B's Stories of the Week #4

There is so much happening this week in the world of sports, from the gridiron to the pitch and from college football to the NFL. Last weekend saw the Michigan Wolverines and the Washington Huskies win games to put themselves in the College Football National Championship game. We witnessed the Lions see some adversity and the Baltimore Ravens prove they are the best team in the league yet again. These stories and more are what we get into this week in B's Stories of the Week.

1. Baltimore Ravens - The Ravens are looking like one of the best football teams I have ever watched. Systematically they are firing on all cylinders, regardless of talent and players. I find it interesting that the names on offense with the exception of Lamar Jackson aren't making a whole lot of noise. The Ravens do not have a receiver in the top thirty-two for receiving yards on the season and are not top twenty in passing yards on the season. Despite that, the Ravens still find themselves with quite the balanced offense, getting most of their yards through the ground but finding ways to bury teams in the air. They finish the season against Pittsburgh in a game their division rival needs to win but will sit many of their starters for the coming week in preparation for the playoffs.

2. Washington Huskies - Out of fourteen games, the Huskies have won four games by more than ten. Eight of those games were decided by one possession. The common denominator in all of those games though, is the fact that the Huskies won all of those games. Against Texas they held up defensively despite a last minute surge from the Longhorns and bombarded Texas all game with an air assault. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had four-hundred-thirty passing yards and two touchdowns, making him one of the most sought after quarterbacks in the draft. This Washington team proved they belong and they will look to cap an amazing season Monday night in the National Championship against Michigan. (More to come, stay tuned.)

3. Manchester City - Here come City. Manchester City had lost five of their previous six Premier League games prior to playing a red hot Everton squad. Everton had lost in in their prior six matches and found themselves at the mercy of Manchester City for much of the match. Manchester City had nine shots on target with seventy-percent possession and a nintety-percent passing accuracy. We will see next week if Manchester City is the dangerous City team they have been for so long as they travel to St. James Park to play Newcastle. Kevin De Bruyne, their best player by far is coming back in the coming weeks along with arguably the best striker in the world in Erling Haaland. Despite this, City is on the move to be in position to make a run for back to back trebles. which is surely a conversation for later though. (One we will have, soccer column on the way I promise.)

4. Detroit Lions - The Lions have gone from a team who was hopeless to a team hosting a playoff game. The Lions had won five games in thirty-one games before coach Dan Campbell led the Lions to a twenty-three game stretch in which the lions have lost just six games. The Lions currently hold the three seed in the NFC although some say it should be the second seed. I'm not going to get into that although I think the controversy at the end of last week's Lions game because speculating on hypotheticals won't do any of us any good. I will say I believe that the ending of that game will fuel a fire that will see them going into the postseason with their guns blazing. They play Minnesota this coming week in a game that could be meaningful and will see a lot of Detroit's stars play heavy minutes.

5. Michigan - The Wolverines got unfortunate time and time again against Alabama in this year's Rose Bowl. They also got quite unlucky last year against TCU in the semifinal where they lost. This year Michigan found a way to beat Alabama by holding the Tide to just over one-hundred passing yards. Michigan had five sacks in the first half but struggled to do much offensively until the last drive of regulation. In that last drive, JJ McCarthy was clinical and his receivers played a big part of it. Roman Wilson caught a ball that surely looked like it would be intercepted to put the Wolverines in a position to win the game in overtime. On Monday we will have a Michigan team who's identity is run the damn ball and defense versus a bend don't break defense with a potent offense in Washington. I will dive deeper into the matchup over the weekend so be on the lookout.