Ruda's Ramblings: SUPERBOWL Preview

Super Bowl 51 is upon us, and the very team that dominated the offseason headlines with "Deflategate" has returned to the NFL's grandest stage to face the Atlanta Falcons for the Lombardi Trophy this Sunday.

In a season which saw New England go without their MVP for the first four regular season games due to suspension (going 3-1 during that span)Brady returned with a chip on his shoulder, leading the Patriots to their 9th Super Bowl appearance. Brady also has the opportunity to become the first NFL quarterback in history to win 5 Super Bowls. With Brady at the helm the Patriots offense is always dangerous, he makes the players around him better. Year after year no name players become household names within the Pats offense, this year is no different, ripping through the AFC with ease, they basically went untested. With that being said, not fast New England, don't start planning the parade just yet.

For the first time since 1998, the Atlanta Falcons have returned to the Super Bowl. Long gone are the days of the dirty bird, the Falcons this year took the NFC by storm bolstering a high powered offense which put up the 7th most points in NFL history. The Falcons finished the season totaling 71 points more than the next closest team. Led by Matt Ryan, who is sure to take home NFL MVP, this game can get out of hand real quick for New England if their defense isn't up to the task. The Falcons were not just explosive, they were also efficient. They scored a touchdown or field goal on 54.1 percent of their drives, the highest rate of any team since 2002. Only 5.7 percent of their drives ended in turnovers.

 

 So on to.... PREDICTION TIME! The Atlanta Falcons offense will prove to be too much for the Patriots, and Atlanta's defense will do just enough to preserve a victory. The Patriots secondary is small. Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu tower over Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, and Devin McCourty. The Falcons possess too many weapons on offense to key in on just Julio Jones, so Belichick has the undaunting task of keeping Atlanta's supporting cast of receivers(Taylor Gabriel, Austin Hooper) and backs(Devonta Freeman, Tevin Coleman)at bay while keeping the scoreboard within striking distance, a task they will fall short in. New England will put up points, but the Falcons will end up distancing themselves come the 4th quarter. Too Much for a mediocre defense to handle. Atlanta 38 New England 27 , Matt Ryan both NFL and Super Bowl MVP

Michael Ruda will be offering his insights, analysts and knowledge on the world of sports, WWE, and more as part of "Ruda's Ramblings". Also look out and subscribe to his podcast  WHAT'S THE RUCKUS

Ruda's Ramblings: Garden of Disarray

Sports franchises go through periods of times where they need to rid the roster, start over, rebuild from the ground up. For the New York Knicks, this has been going on for the better part of 15 years now. A franchise that was once a force in the NBA's eastern conference in the 90's, has become an afterthought, and a joke to most basketball fans. With the exception of the 2012-2013 campaign the Knicks have been a mess. A mess that has been created by an owner , a tyrant, for that manner, who is absolutely clueless in James Dolan. He had the right idea hiring Donnie Walsh, who had the vision moving in the right direction, but Walsh resigned, a move made which i firmly believe was a direct result of pressure from above to acquire Carmelo Anthony.

Cue the next big move, hiring Phil Jackson, the Zen-master, arguably the greatest coach in NBA history to head basketball operations. He'll fix this mess right? Well in his tenure here the Knicks have yet to be even competitive. Drafting arguably our best rookie since Patrick Ewing in Kristaps Porzingis, and a slew of offseason moves that landed us Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose, Courtney Lee, and Brandon Jennings , hasn't lived up to on paper expectations. In fact what we see on a nightly basis is a team that can score, but lack the discipline defensively that is needed to hold down the opposing team in the closing minutes of a game. They also sorely lack veteran leadership. That's where our supposed superstar comes in to play. Sorry knick fans Carmelo isn't that guy. He proves time and time again he hasn't matured enough to lead a franchise. He's a guy that would be a robin to a batman. A Scottie Pippen to a Michael Jordan. A player that compliments a superstars skill set.

For the Knicks to be competitive again the time has come to TRADE CARMELO ANTHONY. The time has come for a full youth movement, led by Porzingis. The kid has superstar written all over him. His game mirrors that of Hakeem Olajuwon, and Dirk Nowitzki rolled in to one. Trading Carmelo doesn't have to net us an A-1 guy in return either. Build through the draft. Hijack a team desperate for that championship piece like the Celtics did a few years back for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett when they dealt them to Brooklyn. And it doesn't have to be right this second. Wait for the right deal. Carmelo is going to be difficult to deal because his contract envokes a 15% salary increase once dealt rocketing his salary from 24 mill per to about 29 mill per, but there is a team out there that will be willing to take that on. Look at the way Lebron constantly whines to his franchise that he needs "playmakers".

I have no hatred for Carmelo. This ship has sailed. Its time to bring back meaningful basketball to the mecca again. Its time for Phil Jackson to realize that the triangle offense hasn't been successful since the early 2000s. Its time for the New York Knicks to get back to that gritty defensive style of ball that made us the bullies of the east in the 90s. No matter what team came in to the building the Garden was a place opposing teams HATED to play. Lets build that again, the time has come.

Michael Ruda will be offering his insights, analysts and knowledge on the world of sports, WWE, and more as part of "Ruda's Ramblings". Also look out and subscribe to his podcast  WHAT'S THE RUCKUS