Water Cooler Talk: The Least You Need to Know

Well Gals and Pals with the addition of basketball, plus NFL and College Football makes a remote hand tired. Here is the least you need to know:

Chargers rally and keeps Turner in coach position- for a little while

Talk about two horrible teams meeting up for a primetime matchup- and both with serious issues that need to be addressed.

The often the bridesmaid never the bride of the AFC the San Diego Chargers faced a Kansas City Chiefs team last evening and pulled out an impressive win. But both teams remind me that there will be quite a few coaching and General Manager changes for this division. Romeo Crennel of the Chiefs who are 1-7 for the year and Norv Turner who in my opinion should never be the head coach of anything. He took an impressive Chargers team and turned them into a joke.

So if you run into any Chargers fans remind them that my four year-old could cover Matt Cassel in the pocket. This is not an impressive win Chargers fans- and it is still going to be a long season with Peyton Manning and the Broncos looking to win the division.

Hokies get hit by Hurricanes

Okay probably not the best head line after what Sandy has done to the East Coast- but for Hokie fans its true.

Now again I’m a blogger so I don’t have to be impartial- and I will not pretend to be. After last night’s win the Hurricanes are in control of the ACC Coastal Division- not impressive really but still doing better than a ton of teams. Could we finally get a Miami vs FSU championship game! That would be amazing- and the ACC folks are probably pleading please dear God let it happen. Because who wants to watch Duke play FSU for the ACC championship? Yeah from the crickets chirping I think y’all agree.

Here is the amazing thing about last night’s game- VT should have won. Yes, you read that correctly- they out gained the Hurricanes 421-347 and held the Hurricanes to only one third down conversion- and only 3 yards of offense on 12 plays in the third quarter. So the VT defense was doing it job- especially with Exum not getting called for pass interference penalties.

So how did Miami win the game? Thank you Logan Thomas and a terrible offensive effort from the Hokies. They fumbled in the end zone and Miami recovered. Interception. And a missed field goal.

This game is just a reminder that your team can have the best stats but unless they put up points it doesn’t matter. The Hokies now lose their 10 game win streak and their fans are starting to voice concerns that perhaps the offensive leadership is not doing its job- of course its been easy to hide behind a schedule and the ACC strength in football which is none. Hokies y’all got some boot strapping to do to figure out how to correct this course because you may not even being going to a bowl game to year.

Buzzer Beaters Put Spurs on Top

Finally the best game of the night was actually the NBA matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs.

The Thunder have been in the news the past few days with the amazing trade of James Harden to Houston- hello 80 mil!

There were actually two cool buzzer beaters- at the end of the third quarter Thunder player Eric Maynor hit a game-tying buzzer beater from half court. And Tony Parker won the game with his last second 21-footer.

Spurs won 86-84

NFL Week Five Preview

Will Mendhall’s return be the spark to light the Steeler’s season?

NFL games begin in a few hours and the Gal Pal household is excited to be going out to catch the action as the game they are most looking forward to is not playing on local tv thanks to the Redskins.

Here are the games I’m on the lookout for.

Eagles vs Steelers

This is the game Gals and Pals because I’m an Eagles fan and my lovely sister Shannon is a Pittsburgh fan (my other sister Rachael is a Cowboys fan FYI).

Despite my personal involvement with this game this is a great match up because every week we have to ask what sort of team will come out of Philly? While they are 3-1 at some point the turnovers and wasted opportunities are going to come back to haunt them.

The Steelers are coming off a bye week and are getting returning players Rashard Mendenhall and James Harrison could be the boost this team needs.

Key for victory for the Steelers- figure out a running game- right now they are averaging only 65 yards rushing per game- that is not enough for a solid offense and creates too much pressure on your receivers.

Since there are too many people I love involved in this game I’m not picking a winner but Fly Eagles Fly

Broncos vs Patriots aka Manning vs Brady

The Patriots are coming off a monster of a win against the Bills last week. Averaging 438 yards of offense per game they should be a favorite to win this home game.

But with the addition of Peyton Manning to the Broncos this season is the only reason people care.

This quarterback rivalry has been a favorite for years in the NFL. And given that Manning is still being questioned about his arm strength we have to wonder how many match ups between these two future hall of famers will we see?

I have a feeling that Brady is going to pull this out- the Pats have a great running game- averaging 144 yards per game. But like in recent years we have to question their defense- they allow over 367 yards per game this season. Give Manning those options and he’ll light up the red zone.

Get to either quarterback and you win the game- it really is that simple and yet so hard to do.

I’m taking the Patriots.

Falcons vs Redskins

The Falcons take their undefeated show on the road to DC.

Offensively these teams are well matched. Both average about 30 points per game, both average about 250 yards passing- though the Redskins are miles ahead of the running game.

The difference is the defense and the Falcons win that battle on paper at least.

So what about in the trenches?

Falcons normally play in a climate controlled dome. Today’s game is being played outdoors and the weather could be a factor. If Redskin QB RGIII were a little more season I might give the edge to the Skins.

But Matt Ryan and the Falcons are having a banner year- and I think experience is the one stat that really matters mid season.

I think the Falcons are going to remain undefeated.

Related articles

• Falcons vs. Redskins Preview (bloggingdirty.com)
• Fantasy Football Week 5: Last-Minute Top 15 Quarterback Rankings (bleacherreport.com)
• Steelers know limiting Vick will be tough task (triblive.com)
• Storylines: QB showdowns highlight Week 5 (nfl.si.com)