A lot was made of the call the Monday Night Football last week between the Seahawks and Packers that awarded the Seahawks the game winning touchdown. One can easily argue that the Packers deserved that game, but I would beg to differ. An entire game cannot be decided on a single play. If it could, we might as well start football games in the last two minutes. There are several plays over the course of the entire game that decide its outcome. If the Packers really did deserve to win that game, they would not have left themselves vulnerable to replacement referees and last second hail maries. Instead, they would have made plays earlier in the game. Remember, the Packers offensive line was destroyed by that Seahawks and managed to sack Aaron Rodgers eight times in the first half. The Packers might easily have kept Rodgers upright and maybe he would have had a chance to tear apart the Seahawks secondary. Keep in mind, Aaron Rodgers is the reigning MVP, he can tear a defense apart and has done it with consistency. If the Packers really did deserve to win that game, they would have finished off the Seahawks. On a side note, the Seahawks did catch a break and did not play particularly well themselves.
So much for the vaunted passing attacks we saw last season. The five best quarterbacks in the league (who are in my opinion Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger) are a combined 7-11. Who saw that coming? Last season now appears to be a bit of a fluke in the trend that defense wins championships. The Texans, Falcons, and Cardinals, while they have had a good amount of offense, have all played pretty well on defense. These teams are also undefeated this season. This just goes on to prove that defense does win championships, not offense.
A lot has been made of the AL MVP race, but in my opinion the reward should go to Mike Trout. This holds even if Miguel Cabrera wins the triple crown. Miguel Cabrera might be a great offensive player and winning a triple crown is nothing to scoff at (even if those three statistics are not the three most significant statistics, it has not been done in a long time). For his success at the plate, Cabrera should win a sliver slugger award, an award given to good hitters. However, baseball is not all about hitting; there are many more aspects that go into a good game and a good player. The MVP award is for the best player in the league, not the best hitter in the league. This can be observed in that last year, Justin Verlander, a pitcher, won the MVP. If that award was legitimate, then more than just hitting numbers should be accounted for. Trout and Cabrera's offensive statistics are comparable, but in all other aspects of the game, Trout is much better. Trout has played a gold glover center field, while Cabrera is an ordinary third baseman. Sure, Cabrera is out of position, but keep in mind Cabrera has had to change positions for the majority of his career because he has not been particularly amazing at any one position. Trout is also an excellent baserunner, which should also not get overlooked. Because Trout is the best, or among the best, in the league at all of these phases of the game, he should win the AL MVP and not Miguel Cabrera.
So much for the vaunted passing attacks we saw last season. The five best quarterbacks in the league (who are in my opinion Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger) are a combined 7-11. Who saw that coming? Last season now appears to be a bit of a fluke in the trend that defense wins championships. The Texans, Falcons, and Cardinals, while they have had a good amount of offense, have all played pretty well on defense. These teams are also undefeated this season. This just goes on to prove that defense does win championships, not offense.
A lot has been made of the AL MVP race, but in my opinion the reward should go to Mike Trout. This holds even if Miguel Cabrera wins the triple crown. Miguel Cabrera might be a great offensive player and winning a triple crown is nothing to scoff at (even if those three statistics are not the three most significant statistics, it has not been done in a long time). For his success at the plate, Cabrera should win a sliver slugger award, an award given to good hitters. However, baseball is not all about hitting; there are many more aspects that go into a good game and a good player. The MVP award is for the best player in the league, not the best hitter in the league. This can be observed in that last year, Justin Verlander, a pitcher, won the MVP. If that award was legitimate, then more than just hitting numbers should be accounted for. Trout and Cabrera's offensive statistics are comparable, but in all other aspects of the game, Trout is much better. Trout has played a gold glover center field, while Cabrera is an ordinary third baseman. Sure, Cabrera is out of position, but keep in mind Cabrera has had to change positions for the majority of his career because he has not been particularly amazing at any one position. Trout is also an excellent baserunner, which should also not get overlooked. Because Trout is the best, or among the best, in the league at all of these phases of the game, he should win the AL MVP and not Miguel Cabrera.
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