{"id":81556,"date":"2018-09-11T15:34:48","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T15:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"\/rcntv\/?p=81556"},"modified":"2023-04-14T15:14:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T15:14:41","slug":"sunday-thursday-surprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sunday-thursday-surprises\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday (and Thursday) Surprises"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>The views expressed in this blog are<\/em> <em>those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The first week of the <a title=\"NFL\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NFL<\/a> season never ceases to surprise.\u00a0 I have always felt (and am, obviously, not alone) that pre-season games \u201cwins and losses\u201d mean absolutely nothing.\u00a0 As you can see when you get to the results of \u201cGary\u2019s Guesses\u201d that it is very difficult to get a true handle on a team until they play a real game.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some things I (and maybe you) just did not know going into the regular season:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That the <a title=\"Philadelphia Eagles\" href=\"https:\/\/www.philadelphiaeagles.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eagles<\/a> defense could be even better this year than last year.<\/li>\n<li>That Nick Foles always seems to look like a back-up quarterback.<\/li>\n<li>That the <a title=\"New Orleans Saints\" href=\"https:\/\/www.neworleanssaints.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Saints<\/a> offense may not be able to overcome the weakness of their defense.<\/li>\n<li>That QB Ryan Fitzpatrick of the <a title=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers\" href=\"https:\/\/www.buccaneers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bucs<\/a> could still look amazing (417 yards passing and 4 TD\u2019s). AND he rushed for a TD.\u00a0 What do the Bucs do now with Jameis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Winston when he comes back from suspension?\u00a0 The Eagles will help answer that question this week.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why the <a title=\"Kansas City Chiefs\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chiefs.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chiefs<\/a> traded Alex Smith to <a title=\"Washington Redskins\" href=\"https:\/\/www.redskins.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Washington<\/a> \u2013 because Patrick Mahomes looks like he really fits as the Chiefs new starting QB.<\/li>\n<li>That the <a title=\"Pittsburgh Steelers\" href=\"https:\/\/www.steelers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Steelers<\/a> running game could look the same WITHOUT Le\u2019Veon Bell. James Conner had a Le\u2019Veon game (192 total yards), despite not having anywhere close to what will be a Le\u2019Veon contract.<\/li>\n<li>That the <a title=\"Buffalo Bills\" href=\"https:\/\/www.buffalobills.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bills<\/a> are AWFUL (sorry, I guess you knew that already).<\/li>\n<li>That Ryan Tannehill of the <a title=\"Miami Dolphins\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamidolphins.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dolphins <\/a>would miss two years of football and look like he hadn\u2019t missed two weeks.<\/li>\n<li>That the <a title=\"Cleveland Browns\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clevelandbrowns.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Browns<\/a> might win a game this year.<\/li>\n<li>That the <a title=\"New York Giants\" href=\"https:\/\/www.giants.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Giants<\/a> offensive line would be so bad (when everyone was talking about Saquon Barkley and Odell Beckham Jr., they should have been talking about the O-line).<\/li>\n<li>That <a title=\"Denver Broncos\" href=\"https:\/\/www.denverbroncos.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Denver<\/a> might be good again.<\/li>\n<li>That<a title=\"Dallas Cowboys\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dallascowboys.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Dallas<\/a> can\u2019t score more than 20 points (at least they haven\u2019t done it in the last four games), including Sunday when they piled up eight!<\/li>\n<li>That Alex Smith would play better in a Redskins uniform than in a Chiefs uniform.<\/li>\n<li>That the dispute over which QB is better (Brady or Rodgers?) still goes on.<\/li>\n<li>That the <a title=\"Minnesota Vikings\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vikings.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vikings<\/a> might have the total package to win it all.\u00a0 That, by now, you would be sick of me telling you what you might not have known.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>I now find myself having to watch the Giants games because of Saquon Barkley. He did not disappoint yesterday when he ran for a 68-yard touchdown.\u00a0 It was an electrifying run, just like in high school at <a title=\"Whitehall High School\" href=\"https:\/\/zephyrathletics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Whitehall<\/a> and in college at <a title=\"Penn State Football\" href=\"http:\/\/https:\/\/gopsusports.com\/index.aspx?path=football\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Penn State<\/a>.\u00a0 He rushed for over 100 yards and, for a while, looked like that run might catapult the Giants to a win.\u00a0 It did not.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>Which baseball team is better \u2013 the <a title=\"Boston Red Sox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/redsox\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Red Sox <\/a>(98-46) or the <a title=\"Houston Astros\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/astros\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Astros<\/a> (89-54)? It\u2019s the <a title=\"Chicago Cubs\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/cubs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cubs<\/a> (83-59) in the National League, for sure.\u00a0 <a title=\"Baltimore Orioles\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/orioles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Baltimore<\/a> (41-102) is certainly the worst.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>Remember when the <a title=\"Philadelphia Phillies\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/phillies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Phillies<\/a> were 15 games over .500 on August 5?\u00a0 They are 10-20 since \u2013 they have lost seven series in a row, nine of the last 10.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>It\u2019s bad enough not to have won a football game this year, even though the season is still very young, but not to have scored a touchdown? That\u2019s the predicament the<a title=\"Lafayette College Football\" href=\"http:\/\/https:\/\/goleopards.com\/index.aspx?path=football\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Lafayette Leopards<\/a> are facing.\u00a0 They\u2019ll get a chance to change that this Saturday at 6:00pm against the <a title=\"Monmouth University Football\" href=\"https:\/\/monmouthhawks.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Monmouth Hawks<\/a>.\u00a0 The game is LIVE on RCN-TV.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li>RCN-TV will present two interesting high school match-ups this Friday night. Live at 7:00pm, Mike Joseph, John Bowman and I will call the <a title=\"Bethlehem Catholic\" href=\"https:\/\/becahi.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bethlehem Catholic<\/a>&#8211;<strong><a title=\"Parkland High School\" href=\"https:\/\/phs.parklandsd.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Parkland<\/a><\/strong> game.\u00a0 Chris Michael and John Leone will have the <a title=\"Easton High School\" href=\"https:\/\/eahs.eastonsd.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Easton<\/a> at <a title=\"Liberty High School\" href=\"https:\/\/basdwpweb.beth.k12.pa.us\/liberty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liberty<\/a> game at 9:30pm.\u00a0 As always, you\u2019re invited.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Gary\u2019s Guesses: NFL Picks (Last week: 9-6-1)\u00a0 (Overall: 9-6-1\u00a0 60% )<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Week TWO<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>CINCINNATI<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>ATLANTA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MINNESOTA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>CHARGERS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>HOUSTON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>PITTSBURGH<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>JETS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>PHILADELPHIA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>NEW ORLEANS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>RAMS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SAN FRANCISCO<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>NEW ENGLAND<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DENVER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DALLAS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>CHICAGO<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. The first week of the NFL season never ceases to surprise.\u00a0 I have always felt (and am, obviously, not alone) that pre-season games \u201cwins&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sunday (and Thursday) Surprises - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sunday (and Thursday) Surprises - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 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