2015 NFL Preview: AFC South

Houston Texans

2014 Record: 9-7

Head Coach: Bill O'Brien (2nd year)

Notable Additions: QB Brian Hoyer, DT Vince Wilfork, S Rahim Moore

Notable Departures: WR Andre Johnson, OLB Brooks Reed, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
Offense:

The big story in Houston this offseason was their decision to re-sign Ryan Mallet and bring in Brian Hoyer to compete for the starting quarterback job.Whoever wins the job is going to have to prove they can be a starting quarterback in the league. Hoyer proved to be a solid game manager last season in Cleveland and Mallet has excellent arm strength, but Hoyer's inability to make throws downfield and frequent turnovers and Mallet's issues with accuracy and throwing mechanics make them both risky propositions.  While neither of these guys are great options, the Texans can take solace in the fact that either of these guys should be able to put similar numbers as their 2014 starter Ryan Fitzpatrick. Personally, the more intriguing position battles on this team is for the job of number 2 receiver and running back now that Arian Foster is all but confirmed to be out for at least the first 6 weeks of the season after sustaining a severe groin injury in training camp last week. Veteran free agent pickups Nate Washington and Cecil Shorts seems to be the frontrunners for the number 2 reciever based on their track records of putting up solid numbers with less-than-stellar quarterbacks, but the freakishly athletic rookie Jaelen Strong could pull off the upset if he can solidify his route-running and keep his number of dropped passes to a minimum. Top wide out DeAndre Hopkins proved  he's something special last season and if another one of these guys can break out, the Texans should have a pretty scary aerial attack. As for running back, second-year back Alfred Blue appears to be the frontrunner to take over the starting job in Foster's absence. Blue did a decent job filling in for Foster last season and his two-way abilities give him the edge over the rest of the field despite his mediocre 3.1 YPC average in 2014. However, Blue's job is far from secure. Jonathan Grimes has reportedly been impressive in training camp and newly-acquired Chris Polk is a big, physical runner who showed flashes of greatness during his time with the Eagles. While the Texans offense is buried with question marks, O'Brien is one of the most impressive offensive minds in the league and should be able to get the maximum amount of production out of this unit.

Defense:

With a once-in-a-generation talent in defensive end J.J. Watt suiting up for them every week, the Texans defense will always be imposing. That being said, this defense has made clear improvements at just about every level heading into 2015. The below-average safety play that played a large role in their 21st-ranked pass defense a year ago has been rectified with the addition of elite coverage safety Rahim Moore, solid veteran Stevie Brown and promising rookie Kurtis Drummond. The rebuilt safety corps paired with the re-signing of top corner Kareem Jackson should prevent this unit from finishing in the bottom of the league for a second year in a row. The Texans defensive line also received a boost this offseason with the addition of nose tackle Vince Wilfork. Wilfork's best days on the field are well behind him, but he should be a great influence on second-year nose tackle Louis Nix III-who struggled mightily throughout his rookie campaign last year- and help out a bit in stopping the run. About the only serious concern on this defense is the health of Jadeveon Clowney. After a terrible rookie year in which he only registered 7 tackles and 0 sacks  in 5 games, Clowney under microfracture surgery on his knee last December. Microfracture surgery is notoriously difficult to come back from-especially for a pass-rusher who relies on explosiveness and speed, so it's entirely possible that Clowney will never regain the rare burst that made him the number 1 pick a year ago. The Texans defense was one of the best in the league in 2014 and it would be a huge surprise if they weren't in that elite camp again in 2015.

Bottom Line:

The Texans are a solid team who should be able to at least match their record from a year ago, but their lack of a solid quarterback and offensive weapons will keep them from contending in the AFC.

Indianapolis Colts

2014 Record: 11-5

Head Coach: Chuck Pagano (4th year)

Notable Additions: RB Frank Gore, WR Andre Johnson, OLB Trent Cole

Notable Departures: WR Reggie Wayne, DE Corey Redding, WR Hakeem Nicks

Offense:

After two impressive seasons as a starter, Andrew Luck finally became the unstoppable franchise quarterback he was touted to be in 2014. Luck put together a ridiculous 4,761 yard, 40 TD season and led the Colts to their first AFC Championship game since 2009. Luck has the potential to be even better in 2015. Luck's completion percentage and QBR has gone up each year he's in the league and the Colts receiving corps already loaded receiving corps got even better with the offseason additions of rookie deep threat Phillip Dorsett and surehanded veteran Andre Johnson. If he can cut down his turnovers and finally put an end to his woes against the Patriots, this could be the year that Luck guides the Colts back to the Super Bowl. The Colts could also potentially have their first legitimate running back since Joesph Addai in Frank Gore. Gore may be 32 years old, but he's managed to stay healthy (he hasn't missed a game since 2010) and has proven to be one of the more consistent backs in the league, rushing for 1,000+ yards in 8 of the last 9 seasons. The Colts pass-heavy offense should help Gore stay fresh and the fact that he's in a division full of mostly weak rush defenses of the AFC South- a nice reprieve from the powerhouse NFC West defenses he faced 6 times a year with the 49ers-could very well lead to Gore's best season in ages. The Colts are an offensive powerhouse that could very well being the best in the league if everything materializes as planned.   

Defense:

For as good as the Colts are on offense, their defense leaves a lot to be desired. While there are definitely much weaker defenses out there, this defense can not be relied to protect a lead and can easily get dumped on when facing an elite offense (just look at what the Steelers and Patriots did to them last year.) They added a couple of nice veteran pieces in edge-rusher Trent Cole and defensive end Kendall Langford this offseason, but neither of them are going to significant enough of an impact to make this unit notably better than they were in 2014. Most importantly, they did next to nothing to address the leaky rush defense that has gotten them bounced from the playoffs 2 years in a row or the pitiful secondary they have put around shutdown corner Vontae Davis and quality strong safety Mike Adams. The Colts did used their both of their 3rd-round picks on defenders (corner D'Joun Smith and defensive end Henry Anderson), but they're both incredibly raw prospects who are going to need time to develop before they make a sizable impact on the field. The play of the Colts defense is ultimately going to be deciding the factor of whether or not they become title contenders or suffer another agonizing loss to the Patriots in January.  

Bottom Line:
With a mostly returning starting lineup and favorable schedule, there's no reason to believe that the Colts won't win the AFC South and contend for a Super Bowl appearance in 2015.

Jacksonville Jaguars

2014 Record: 3-13

Head Coach: Gus Bradley (3rd year)

Notable Additions: TE Julius Thomas, DT Jared Odrick, CB Davon House

Notable Departures: WR Cecil Shorts III, CB Alan Ball, RB Jordan Todman
Offense:
 Quarterback Blake Bortles had a rough start to his NFL career in 2014. Only 2 quarterbacks had more turnovers than him (Jay Cutler and Andy Dalton) and he graded out as the worst starting quarterback in the league according to Pro Football Focus. Despite his slew of struggles, Bortles also showed flashes of serious promise along the way. The Jaguars reaffirmed their belief that Bortles is their franchise quarterback by going out and picking up potential difference makers this offseason in tight end Julius Thomas and rookie T.J. Yeldon. Thomas may have overachieved in Denver with Peyton Manning throwing him the ball and be a complete liability as a run-blocker, but he's a top-flight receiving tight end who is damn near impossible to cover in the redzone and Yeldon has the potential to be a legitimate all-purpose, everydown back in the league. Thomas and Yeldon alongside their promising young wide receivers Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns and Marqise Lee gives the Jaguars one of the more intriguing offenses to watch in 2015. The Jaguars also went out and improved the porous offensive line (they allowed a league-high 70 sacks last season) that played a huge role in Bortles' poor performance a year ago. Tackle Jeremy Parnell did reasonably well in his 8 starts for the Cowboys last season and should at the very least act as a stabilizing presence on the right side of the line, center Stefan Wisnewski is a solid offensive line anchor with a ton of starting experience, and rookie guard A.J. Cann is an excellent run-blocker who should get a chance to start immediately. How well this offensive line plays is going to play a huge part of whether or not Bortles can regain his confidence and live up to his hype as a 1st-round draft pick. As for Bortles himself, he's apparently spent the offseason diligently  working on the mechanics and timing issues that plagued his rookie season. Time will tell if the changes stick, but if Bortles can build on the positives he showed last season, he'll morph into a solid NFL starter. 

Defense:

Gus Bradley has slowly been turning this defense around in his first 2 years with the team and this year he appears to be closer than ever to making this defense legitimately formidable. Free-agent pickup Jared Odrick and rookie Michael Bennett should help sure up a rush defense that got trounced for a majority of  last season while Davon House gives this up-and-down secondary a reliably productive slot corner who can be counted on week in and week out. The new talent gives the Jagaurs some nice pieces to put alongside their pair of under-the-radar centerpieces in defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks and outside linebacker Telvin Smith, who who was arguably the best rookie linebacker outside of Khalil Mack last year. The Jaguars still have sizable question marks at linebacker- especially with their projected starting outside linebacker and 2015 first-round pick Dante Fowler Jr. out for the season after suffering an ACL in OTA's- and both safety spots, but they appear set to be a vastly improved defense in 2015.

Bottom Line:
The Jaguars are continuing to make steps in the right direction, but they still don't have enough proven talent on either side of the ball to get out of the NFL's basement. 

 Tennessee Titans

2014 Record: 2-14
Head Coach: Ken Wisenhunt (2nd year)

Notable Additions: OLB Brian Orakpo, S Da'Norris Searcy, WR Harry Douglas

Notable Departures: QB Jake Locker (retired), OLB Kamerion Wimbley (retired), WR Nate Washington

Offense:

The Titans decided to roll the dice on another young quarterback by drafting Oregon product Marcus Mariota with the 2nd overall pick this past April.On paper, Mariota seems like a slam dunk pick. His college stats (66.8 COMP %, 10,796 YDS, 105 TD, 14 INT in his 3 years as a starter ) are excellent and he won the Heisman Trophy and led Oregon to an appearance in the BCS title game in 2014. However, Mariota is about as risky as a quarterback prospect can get. He ran a spread offense in college, which means he never took snaps from under center or called his own plays and goes into a full-blown panic when he faces pressure or his first read isn't open, which is a very bad sign considering how terrible the Titans offensive line is. Making matters worse for Mariota is that he doesn't have a strong run game to lean on like he did during his time at Oregon. Bishop Sankey failed to be the everydown phenom back he was billed to be when prior to his 2014 rookie campaign and while rookie David Cobb has some upside, there's nothing about his game that really standouts. The early training camps reviews from his teammates and national reporters seem to indicate that Mariota is adjusting to the NFL seamlessly, but that hype doesn't mean anything until he's able to show he can handle the speed and complexity of the game in the regular season. Mariota does have the luxury of having an excellent quarterback developer in Wisenhunt as his head coach and a promising group of receivers led by Kendall Wright, newly-acquired slot receiver ace Harry Douglas and rookie Dorial Green-Beckham-who was an absolute steal at the top of the 2nd round, but he has to overcome some lofty obstacles if he wants to succeed at the professional level. 

Defense:

For some inexplicable reason, the Titans paid very little attention to improving a defense that was 27th in the league in yards allowed, tied for 29th in points against and 29th in takeaways in 2014. They only used 2 of their 8 draft picks (the first of which was in the 4th round) on defensive players and their biggest free-agent pickup was outside linebacker Brian Orakpo, who spends more time on the injured reserve than he does on the field. This team was completely helpless against the run last season (31st in the league) and I don't expect that to change this year. None of their linebackers are more than adequate run defenders and their defensive line is loaded with pass-rush first guys (Jurrell Casey, Karl Klug, Sammie Lee Hill, Mike Martin) who are wildly inconsistent at stopping the run. Their secondary isn't quite as bad and the addition of underrated safety Da'Norris Searcy and cornerback Perish Cox in free agency makes them better than there were a year ago. That being said, this unit doesn't scare anyone and they would very fortunate to finish in the top half of the league against the pass. The Titans may have added renowned defensive coach Dick LeBeau to their staff this offseason, but it will take an abundance of coaching wizardry to prevent this unit from being one of the worst in the league.

Bottom Line:
Armed with a rookie quarterback and arguably the most talent-barren roster in the NFL, the Titans will need a series of monumental miracles if they want to be competitive in 2015.

Projected Standings
1.Indianapolis Colts (12-4)
2.Houston Texans (9-7)
3.Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11)
4.Tennessee Titans (3-13)

Concert Review: Incubus/Deftones-- Mansfield, MA-- August 7th, 2015

Incubus and Deftones have reunited for their first tour together in 15 years and they brought the widely-anticipated tour to the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts last night. The rock/metal juggernauts lived up to their widely-respected names by delivering a fantastic evening of music on a beautiful late-summer evening. 

The Bots opened the show a little before 6:15 to an almost-empty venue. While they had a remarkable amount of talent for a such a young band (their guitarist/vocalist Mikah is 21 and their drummer is Anaiah is 17), their combination of bluesy garage punk and indie rock was too disjointed to be effective. While their music didn't really do much for me, you can't help but feel bad for them. Landing a tour with a pair of popular veteran bands is a huge opportunity for an up-and-coming band, but given that they're playing so early, they're more than likely playing to largely empty venues every night. The Bots are really skilled musicians and I really hope they can land another big tour with a more ideal time slot in the future.

Death from Above 1979 started shortly after the Bots wrapped up. I've heard the name tossed around a bunch over the years and I vaguely remember their song, "Little Girl", from the Tony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack, but I'd never really bothered to check them out at length. Death from Above 1979 ended up making a solid impression on me with their noisy and wildly pissed-off 35-minute set. Almost every song had a great collection of riffs and frontman/drummer Sebstian Greinger has the type of gritty voice that's perfectly suited for punk. Making their set even more impressive was the fact they're only a duo with a bass guitar and drums. I previously didn't think that it was possible for two men without the presence of a traditional guitar to produce so much noise, especially on the Xfinity Center's huge stage. It takes an unbelievable amount of skill to create chaotic, riff-driven music with only two people, so kudos to them for making it look effortless. Once again, the almost non-existent crowd's indifference towards the music took away from the quality of the set. In my immediate area, just about everyone was either playing on their phones or leaving to grab beer and food during their set and the conclusion of every song was met with very light applause from the 500-600 people that were actually paying attention to their performance. Death from Above 1979 made a new fan in me last night and I would love to see them in a setting where people actually give a shit about their music

As I expected, the venue filled in nicely as soon as Deftones went on around 7:45. Deftones was the only band on the bill I'd seen before and like every prior time I've seen, their performance was absolutely immense. Their use of atmosphere and ambient sections to compliment the heavy elements in their songs is tremendous and while not as sharp as he was the previous three times I'd seen them, Chino Moreno is an incredible vocalist that shines especially bright in a live setting. The setlist primarily focused on material from their 2010 comeback album Diamond Eyes and their widely-praised 2000 effort White Pony, which was awesome since those are my two favorite albums in their catalog. Songs like "Knife Prty", "You've Seen the Butcher", "Diamond Eyes" and "Passenger" were the highlights of the nine combined songs they played from those two landmark records and proved to be the finest moments of a set that was full of prime cuts from six of their seven studio albums. Deftones are always a blast live and I'm eagerly awaiting the release of their new record in the fall.

Incubus came on about 20 minutes later to close out the evening. I was a huge fan of their early material, but given the poor quality of their recent output (namely their 2011 album If Not Now, When?), I had absolutely no idea how their live show would be. Suffice to say, I was very pleasantly surprised when Incubus came out and played a stunning 90-minute set. Leading the charge behind this outstanding show was a phenomenal vocal performance from frontman Brandon Boyd. The 39-year old was able to hit every note with ease and exceeded his performance on the studio versions of all 18 tracks they performed. The quality of Boyd's vocals even made songs like "Love Hurts" and "Here in My Room" -whose studio versions I find to be insufferable- enjoyable. Other people should find out Boyd's vocal regimen and duplicate it if they hope to keep their vocals in similarly pristine condition as they grow older. Aside from Boyd's vocals, the biggest surprise of their was set was how fantastic the material from their newly-released EP, Trust Fall (Side A), sounded live. While the studio versions of "Absolution Calling" and "Trust Fall" are just decent, their huge-sounding hooks and guitars allowed to reach new heights live. While Trust Fall (Side A) still has its fair share of flaws, it's a definite step in the right direction for them following the unholy musical disaster that was If Not, When?. Given how fantastic "Absolution Calling" and "Trust Fall" sound live, I have faith that they could possibly have another great album in them. While the setlist definitely had its downsides (lack of material from Make Yourself, poor song choices from A Crow Left of the Murder), they still played a solid number of great cuts from their first four albums. It was especially awesome to see "Vitamin" off their 1997 masterpiece S.C.I.E.N.C.E.. Given the fact that their more mellow, alternative rock sound was responsible for making them breakout, it's great to see them acknowledge their funk/nu-metal roots, even if its just for a single song. Incubus defied any possible expectations I had for them and put on by far one of the finest shows I've seen in 2015 to-date.

Scores:
The Bots 5/10
Death From Above 1979 7.5/10
Deftones 8.5/10
Incubus 9/10

Setlists:
The Bots included:
Ethiopia 
 
Deftones:
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
My Own Summer (Shove It)
Diamond Eyes
Rocket Skates
You've Seen the Butcher
Sextape
Feiticiera 
Digital Bath
Knife Prty
When Girls Telephone Boys
Tempest
Swerve City
Passenger
Change (In the House of Flies)
Headup
Bored
Engine No. 9

Incubus:
Wish You Were Here
Anna Molly
Circles
Absolution Calling
Are You In?
Vitamin
Trust Fall
In the Company of Wolves
Nice to Know You
Here in My Room
Sick Sad Little World
Pardon Me
Love Hurts
Megalomaniac
Dig
Drive
A Crow Left of the Murder

5 Highly Ranked Players to Avoid in Fantasy Football

Any seasoned fantasy football players knows that bad high-draft picks can sink your team. The regularity of top-end picks falling short of expectations has only grown higher thanks to the increased media hype, frequency of major injuries and teams constantly changing their offensive philosophies. Here are my picks for the most likely bust candidate at each of the 5 major positions headed into the 2015 fantasy season. 

Quarterback: Peyton Manning (Broncos) (Average Draft Position: Yahoo!: 35.5 NFL.Com: 35.3 ESPN: 27.5)
This is a classic example of someone being ranked really high simply because of the prestige their name holds. Manning has probably the been most productive fantasy football quarterback of the past 15-20 years, but at the ripe old age of 39, he's no longer that guy. Manning was pretty mediocre down the stretch (4 TD's, 6 INT's, 81.9 QBR in the last 5 games in 2014) last season and no longer has the luxury of having an excellent offensive line after 4 of his 5 starters from a year ago left the team or suffered season-ending injuries in the offseason. Spending a 3rd-4th round pick on Manning when you can get guys like Tony Romo, Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Ryan-who are all in much better situations- 1-3 rounds later doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Running Back: C.J. Anderson (Broncos) (Average Draft Position: Yahoo!: 20.5 NFL.Com: 14.9 ESPN: 12.3)
There are a number of running backs being highly overvalued this season simply based on the old myth that running back is the most valuable position in fantasy football, but since Anderson is easily the highest rated of the bunch, he gets the nod for this dubious honor. When Manning's play started to slip down the stretch and an injury to Ronnie Hillman forced him into the starting lineup, Anderson ceased the opportunity and put up very solid numbers- including a pair of 160+ yard performances against the Dolphins and the Chiefs- in his 8 games as the Broncos starting running back. However, Anderson's numbers from a year ago are largely skewed. 6 of the 8 defenses Anderson faced in his starts ranked in the bottom half of the league against the run and he picked up nearly 40% of his yards for the season in the games against the Dolphins and Chiefs. Anderson also no longer has the luxury of having one of the best offensive lines to open up running lanes for him. The Broncos are down all but 1 starter from their 2014 unit after guard/tackle Orlando Franklin, center Will Montgomery and center/guard Manny Ramirez left in the offseason and left tackle Ryan Clady went down with a torn ACL in OTA's. Anderson may not end up being a total flop, but taking him with a prime draft pick in the late 1st-mid 2nd round is a serious stretch. 

Wide Receiver: Andre Johnson (Colts) (Average Draft Position: Yahoo!: 43.2, NFL.Com: 56.5, ESPN: 57.9)
Andre Johnson hit the jackpot after being released by the Texans when he signed with the pass-happy Colts. While Andrew Luck is by far the best quarterback the future Hall-of-Famer has ever played with, I don't see him having a career year in 2015. There's an insane of mouths to feed in the Colts passing game including T.Y. Hilton, Dwayne Allen, Donte Moncrief and 2015 1st-rounder Phillip Dorsett, and Johnson has a reputation for not being much of a redzone threat (he's never had a double digit touchdown season in his 11-year career and he hasn't scored more than 5 TD's in a season since 2010), which hurts his odds of being a high-end WR2. Johnson is more than likely going to have a productive year, I just don't believe he is going to put up numbers that make him worth an early round draft pick,

Tight End: Travis Kelce (Chiefs) (Average Draft Position: Yahoo!: 50.6 NFL.Com: 60.1 ESPN: 62.9)
Travis Kelce was the beneficiary of an inept Chiefs wide receiver group last season, picking up 862 yards and 5 TD's in his breakout 2014 campaign. Kelce would be extremely fortunate to repeat that success this year. Free-agent pickup Jeremy Maclin should take away a lot of Kelce's short-yardage opportunities and the Chiefs will probably have to rely on Kelce's excellent run blocking to drive their run-first offense after losing their only reliable offensive lineman (center Rodney Hudson) in free agency. Kelce is a huge flight risk for his average draft position, especially considering that tight ends not named Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham or Antonio Gates aren't usually huge fantasy difference makers  

Defense: Philadelphia Eagles (Average Draft Position: Yahoo!: 77.7 NFL.Com: 86.4 ESPN: 131.5)
The Eagles D were studs a year ago, picking up an insane amount of defensive/special teams touchdowns (11) and sacks (49), which catapulted them to a second place finish behind the Bills for the crown of most fantasy points for a defense. While the Eagles have a considerable amount of talent on defense and improved their horrid secondary with the acquisitions of Byron Maxwell, Walter Thurmond and Nolan Carroll in the offseason , I just don't see them having the same success from a fantasy standpoint. They might have a similar sack total as a year ago thanks to the continuity in their front seven, but it was the touchdown total that pushed them over the edge and the chances of them putting up that many TD's again is highly unlikely. Basically, if you want to draft a defense from a team with a bird-based nickname, wait a little bit longer and take the Cardinals or Ravens, who provide a better value and have more potential to flourish than the Eagles.

Concert Review: Slipknot-- Mansfield, MA-- August 4th, 2015

Aside from 70's and 80's legends Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Metallica, you'll be hard-pressed to find a metal band that is popular enough to headline a 20,000 capacity venue by themselves. Slipknot is one of the few contemporary bands that's capable of achieving that feat . The Iowa-bred group brought their "Summer's Last Stand" tour- which also features genre heavy-hitters Lamb of God, Bullet for My Valentine and Motionless in White- to the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts last night and the results were predictably chaotic and exhilarating.

By the time I got into the Xfinity Center, Motionless in White had already played. I really don't like their music, so I was hardly devastated that I missed their set. The second support act, Bullet for My Valentine, took the stage about 15 minutes after I arrived. I haven't actively listened to them in about five or six years and the last album I heard by them (2010's Fever) was pretty underwhelming. That being said, they're still a formidable live band. Frontman Matt Tuck still sounds sharp even after his numerous vocal surgeries and it's extremely fun watching their lead guitarist Michael Paget effortlessly rip through blistering solo after blistering solo. I probably won't start listening to their studio material again (especially since the material they played from their upcoming record Venom sounded pretty bland), but their live show was surprisingly enjoyable.

Direct support act Lamb of God started up about 20 minutes later. Just like the four prior times I'd seen them, they were absolutely killer. As a live act, they are the epitome of consistency, putting on high-energy, musically-tight performances every time they hit the stage. The setlist was pretty par for the course for them, as they played a number of longtime fan favorites such as "Now You've Got Something to Die For", "Laid to Rest" and "Redneck", and the two singles from their excellent new record VII: Sturm Und Drang. The lone surprise in their set was the presence of As the Palaces Burn closer "Vigil" as the first song of their encore. I'd been dying to hear them perform "Vigil" since the first time I saw them in April 2009 and it was well worth the wait as it was every bit as badass as I had hoped it would be. While Lamb of God was impressive, their live show stdoesn't translate very well to a huge stage. The deep, pummeling grooves are tailor-made for a club setting and a lot of their music's power gets lost in huge, seated amphitheaters. Despite the less-than-ideal setting, Lamb of God put on a great show as always. I have a feeling they're going to eviscerate everything in their path when they return to the club circuit on their next headliner this fall/winter.

After a half hour-or-so change over, the lights went down and Van Halen's "Runnin' With the Devil" played over the PA , signifying the start of Slipknot's set. The band opened with "XIX", the moody prelude to "Sacastrophe", which leads off their new album .5: The Gray Chapter . Once "XIX" transitioned into "Sarcastrophe, the curtain dropped and revealed their elaborate stage setup which featured a series of ramps, a ton of fire and a large backdrop featuring a giant Satan with glowing eyes. The entire venue proceeded to launch into a full-on frenzy that only grew stronger as the night went on. No many how times (this was my third) you see Slipknot, the spectacle they bring to the stage never ceases to impress. Their nine-member deep lineup give them a uniquely massive stage presence and they never fail to sound better and better the further along they get into the set.  While the entire band deserves praise for making Slipknot shows such an amazing experience, the catalyst for the high quality of their performance is vocalist Corey Taylor. Taylor constantly engages the audience and leads the heavy metal circus that is Slipknot with bravado and unrivaled intensity. However, Taylor's most impressive feat is how he's still able to sing and scream so well at age 41. While a lot of the guys he came up with (Marliyn Manson, David Draiman of Disturbed,) in the scene have seen their vocals greatly deteriorate from their heyday in the late 90's/early 2000's, Taylor sounds still just as good as he did during the band's early years. Slipknot also deserves a lot of props for crafting a damn near perfect setlist. They managed to work in a great balance of new material ("AOV", "Killpop", "Custer") and old favorites ("Spit it Out", "Duality", "People=Shit" without leaning too hard on either. Some people have complained that this setlist is too similar to the one they played on their co-headliner with Korn last November/December, but since I missed that tour, I had no serious qualms with it. Slipknot's music may be filled with over-the-top angst and their songwriting is often far from complex, but they are a truly special live act who is amongst the best bands I've ever seen perform.


Side Notes:
-Can Bullet for My Valentine please play another song from The Poison besides "Tears Don't Fall"? I swear to god once Fever came out they permanently retired every other song from that record from their live sets.
-Seeing a Lamb of God set that doesn't end with "Black Label" is very strange. 
-"Eyeless" being the only single from Slipknot's 1999 self-titled debut to not appear in their set was a serious bummer. For my money, it's the best track on that record.
-The infamous "Jump the Fuck Up" tradition Slipknot has during the buildup of the "Fuck me, I'm all out of enemies" section of "Spit it Out" is super corny, but it's still fun as hell and never fails to get crowd ridiculously hyped.
-This was without question the loudest of the 10+ shows I've seen at the Xfinity Center. 
-Most of the crowd appeared to be around my age (early-to-mid 20's), which is shockingly old for a Slipknot and Lamb of God concert. I guess the kids aren't really into Slipknot or Lamb of God anymore.

Scores:
Bullet for My Valentine 7.5/10
Lamb of God 8.5/10
Slipknot 9.5/10

Setlists:
Bullet for My Valentine:
No Way Out
Your Betrayal
Raising Hell
Scream, Aim, Fire
You Want a Battle? (Here's a War)
The Last Fight
Tears Don't Fall
Waking the Demon

Lamb of God:
Walk with Me in Hell
Now You've Got Something to Die For
Still Echoes
512
Ghost Walking
Ruin
Hourglass

Encore:
Vigil
Laid to Rest
Redneck

Slipknot:
XIX
Sarcastrophe
The Heretic Anthem
Psychosocial
The Devil in I
AOV
Vermillion
Wait and Bleed
Killpop
Before I Forget
Sulfur
Duality
Disasterpiece
Spit It Out
Custer

Encore:
(sic)
People=Shit
Surfacing

The Best and Worst of Charlize Theron

Films starring Charlize Theron that I've seen:
Mighty Joe Young
The Legend of Bagger Vance
The Italian Job 
Monster
Hancock
Young Adult
Snow White and the Huntsman
Prometheus
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Performance: Monster (2003)
This may seem like a lazy choice since Theron won an Oscar for this role, but her portrayal of Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who became the first female serial killer in the United States, is nothing short of mesmerizing. Theron tears up the screen with a fiery performance that portrays Wuornos as both a psychotic and tragically misunderstood person. The pivotal scene where Wuornos explains to her girlfriend (Christina Ricci) why she became a mass murderer shows the true depth and power of Theron's performance. Despite admitting to a heinous act, Theron makes the audience understand and respect her justification for killing people. It's a master class in how spectacular, raw acting can make you sympathize with even the most despicable characters. This performance made me develop an appreciation for Theron as an actress and as far as I'm concerned, there are few recent Oscar-winners that are as deserving as her.


Worst Performance: Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
2012's Snow White and the Huntsman was about as routine and mediocre as a blockbuster can be. About the only thing that's memorable about the film (outside of the outstanding visuals) is Theron's laughably awful performance as Snow White's stepmother Queen Ravena. Theron sticks to the stereotypical villain playbook giving a performance that's loaded with dramatic stares, evil laughs and exaggerated line readings galore. Her campy performance would've been perfect for an antagonist in a live-action Scooby-Doo or Inspector Gadget reboot, but in a stone-serious retelling of a beloved fairy tale, it's just embarrassing.

Best Film: The Italian Job (2003)
I will never understand why this film gets such a bad rap. In my eyes, The Italian Job is everything an action movie should be and more. The plot is simple and efficient, the acting ensemble anchored by Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton and Theron is perfect with equally strong heroes and villains, the tone is appropriately loose and best of all, the action sequences are fantastic (the final car-chase is one of the most exhilarating to ever be put on film). The Italian Job epitomizes a fun time at the movies and is one of the most underrated action films of all-time.

Worst Film: The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
A film that features Theron, Matt Damon and Will Smith in the leading roles and has Robert Redford sitting in the director's chair can't be too bad right? Wrong. Just thinking about The Legend of Bagger Vince brings back all the rage and disappointment that came over while I was this steaming turd of a movie. A film that boasts this much talent on both sides of the camera should not be this corny, dull and pointless. Unless you're an avid fan of  overly sentimental, melodramatic golf stories involving magical caddy's or seeing established, respected actors put on terrible southern accents for two hours, stay far, far away from The Legend of Bagger Vance.
 
Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week I'll take a look at the best and worst work of "Straight Outta Compton" star Paul Giamatti

Movie Review: Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation

Less than five minutes into Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation- the fifth installment of the long-running espionage franchise- IMF Agent and series hero Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is dangling off the side of a cargo plane in an effort to prevent Russian terrorists from dropping nerve gas on a heavily-populated city in Austria. This attention-grabbing opening sequence is merely an appetizer for the series of bonkers action setpieces Rogue Nation offers up during its 131-minute runtime. Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher) buys into the series over-the-top philosophy and stages a series of jaw-dropping sequences that rank amongst the franchise's most elaborate and well-choreographed stunts. Within the first or so alone, there's an exhilarating single-take underwater diving sequence, a fast-moving fist/gun fight in the rafters and backstage area of a Vienna opera house and a motorcycle/car chase so tense and chaotic that it makes anything in Mad Max: Fury Road look tame. It's amazing that it's been almost 20 years since this franchise debuted and Cruise and. co continue to up the ante with innovative stunts and outside-the-box action with each new installment.

When the action slows down and the story takes center stage in the last 45 minutes, Rogue Nation loses some serious momentum. Absolutely none of the proficiency McQuarrie shows as a director carries over to his script.  After going light on plot for the first half of the film, McQuarrie decides to try and pile on two hours worth of story and plot twists into a half-hour simply so there can some kind of dramatic stakes going into the climatic fight sequence. This baffling creative choice leads to a final act so convoluted and poorly-conceived that it caused me to leave the theater with a throbbing headache and a bad taste in my mouth. Rogue Nation deserves props for the intensity and bold scope of its action scenes, but the woefully inept writing squanders any chance it had of being a standout film in the genre.
3.5/5 Starts      

2015 NFL Preview: AFC North

Baltimore Ravens

2014 Record: 10-6

Head Coach: John Harbaugh (8th year)

Notable Additions: S Kendrick Lewis, CB Kyle Arrington, QB Matt Schaub

Notable Departures: DT/DE Haloti Ngata, WR Torrey Smith, OLB Pernell McPhee 

Offense:

The Ravens enjoyed their most successful offensive season in ages behind offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak last season. They finished in the top half of the league in points per game (8th), passing (13th), rushing (8th) and total yards (12th) and a number of players including quarterback Joe Flacco and Justin Forsett enjoyed career years in Kubiak's dynamic system. W

With Kubiak departing to become the new head coach of the Denver Broncos, the Ravens will be looking to recreate that success with new coordinator Marc Trestman. While Trestman's stint as the head coach of the Chicago Bears was nothing short of a disaster, he's enjoyed quite a bit of success as an offensive coordinator in the past. He's been the architect behind 2 league-best offenses (the 1995 49ers and 2002 Raiders) and has helped quarterbacks like Jake Plummer, Rich Gannon and Scott Mitchell achieve career-high numbers over his nearly 20 years as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in the NFL. Trestman will keep a lot of Kubiak's system-including the zone-blocking scheme that helped Forsett have a breakout season- in tact so as long as he improves upon the sketchy play-calling that doomed him last season in Chicago, this offense should be fine. 

As for the on-field personnel, this is pretty much the same the group of guys from a year ago. Both notable losses (wide receiver Torrey Smith and tight end Owen Daniels) were solid contributors, but neither of them are irreplaceable. The success of this offense is going to largely hinge on the performance of Forsett and rookie wide receiver Breshad Perriman. Forsett is coming off of a huge season in which he ran in for 1,266 yards (5th best in the league) and, but since he's only been a starting running back for 1 seasons, there's huge questions as to whether or not he's a legitimate top back or simply a 1-year wonder. Thankfully for Forsett, the elite offensive line that helped make his career year possible is returning all 5 starters from a year ago, which gives him pretty solid odds of repeating that success in 2015. Perriman, on the other hand, is a much shakier bet for success. Perriman has a huge ceiling due to the lack of competition at receiver (outside of the seemingly ageless Steve Smith Sr.) and he has the elite speed and big-play ability needed to take over the recently-departed Smith's deep threat role in this offense, but his problems with drops and inconsistent route-running make him the epitome of a boom-or-bust pick. While the Ravens certainly have question marks on their offense, the consistently solid play of Flacco and large amount of quality veteran starters gives them good odds of being productive this season.    

Defense:

The Ravens widely-feared front seven took a hit this offseason after outside linebacker Pernell McPhee went to the Bears in free agency and longtime defensive tackle/end Haloti Ngata was traded to the Lions after refusing to take a pay cut. McPhee was one of the catalysts behind the Ravens top-5 rush defense a year ago and was 2nd in the league behind only J.J Watt in quarterback hits while Ngata return to his dominant form after a shaky 2013. The Ravens have excellent depth across their defensive front and a pair of promising young players in Timmy Jernigan and Courtney Upshaw that are more than ready to step into the open starting roles, but no matter how strong you are at a given position, losing huge contributors in McPhee and Ngata stings. Even without McPhee and Ngata, this is still one of the most talented front seven's in the league. Terrell Suggs is still playing at an extremely high level in his early 30's, Elvis Dumervil is probably the best situational pass-rusher in the league, Inside linebacker C.J Mosley put together a phenomenal rookie campaign that has already cemented him as one of the best inside linebackers in the league and inside linebacker Daryl Smith and defensive tackle Brandon Williams are two of the most underrated players in the league are at their respective positions. They might not have the firepower and flash of the Bills and Seahawks fronts, but they certainly aren't far behind in talent. 

In typical Ravens fashion, Ozzie Newsome used the limited cap space they had available to improve a secondary that was 23rd in the league a year ago and who's deficiencies  played a huge role in their tragic AFC Divisional Round loss to the Patriots. Ex-Texans safety Kendrick Lewis gives them a quality starter with solid coverage skills to put alongside Will Hill and newest acquisition, ex-Patriot corner Kyle Arrington, gives them the competent slot corner they sorely lacked a year ago. While Lewis and Arrington should be instant starts who contribute right away, the most important asset to the Ravens this secondary in 2015 is Jimmy Smith, who was knocked out for the year after suffering a foot injury against the Bengals in Week 8. Smith was having an All-Pro/Pro Bowl caliber year (number 9 in completion percentage against, number 2 in yards per catch allowed) before his injury and the secondary suffered immensely the second he went down. The Ravens showed their belief in him by giving him a pretty hefty contract this offseason (4 years/$48 mil/$21 mil guaranteed) and as long as his foot injury doesn't further hamper him, Smith's presence alone should help bring this secondary back to life after an awful 2015.    

Bottom Line:

The Ravens are a gifted team with a lot of veteran continuity and promising young players. It would be a surprise if they weren't one of the best teams in the AFC this season.

Cincinnati Bengals

2014 Record: 10-5-1 

Head Coach: Marvin Lewis (13th year) 

Notable Additions: OLB A.J. Hawk, DE Michael Johnson, WR Denarius Moore

Notable Departures: TE Jermaine Gresham, CB Terrence Newman, T Marshall Newhouse

Offense:

Other than the return of redzone demon Marvin Jones-who missed all of 2014 with a foot injury- and the addition of respectable-but-oft-injured wideout Denarius Moore, this offense is practically a mirror image of the one they had a year ago. Hue Jackson's efficient offense will lean heavily on the two-headed rushing attack of  Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill, who led the league in rushing in the second half of the 2014 season to movie the chains and giving Andy Dalton a handful of opportunities on each drive to let his often ill-advised intermediate-to-deep passes rip. If the Bengals want to break their cycle of having good-but-not great offenses, Dalton is going to have to step his game up. Dalton is coming off a season with a career-low TD (19) and passing yards (3,398) total, which is a huge step back from the 4,293 yd/33 TD season he had in 2013. His gunslinger mentality keeps his INT total high (he hasn't thrown under 15 INT's in a season since his rookie year in 2011), but with Jones returning to the fold and a fully healthy A.J. Green at his disposal, he should be able to bounce back to numbers that rival his productive 2012 and 2013 seasons.

Defense:

2014 was a disastrous season for the Bengals defense. They finished dead last in the league in sacks, couldn't stop the run or pass with any regularity, 2 time All-Pro defensive tackle Geno Atkins grossly underperformed and outside linebacker Vontaze Burfict missed all but 5 games with an assortment of injuries. Unfortunately for the Bengals, there's no sign of things getting any better this year. Their lack of cap space prevented them from bringing in any big-ticket free agents (their biggest pickup was defensive end Michael Johnson, who has picked up a whopping 7.5 sacks over the past 2 seasons) and they made the mind-boggling decision to not draft a defensive player until the tail-end of the 3rd round (and that player, inside linebacker Paul Dawson, was not at a position of need). 

After a non-existent free agency period and subpar draft, the Bengals are left with a weak secondary (with the notable exception of rapidly-risingly safety George Iloka) containing players that are either too old to be effective (Leon Hall, Adam Jones) or haven't proven they can compete in the NFL (Darqueze Dennard, rookies Josh Shaw and Derron Smith) and a pass-rush that is non-existent outside of Carlos Dunlap. Making this less than desirable situation even worse is the recent revelation that Burfict underwent microfracture surgery last December, which is a kiss-of-death for a player like Burfict that relies on his explosiveness. Unless they get multiple breakout seasons from their bevy of young players, I don't expect this defense to be anything above average this season.

Bottom Line:
No major additions or losses all but assures that the Bengals will repeat that their fate of being a solid regular season team who sputters out once the playoffs roll around.

Cleveland Browns

2014 Record: 7-9

Head Coach: Mike Pettine (2nd year)

Notable Additions: QB Josh McCown, WR Dwayne Bowe, WR Brian Hartline

Notable Departures: TE Jordan Cameron, CB Buster Skrine, QB Brian Hoyer

Offense:

The 2015 offseason dealt blow after blow to the Browns already subpar offense. Star wideout Josh Gordon got suspended for the entire 2015 season after testing positive for marijuana for the umpteenth time, quarterback Johnny Manziel spent his offseason going to rehab and throwing water bottles at bystanders asking for autographs during a charity golf tournament and tight end Jordan Cameron ended up backing out of his deal to return to the Browns to join the Miami Dolphins. Because they're the Browns, they counteracted this turmoil by making a series of unspectacular moves that probably won't significantly help or hurt their team. 

Josh McCown replaces Brian Hoyer as the stopgap quarterback to start while Johnny Trainwreck tries to get his act together on and off-the-field. McCown is bound to improve on the ghastly 2014 season he had with the Buccaneers since the Browns have an offensive live that will allow him time to actually go through his progressions, but I'd be pretty shocked if he was able to do anything remotely special with this team. McCown's spectacular 2013 campaign with the Bears seems to be an anomaly in an otherwise mediocre career and I doubt Cleveland will be the place where he proves this theory wrong. To make up for the Gordon suspension, the Browns went out and signed veteran wideouts Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline. You could do much worse on the open market than these two, but the play of both Bowe and Hartline have steadily declined over the last few seasons and their odds of having a resurgence in the Dogpound appear to be very slim.

The incumbent players generate just about as much excitement as the newcomers. Second-year running back duo Terrence West and Isiah Crowell showed flashes of potential, but were both really subpar on the whole and Andrew Hawkins is the only returning receiver the Browns have that is even above average. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this unit struggled even more than they did a year ago, when they ranked 23rd in total offense.

Defense:

For the past several years, the Browns defense has kept them afloat amidst losing campaigns and that looks like that's going once again going to be the case in 2015. Even with the loss of number 2 corner Buster Skrine, the secondary should be as strong as ever with shutdown corner Joe Haden, emerging slot corner K'Wuan Williams and the highly underrated safety tandem of Donte Whitner and Tashaun Gibson returning. If second-year cornerback Justin Gilbert can right the ship after his atrocious 2015 campaign, the Browns could have the makings of a top 5 pass defense. 

Their strong draft class this year has the potential to make this defense one of the truly elite units in the league. They picked up a disruptive nose tackle in Danny Shelton, who could play a pivotal role in turning around a rush defense that ranked dead last in the league in 2014, a strong, instinctive pass-rusher in Nate Orchard and one of the draft's best pure run-stuffing defensive ends in Xavier Cooper. While there's still some deficiencies at inside linebacker, this draft class could very well patch up the problems that held back this defense last season. If the Browns want a shot at reversing their fortunes in 2015, their defense is going to need to be better than ever.

Bottom Line: 

Their half-decent 2014 campaign seems like a complete fluke. This is a generally incompetent team that lacks talents at most of the skill positions and that lack of talent should keep behind the pack in this very competitive division 

Pittsburgh Steelers

2014 Record: 11-5

Head Coach: Mike Tomlin (9th year) 

Notable Addition: RB DeAngelo Williams

Notable Departures: S Troy Polamalu (retired), OLB Jason Worldiis (retired), CB Ike Taylor (retired)
Offense:

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense exploded in 2014, ranking behind only the New Orleans Saints in total offense. In 2015, they could be even better. Ben Roethlisberger is firmly in his prime and the weapons around him are absolutely unreal. Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell are about as scary as a wide receiver/running back combo as there is in the league right now and at the tender ages of 27 and 23 respectively, it's very possible that we haven't even seen the best they have to offer yet. Brown and Bell may be two of the brightest young stars in the league but the guy that could push this offense over the edge is second-year wideout Martavis Bryant. Bryant played very well in the second half of last season and has reportedly been very impressive throughout OTA's and mini-camp. Bryant's size, deep-ball ability and nose for the endzone makes him an ideal candidate to breakout in this stellar offense. 

The only real issue for this offense is their lack of depth at running back. When Bell missed the wild card playoff game last year against the Ravens, the Steelers offense suffered. None of their backups could getting anything going, which forced them to become very one-dimensional in their play-calling and ultimately led to them losing the game. They did go out and sign a versatile veteran back in DeAngelo Williams in free agency, but he's been extremely inconsistent and injury-prone over the past few years while the incumbent backs Dri Archer and Josh Harris did next to nothing as rookies last year. Bell is suspended for the first 2 games of the year, so we'll get to see early on if any of these guys can step up and be a reliable option if Bell goes down.

Defense:

The changing of the guard that has been slowly occurring in Pittsburgh over the past few seasons was fast tracked this offseason. For the first time since 2001, the Steelers will not have safety Troy Polamalu, defensive end Brett Kiesel or cornerback Ike Taylor taking the field on opening day. Now that Polamalu, Kiesel and Taylor have all retired, inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons, cornerback William Gay and the somehow still-active James Harrison are the only remaining members of the defense that helped secure their Super Bowl wins in 2005 and 2008. Around these grizzled veterans, is an army of young players and-aside from defensive end Cameron Heyward- unproven bunch of guys. Inside linebacker Ryan Shazier, safety Shamarko Thomas, defensive end Stephon Tuitt and rookie outside linebacker Alvin "Bud" Dupree all have been in the league for 3 years or less and are all expected to be in the starting lineup this season. Despite all the potential these guys possess, Tuitt is the only one of the bunch who received extensive playing time a year ago, which is a bit of a red flag for a squad that has grown accustomed to continuity on defense.How well this new, young defensive nucleus play is going to ultimately hold the key of just how good this Steelers squad will be in 2015.  

Throwing a further wrench in the Steelers defense is the departure of  defensive coordinator Dick LaBeau after 11 seasons on the job. LaBeau was a fantastic coordinator who would get the most out of his guys, regardless of their ability, week in and week out. Linebackers coach Keith Butler, who coached under LaBeau for his entire tenure in Pittsburgh, was promoted to defensive coordinator. While I'm sure Butler is a great football mind who runs a similar system as LaBeau, filling the shoes of a brilliant coach like LaBeau is a tall order and it may be too much for him to surmount in his first year as an NFL defensive coordinator.

Bottom Line:

Their offense is as good as any football, but their largely unproven defense makes them too shaky to be a serious title contender.

Projected Standings
1.Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
2.Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7)
3.Cincinnati Bengals (9-7)
4.Cleveland Browns (5-11)