What a way to start the season... Pittsburgh Steelers NFL 2015 Season Opener

Hey Y'all it's your favorite SportsGal89 Innnnnnnn the Buildin'. Thanks for coming back or thanks for visiting for the first time. Do me a favor and please share, but also comment. Let me know what you like or don't like. Now if you re looking for my week by week recaps, check the Week 1 recap here. Every week I will post my predictions by Wednesday evening then come back by Tuesday to find my follow-up and to see how I did.

Today's post though is a selfish post, if you are new to my blog I am a Steelers fan. But I love sports so I comment on everything in general, if I can. I wanted to spend a little time talking about the season opener for the Steelers against the 2014 NFL Champions, the Patriots. Maybe it was the fact that I was in one of my favorite DC sporting venues only to be surrounded by the most arrogant Patriots Fans I have ever met. Maybe it was because I was coming off of having one of the worst viruses I have ever had. Or maybe it was because just maybe they weren't ready, but the outcome of that game was not what I was expecting.

Let's start with Deflategate and get that out of the way:
If anyone has been following, Tom Brady was accused of tampering with game balls during  the AFC East championship game. It became this scandal and eventually Tom was suspended 4 games by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Now regardless on where you fall in relation to the validity of the claims, the fact for me is that I think the ruling was excessive. I think there should obviously be some punishment, but not sure if it needed to be 4 games.With that said flash forward to the start of the season and Brady has a case with a court system that eventually overturns the suspension completely.

My take, playing the Patriots honestly wouldn't be fun if we weren't playing CryBrady, so as much as it pains me to see privilege win (we can talk about NFL punishments later), I wouldn't have anted us to start the season without playing him, although their backup QB is pretty hot!

The Game:
Against the Steelers, we are lacking in our offense having Le'Veon Bell suspended for 3 games and Martavis Bryant was suspended for 4. Our center Maurkice Pouncey is injured and so is our kicker Shaun Suisham. So a big part of our offense is already out and makes our first few weeks a little interesting. Additionally, our defense is young. This is the first season without the great Dick Lebeau and our Defense is young! The identity that has been known as #TheSteelCurtain is going to very much be a new generation of Steelers. We might not be known for our defense anymore which has been the foundation of our team. I mean think about it, every team knows get Brady on his back enough times and you can get into his head. but the fact that Gronk was left open as much as he was being a key player for the Patriots, it's unbelieveable to me that we would allow that to be the way our defense plays.

The Patriots had the momentum going for them first in the game. It took the Steelers a while to hit a rhythm and we couldn't convert. But what killed us was the new Kicker brought in this season from the Jags, Josh Scobee. Scobee had two attempts to put some points on the board for the Steelers and couldn't connect. One wild kick after another and had us with 0 on the board for two drives that could have ended in some additional points before the half. It wasn't until his third attempt that Scobee finally connected and we went into the half at least with 3 points on the board.

D'Angelo Williams cannot be our only offensive weapon. One you can't have him running up the middle EVERY SINGLE play and yes he has speed to squeeze through, but thinking about the long term impact, if you aren't changing it up it's going to be a defense's open shot every time. Antonio Brown definitely stepped up and in BIG during this game catching a few well placed balls, but I need to see some consistency, and I would like to know what the identity of our Defense will be.

A look ahead:
 Next game we are home against the 49ers who are coming off of a great win. I think I am most excited to see two former team mates Ryan Shazier and Carlos Hyde literally up against each other. And I have Hyde on both of my fantasy teams, so I do need him to do well, even though he's up against my boys.

That's all she wrote folks!

NFL 2015 Week 2: Predictions, Reality & More

Hello Hello! It's your FAVORITE SportsGal89 Innnnnnnnnnnn the Buildin'! I am back with hopefully another bright and exciting edition of my weekly predictions where I put my guesses as to what is going to happen in this week's game day match-ups. Then come back after Tuesday to see how it all panned out! And to get my insight's on some of the week's best and worst games!

Take a look at last week's posting to see how I did in previous weeks!

Recap provided on 9/24/2015- Hey y'all it's been a busy week and unfortunately some life happened so I didn't get to check out the games. So this one won't have as much of a recap as it will have just the final scores. 

[My prediction]                                                                                                        [REALITY]
Broncos @ Chiefs          [Chiefs]                                                                              Broncos 31-24                      
Based on the way the Chiefs played last week and the unfortunate way the Broncos were playing, I think momentum favors Chiefs unless practice this week puts the Broncos with a better rhythm for game day.

Texans @ Panthers         [Texans]                                                                             Panthers 24-17  
I like this Texans team, I have them with the edge over the Panthers, purely for the fire that is JJ Watt. We'll see what game day looks like. Although I wouldn't be mad at Cam and the Panthers taking a win!

49ers @ Steelers             [Steelers]                                                                           Steelers 43-18*
Now I am going for the Steelers because duh, this is my team but, there was something exciting about watching the 49ers gel last Sunday. And considering the slow pace it took for our offense to get warmed up, I am concerned that we will be behind and not be able to catch up. We do have home field advantage so #SteelersNation I am looking at you to bring the heat! But after this game only 2 more weeks until Juice returns!

Of course I'll be posting something special for this game because well my boys did good! While I didn't get to actually catch this game due to me being in flight, I was pleasantly satisfied to catch the highlights and see the score at the end. Sorry to my Bay Area friends, but I needed that one! 

Bucs @ Saints             [Saints]                                                                                      Buccaneeers 26-19
Both teams are coming off of losses, but I still have a little love for the Saints and want to see what they will look like after losing some key players this off season and also with the impending retirement of the franchise quarterback- I honestly don't think the org has it in them to build another team around Brees this late in his career.

Lions @ Vikings          [Lions]                                                                                         Vikings 26-16
Both these teams suffered some crazy losses. The Lions have continued to progress each season and I think I am just going for the underdog in this one.


Cardinals @ Bears        [Bears]                                                                                         Cardinals 48-23
What happened to "Da Bears?" I'm looking for that fire. While the Cards have Bruce Arians who is doing a phenomenal job with this team (Steelers love y'all). I am feeling a little nostalgic for the great organizations who capitalized on defense and battled in their offense. Will they return to their former glory days or are they in a season of rebuilding.

Patriots @ Bills          [Bills]                                                                                                 Patriots 40-32
I'm taking a loss most definitely with this prediction, but I'm so not choosing the Patriots. Not after last week and it has nothing to do with cheating. The reality is the Patriots displayed the depth the tenacity to stay in it. Their Offense is dominating, but I think I am looking for a miracle to shut them down and I'm putting my eggs in the basket of every one of their opponents.

Chargers @ Bengals    [Bengals]                                                                                           Bengals 24-19*
Who was this team that routed the Raiders 33-13? As an Ohio girl, I have definitely been in the state with their two NFL teams on the low end of the football pride. But watching what has been happening in Cincy, I am pleasantly surprised and excited for what one of my home state teams will do. And no I will not be changing my team pride any time soon. 

Titans @ Browns      [Titans]                                                                                               Browns 28-14
Had a powerhouse game and I underestimated Mariota starting (given what happened with Money Manziel in Cleveland last season) but I will NEVER make that mistake again. While I still think the new NFL QB has some time to figure out the speed of the game especially as his opponents get tougher, I do have to say what he accomplished is impressive. We'll see how he leads his team going forward.

Falcons @ Giants      [Falcons]                                                                                         Falcons 24-20*
I honestly didn't care either way if the Falcons beat the Eagles. I was telling my friend that I thought the game was going to be close, but I figured the Eagles would edge it out. But there was definitely a little magic happening in ATL last week and I like what I see. They aren't new, they are consistent in their game play, but let's hope it can sustain them. 

Rams @ Washington DC  [Rams]                                                                                    Washington Team 24-10
I don't know how this Washington Team had the lead and then blew it so poorly. Some might say luck was on the Dolphins side, but that just means there was a weak spot in the Washington Team's Offense to allow the come back and eventual win that the Dolphins were able to create late in the game. And again while I didn't see the whole game, the way that the game was going with this back and forth, points for points between the Rams and the Seahawks, 


Dolphins @ Jags            [Dolphins]                                                                                    Jags 23-20
I'm just looking for this team to bring what they found the last few minutes of the game last week to come out this week. We'll see.

Ugh, do I have to? I am being smart, I am a competitive person and I don't just want to tank my predictions because of my disdain for the other teams.
Ravens @ Raiders       [Ravens]                                                                                     Raiders 37-33
Although if the Raiders pull off a win, applause and definitely impressed!

Applause and impression met! Way to go Raiders, but woah! 

Cowboys @ Eagles      [Cowboys]                                                                                    Cowboys 20-10*
I know they have their injury with Bryant, they still have Demarco Murray and company, that I think the injury will to be as much of a hit to the team as people want to believe.And while I do like what Chip Kelly has been doing with the Eagles, I just don't think the boys are going to fly with a win this game.


Seahawks @ Packers    [Seahawks]                                                                                   Packers 27-17
What can I say i have a little love for the Hawks. But this is going to be a fun game for my fantasy. I have two teams and their respective Qbs are Wilson and Rodgers. We'll see how those teams fair.

 I don't know what's happening with the Hawks but I need them to turn it on and get back in the game. This is actually killing me and ruining my predictions.


Jets   @ Colts              [Colts]                                                                                                Jets 20-7
I don't know what happened to them last week, But IT SHOULD NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!

Come back on Tuesday to see how I did! 

Predictions outcome: 4 out of 16 DANG! 
That's all she wrote! See you for Week 3

Invasion of the body snatchers- Ohio State Buckeyes Home Opener

Hello i'ts your favorite SportsGal89 Innnnnnnnnn the Buildin'!! Thanks for coming back or for checking me out for the first time. Hope you enjoy what I am about to post.
 So today I am bringing you a recap of the Saturday Ohio State Buckeyes Home Opener against Hawaii.

Now don't let the scoreboard fool you. Yes Ohio State won this game, but not in the way that people would have expected them to. Monday night, the Buckeyes had their first game against Virginia Tech (for the recap check my other post) and it was energizing, electric, just something great to watch. For a home opener you expect a remix of that first game the way the Buckeyes had played. Or at least some thing close. But if you watched that game there was something off with the way the Buckeyes played. Usually you anticipate that the Buckeyes are going to be solid on both sides of the ball. with flair equally from the Offense and Defense. But this game was solidly a defensive game, and not that this was a bad thing, but the offense just couldn't seem to pick it up.

Yes Zeke had 3 TDs but the offense just couldn't turn it up. It was weird, much of their yards came from great stops by the defense to get them to the endzone. The offense was playing in my opinion a little sloppy (not setting the ball properly, high spikes, not protecting the QB) and not with the energy that you would expect of a team playing in their first home game.

I wasn't too much of a fan with the QB shakeup either, pick a QB and stick to it. You can definitely see the drastic differences in the style of play between Jt Barrett and Cardale Jones and they both equally need to be developed for the strengths that the other one has and they are lacking. But when you switch them up during the game you do lose a little bit of the space to be able to learn from the mistakes and give your offense a chance to gel better.

I guess you can say i have a different eye for the longevity of this team when I am picking a part what they did wrong considering it was a shut out, but I wouldn't be a fan if I didn't.

We'll see what team shows up when they play Northern Illinois next week. But if it's anything like this team, it will be a struggle of a game.

That's all she wrote folks!

2015 NFL Week 1: Predictions, Reality & More

Hello Hello! It's your FAVORITE SportsGal89 Innnnnnnnnnnn the Buildin'! I am back with hopefully another bright and exciting edition of my weekly predictions where I put my guesses as to what is going to happen in this week's game day match-ups. Then come back on Tuesday to see how it all panned out! And to get my insight's on some of the week's best and worst games!

[My Prediction]                                                               Reality

Steelers @  Patriots                                                            Patriots 28-21
 ** So I would have obviously picked the Steelers to win this game, but the outcome was very different! And I didn't post my predictions ahead of time so oops! 



Packers @ Bears   [Packers]                                             Packers 31-23*
Chiefs   @  Texans  [Texans]                                            Chiefs 27-20
Browns  @  Jets       [Wait, really.. Given the drama in the locker room- Browns] Jets 31-10
Colts      @ Bills      [Colts]                                             Bills 27-14
Dolphins @  Washington DC (I am still refusing to address this team as the name they are choosing to remain) 
                              [Dolphins]                                   Dolphins 17-10 *         
I caught the last half of the game and was surprised at first that the Washington team was leading the way they were. But then the Dolphins just continued to play and play hard. You had a late interception at the end of the game that sealed the win for the Dolphins.. 


Panthers  @ Jags      [Panthers]                                        Panthers 20-9*
Seahawks @ Rams   [Seahawks]                                      Rams 34-31 OT
This game was a close one throughout the game. But the Rams edged out when it mattered most in OT. We'll see how the rest of the Seahawks season progresses, but there are some kinks they definitely work out. 

Saints @ Cardinals   [Saints]                                           Cardinals 31-19
Lions @ Chargers    [Lions]                                            Chargers 33-28
Titans @ Bucs         [Bucs]                                              Titans 42-14
Bengals @ Raiders   [Bengals]                                          Bengals 33-13 *
Ravens  @ Broncos  [Broncos]                                          Broncos 19-13*
Giants  @ Cowboys  [Cowboys]                                        Cowboys 27-26*
Eagles  @ Falcons  [Eagles]                                          Falcons 26-24

Vikings @ 49ers        [49ers]                                            49ers 20-3*
Can we just talk about this game for a second, I mean!! Buckeye Pride, in Carlos Hyde!! I just have to say I absolutely LOVE Carlos Hyde! I was very happy he got drafted last season by the 49ers and I am still even more pleased. Not to mention he didn't hurt my Fantasy scores either! 

Come on back on Tuesday morning to see how I my predictions ranked! 

Recap- So I am 7-16 for my predictions. There are definitely some surprise wins in this grouping but it will be interesting to see how the season fairs for these teams moving forward.

That's all she wrote folks! See you next week! 

The 2015 Ohio State Buckeyes

Hey Y'all it's your FAVORITE SportsGal89 Innnnnnnnnnn the Building'! I come to you today with a special post on my favorite college sports team the Ohio State Buckeyes Football team!

Let me get a few things out of the way. I am from Ohio, as in born and raised. I grew up in Athens, Ohio home of the Ohio University Bobcats. While I will always have a love for the Bobcats, growing up in the Buckeye State, for some our national Football Team ws the Ohio State Buckeyes- why? Because the Browns and the Bengals were not the teams you wanted to really root for.

With that said, I knew really the Ohio State Buckeyes- I spent time at The Shoe and enjoyed every minute of it. Scarlet and Grey were the colors that I knew the most and continue to still enjoy it!


Today's post is about this season's Ohio State Buckeyes team. The 2014 season ended with the Buckeye's as the Undisputed champions for the new Playoff system in College Football. It also ended with one of the mos interesting questions- who starts as your QB? Starter Braxton Miller was injured early in the season and was unable to play. JT Barrett gets injured late into the season and Cardale Jones remains as the QB helping the Buckeyes finish the regular season and their playoff stint and finally the championship game. So we start the summer and the question on everybody's mind- WHO STARTS?


Miller answers part of the question mid summer when we find out he's moving positions to the Wide Receiver- part of his reasoning, it gives him a chance to give his arm a rest. Meyer and the coaching staff answer the rest when Cardale is selected to start.

So flash forward- Monday, September 7th, 2015 the Buckeyes are matched up against Virginia Tech. A team they lost to last season and the only team they lost to. While the game didn't matter so much (pre-season) it was still a telling point about what the remaining season would be like for the Buckeyes.

This game definitely showcased the depth in the Buckeyes team considering that 4 or 5 of their key players were suspended due to failing to abide by Team Rules. But it also allowed for some stars to really shine- Braxton Miller included! He definitely rose above and demonstrated his capacity for the WR position. He will be a force to be reckoned with and I love every minute of it!

 You have your staples in Ezekiel Elliot who half jersey or not can make things work in tight situations.

The game wasn't ours to win though, we definitely had to earn it, giving up two ig plays that caused VT to take the lead before the half. But eventually we played like we know what we were doing. I didn't get to see everything-  I was sick and taped out after the 2nd half had started but waking up to a score of 42-24 was not bad at all. Way to kick off the season Bucks!! Looking forward to my Saturdays!!

And looking forward to what will be a great Heisman contention between some of our players on this team.

Don't take my word for it, have a look at the recap on ESPN: http://espn.go.com/college-football/game?gameId=400756905

That's all she wrote folks, if it continues like last night's game this will be a great season!