defense is also not particularly impressive. The pickups of Wilson and Pollard are great for the secondary and should help improve their horrible pass defense from a year ago, but they really didn't do anything to address their woes in the front 7. Aside from Kamerion Wimbley and Akeem Ayers, no on the front 7 is consistently productive and they got burned frequently season (their rushing defense was 22nd in the league.) Admitted they're a young unit, but that still doesn't excuse their poor all-around play and amount of blown assignments/missed tackles. The Titans made some smart moves this offseason and have put themselves in better position to win games, but they are going to need to be much better on both sides of the ball if they want to turn their fortunes around and bring a winning team back to Nashville.
Projected standings for the AFC South:
1.Houston Texans (11-5)
2.Indianapolis Colts (9-7)
3.Tennessee Titans (7-9)
4.Jacksonville Jaguars (2-14)
Indianapolis Colts: It can't be disputed that the best and most surprising story of the 2012 season was the Indianapolis Colts. The team dealt with extreme adversity with head coach Chuck Pagano missing a majority of the season after being diagnosed with leukemia and beats all odds and made the playoffs with a young, unproven roster and an interim head coach in Bruce Arians at the helm. With Pagano back in the building and another year of experience for this team, the Colts could be right back in the thick of things this year. Second-year quarterback Andrew Luck should improve vastly from his 18-INT season a year ago. Save for his turnovers, Luck played quite well last year throwing for 4,000+ yards and the combination of more experience and his college coordinator Pep Hamilton joining him him in Indy all but assure Luck will be much improved this season. Hamilton's presence should also ease a lot of the issues of Bruce Arians leaving and Luck's familiarity with Hamilton's offense assures a smooth transition for him this season. Further helping out the Colts offense is the addition of running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who is pretty consistent despite a lingering foot injury and could thrive as the feature back in Hamilton's rush-heavy offense. The Colts also bolstered their receiving corps by picking up speedster Darius Heyward-Bey to add to their legion of promising young receivers. Heyward-Bey admittedly isn't the most polished or sure-handed receiver, but he's got top-flight speed and if paired with T.Y. Hilton or LaVon Brazill, could create a lot of matchup problems with the sheer amount of quickness on the field. No one is doubting the Colts talent or depth on offense, their problems are pretty much solely on defense. Their defense is just below-average on the whole. Sure Jerrell Freeman is an emerging inside linebacker and Vontae Davis is a solid corner, but the rest of the defense lacks high levels of talent or is just too old to produce consistently (Robert Mathis is not even close to the scary pass-rusher he once was.) Time will tell if free-agent pickups LaRon Landry, Ricky-Jean Francois and rookie defensive end Bjoern Werner work out, but none of these guys are sure things in helping to improve this defense and they very well could be bound for mediocrity again. The Colts have a lot of promise on offense with a boatload of emerging young talent, but the amount of question marks and non-factors on defense will keep them from going far in the playoffs.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Ahhh what to say about the Jacksonville Jaguars? There really isn't anything going right for this team at the moment. Second-year wideout Justin Blackmon is suspended for the first four game of the year for getting a DUI in the offseason and his character problems are far outshining his play on the field, star running back Maurice Jones-Drew is coming back from a Lisfranc injury and they still don't have a reliable quarterback or defense that can stop anyone. When the one star player you have (Jones-Drew) is a complete question mark after returning from a major injury, you know you're are in trouble and if even if he bounces back seamlessly, the team doesn't have the talent around him to do anything and given that he is in a contract year, this could be the last of Jones-Drew we see in Jacksonville. The lone bright spots for the team is new coach Gus Bradley seems to very enthusiastic about the team and his motivation and smarts could incite a spark on this not-so-talented roster and a strong draft class that includes highly-touted tackle Luke Jockel, ballhawk safety John Cyprien and the incredibly versatile offensive weapon Denard Robinson, who can lineup everywhere from quarterback to wide receiver. These rookies are a bit of a bright light on a team that is clouded in darkness (and by darkness I mean a ton of recent draft busts and holes at pretty much every position on the field save for wide receiver and offensive line.) Unless a miracle happens in Jacksonville, the only thing the Jaguars will be playing for this year is a chance to get Jadevon Clowney in next year's draft (and with their so bad it's almost impressive honor of having three consecutive seasons finishing with the fewest sacks in the league, they better hope he falls to them.)
Tennessee Titans: After a few years of being near the bottom of the league, the Titans quietly made a lot of key additions to bolster their roster this offseason. They addressed their biggest issue on the interior line by signing the elite Andy Levitre and using their first-round pick on top-prospect Chance Warmack to be their new starting guards. If you watched the Titans last season you know that Chris Johnson or any other running back on the roster could not run up the middle due to lack of holes and were forced to run outside because they had no other option, Levitre and Warmack should fix that problem immediately and Johnson and the rest of the Titans backs should benefit greatly from it. Further helping Johnson's cause is the addition of Shonn Greene. Greene is coming off a 1,000 yard season with the Jets and will help Johnson get the rest a small, explosive back needs to be in top-form. Greene is a bruiser and if he plays like he did last season, he and Johnson could be one of the top running back tandems in the league. On the other side of the ball, the Titans made a bold move by picking up a pair of veteran safeties in George Wilson and Bernard Pollard. Wilson and Pollard bring experience and consistent production (not to mention hard-hits) to a relatively young unit that is still a work in progress. The Titans may have made a lot of nice moves this offseason to improve their team, but they are going to need to have some players at key positions improve if they want become competitive. Third-year quarterback Jake Locker has been relatively unimpressive in his career thus far. While his play has never been completely awful, he's only rarely shown that he can be anything more than a competent ball-control quarterback. He's going to need to be that reliable, franchise guy they drafted him to be or the Titans are going to be stuck in the bowels of mediocrity as long he is starting. In Locker's defense his subpar performance can be somewhat attributed to the his middling reciveing corps, which remains a question mark going into this year. Top-wideout Kenny Britt has all the talent in the world, but is oft-injured and gets in constant legal trouble off-the-field. Second-year wideout Kendall Wright has potential, but didn't have that strong of a rookie year. Nate Washington is reliable, but isn't talented enough to anchor a receiving corps on his own. New pickups Kevin Walter, Delanie Walker and Justin Hunter are shaky for different reasons: Walter is getting old and his production has declined substantially over the past few seasons, Walker has never been the sole starting tight end so his flashes of brilliance with the 49ers might not translate to the Titans and Hunter, who the Titans traded up for in the draft, has been nothing short of awful in training camp and the preseason thus far. The receiving unit isn't completely hopeless, but they are going to have to play better than they have in recent years. Their defense is also not particularly impressive. The pickups of Wilson and Pollard are great for the secondary and should help improve their horrible pass defense from a year ago, but they really didn't do anything to address their woes in the front 7. Aside from Kamerion Wimbley and Akeem Ayers, no on the front 7 is consistently productive and they got burned frequently season (their rushing defense was 22nd in the league.) Admitted they're a young unit, but that still doesn't excuse their poor all-around play and amount of blown assignments/missed tackles. The Titans made some smart moves this offseason and have put themselves in better position to win games, but they are going to need to be much better on both sides of the ball if they want to turn their fortunes around and bring a winning team back to Nashville.
Projected standings for the AFC South:
1.Houston Texans (11-5)
2.Indianapolis Colts (9-7)
3.Tennessee Titans (7-9)
4.Jacksonville Jaguars (2-14)
Thursday, August 15, 2013
NFL Preview: AFC North
Baltimore Ravens: The 2013 Ravens are going to look a LOT different than the team that went on an emotionally-charged run to win the Super Bowl last year. A number of the key figures that were instrumental in that run are now gone (Ray Lewis retired, Anquan Boldin got traded to the 49ers, Ed Reed signed with the Texans, Paul Kruger signed with the Browns, Dannell Ellerbe signed with the Dolphins, Carey Williams signed with the Eagles and Bernard Pollard was released and later signed with the Titans) and making it even more difficult for the new-look Ravens, tight end Dennis Pitta fractured his hip in training camp and is now out for the entire season. About the only free agent the Ravens retained this offseason is quarterback Joe Flacco. Flacco got a huge payday and now has it to back it up and prove his playoff heroics weren't a fluke. Flacco has to yet to throw for 4,000 yards or 25 TD's in a single year and reaching either one of those milestones this year is going to be extremely difficult with a depleted receiving corps. Someone aside from Torrey Smith (the only proven, healthy option they have who is poised to have a huge season) is going have to step up and become a viable option if Flacco wants to finally breakthrough into the elite tier of quarterbacks and prove himself of worthy of his giant contract. Jacoby Jones has shown flashes of dominance in the slot, but he's never been a full-time starter in his career. Young guns Tandon Doss and Deonte Thompson haven't really done too much in their careers thus fur and just added vets Brandon Stokely and Dallas Clark are competent, but far past their primes and are unlikely to be huge factors in the offense. The well-being of the Ravens this year is going come down on one of these guys (or currently injured tight end Ed Dickson, who is set to return at an unknown point in the season) to step up and have a breakout year. It's not all uncertainty and negativity for the Ravens though. Despite their huge losses, the team made a number of nice pickups in free agency and the draft. The biggest addition is outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil. Dumervil is a premier outside linebacker who knows how to get to the quarterback. The tandem of Dumervil and Terrell Suggs at outside linebacker is going to be absolute hell for opposing offenses. They also picked up veterans Chris Canty and Marcus Spears to solidify their defensive line, inside linbacker Daryl Smith to fill the leadership void of Ray Lewis and safety Michael Huff to be the new enforcer of the secondary. Their rookie class is looking great as well with potential steals in safety Matt Elam and versatile linebacker Arthur Brown. Elam and Brown are both projected starters at the moment and have been very impressive in camp so far. Thrown in the return of cornerback Ladarius Webb who missed most of last season with a torn ACL and the Ravens defense actually looks a bit better than last year. Offensively despite this disarray in the receiving corps,the Ravens still have a deadly 1-2 running back tandem in Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce. I fully expect Rice's rushing and receiving numbers to jump up substantially after a slightly disappointing 2012 season. Baltimore still has a great O-line who should give them room to run and Rice's elite pass-catching ability make him the only guy besides Smith that Flacco can fully trust this season. Pierce is a also a bruiser that can help out big time in third-down situations and if Rice goes down, is reliable enough to handle the workload of a starter. The Ravens have some questions marks, but I don't believe they are in nearly as bad of a place as a lot of people say they are.
Cincinnati Bengals: With the Ravens and Steelers looking a bit more vulnerable this season, 2013 could be the year where the Bengals finally start running the AFC North. They are coming up off two straight playoff berths and didn't suffer any major losses this offseason. That level of continuity is a good sign for their potential success this year. Andy Dalton should continue to improve as a quarterback and his chemistry with star wideout A.J. Green is already electric and if Dalton improves, Green could become even more deadly. I also like the young options around Green, most notably Mohammed Sanu, who was playing great before a late-season foot injury sidelined for the last few weeks of the year and rookie Tyler Eifert, who is super athletic and could be very effective in two tight-end sets lined up with veteran Jermaine Gresham. Defensively, they were sack machines last year and I fully expect that to hold true again this year with a behemoth like Geno Atkins in the middle of the line, Michael Johnson and Carlos Dunlap running off the edge and new addition James Harrison, who should be good for some sacks despite how little gas he has left in the tank. The pass-rush could be even more deadly this year if raw but freakishly athletic rookie defensive end Margus Hunt successfully adapts to the professional game. As long as Mike Zimmer is the coordinator and they retain the same players, the Bengals will have one of the scariest front sevens in the league. Really the only question marks for the Bengals are safety and who is going to start at running back. Reggie Nelson and Taylor Mays got beat over the middle big time last year and unless rookie Shawn Williams is a stud, I expect more of the same this year. The running back race is definitely interesting and probably the most heated one outside of St. Louis or maybe Denver. BenJarvus Green-Ellis was reasonably effective last season, but the hype is all around rookie Giovanni Bernard, who is far more explosive than Green-Ellis. I'm sure it will be a committee until one of them breaks out (my money is on Bernard over Green-Eills.) The Bengals are a pretty talented team with only a few flaws that are set to take the next step as a team this year. If the pieces fall into place, we could be looking at a outside title contender this season.
Cleveland Browns: A miracle might be happening: There's actually some hope for the future in Cleveland. The Browns picked up guru Norv Turner to be their offensive coordinator and new head coach Rod Chudzinski turned around the Panthers offense in only a couple of years. These offensive minds coming to Cleveland is probably the best news running back Trent Richardson could've got at this point in his career. Richardson is now (presumably) healthy and coming off a year where he played hurt and almost got 1,000 yards rushing and proved to also be a pretty solid receiving option as well. Turner is known for his virtuoso work with running backs and Richardson certainly has the talent to thrive in his offense. These arrivals should also have a positive impact on second-year quarterback Brandon Weeden. Weeden was mostly just average last year, but he showed flashes of potential and the change of offense could very well benefit his game. Helping Weeden's cause is the development of Josh Gordon as a top wideout and the pickups of veteran wideouts Davone Bess and David Nelson. Bess is relatively consistent and definitely upgrade over Greg Little at the number 2 wideout spot while David Nelson had a pretty solid year in 2011 with the Bills before missing all of last season with a torn ACL. The Browns also made some positive changes on the defensive side of the ball. They made two huge pickups in free agency bringing in outside linebacker Paul Kruger from the Ravens and defensive tackle/end Desmond Bryant from the Raiders. Kruger is a talented pass-rusher that should help the Browns previously horrendous pass-rush immediately while Bryant will contribute right away as their primary run-stuffer. On top of Kruger and Bryant, The Browns also invested a lot in first-round pick Barkevious Mingo to try and fix their defensive woes. Mingo has upside as a pass-rusher and the versatility to play both outside linebacker and defensive end, but he's definitely not a sure thing because of his size and sometimes inconsistent play at the college level. The Browns may be looking up, but their up is still quite a ways behind the rest of the league. They just don't have the weapons on either side of the ball to be competitive right now. This is a team that is slowly rising and does have a growing number of talented players, but 2013 will probably not be the year the Browns start to turn things fully around.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Last season was the first time in a long time that the Pittsburgh Steelers showed signs of vulnerability. Their defense was 1st overall in the league and Ben Roethlisberger had another great season, but team still went 8-8 and missed the playoffs because they couldn't score consistently. I except the same problems to creep up this season except become even worse due to losses in free agency and pesky father time. Rethlisberger's two favorite targets from last year are gone: Mike Wallace left for the Dolphins in free agency and the always reliable tight end Heath Miller is going to miss most of the season recovering from the torn ACL and MCL he suffered late last season. With Wallace gone and Miller out for now, the Steelers are going to need Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders to step up big time. Both Brown and Sanders are coming off very disappointing seasons with mediocre numbers and inconsistent all-around play. Brown and Sanders both have the talent and have shined in this league before, they just need to show up and have major bounce-back seasons to help out Big Ben and show that the receiving corps isn't completely depleted of top-level talent. Their defense although consistently great in recent memory, isn't getting any younger. A majority of their top contributors are well into their 30's and this could be the year this talented D start to show its age. Although the Steelers have started to show signs of decline, they are too well-coached and have too many solid players to completely count out. Dick LaBeau is a defensive mastermind who is arguably the best coordinator in the league and head coach Mike Tomlin is no slouch either. It doesn't matter who they throw out on the field, they're going to produce because of the quality of the coaching and that is comforting considering the age and injury history of this team recently. Aside from the coaching, the presence of rookie running back Le'von Bell is exciting and could help out this questionable offense. This is a team that could flat-out not run the football this year, so the addition of Bell is nothing short of a godsend for them. Bell has been wowing in training camp and could be the workhorse runner Pittsburgh has lacked the past few years. The Steelers may not be as strong as they once were, but the coaching, defensive talent and Ben Roethlisberger are too much to count them out of a potential playoff spot.
Projected standings for the AFC North:
1.Cincinnati Bengals (11-5)
2.Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
3.Pittsburgh Steelers (7-9)
4.Cleveland Browns (6-10)
Cincinnati Bengals: With the Ravens and Steelers looking a bit more vulnerable this season, 2013 could be the year where the Bengals finally start running the AFC North. They are coming up off two straight playoff berths and didn't suffer any major losses this offseason. That level of continuity is a good sign for their potential success this year. Andy Dalton should continue to improve as a quarterback and his chemistry with star wideout A.J. Green is already electric and if Dalton improves, Green could become even more deadly. I also like the young options around Green, most notably Mohammed Sanu, who was playing great before a late-season foot injury sidelined for the last few weeks of the year and rookie Tyler Eifert, who is super athletic and could be very effective in two tight-end sets lined up with veteran Jermaine Gresham. Defensively, they were sack machines last year and I fully expect that to hold true again this year with a behemoth like Geno Atkins in the middle of the line, Michael Johnson and Carlos Dunlap running off the edge and new addition James Harrison, who should be good for some sacks despite how little gas he has left in the tank. The pass-rush could be even more deadly this year if raw but freakishly athletic rookie defensive end Margus Hunt successfully adapts to the professional game. As long as Mike Zimmer is the coordinator and they retain the same players, the Bengals will have one of the scariest front sevens in the league. Really the only question marks for the Bengals are safety and who is going to start at running back. Reggie Nelson and Taylor Mays got beat over the middle big time last year and unless rookie Shawn Williams is a stud, I expect more of the same this year. The running back race is definitely interesting and probably the most heated one outside of St. Louis or maybe Denver. BenJarvus Green-Ellis was reasonably effective last season, but the hype is all around rookie Giovanni Bernard, who is far more explosive than Green-Ellis. I'm sure it will be a committee until one of them breaks out (my money is on Bernard over Green-Eills.) The Bengals are a pretty talented team with only a few flaws that are set to take the next step as a team this year. If the pieces fall into place, we could be looking at a outside title contender this season.
Cleveland Browns: A miracle might be happening: There's actually some hope for the future in Cleveland. The Browns picked up guru Norv Turner to be their offensive coordinator and new head coach Rod Chudzinski turned around the Panthers offense in only a couple of years. These offensive minds coming to Cleveland is probably the best news running back Trent Richardson could've got at this point in his career. Richardson is now (presumably) healthy and coming off a year where he played hurt and almost got 1,000 yards rushing and proved to also be a pretty solid receiving option as well. Turner is known for his virtuoso work with running backs and Richardson certainly has the talent to thrive in his offense. These arrivals should also have a positive impact on second-year quarterback Brandon Weeden. Weeden was mostly just average last year, but he showed flashes of potential and the change of offense could very well benefit his game. Helping Weeden's cause is the development of Josh Gordon as a top wideout and the pickups of veteran wideouts Davone Bess and David Nelson. Bess is relatively consistent and definitely upgrade over Greg Little at the number 2 wideout spot while David Nelson had a pretty solid year in 2011 with the Bills before missing all of last season with a torn ACL. The Browns also made some positive changes on the defensive side of the ball. They made two huge pickups in free agency bringing in outside linebacker Paul Kruger from the Ravens and defensive tackle/end Desmond Bryant from the Raiders. Kruger is a talented pass-rusher that should help the Browns previously horrendous pass-rush immediately while Bryant will contribute right away as their primary run-stuffer. On top of Kruger and Bryant, The Browns also invested a lot in first-round pick Barkevious Mingo to try and fix their defensive woes. Mingo has upside as a pass-rusher and the versatility to play both outside linebacker and defensive end, but he's definitely not a sure thing because of his size and sometimes inconsistent play at the college level. The Browns may be looking up, but their up is still quite a ways behind the rest of the league. They just don't have the weapons on either side of the ball to be competitive right now. This is a team that is slowly rising and does have a growing number of talented players, but 2013 will probably not be the year the Browns start to turn things fully around.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Last season was the first time in a long time that the Pittsburgh Steelers showed signs of vulnerability. Their defense was 1st overall in the league and Ben Roethlisberger had another great season, but team still went 8-8 and missed the playoffs because they couldn't score consistently. I except the same problems to creep up this season except become even worse due to losses in free agency and pesky father time. Rethlisberger's two favorite targets from last year are gone: Mike Wallace left for the Dolphins in free agency and the always reliable tight end Heath Miller is going to miss most of the season recovering from the torn ACL and MCL he suffered late last season. With Wallace gone and Miller out for now, the Steelers are going to need Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders to step up big time. Both Brown and Sanders are coming off very disappointing seasons with mediocre numbers and inconsistent all-around play. Brown and Sanders both have the talent and have shined in this league before, they just need to show up and have major bounce-back seasons to help out Big Ben and show that the receiving corps isn't completely depleted of top-level talent. Their defense although consistently great in recent memory, isn't getting any younger. A majority of their top contributors are well into their 30's and this could be the year this talented D start to show its age. Although the Steelers have started to show signs of decline, they are too well-coached and have too many solid players to completely count out. Dick LaBeau is a defensive mastermind who is arguably the best coordinator in the league and head coach Mike Tomlin is no slouch either. It doesn't matter who they throw out on the field, they're going to produce because of the quality of the coaching and that is comforting considering the age and injury history of this team recently. Aside from the coaching, the presence of rookie running back Le'von Bell is exciting and could help out this questionable offense. This is a team that could flat-out not run the football this year, so the addition of Bell is nothing short of a godsend for them. Bell has been wowing in training camp and could be the workhorse runner Pittsburgh has lacked the past few years. The Steelers may not be as strong as they once were, but the coaching, defensive talent and Ben Roethlisberger are too much to count them out of a potential playoff spot.
Projected standings for the AFC North:
1.Cincinnati Bengals (11-5)
2.Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
3.Pittsburgh Steelers (7-9)
4.Cleveland Browns (6-10)
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Concert Review: Run the Jewels (Killer Mike+El-P)-- Boston, MA-- August 13th, 2013
Boy I am glad I decided to go this show at the last minute after the Death Grips show scheduled for last Tuesday was canceled.
I got to the Paradise around 8, got in pretty quick and got a sick spot really close to the front of the stage. Around 8:30, Kool A.D. took the stage and got the ball rolling on the evening. I wasn't a big fan of Das Racist when they were around, but I must say I liked Kool A.D's solo stuff. It was pretty chill, jazzy material with some bizarre yet interesting wordplay. He was also a completely hilarious dude cracking jokes the whole set about everything from how he was the next Big Sean/Kendrick Lamar/Jay Electronica (obvious reference to the release of "Control", which has been burning up the internet over the past couple days.) to how his beats were made and what they went through to get out to the crowd. His music had a much different tone than the rest of the artists on the bill and he made for a nice change of pace from the more intense rappers that filled up the rest of the bill. Kool A.D. was a pleasant surprise and a solid opener for the show.
Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire was next. He got added to the show at the last minute and I'm very thankful that he did because he tore the place up. I had only a heard song or two by him prior to this show but his set last night guaranteed I'll be looking further into his stuff. His flow is very different and explosive and he had a lot of sick bass-heavy beats and catchy-ass hooks. Not to mention, he was running around like a crazy person for most of his set getting the crowd amped up (which was successful, he had almost as strong of as a reaction as Killer Mike and El-P.) Like Kool A.D., he was also hilarious when he addressed the crowd. He even stopped a song because people weren't clapping properly (I don't remember the exact quote, but it was priceless.) Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire is a hell of a performer and he at the top of my list of rappers to check out after this excellent and memorable performance.
Despot was up next. I knew next to nothing about him aside from his verse on "Tougher Colder Killer" by El-P. Safe to say after his set last night, he definitely made an impression on me. His style is really interesting with a lot of personal songs with abrasive beats and lyrical delivery. You can tell why El-P signed him because he has a similar swagger and intensity while still doing his own thing. Continuing with the theme of the evening, Despot was also incredibly funny delivering all his jokes with a deadpan delivery and impeccable timing. His set also had what was probably the funniest moment of the show, when he took a break halfway through the set to lead the crowd in an aerobics routine. El-P, Kool A.D., Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire and their respective DJ's came out to join him and it was just really entertaining to watch all these dudes do this ridiculous synchronized routine in the middle of a hip-hop show. Despot also said that his long in the works full-length album produced by Ratatat is actually near completion and should be out before too long (He said to prove that it was actually real: he had to play numerous songs from it, which he did.) Despot can definitely spit and put on an entertaining set, I look forward to hearing his record whenever it comes out.
It was finally time for Killer Mike and El-P to hit the stage. It was cool because aside from performing as Run the Jewels, they each got 30 minute solo sets. Both had stunning moments (Killer Mike's a cappella performance of "Reagan", the keytar solo during "$4Vic/Nothing but You+Me) and shared an immense appreciation for their fans. I have to give El-P a lot of props for his use of a live band and Killer Mike for doing a lot of verses with no or a very subtle beat. While their solo sets were great, when they came together for Run the Jewels the performance became legendary. The whole room was on fire from the second the beat the dropped on "Run the Jewels" and didn't waver till the house lights came on to end the show. The charisma and report between Killer Mike and El-P is off the charts. Both have totally unique styles that compliment each other so well and create a whirlwind atmosphere on-stage. The friendly rap battle vibe of the album hits the next level in a live setting. Each verse is rattled off with unmatched ferocity as each man tries to one-up the one another while simultaneously showing each other mutual respect. Killer Mike and El-P have a unique bond that makes them like brothers and Run the Jewels is one of the strongest hip-hop collaborations of all-time. Just an outstanding, high-energy and hilarious show that shows just how strong underground hip-hop is today. RUN THE JEWELS!
Scores:
Kool A.D. 7.5/10
Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire 8.5/10
Despot 8/10
Killer Mike 8.5/10
El-P 8.5/10
Run the Jewels 9.5/10
Setlists:
Kool A.D. included:
No
La Pinata
Manny Pacquiao
Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire included:
Huzzah Part 2
Elevators
I Was Drunk When I Wrote This
Orbz a.k.a. Some Wise Quote Drake Never Said
eXxx (closer)
Despot included:
Get Rich or Try Dying
Homesickness
Look Alive
Killer Mike:
Big Beast
Untitled
Reagan (a capella)
Don't Die
Go!
Southern Fried
Ric Flair
R.A.P. Music
God in the Building
El-P:
Drones Over BKLYN
The Full Retard
EMG
The Jig is Up
Sign Here
?
Stay Down
$4Vic/Nothing but You + Me
Run the Jewels:
Run the Jewels
Banana Clipper
36" Chain
DDFH
Sea Legs
Job Well Done
Tougher Colder Killer (w/Despot)
Get It
A Christmas Fucking Miracle
I got to the Paradise around 8, got in pretty quick and got a sick spot really close to the front of the stage. Around 8:30, Kool A.D. took the stage and got the ball rolling on the evening. I wasn't a big fan of Das Racist when they were around, but I must say I liked Kool A.D's solo stuff. It was pretty chill, jazzy material with some bizarre yet interesting wordplay. He was also a completely hilarious dude cracking jokes the whole set about everything from how he was the next Big Sean/Kendrick Lamar/Jay Electronica (obvious reference to the release of "Control", which has been burning up the internet over the past couple days.) to how his beats were made and what they went through to get out to the crowd. His music had a much different tone than the rest of the artists on the bill and he made for a nice change of pace from the more intense rappers that filled up the rest of the bill. Kool A.D. was a pleasant surprise and a solid opener for the show.
Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire was next. He got added to the show at the last minute and I'm very thankful that he did because he tore the place up. I had only a heard song or two by him prior to this show but his set last night guaranteed I'll be looking further into his stuff. His flow is very different and explosive and he had a lot of sick bass-heavy beats and catchy-ass hooks. Not to mention, he was running around like a crazy person for most of his set getting the crowd amped up (which was successful, he had almost as strong of as a reaction as Killer Mike and El-P.) Like Kool A.D., he was also hilarious when he addressed the crowd. He even stopped a song because people weren't clapping properly (I don't remember the exact quote, but it was priceless.) Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire is a hell of a performer and he at the top of my list of rappers to check out after this excellent and memorable performance.
Despot was up next. I knew next to nothing about him aside from his verse on "Tougher Colder Killer" by El-P. Safe to say after his set last night, he definitely made an impression on me. His style is really interesting with a lot of personal songs with abrasive beats and lyrical delivery. You can tell why El-P signed him because he has a similar swagger and intensity while still doing his own thing. Continuing with the theme of the evening, Despot was also incredibly funny delivering all his jokes with a deadpan delivery and impeccable timing. His set also had what was probably the funniest moment of the show, when he took a break halfway through the set to lead the crowd in an aerobics routine. El-P, Kool A.D., Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire and their respective DJ's came out to join him and it was just really entertaining to watch all these dudes do this ridiculous synchronized routine in the middle of a hip-hop show. Despot also said that his long in the works full-length album produced by Ratatat is actually near completion and should be out before too long (He said to prove that it was actually real: he had to play numerous songs from it, which he did.) Despot can definitely spit and put on an entertaining set, I look forward to hearing his record whenever it comes out.
It was finally time for Killer Mike and El-P to hit the stage. It was cool because aside from performing as Run the Jewels, they each got 30 minute solo sets. Both had stunning moments (Killer Mike's a cappella performance of "Reagan", the keytar solo during "$4Vic/Nothing but You+Me) and shared an immense appreciation for their fans. I have to give El-P a lot of props for his use of a live band and Killer Mike for doing a lot of verses with no or a very subtle beat. While their solo sets were great, when they came together for Run the Jewels the performance became legendary. The whole room was on fire from the second the beat the dropped on "Run the Jewels" and didn't waver till the house lights came on to end the show. The charisma and report between Killer Mike and El-P is off the charts. Both have totally unique styles that compliment each other so well and create a whirlwind atmosphere on-stage. The friendly rap battle vibe of the album hits the next level in a live setting. Each verse is rattled off with unmatched ferocity as each man tries to one-up the one another while simultaneously showing each other mutual respect. Killer Mike and El-P have a unique bond that makes them like brothers and Run the Jewels is one of the strongest hip-hop collaborations of all-time. Just an outstanding, high-energy and hilarious show that shows just how strong underground hip-hop is today. RUN THE JEWELS!
Scores:
Kool A.D. 7.5/10
Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire 8.5/10
Despot 8/10
Killer Mike 8.5/10
El-P 8.5/10
Run the Jewels 9.5/10
Setlists:
Kool A.D. included:
No
La Pinata
Manny Pacquiao
Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire included:
Huzzah Part 2
Elevators
I Was Drunk When I Wrote This
Orbz a.k.a. Some Wise Quote Drake Never Said
eXxx (closer)
Despot included:
Get Rich or Try Dying
Homesickness
Look Alive
Killer Mike:
Big Beast
Untitled
Reagan (a capella)
Don't Die
Go!
Southern Fried
Ric Flair
R.A.P. Music
God in the Building
El-P:
Drones Over BKLYN
The Full Retard
EMG
The Jig is Up
Sign Here
?
Stay Down
$4Vic/Nothing but You + Me
Run the Jewels:
Run the Jewels
Banana Clipper
36" Chain
DDFH
Sea Legs
Job Well Done
Tougher Colder Killer (w/Despot)
Get It
A Christmas Fucking Miracle
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Album Review: Revocation-Revocation
Revocation doesn't necessarily see the band going into new territory with their sound, it just takes their established sound and makes more it polished. With Revocation you know you're going to get high levels of musicianship across the board, but this go-round the songwriting is beefed up and has never been better. Each track just has a better sense of flow and organization between balancing the different ends of their sound (Case in point on "Archfiend", which transfers very organically from tech-death to a beautiful acoustic section at the end of the song.) The tracks are longer than normal for them, which allows them to write more tight and exciting material that builds upon their technical strengths they've shown in the past. For the first time in their career they've crafted an album that maintains its quality all the way through with nothing even close to filler. Aside from the better songwriting, the biggest improvement on this record is the riffs. Revocation has always been a band that has had its fair share of quality riffs, but this record just takes it to the next level. Everything from crushing old-school death groove riffs (the ending of "Invidious", which is one of the most punishing, headbang-worthy riffs I've ever heard) to melodic gems ("The Gift You Gave",) Revocation doesn't a go song without dropping numerous catchy licks that are absolutely infectious to the listener. It doesn't matter if you like traditional death metal grooves or progressive riffing or anything in-between, Revocation has something for every metal riff connoisseur on this record. Of course, it wouldn't be a Revocation album without talking about the solowork of guitarist/vocalist David Davidson. Davidson once again proves why he is at the top of the heap of metal guitarists with yet another barrage of guitar wizardry on this record . His combination of fret-melting proficiency ( the solo on "Numbing Agents" made my head spin) and variety of solos make him the undisputed bests soloer in modern metal in my eyes. You never what you're going to get from him and I've yet to be not highly impressed by any solo he lays down.
Records like this make me proud to be a metal fan. This outing sees Revocation keeping their traditional sound in tact, while improving on it with more focused songwriting featuring the best riffs and harmonies they've ever written. This is clearly a band that know it's strengths and knows how to naturally build upon them on each new release. If the quality of Revocation holds up upon future listens (which so far it has through four full playthroughs and I'd be shocked if it didn't continue to hold up,) this will probably be my favorite record of the year. As a longtime fan of Revocation, this is the record that I've been waiting for them to put out. This record is just fifty minutes of fast, riffy, and sometimes progressive heavy metal with mind-blowing musicianship that is pure bliss to listen to. This is a can't miss album for any fan of extreme and/or thrash metal and further cements the growing legacy of Revocation as one of the most exciting moderns acts in all of metal.
4.5/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Numbing Agents
2.Invidious
3.Archfiend
Sunday, August 11, 2013
NFL Preview: AFC East
After six long months, the return of football is finally on the horizon. Over the next few weeks, I'll be previewing the NFL season starting today with the AFC East and laying out some predictions for the 2013 season. The league is as open and unpredictable as ever and I can't wait to see how the season unfolds.
Buffalo Bills: 2013 very well could be another long one for the Buffalo Bills. The long-struggling Bills had another dismal season last year which ended with them doing what seems like an annual overhaul at the end of the season firing head coach Chan Gailey and releasing starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Bills are back at square one with new coach Doug Marrone and rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel. Marrone is relatively unproven on the professional level and only had a decent level of success has the head coach of Syracuse for the past four years. An offensive-minded coach really doesn't seem like the right choice for a team that desperately needs help with defensive coaching. Manuel was probably the best quarterback available in this year's draft and definitely has some potential with his arm strength and running ability. The problem is that Manuel could need time to develop and in this increasingly impatient league, that could be a problem. Adding to the Bills problems is the holdout of star safety Jarius Byrd. Byrd is a top-tier safety and the Bills can not afford to have someone of his caliber sitting out on a defense that has its fair share of holes. Luckily for the Bills it's not all doom and gloom. Stevie Johnson is one of the most consistently solid and underrated receivers in the game. He's never had a great quarterback throwing him the ball and he's always good for approximately 1,000 yards a year. Johnson should be solid again and if Manuel ends up exceeding expectations, Johnson could be in for the best year of his career. The Bills also have a sparkplug of a running back in C.J. Spiller. Spiller gouged defenses last year with 6 yards a carry and showed flashes of absolute domination. It should be interesting to see how Spiller does in his first-year as the feature back, but if he's up to the task of getting the brunt of the carries, we could be looking at an absolute stud of a back. There's some signs of optimism in Buffalo, but a shaky defense, rookie quarterback without a lot of proven weapons and an inexperienced coach could lead to them being buried at the bottom of the league once again.
Miami Dolphins: When the Dolphins hit the field this year, there's going to be a lot of new faces and a lot of question marks from new and incumbent players. Saying the Dolphins made a splash in free agency would be a gross understatement. The team spent a boatload of money on high-profile free agents on both sides of the ball including wide receiver Mike Wallace, inside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe, cornerback Brent Grimes and outside linebacker Phillip Wheeler. On top of these free agents, they traded up in the draft to snag coveted defensive end prospect Dion Jordan. Personally, I think they payed too much for both Wallace and Ellerbe. Wallace is a great route-runner and has elite speed, but his hands are suspect and he's never had above 1,257 yards in a season (and that was with Ben Roethlisberger as his quarterback.) Ellerbe is even more questionable as he gained a big contract simply by having a great playoff run last year with the Ravens and has only started a few games over the course of his career. These moves are the epitome of risk/reward with these guys having the potential, they just need to deliver consistently to be worth their big-money contracts. I'm a bit more optimistic about the rest of their pickups, especially Jordan who gets to learn from top-notch pass rusher Cameron Wake and Grimes, who was a pretty productive corner during his tenure with the Falcons. Aside from the new pickups, the Dolphins season is going to ride on the play of quarterback Ryan Tannehill and running back Lamar Miller. Tannehill played decently as a rookie last year and should improve with another year in the system, but thus far he has only shown flashes of the top-notch talent he was projected to be coming out of college. Miller has just as much as pressure becoming the feature back in his second year and facing the tall order of replacing Reggie Bush, who was arguably the best running back the Dolphins had since Ricky Williams. Miller may have only had 51 touches in his rookie year, but he averaged 4.9 yards per carry and has impressed a lot of people this offseason (most notably veteran back Frank Gore of the San Fransisco 49ers, who touted that Miller is the best back to ever come out of the University of Miami.) Miller is the uncontested starter so he will get ample opportunities to be force in the backfield, but his lack of experience as a three-down back in this league makes him a bit of a question mark despite his upside and positive reviews from his peers. The Dolphins are one of the most questionable teams in the NFL, but if their new pickups and young players perform, they could contend for a playoff spot.
New England Patriots: Unless you've been living under a rock for the past five months, you know that the New England Patriots have gone under a lot of change going into this season. They lost a majority of their receiving corps (Wes Welker signed with the Broncos, Brandon Lloyd was cut, Aaron Hernandez is in prison and Deion Branch was not brought back,) star tight end Rob Gronkowski is gong to be out for at least the first six weeks of the season and the cloud of the Hernandez murder investigation has left a really negative aura around the team going into the season. A number of questions have come up around their receiving corps this season amidst their tumultuous offseason , which I find to be ridiculous. Tom Brady is one of the few quarterbacks that can throw the ball to anyone and be effective in the process, so the key losses they had won't hurt that much. The team's new crop of receivers definitely has some promise with the highly-talented Danny Amendola coming in, who could be in a line for a monstrous year as the undisputed number 1 wideout if the injury bug doesn't bite him yet again. The lone holdover from last year's group of receivers, Julian Edelman, could have a breakout season as offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels loves him and he has a similar skill set as Welker, who clearly thrived during his six-year stint with the Pats. If rookies Aaron Dobson and Josh Todd end up working out, their receiving corps could end up being the most productive and deep unit they've had in years. As usual, the Patriots flaws on the defensive side of the ball. While they've worked out their pass-rushing woes with Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones emerging as pretty solid players last year, their secondary still can't be trusted. Aqib Talib wasn't a bad mid-season pickup last year and is undoubtedly leaps and bounds better than their other corners, but he still gets burned quite a bit and doesn't really strike fear into opponents. They brought in Adrian Wilson from the Cardinals to replace Steve Gregory at free safety, but Wilson has lost a few steps from his elite days and probably won't be a much of an improvement at the position. I'm also not particularly high on Stevan Ridley as their top running back this season. He undeniably had a good year in 2012, but he does most of his damage against poor defenses and gets buried by good run D's (Baltimore isn't even an elite run D and they completely shut him down in both meetings they had last.) Bill Belichick also likes to mix things up at running back frequently so I can't really see Ridley repeating his success in 2012 over again. Change might be in the air and losing someone as dominant as Rob Gronkowski for an extended period of time hurts, but as long as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are in New England, they are going to be a great football team and contend for a title. I'll be shocked if they don't win the AFC East yet again this year.
New York Jets: There are a few teams in the league that are as much of a mess as the New York Jets. Aside from their offensive line and secondary, this team has problems at every other position on the field. Their quarterback situation is nothing short of disastrous with Mark Sanchez coming off a laughably abysmal season and the team drafting almost surefire bust Geno Smith doesn't seem like the answer to their quarterback woes. Even if he wins the starting job, Sanchez is almost certainly on the outs after this year unless he puts up insane numbers in 2013. To be fair to Sanchez, it's not entirely his fault. He has the weakest group of receivers in the league, which gotten even weaker with pretty reliable tight end Dustin Keller leaving in free agency to go to the Dolphins. The only proven option Santonio Holmes, who missed most of last season, is also missing some time at the beginning of this year, leaving the Jets with the highly incompetent bunch of Stephen Hill, Jeremy Kerley and rapidly-declining Braylon Edwards anchoring the receiving corps. Whether it's Sanchez or Smith starting, this team is pretty much doomed due to the low quality of their receivers. I'm also not sold on new starting running back Chris Ivory helping out this impotent offense. Save for a couple of games here and there, Ivory didn't do much with the Saints and has an extensive injury history. Their backups, Mike Goodson (who hasn't even shown up to camp yet) and Bilal Powell aren't proven either. I feel like they're going to regret not re-signing Shonn Greene come mid-season. Defensively, I expect them to be a bit better after their absolutely porous performance against the run last season. Sheldon Richardson is one of the more promising rookie prospects and should serve as a big improvement in the middle of the defensive line. Muhammad Wilkerson is starting to become a pretty good edge-rusher as well and Richardson's presence should up his sack total. Their front seven is a bit improved, but they still aren't that effective on the whole (mainly due to their aging and under-producing linebacking corps.) The Jets are just a team with poor quarterback play, no offensive weapons and a pretty weak defensive front 7 who are all but a lock for one of the worst records in the league.
Projected Standings for the AFC East:
1.New England Patriots (11-5)
2.Miami Dolphins (8-8)
3.Buffalo Bills (5-11)
4.New York Jets (2-14)
Buffalo Bills: 2013 very well could be another long one for the Buffalo Bills. The long-struggling Bills had another dismal season last year which ended with them doing what seems like an annual overhaul at the end of the season firing head coach Chan Gailey and releasing starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Bills are back at square one with new coach Doug Marrone and rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel. Marrone is relatively unproven on the professional level and only had a decent level of success has the head coach of Syracuse for the past four years. An offensive-minded coach really doesn't seem like the right choice for a team that desperately needs help with defensive coaching. Manuel was probably the best quarterback available in this year's draft and definitely has some potential with his arm strength and running ability. The problem is that Manuel could need time to develop and in this increasingly impatient league, that could be a problem. Adding to the Bills problems is the holdout of star safety Jarius Byrd. Byrd is a top-tier safety and the Bills can not afford to have someone of his caliber sitting out on a defense that has its fair share of holes. Luckily for the Bills it's not all doom and gloom. Stevie Johnson is one of the most consistently solid and underrated receivers in the game. He's never had a great quarterback throwing him the ball and he's always good for approximately 1,000 yards a year. Johnson should be solid again and if Manuel ends up exceeding expectations, Johnson could be in for the best year of his career. The Bills also have a sparkplug of a running back in C.J. Spiller. Spiller gouged defenses last year with 6 yards a carry and showed flashes of absolute domination. It should be interesting to see how Spiller does in his first-year as the feature back, but if he's up to the task of getting the brunt of the carries, we could be looking at an absolute stud of a back. There's some signs of optimism in Buffalo, but a shaky defense, rookie quarterback without a lot of proven weapons and an inexperienced coach could lead to them being buried at the bottom of the league once again.
Miami Dolphins: When the Dolphins hit the field this year, there's going to be a lot of new faces and a lot of question marks from new and incumbent players. Saying the Dolphins made a splash in free agency would be a gross understatement. The team spent a boatload of money on high-profile free agents on both sides of the ball including wide receiver Mike Wallace, inside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe, cornerback Brent Grimes and outside linebacker Phillip Wheeler. On top of these free agents, they traded up in the draft to snag coveted defensive end prospect Dion Jordan. Personally, I think they payed too much for both Wallace and Ellerbe. Wallace is a great route-runner and has elite speed, but his hands are suspect and he's never had above 1,257 yards in a season (and that was with Ben Roethlisberger as his quarterback.) Ellerbe is even more questionable as he gained a big contract simply by having a great playoff run last year with the Ravens and has only started a few games over the course of his career. These moves are the epitome of risk/reward with these guys having the potential, they just need to deliver consistently to be worth their big-money contracts. I'm a bit more optimistic about the rest of their pickups, especially Jordan who gets to learn from top-notch pass rusher Cameron Wake and Grimes, who was a pretty productive corner during his tenure with the Falcons. Aside from the new pickups, the Dolphins season is going to ride on the play of quarterback Ryan Tannehill and running back Lamar Miller. Tannehill played decently as a rookie last year and should improve with another year in the system, but thus far he has only shown flashes of the top-notch talent he was projected to be coming out of college. Miller has just as much as pressure becoming the feature back in his second year and facing the tall order of replacing Reggie Bush, who was arguably the best running back the Dolphins had since Ricky Williams. Miller may have only had 51 touches in his rookie year, but he averaged 4.9 yards per carry and has impressed a lot of people this offseason (most notably veteran back Frank Gore of the San Fransisco 49ers, who touted that Miller is the best back to ever come out of the University of Miami.) Miller is the uncontested starter so he will get ample opportunities to be force in the backfield, but his lack of experience as a three-down back in this league makes him a bit of a question mark despite his upside and positive reviews from his peers. The Dolphins are one of the most questionable teams in the NFL, but if their new pickups and young players perform, they could contend for a playoff spot.
New England Patriots: Unless you've been living under a rock for the past five months, you know that the New England Patriots have gone under a lot of change going into this season. They lost a majority of their receiving corps (Wes Welker signed with the Broncos, Brandon Lloyd was cut, Aaron Hernandez is in prison and Deion Branch was not brought back,) star tight end Rob Gronkowski is gong to be out for at least the first six weeks of the season and the cloud of the Hernandez murder investigation has left a really negative aura around the team going into the season. A number of questions have come up around their receiving corps this season amidst their tumultuous offseason , which I find to be ridiculous. Tom Brady is one of the few quarterbacks that can throw the ball to anyone and be effective in the process, so the key losses they had won't hurt that much. The team's new crop of receivers definitely has some promise with the highly-talented Danny Amendola coming in, who could be in a line for a monstrous year as the undisputed number 1 wideout if the injury bug doesn't bite him yet again. The lone holdover from last year's group of receivers, Julian Edelman, could have a breakout season as offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels loves him and he has a similar skill set as Welker, who clearly thrived during his six-year stint with the Pats. If rookies Aaron Dobson and Josh Todd end up working out, their receiving corps could end up being the most productive and deep unit they've had in years. As usual, the Patriots flaws on the defensive side of the ball. While they've worked out their pass-rushing woes with Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones emerging as pretty solid players last year, their secondary still can't be trusted. Aqib Talib wasn't a bad mid-season pickup last year and is undoubtedly leaps and bounds better than their other corners, but he still gets burned quite a bit and doesn't really strike fear into opponents. They brought in Adrian Wilson from the Cardinals to replace Steve Gregory at free safety, but Wilson has lost a few steps from his elite days and probably won't be a much of an improvement at the position. I'm also not particularly high on Stevan Ridley as their top running back this season. He undeniably had a good year in 2012, but he does most of his damage against poor defenses and gets buried by good run D's (Baltimore isn't even an elite run D and they completely shut him down in both meetings they had last.) Bill Belichick also likes to mix things up at running back frequently so I can't really see Ridley repeating his success in 2012 over again. Change might be in the air and losing someone as dominant as Rob Gronkowski for an extended period of time hurts, but as long as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are in New England, they are going to be a great football team and contend for a title. I'll be shocked if they don't win the AFC East yet again this year.
New York Jets: There are a few teams in the league that are as much of a mess as the New York Jets. Aside from their offensive line and secondary, this team has problems at every other position on the field. Their quarterback situation is nothing short of disastrous with Mark Sanchez coming off a laughably abysmal season and the team drafting almost surefire bust Geno Smith doesn't seem like the answer to their quarterback woes. Even if he wins the starting job, Sanchez is almost certainly on the outs after this year unless he puts up insane numbers in 2013. To be fair to Sanchez, it's not entirely his fault. He has the weakest group of receivers in the league, which gotten even weaker with pretty reliable tight end Dustin Keller leaving in free agency to go to the Dolphins. The only proven option Santonio Holmes, who missed most of last season, is also missing some time at the beginning of this year, leaving the Jets with the highly incompetent bunch of Stephen Hill, Jeremy Kerley and rapidly-declining Braylon Edwards anchoring the receiving corps. Whether it's Sanchez or Smith starting, this team is pretty much doomed due to the low quality of their receivers. I'm also not sold on new starting running back Chris Ivory helping out this impotent offense. Save for a couple of games here and there, Ivory didn't do much with the Saints and has an extensive injury history. Their backups, Mike Goodson (who hasn't even shown up to camp yet) and Bilal Powell aren't proven either. I feel like they're going to regret not re-signing Shonn Greene come mid-season. Defensively, I expect them to be a bit better after their absolutely porous performance against the run last season. Sheldon Richardson is one of the more promising rookie prospects and should serve as a big improvement in the middle of the defensive line. Muhammad Wilkerson is starting to become a pretty good edge-rusher as well and Richardson's presence should up his sack total. Their front seven is a bit improved, but they still aren't that effective on the whole (mainly due to their aging and under-producing linebacking corps.) The Jets are just a team with poor quarterback play, no offensive weapons and a pretty weak defensive front 7 who are all but a lock for one of the worst records in the league.
Projected Standings for the AFC East:
1.New England Patriots (11-5)
2.Miami Dolphins (8-8)
3.Buffalo Bills (5-11)
4.New York Jets (2-14)
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Movie Review: Fruitvale Station
Every once and a while, you'll come across a film that leaves a lasting impact on you. A film that makes you think about important issues and the well-being of the world. Fruitvale Station is one of those films you'll be deeply thinking long after you leave the theater.
Fruitvale Station is undoubtedly one of the most powerful and profound films I've ever seen. Even though this film is based on true events and you know what's coming, the ending is still devastating. You get so attached to Oscar Grant and the people in his life that you just don't want to believe what happened to him was real. Grant isn't portrayed as a saint in the slightest and has more than his fair share of character flaws, but this is a kid that was making an honest attempt to turn his life around after his past mistakes before his life was unjustly taken. The climax brings out a wide array of emotions from heartbreak to anger at the police and the way they treated him and I was left speechless when the credits rolled. This film holds even more weight after the Trayvon Martin case. Both Grant and Martin were young African-American men who weren't exactly the most upstanding citizens, but were wrongly killed by excessive force from trigger-happy men. Seeing the events unfold on-screen makes you feel even more for the families of the victims of these tragedies. Grant had his whole life ahead of him and a young daughter who is going to grow up without a father all because of a misunderstanding with some transit cops on New Year's Eve in Oakland. This is a film that exposes so many racial issues that still exist in this country. It may be better than it once was, but discrimination and racism are still very prevalent in this country and it's about time people started to examine and solve these issues before another young man or woman of color is killed for no reason.
The driving force on what made Fruitvale Station so powerful aside from its tragic true story is how the events are brought to life on-screen and the performances from the entire cast. Writer/director Ryan Coggler lets the narrative of the film flow so naturally that it seems like real life. Every situation and line of dialogue is so authentic that it makes every scene that much more emotionally-commanding (especially the last 20 minutes and the flashback prison visit scene with Grant and his mother.) Coggler gives such a honest portrayal of Grant exposing his strengths and weaknesses and you really get a picture of exactly who he was as a person and how the people in his life affected his behavior. It's especially incredible considering that is his only his first film. If he can write something this strong as his first movie, he has a ton of potential for the future and could end up becoming one of Hollywood's premier directors if he keeps up the quality of his work. From an acting standpoint, this about as good as you can get from an ensemble. Everyone in this film gives it 110% and delivers some of the most striking performances I've seen in quite some time. Michael B. Jordan's performance as Oscar is absolutely sensational. He embodies Oscar and you want him to succeed so much because of the emotional depth and aura of likability he has despite his flaws and when he passes, you're just left crushed and that's a testament to how strong Jordan is in this role. This is the type of performance that launches careers and hopefully gains some type of recognition come awards season. Melonie Diaz and Octavia Spencer also shine as Oscar's girlfriend and mother respectively. They are always there for Oscar even when he screws up and makes brash decisions. The scenes with them following Oscar's passing are some of the most tragic and well-acted ever put on film. The strength of Spencer's performance was no surprise because of how great she was in her Academy Award-winning turn in The Help, but Diaz came out of nowhere (for me at least) with an absolutely brilliant performance. She has all the making of a superstar given the amount of authentic emotion she put into this role. I really hope that Jordan, Diaz and Spencer get the nominations they deserve come Oscar time. Fruitvale Station is a triumphant film that brings the story of Oscar Grant to the big screen with a lot of poignancy, grace and emotion. This is undoubtedly one of the finest films of 2013 thus far that demands to be seen by cinephiles and casual moviegoers alike.
4.5/5 Stars
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Movie Review: 2 Guns
It's about time someone in Hollywood put Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington in a movie together. These two acting veterans first on-screen pairing is the driving force behind why 2 Guns is so much damn fun.
2 Guns centers around an undercover DEA agent (Washington) and Naval special forces agent (Wahlberg) who are told by their respective superiors to steal $3 million of Mexican drug cartel money from a sleepy small-town bank so they can prosecute a drug lord (Edward James Olmos) for money laundering. The robbery goes off without a hitch, but the men soon get more than they bargained for when they come out with $43 million, causing a bevy of people to come after and attempt to kill them. The two men are forced to work together to find out who's money they stole and who set them up for the robbery.
2 Guns consistently serves up laughs and thrills throughout its entire runtime. I could probably watch Wahlberg and Washington on-screen together forever. Both of them feed off each other so well exchanging one-liners with deadplan delivery and all the jarring between creates a very believable friendship in the process. This is easily one of the most well-matched pair of leads in recent memory and there is never a dull moment when these two are on-screen together (which they thankfully are for about 95% of the film's duration) The twist-heavy story is admittedly ridiculous, but it's coherent and self-aware never really taking itself seriously at all. The objective of this film is to take you for a ride, leaving all realism and logic at the door and it succeeds in it's mission. Adding to the whirlwind of fun is a pair of great, cartoony villains played by Edward James Olmos and Bill Paxton, both of whom make rare big screen appearances for this film. Olmos is appropriately seedy as Mexican drug kingpin Pappy Greco and Paxton is hilarious as a mysterious man who comes looking for the fortune that the pair of cops unknowingly stole from him. An over-the-top movie needs over-the-top villains and Olmos and Paxton deliver the goods effortlessly. This film also benefits from not being too crazy on the action. The action sequences (save for the huge final showdown in Mexico)are quick and well-spaced leaving the audience time to breathe and for the storyline to unfold. In other words, the action is frequent enough for this to be classified as an action movie, but not enough for it to become overwhelming. 2 Guns is a wildly entertaining throwback to the buddy movies of old and kicks off the last month of the summer movie season with a big bang.
4/5 Stars
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Concert Review: Summer Slaughter-- Worcester, MA-- August 3rd, 2013
The Summer Slaughter Tour rolled through The Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts yesterday and once again proved why it's consistently the best touring festival package in the United States.
The day started with local opener Pathogenic. They were pretty much just your standard local death metal/core that is just kind of there with making too much of a positive or negative impression. I will give them props for having a couple of good solos/riffs and the vocalist had a good low scream, but the weak low screams and abundance of meaningless breakdowns prevented them from being great. There are definitely a lot worse bands out in there in the Massachusetts metal scene, but Pathogenic really wasn't anything too special.
The Summer Slaughter tour package started after that with Australian deathcore act Thy Art is Murder. On record they are pretty decent, but they come across a lot better live. Their vocalist knows how to work a crowd and has some pretty beastly low screams. Musically, there is a lot of breakdowns, but they are mostly well-timed and effective and their use of atmospheric guitar solos is pretty damn cool and gives them a leg up on most of their peers in the deathcore genre. This was their first ever tour of the United States and you could tell they were stoked to be being playing here and based on the reception they got, you can tell the crowd was too. Thy Art is Murder is a deathcore act I can get behind and set the tone for the rest of the day.
Rings of Saturn was on next. They were the only band on the bill that I was not a fan of and their set did nothing to change my mind. A majority of their music is just them jerking off on their instruments with complete emphasis on technicality and no regard for songwriting. I love technical music, but Rings of Saturn is just too damn much with little substance to go with their technical proficiency. I will admit that the tracks off their new record Dingir had some cool progressive riffing before descending back to their familiar bag of wank tricks. If they expanded up the progressive elements and focused more on actual songwriting to balance out their technical prowess, they could actually produce something worthwhile. I also had a good time dicking around in the pit during "Seized and Devoured" doing stupid-ass dance moves to make fun of the few hXc dancers that were occupying the floor at that time. Rings of Saturn were slightly better than I expected, but they still weren't very enjoyable.
Aeon was on next. Like Thy Art is Murder, this was their first US tour and they put on a pretty damn good performance. They are just a really heavy band with a lot of solid grooves, short, speedy guitar solos and an immense stage presence. In my eyes, they are kind of like Sweden's answer to Dying Fetus. What was surprising given their heavily anti-religious lyrics, was how amusing they were on stage. The vocalist kept cracking jokes in-between songs (I didn't see it but apparently the vocalist kept jerking off the microphone during "Aeons Black" when he wasn't screaming, which is pretty hilarious) and was just having an all-around good time the whole set. Worcester was the first show of the tour to get "Nothing Left to Destroy" in the set which was nice. They did get a little repetitive at times, but for the most part Aeon was good and brutal death metal.
The 1st band I was incredibly excited to see, Revocation, was up next. I just saw Revocation a few weeks ago at their music video shoot in Allston, but I was stoked to see them again and this is ended up being the finest set I've ever seen them play. The Great Scott show was awesome, but their was a slew of technical problems that brought down the experience a bit. Thankfully this go-round there was no such issues and the band slayed through their criminally-short 25-minute set with no setbacks. The band was spot-on and their energy exuded was even higher than usual. Every song they played yesterday was played at the music video shoot, but that didn't bring down my enjoyment of the set in the slightest. "Invidious" is already becoming one of my favorite Revocation songs (I was so happy they played the banjo part!) and the staples like "Dismantle the Dictator" and "No Funeral" are always badass live. Adding to the intensity and preciseness of the set, was the crowd reaction. The crowd lost their fucking minds with giant circle pits and frequent crowdsurfing the entire time they played. Revocation brought down the house and made their hometown fans proud with an incendiary performance. For me at least, Revocation was the standout performance in a day full of standout performances.
The Ocean was up next. I was really excited to see them since I only saw half of their set at NEMHF 2011 and I've become a pretty big of theirs over the past year and a half or so. Thankfully, they did not disappoint and put on one of the strongest performances of the day. The set was heavy on material from their new record Pelagial, which made me happy since it's one of my favorite records of the year so far. Vocalist Loic Rosetti sounded far sharper than the first time I saw them with his wide vocal range on full display and really delivering the emotion on each track. I also have to commend them on their energy level. You don't see a lot of progressive bands going crazy on-stage, but The Ocean brings it with constant movement, windmills and even Loic stage diving a couple times. Their brand of progressive/sludge metal served as a nice change of pace for the day and I was surprised how well they went over considering how radically different they are from the most of the acts on the bill. Though their set was longer than earlier on the tour, I really need to them headline eventually to get the full effect of their live show. Apparently they are playing Pelgial in it's entirety next year on a headlining tour, which would be completely amazing to see. The Ocean's performance showed exactly why they are amongst the heavy hitters in progressive metal.
Cattle Decapitation hit the stage next and were the only band on the bill that disappointed me. It's ironic because the only band that let me down at last year's Summer Slaughter was Job for a Cowboy, who played in pretty much the same spot, is signed to same label and had the same problem as Cattle did: sound mix. The mix was 100% Travis Ryan while the instruments sounded like a jumbled mess. The brief intervals where you could hear the guitar, the tone was absolute shit. In addition to the sound mix, the setlist was kind of dull with all but one song being from their new record Monolith of Inhumanity. I know it was a short set, but the lack of material from The Harvest Floor and Karma, Bloody, Karma made me kind of sad. I will give Ryan props because he is a great frontman and was his typical bizarro self vocally and with his mannerisms on-stage (when he isn't screaming, he's spitting in the air getting saliva all over himself) which single-handily salvaged their set and made it somewhat enjoyable. Cattle Decapitation was substantially better the 1st time I saw them and gave easily the weakest performance from a band on the tour package not named Rings of Saturn.
After the letdown of Cattle Decapitation, Unearth got the ball rolling again. This was the only date of the tour they were playing because Norma Jean was playing Soulfest in Gilford, New Hampshire. This was such a sweet trade-off for me because I'm not a fan of Norma Jean in the slightest and Unearth is one of my favorite bands. In typical Unearth fashion, they flat-out eviscerated the stage for 40 minutes. This marked my fifth time seeing them and it still felt like the first. They are just one of those bands that I can never get sick of seeing because their shows are just so much fun and their music hits so hard live. Like Revocation, the hometown crowd was eating up their entire set and returning every ounce of energy that the band was giving off. The setlist was loaded with their staples, but "This Glorious Nightmare" was a nice surprise and I was glad to finally hear that live since it's one of my favorite Unearth songs. They announced near the end of their set that their new record will be out in January or February of next year and they will be starting the touring cycle with a headlining tour, which is outstanding news. Unearth is the epitome of consistency as a live band and I can't wait to hear some new material from them next year.
Periphery followed the madness of Unearth pretty damn well. They have become one of my favorite bands over the past couple years and they always kill it live. Spencer Sotelo is a great frontman who is always spot-on vocally and puts 110% into the performance. They got a longer set than they did on last year's Summer Slaughter, which was badass. The longer set allowed then to play some tracks like "Scarlet", "Luck as a Constant" and "Have a Blast" which I hadn't heard previously live. Hearing all of the Periphery II songs live was sick since they only played a few last year since the record just came out and it's my favorite record of theirs to-date. Older tracks "Icarus Lives!" works incredibly well as an opener and lit the room on-fire right out of the gate and "Ragnarok" is a fittingly grand set closer (Bulb walking into the crowd for a bit during it was a nice touch as well, although the poor guy almost ate shit on the stairs right in front of me because people were mauling him.) Periphery have put on great shows on back-to-back Summer Slaughter's and I hope they do a headlining tour in the near future so I can finally see a full-length set from them.
Animals as Leaders was up next. As always, Animals as Leaders impressed mightily with their musical abilities. Tosin Abasi is just a sight to behold on guitar and seeing him from right behind the rail was even more impressive than the past couple times I've seen them from further away. The surprise of the set was how much of a beast their new drummer Matt Gartska is. He was good at the Meshuggah show earlier this year, but this time he was insane adding crazy fills to a number of songs that were not on the studio versions. As with the last time I saw them, the crowd was surprisingly pretty damn violent. It still surprises me how active the pits/crowd surfers (two moron surfers that had no clue what they were doing drilled me directly in the top of the head back-to-back during "Earth Departure".) are for a band that is primarily progressive with only a few heavy parts per song. They easily had the biggest reaction of the day for a band that wasn't from Massachusetts and it was clear a lot of people were there for them more than headliner Dillinger Escape Plan. Animals as Leaders is a super talented act that deserves the huge following they have gained over the past few years.
The Dillinger Escape Plan closed out the day with their typical brand of organized chaos. Dillinger gave the tightest performance I've ever seen from them, which made their standard shenanigans that much more exciting and enjoyable. The set was heavy on material from their new record One of Us is The Killer, which was awesome because it's their most diverse record to-date and made the set tempo changes even more frequent than normal. The slower stuff like "Nothing's Funny" and especially "One of Us is the Killer" was beautiful, while "Prancer and "When I Lost My Bet" were appropriately punishing and "Crossburner" mixed the two sides of Dillinger flawlessly in what might have been the best song of the whole set. Of course, it wouldn't be Dillinger without wild shit going on throughout the set. Being fresh off a broken wrist didn't stop guitarist Ben Weinman from diving into the crowd numerous times and playing the last half of "Room Full of Eyes" while being held up by about 15-20 people in the crowd. The highlight of the night though was the always crazy vocalist Greg Puicatio jumping off the 20-25 foot high VIP balcony during set closer "Sunshine the Werewolf". In the five times I've seen Dillinger they have done a lot of crazy things, but this took the cake easily. Even though a decent number of people left after Animals as Leaders, the remaining crowd was raucous and eating up every minute of Dillinger's breezy hour-long set (I seriously can't even believe they played for an hour, it felt like a half-hour tops.) Dillinger Escape Plan is just a trip live and will always be the most intense live band in the game that I will continue to see whenever I get the chance. Summer Slaughter was once again an amazing experience and is undoubtedly the best show I've been to in 2013.
Scores:
Pathogenic 6/10
Thy Art is Murder 8/10
Rings of Saturn 4/10
Aeon 8/10
Revocation 9.5/10
The Ocean 9/10
Cattle Decapitation 7/10
Unearth 9/10
Periphery 8.5/10
Animals as Leaders 8.5/10
The Dillinger Escape Plan 9.5/10
Setlists:
Thy Art is Murder:
Shadow of Eternal Sin
Defective Breed
The Purest Strain of Hate
Whore to a Chainsaw
Reign of Darkness
Aeon:
Still They Pray
Living Sin
Aeons Black
Forever Nailed
Kill Them All
Nothing Left to Destroy
Forgiveness Denied
Revocation:
The Hive
Teratogenesis
Invidious
Dismantle the Dictator
No Funeral
The Ocean:
The City in the Sea
Bathyalpelagic I: Impasses
Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams
Abyssopelagic I: Boundless Vasts
Hadopelagic II: Let Them Believe
Cattle Decapitation:
A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat
Lifestalker
Testicular Manslaughter
Forced Gender Reassignment
Your Disposal
Kingdom of Tyrants
Unearth:
Watch It Burn
The Great Dividers
This Lying World
Arise the War Cry
Endless
Giles
Black Hearts Now Reign
This Glorious Nightmare
My Will Be Done
Periphery:
Icarus Lives!
Facepalm Mute
Make Total Destroy
Scarlet
Zyglrox
Luck as a Constant
Have a Blast
Ragnarok
Animals as Leaders:
Tempting Time
Wave of Babies
Earth Departure
Cylindrical Sea
Do Not Go Gently
Weightless
CAFO
The Dillinger Escape Plan:
Prancer
Farewell, Mona Lisa
Milk Lizard
43% Burnt
Panasonic Youth
Room Full of Eyes
Hero of the Soviet Union
Nothing's Funny
One of Us is the Killer
Crossburner
Dead as History
When I Lost My Bet
Sunshine the Werewolf
The day started with local opener Pathogenic. They were pretty much just your standard local death metal/core that is just kind of there with making too much of a positive or negative impression. I will give them props for having a couple of good solos/riffs and the vocalist had a good low scream, but the weak low screams and abundance of meaningless breakdowns prevented them from being great. There are definitely a lot worse bands out in there in the Massachusetts metal scene, but Pathogenic really wasn't anything too special.
The Summer Slaughter tour package started after that with Australian deathcore act Thy Art is Murder. On record they are pretty decent, but they come across a lot better live. Their vocalist knows how to work a crowd and has some pretty beastly low screams. Musically, there is a lot of breakdowns, but they are mostly well-timed and effective and their use of atmospheric guitar solos is pretty damn cool and gives them a leg up on most of their peers in the deathcore genre. This was their first ever tour of the United States and you could tell they were stoked to be being playing here and based on the reception they got, you can tell the crowd was too. Thy Art is Murder is a deathcore act I can get behind and set the tone for the rest of the day.
Rings of Saturn was on next. They were the only band on the bill that I was not a fan of and their set did nothing to change my mind. A majority of their music is just them jerking off on their instruments with complete emphasis on technicality and no regard for songwriting. I love technical music, but Rings of Saturn is just too damn much with little substance to go with their technical proficiency. I will admit that the tracks off their new record Dingir had some cool progressive riffing before descending back to their familiar bag of wank tricks. If they expanded up the progressive elements and focused more on actual songwriting to balance out their technical prowess, they could actually produce something worthwhile. I also had a good time dicking around in the pit during "Seized and Devoured" doing stupid-ass dance moves to make fun of the few hXc dancers that were occupying the floor at that time. Rings of Saturn were slightly better than I expected, but they still weren't very enjoyable.
Aeon was on next. Like Thy Art is Murder, this was their first US tour and they put on a pretty damn good performance. They are just a really heavy band with a lot of solid grooves, short, speedy guitar solos and an immense stage presence. In my eyes, they are kind of like Sweden's answer to Dying Fetus. What was surprising given their heavily anti-religious lyrics, was how amusing they were on stage. The vocalist kept cracking jokes in-between songs (I didn't see it but apparently the vocalist kept jerking off the microphone during "Aeons Black" when he wasn't screaming, which is pretty hilarious) and was just having an all-around good time the whole set. Worcester was the first show of the tour to get "Nothing Left to Destroy" in the set which was nice. They did get a little repetitive at times, but for the most part Aeon was good and brutal death metal.
The 1st band I was incredibly excited to see, Revocation, was up next. I just saw Revocation a few weeks ago at their music video shoot in Allston, but I was stoked to see them again and this is ended up being the finest set I've ever seen them play. The Great Scott show was awesome, but their was a slew of technical problems that brought down the experience a bit. Thankfully this go-round there was no such issues and the band slayed through their criminally-short 25-minute set with no setbacks. The band was spot-on and their energy exuded was even higher than usual. Every song they played yesterday was played at the music video shoot, but that didn't bring down my enjoyment of the set in the slightest. "Invidious" is already becoming one of my favorite Revocation songs (I was so happy they played the banjo part!) and the staples like "Dismantle the Dictator" and "No Funeral" are always badass live. Adding to the intensity and preciseness of the set, was the crowd reaction. The crowd lost their fucking minds with giant circle pits and frequent crowdsurfing the entire time they played. Revocation brought down the house and made their hometown fans proud with an incendiary performance. For me at least, Revocation was the standout performance in a day full of standout performances.
The Ocean was up next. I was really excited to see them since I only saw half of their set at NEMHF 2011 and I've become a pretty big of theirs over the past year and a half or so. Thankfully, they did not disappoint and put on one of the strongest performances of the day. The set was heavy on material from their new record Pelagial, which made me happy since it's one of my favorite records of the year so far. Vocalist Loic Rosetti sounded far sharper than the first time I saw them with his wide vocal range on full display and really delivering the emotion on each track. I also have to commend them on their energy level. You don't see a lot of progressive bands going crazy on-stage, but The Ocean brings it with constant movement, windmills and even Loic stage diving a couple times. Their brand of progressive/sludge metal served as a nice change of pace for the day and I was surprised how well they went over considering how radically different they are from the most of the acts on the bill. Though their set was longer than earlier on the tour, I really need to them headline eventually to get the full effect of their live show. Apparently they are playing Pelgial in it's entirety next year on a headlining tour, which would be completely amazing to see. The Ocean's performance showed exactly why they are amongst the heavy hitters in progressive metal.
Cattle Decapitation hit the stage next and were the only band on the bill that disappointed me. It's ironic because the only band that let me down at last year's Summer Slaughter was Job for a Cowboy, who played in pretty much the same spot, is signed to same label and had the same problem as Cattle did: sound mix. The mix was 100% Travis Ryan while the instruments sounded like a jumbled mess. The brief intervals where you could hear the guitar, the tone was absolute shit. In addition to the sound mix, the setlist was kind of dull with all but one song being from their new record Monolith of Inhumanity. I know it was a short set, but the lack of material from The Harvest Floor and Karma, Bloody, Karma made me kind of sad. I will give Ryan props because he is a great frontman and was his typical bizarro self vocally and with his mannerisms on-stage (when he isn't screaming, he's spitting in the air getting saliva all over himself) which single-handily salvaged their set and made it somewhat enjoyable. Cattle Decapitation was substantially better the 1st time I saw them and gave easily the weakest performance from a band on the tour package not named Rings of Saturn.
After the letdown of Cattle Decapitation, Unearth got the ball rolling again. This was the only date of the tour they were playing because Norma Jean was playing Soulfest in Gilford, New Hampshire. This was such a sweet trade-off for me because I'm not a fan of Norma Jean in the slightest and Unearth is one of my favorite bands. In typical Unearth fashion, they flat-out eviscerated the stage for 40 minutes. This marked my fifth time seeing them and it still felt like the first. They are just one of those bands that I can never get sick of seeing because their shows are just so much fun and their music hits so hard live. Like Revocation, the hometown crowd was eating up their entire set and returning every ounce of energy that the band was giving off. The setlist was loaded with their staples, but "This Glorious Nightmare" was a nice surprise and I was glad to finally hear that live since it's one of my favorite Unearth songs. They announced near the end of their set that their new record will be out in January or February of next year and they will be starting the touring cycle with a headlining tour, which is outstanding news. Unearth is the epitome of consistency as a live band and I can't wait to hear some new material from them next year.
Periphery followed the madness of Unearth pretty damn well. They have become one of my favorite bands over the past couple years and they always kill it live. Spencer Sotelo is a great frontman who is always spot-on vocally and puts 110% into the performance. They got a longer set than they did on last year's Summer Slaughter, which was badass. The longer set allowed then to play some tracks like "Scarlet", "Luck as a Constant" and "Have a Blast" which I hadn't heard previously live. Hearing all of the Periphery II songs live was sick since they only played a few last year since the record just came out and it's my favorite record of theirs to-date. Older tracks "Icarus Lives!" works incredibly well as an opener and lit the room on-fire right out of the gate and "Ragnarok" is a fittingly grand set closer (Bulb walking into the crowd for a bit during it was a nice touch as well, although the poor guy almost ate shit on the stairs right in front of me because people were mauling him.) Periphery have put on great shows on back-to-back Summer Slaughter's and I hope they do a headlining tour in the near future so I can finally see a full-length set from them.
Animals as Leaders was up next. As always, Animals as Leaders impressed mightily with their musical abilities. Tosin Abasi is just a sight to behold on guitar and seeing him from right behind the rail was even more impressive than the past couple times I've seen them from further away. The surprise of the set was how much of a beast their new drummer Matt Gartska is. He was good at the Meshuggah show earlier this year, but this time he was insane adding crazy fills to a number of songs that were not on the studio versions. As with the last time I saw them, the crowd was surprisingly pretty damn violent. It still surprises me how active the pits/crowd surfers (two moron surfers that had no clue what they were doing drilled me directly in the top of the head back-to-back during "Earth Departure".) are for a band that is primarily progressive with only a few heavy parts per song. They easily had the biggest reaction of the day for a band that wasn't from Massachusetts and it was clear a lot of people were there for them more than headliner Dillinger Escape Plan. Animals as Leaders is a super talented act that deserves the huge following they have gained over the past few years.
The Dillinger Escape Plan closed out the day with their typical brand of organized chaos. Dillinger gave the tightest performance I've ever seen from them, which made their standard shenanigans that much more exciting and enjoyable. The set was heavy on material from their new record One of Us is The Killer, which was awesome because it's their most diverse record to-date and made the set tempo changes even more frequent than normal. The slower stuff like "Nothing's Funny" and especially "One of Us is the Killer" was beautiful, while "Prancer and "When I Lost My Bet" were appropriately punishing and "Crossburner" mixed the two sides of Dillinger flawlessly in what might have been the best song of the whole set. Of course, it wouldn't be Dillinger without wild shit going on throughout the set. Being fresh off a broken wrist didn't stop guitarist Ben Weinman from diving into the crowd numerous times and playing the last half of "Room Full of Eyes" while being held up by about 15-20 people in the crowd. The highlight of the night though was the always crazy vocalist Greg Puicatio jumping off the 20-25 foot high VIP balcony during set closer "Sunshine the Werewolf". In the five times I've seen Dillinger they have done a lot of crazy things, but this took the cake easily. Even though a decent number of people left after Animals as Leaders, the remaining crowd was raucous and eating up every minute of Dillinger's breezy hour-long set (I seriously can't even believe they played for an hour, it felt like a half-hour tops.) Dillinger Escape Plan is just a trip live and will always be the most intense live band in the game that I will continue to see whenever I get the chance. Summer Slaughter was once again an amazing experience and is undoubtedly the best show I've been to in 2013.
Scores:
Pathogenic 6/10
Thy Art is Murder 8/10
Rings of Saturn 4/10
Aeon 8/10
Revocation 9.5/10
The Ocean 9/10
Cattle Decapitation 7/10
Unearth 9/10
Periphery 8.5/10
Animals as Leaders 8.5/10
The Dillinger Escape Plan 9.5/10
Setlists:
Thy Art is Murder:
Shadow of Eternal Sin
Defective Breed
The Purest Strain of Hate
Whore to a Chainsaw
Reign of Darkness
Aeon:
Still They Pray
Living Sin
Aeons Black
Forever Nailed
Kill Them All
Nothing Left to Destroy
Forgiveness Denied
Revocation:
The Hive
Teratogenesis
Invidious
Dismantle the Dictator
No Funeral
The Ocean:
The City in the Sea
Bathyalpelagic I: Impasses
Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams
Abyssopelagic I: Boundless Vasts
Hadopelagic II: Let Them Believe
Cattle Decapitation:
A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat
Lifestalker
Testicular Manslaughter
Forced Gender Reassignment
Your Disposal
Kingdom of Tyrants
Unearth:
Watch It Burn
The Great Dividers
This Lying World
Arise the War Cry
Endless
Giles
Black Hearts Now Reign
This Glorious Nightmare
My Will Be Done
Periphery:
Icarus Lives!
Facepalm Mute
Make Total Destroy
Scarlet
Zyglrox
Luck as a Constant
Have a Blast
Ragnarok
Animals as Leaders:
Tempting Time
Wave of Babies
Earth Departure
Cylindrical Sea
Do Not Go Gently
Weightless
CAFO
The Dillinger Escape Plan:
Prancer
Farewell, Mona Lisa
Milk Lizard
43% Burnt
Panasonic Youth
Room Full of Eyes
Hero of the Soviet Union
Nothing's Funny
One of Us is the Killer
Crossburner
Dead as History
When I Lost My Bet
Sunshine the Werewolf
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