SNL Season 42: Benedict Cumberbatch

SNL got in its last episode before the Presidential election. So how would they handle it? Onto the review

Hillary Clinton/Donald Trump Cold Open: The final cold open before the election saw Hillary Clinton and Trump in a side by side interview on CNN, with the focus on the Comey letter as Clinton looks to pivot and spin away. It sort of felt like it was just trudging along, but then something amazing happened. Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin both break character, seemingly sick of the election. They then run outside, greeting and hugging people while still in character. It was sort of like this alternate universe, or utopia. It was just a nice moment to see. (8.3)

Monologue: The monologue took a bit of a step back this week, as Benedict sang about how good looking he is. Really nothing else there. (6.5)

Koohl Toilet (ad): This was sort of out there, but it worked. Its an ad for a reverse sitting toilet.....so yeah. Sure, it was kind of idiotic, but it was amusing as well. (7.3)

Why Is Benedict Cumberbatch Hot?: There isn't much to say about this, other than it seemed pretty predictable. It started to seem like writers really didn't know what to do with Benedict (which is unbelievable, considering how talented he is.) (6.2)

Office Hours (short): Benedict plays a professor talking to Pete Davidson as a student. He goes on about his personal life, and admitting that he has feelings for Pete. What makes this work is how serious Benedict plays it off, while Pete consistently gives short monotone answers. This just all came together fairly well. (7.5)

Office Hours

Surprise Bachelorette:  This one another one of those idiotic, yet fun sketches. Aidy Bryant plays a grandmother getting re-married, and as she arrives to a surprise bachelorette party, she dies of a heart attack. The party keeps going, including members of the Chicago Cubs as strippers giving her a lap dance. On paper this just seems like it shouldn't have worked, but those involved just sold it well. (7.0)

(Solange): (5.5)

Weekend Update: Update felt a little flat this week. There were still some good lines, but the energy wasn't quite there with Jost & Che, which can tend to happen when a show isn't going its best.

The first guest saw the Church Lady (Dana Carvey) talking about the election and the candidates. This kind of sent off an alarm that the well had run dry for the writers in terms of covering this election.

We then got those same members of the Cubs (plus Bill Murray) celebrating the historic world series win by Chicago, singing "Go Cubs Go". Much like the world series itself, this was a nice little escape. (6.8)

         

Gemma & Ricky: (4.7)

Criminal Mastermind: Now this was one of those sketches that should have worked on paper. Benedict plays this villain who likes to use riddles for his messages, but he keeps on running out of them. However, things just didn't really click all the way. (6.5)

(Solange): (6.9)

Meeting With Mr. Shaw: Just one of those bizarre 10 to 1 sketches. On a good night, these really hit, but when a show is sort of trudging along as this one did, you're just waiting for the show to end. (6.0)

This show fell surprisingly flat before the election. Benedict really tried, but a lot of the sketches were very one-note. It really felt like the writers just ran out of gas in covering the election. (6.6)

Tom Hanks: 8.03

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Margot Robbie: 7.38

Emily Blunt: 7.07

Benedict Cumberbatch: 6.60

SNL Season 42 - Tom Hanks

SNL closed out their opening 4 week stretch with Tom Hanks. Would he give the show a much needed jolt? onto the review

Third Debate Cold Open: The last of the debates, at last. The last 2 debates had just gotten so ridiculous that's it been tough for SNL to cover them, though they've done their best to basically just stay on script with the actual debates themselves. I thought they might do more with the "no, you're the puppet" line from Trump, but maybe that would have been too predictable. All in all this was pretty alright. (7.3)

Monologue: This week's monologue seemed more thought out than last week's. Hanks gave America a "dad chat", trying to talk to calm us down from the election. While amusing, it also felt honest and sincere. Felt like needed given the closing stretch of the campaign. (8.3)

Black Jeopardy: This took a turn from previous iterations of this sketch. Sasheer Zamata and Leslie Jones played contestants...along with Doug (Hanks) sporting a "Make America Great Again" hat. At first I was curious where they were going with this. But then Doug starts answering the questions correctly, showing  commonality with the other contestants in their economic struggle. Things are going swimmingly until the final jeopardy final question "lives that matter". This political sketch perfectly showed the similarities and differences between the political system. In a divided and partisan campaign, this hit all the right points. (9.0)

Halloween Block Party Song: (6.2)



Funny New Comedy(short/ad): This took on shows like "Transparent" with dark and/or serious topics, but which play off as labeled half hour sitcoms. I could legit see this parody show "Broken" as an actual HBO or Showtime sitcom....that would win tons of awards. (8.4)

Funny New Comedy

Haunted Elevator: Beck Bennett and Kate McKinnon were on a haunted ride and met some curious and spooky characters.....including none other than David "S" Pumpkins (Hanks). How did we ever live in a world without Pumpkins? This was from the same writers as Kevin Roberts last season. It was pretty easy to tell, but just as brilliant. This is just something that needs to be witnessed. (9.4)

Lady Gaga: "A-Yo" (8.0)

Weekend Update: Jost and Che got back on track, doing their usual riff on the election. 

The first guest saw Leslie Jones discussing her website/personal accounts being hacked over the summer, along with the other trolling she had to face online. This was a better vehicle to deal with this issue overall than that "Mr Robot" sketch.

Cecily Strong then did her thing as "That girl at a party that you avoid having a conversation with". At times this character can get a little old, though it worked with the election underway. (8.7)



Cockpit: (6.0)



A Girl's Halloween (short): (7.4)



Lady Gaga: "Million Reasons" - Lady Gaga can just bring it. Her performance here was near perfection. (9.5)

America's Funniest Pets w/ Tom Hanks: Who would have thought that we would gotten these 2 characters back, as Cecily and Kate play french hosts who help out on an American pet clips show....with their own unique analysis. We first saw them in the Adam Driver episode last year. (8.2)

Funniest Pets

This was a much improved show from last week where it just seemed that the energy had seeped out. Tom Hanks just brought a lot of pep to the show, as he usually does. He's one of those incredibly reliable hosts. 

SNL continues its creativity, beyond just the cold opens in covering this election. From "Day off" to now "Black Jeopardy". They're less about mocking or parody and actually trying to find a connection to elements of this wild presidential election. (8.03)

Tom Hanks: 8.03

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Margot Robbie: 7.38

Emily Blunt: 7.07

SNL Season 42: Emily Blunt

SNL continued its opening stretch, with its 3rd of 4 straight shows. Would they be able to keep up the pace? Onto the review.

Town Hall Debate Cold Open: Following an anticipated and nasty debate last Sunday, all eyes were on SNL on how they would cover it. This was more or less just the best hits. They didn't really add anything new, but basically painted it by the numbers. They had Trump (Alec Baldwin) creeping behind Hillary (Kate McKinnon), and of course Ken Bone (Bobby Moynihan). This was probably the weakest cold open yet of this young season, but still enjoyable overall. (7.2)

Monologue: Given the road this election has turned down, this monologue was pretty necessary. Emily Blunt tried to pep up the audience with a song, featuring puppies and cake. I mean, how can you go wrong with that? It was a little sloppy in execution, but pleasant still. (7.9)

Monologue

Escorts: It always felt like this sketch was going to take one of those classic turns, but it just never hit that stride. Nothing much to say beyond that (set up the tone for the first half of the show). (4.0)

Melanianade (short): This was an interesting concept for a short. A parody off of Beyonce, we see the women of the Trump and campaign with a tear-down of Trump given the recent accusations and the Access Hollywood tape. This should have really worked, but unlike "Day Off", something just felt a little off with this (though the Tiffany Trump line in the end was really good). (6.5)

Film Festival: Its nice to see Vanessa Bayer being more prominent, given her absence in the season premiere. Here she played an audience member who was forced to ask question after question at a short film festival. Now this was a sketch that was executed well, from the mic passing down the lineup, to Vanessa trying to leave, only to have to answer more questions. You could imagine a scenario like this actually happening. (7.8)

Film Festival

Chonk (ad): This played off like a classic snl ad parody. Mocking a woman's clothing store, this was just well done. From Cecily Strong's delivery of "Chonk!", to the reactions of the cast as they show off in the ad. Even better was the hit at the end, where men can find a perfectly fitting shirt at "Normal Clothes". (8.4)

(Bruno Mars): "24K Magic" - Bruno Mars was just made for flashy and entertaining performances, whether it be at the super bowl or award shows, just the perfect performer. (9.2)

         






Weekend Update: The energy for Update just felt really flat. Jost and Che just seemed to lack the pep that they had the previous couple of weeks. That was something that was noticeable for the show in general though.

Olya was the first guest, played by McKinnon. While you can make the argument that this character gets a bit repetitive, its still really enjoyable.

Olya

Vanessa then brought back Laura Parsons to "talk about the news". While probably the weakest segment of this recurring character, the writing was still brilliant, especially the dig at NBC and their settlement with Billy Bush.  (6.9)

Laura Parsons

Drive Thru Window: This appeared to be one of the first marketing ads that SNL is going to do this season (along with Honda Robotics). And to put it lightly, they weren't great. This one was character driven, as an eccentric art group in an incredibly long limo keep going through the drive thru. Here's hoping these type of sketches are minimal for the rest of the year. (5.0)


The Sink (short): Give a raise to whoever wrote this. It played off like a short film....about a fancy existential bathroom sink, wondering why its so fancy. What made it even better were the end credits, making sure to list Emily Blunt as the voice of the sink. Just one of those bizarre ideas that SNL does well. (8.6)

The Sink 

Honda Robotics: (4.5)



Melania Moments #3 (short): I'm so glad that this is becoming a running piece to start the season. They're starting to get exponentially darker however. Here, Melania wonders if she could get her maid (who looks oddly like her) to take her place, as she longs to feel sand beneath her feet again. What makes these work is that they aren't mocking Melania directly.

Melania Moments

(Bruno Mars): (8.1)

British Bake Off: (6.5)

Hamsters: "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe", but with pet hamsters. Classic 10 to 1 sketch idea. (7.0)

This show felt a bit bogged down, especially given the current atmosphere of the election. Maybe it was the current stretch they're on, but there lacked energy. The back half of the show picked it up though with some odd-ball ideas that worked. (7.07)

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Margot Robbie: 7.38

Emily Blunt: 7.07

SNL Season 42 - Lin Manuel Miranda

We thought the premiere was highly anticipated, and then comes out Trump's Billy Bush tape. Wow. All eyes were once again on SNL to see how they would take on a wild few days in the 2016 race.

VP Debate Cold Open: At first I was concerned this was just going to be the VP debate straight up. It starts with Melissa Villasenor playing the "asian moderator'...because "baby steps". But while Mike Pence (Beck Bennett) discusses whether Trump appreciates women, we get a breaking news report on the tape. This was a pretty fast turnaround for a cold open. Brooke Baldwin (Cecily Strong) questions Trump (Baldwin). Trump mentions that he can do "more than just grab 'it' ". We then hear him say a few crewd things off camera. From that, to Clinton HQs in a full on dance party, they pretty much hit this one out of the park. (9.5)

Monologue: This week's monologue was a high mark, and would have been one of the best among last season's. Miranda breaks out into a version of "My Shot", about his desire hosting SNL, and then getting into the current race. The moment of the song was when he goes by the pictures of last year's hosts, and stops at Trump's, stopping with saying "This piece of s---", and going into "never gonna be president". It shouldn't have been a surprise that he would come away with a good monologue. (9.0)

Pine Ridge Camping: (6.9)

Crucible Cast Party (short): They keep trying to recreate "doing it in my twin bed" with the female cast, but nothing has been able to reach those heights, this included. Really the only good part was when Lin steps in with his verse. (6.5)

Substitute Teacher: (7.0)

A Day Off (short): In the same vain as last week's "family feud", SNL brought out another unique political sketch, but this one really hit home. We see Kate McKinnon as Trump manager Kellyanne Conway on her day off, but getting continuously interrupted by breaking news by Trump remarks. It was just clever and creative, especially the background song. (9.7)

(Twenty One Pilots): "Heathens" (7.1)

Weekend Update: Update started off really hot, with Jost and Che firing off on the Trump Tape. There was a particular biting line where Jost says "what locker room is he at, Penn State?". He could have said Baylor, but I think more people know of the Penn State scandal, regardless if you're a sports fan or not. 

The guests were a bit disappointing. Pete Davidson did his thing, talking about hair loss medication.

And then we got Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon as undecided PA voters. This had all the right ingredients to be good , but Jimmy's incessant giggling just stalled it. And then Tina tousled his hair, in a flashback to Jimmy's panned Trump interview. It felt kind of like a cheap ploy to lessen the pressure off of him. We get it, Jimmy's Tonight Show isn't going to be a hard hitting show that goes into political comedy. But when you have that access, you can't just throw softball after softball like he did. I guess we just have to really lower expectations for him.  (8.5)

Music Man - Wells Fargo: A clever way to cover the Wells Fargo scandal, with the wagon scene from The Music Man. Its always just fin to see so much of the cast put on a sketch like this, where they're singing and dancing and just having a blast. (8.0)

Wells Fargo

Diego Phones Home: (short): This didn't really have you "laughing out loud", but it was a very interesting piece nonetheless, as Lin plays an immigrant calling his mother about his time in America. It left you both hopeful, and a little embarrassed out our current culture. (7.7)

Diego Calls

Stranger Things: I have yet to see Stranger Things, so I didn't really get much of this sketch in context. With that being said, I thought Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson were excellent as the parents, and Sasheer Zamata was really present as well. (7.0)

Stranger Things

(Twenty One Pilots): "Ride" (7.3)

Melania Moments (short): The second installment of Melania Moments, I hope we see more of these now that they appear to be a recurring theme. Melania thinks of going to Latvia to save her successor from herself. It was both humorous, but also sort of touching. (8.0)

Melania Moments

Degree of Valor: (6.1)

SNL is having a pretty fantastic election season thus far. They really nailed it with the Trump tape cold open, along with the first half of Update and the Conway short.

One concern though, is that it seems the regular writing may be struggling a bit with the election pieces in process, but that's to be expected I imagine, as they work on their coverage. (7.74)

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Margot Robbie: 7.38

SNL Season 42 - Margot Robbie

SNL returned for Season 42 in a time where you could argue its needed most, with the 2016 Presidential election in full swing. Saturday Night Live has long provided excellent sketches and pieces during election season, but it could be tougher this time around; both with how wild the campaign has been, along with SNL's controversial decision to invite Trump to host last year. So how did SNL do in its premiere? Onto the review.

Debate Cold Open: Starting right off the bat with the first debate, we saw Kate McKinnon's emmy winning Clinton, along with another new Trump, Alec Baldwin. Coming off last year where we saw a brief attempt with Taran Killam, followed by Darrell Hammond take on Trump, it seems they've finally found their guy (more on that in the end). They were pretty much able to just use Trump's lines verbatim, though with a nice added whiff on the microphone. And Kate's Clinton remains to be the best impersonation of her SNL has done yet. Sometimes these debate sketches can feel bogged down, but even with the added expectations, SNL was able to make this land. (8.7)

Monologue: These were a big problem throughout last season, with either abbreviated, or half-thought out ideas. But they opened up with a fairly clever one, as Margot Robbie fact-checked her own monologue. It did drag on though, as various cast members got the spotlight and did the same thing, that was a bit much. (7.0)

Live Report: Felt a bit odd having the first post-monologue sketch being non-political, but this sort of timeless ('non promo', heh) sketch is one that could work in any year. Its a simple premise, as we see an average looking guy with Margot Robbie's character during a news report on a sink hole. Its the kind of sketch that hits one note, but is able to build on it. (8.0)

Celebrity Family Feud - Political Edition: I think these are the kind of sketches that could breakthrough for SNL's coverage of the 2016 race. Yes, it went a bit long and was packed, but there was a lot of good bits here. From Kate's portrayal of Kellyanne Conway, to Margot as Ivanka and new castmembers Mikey Day and Alex Moffat as Trump's sons playing the "children of the corn". Beck Bennett did a really good Putin, and we even got Larry David back as a more free-wheeling Bernie Sanders. (8.5)

The Librarian (short): So this was a thing. At first, you weren't really sure where this was going, as a group of eyes admire Margot as a librarian. But then things get weird. She almost takes on a Harley Quinn persona (with added acid spit.....). One of those things where it seems they just threw a lot of things out there to see if it would stick, granted it was so out there that it sort of worked. (7.2)

(The Weeknd): (7.5)

Weekend Update: Update got its first take on the election, post convention. They seemed to take a more even-handed "both sides" take, bringing up old stories (with how fast the cycle goes) like Clinton's post pneumonia rally and the James Brown song used. There was surprisingly little about Trump and Alicia Machado, or his last night tweets, which was a fresh story for the week.However, Jost and Che did show a nice amount of chemistry for the premiere, riffing on each other.

The first guest saw Cecily Strong playing an undecided voter "Cathy Ann". She sort of played a bubbling idiot of a character. It was tough to understand what she was saying. While I don't hold high opinions on the so-called "undecided voter", even this stereotype was a bit much.

Kenan Thompson then came on and played David Ortiz. This is becoming a good recurring role for Kenan (hopefully they keep him on, even when Big Papi retires after this season wraps up). (7.0)

David Ortiz

Hunch Bunch: This was a Scooby Doo parody, where Margot plays someone whose slow to piece the clues together. Kyle Mooney played a good Shaggy, and while there were some funny bits (like the conclusion where Margot can't 'go back to jail'), this was merely just okay. (6.4)

Melania Moments (short): This was sort of like "deep thoughts". It was tough to judge, given his brevity, but hopefully this becomes a recurring bit throughout this election. (7.0)

Actress Round Table: Taking place at the NY Film Festival, this was used as a vehicle for another Kate McKinnon role, an old actress whose had to make her way through the industry. Unlike previous oddball characters by Kate, this just didn't really hit for me. (6.0)

(The Weeknd): (7.7)

Mr Robot (short): Here, Leslie Jones recruits Elliot (Pete Davidson) to find out who hacked her. I thought this was a fairly clever way to deal with this issue that really took off this summer (along with all the online harassment she's faced). It'll be interesting to see if she'll address it during Weekend Update, but I thought Leslie and Pete really worked well in this short. (8.0)

We got a first look at how SNL will cover this '16 race. While they'll have to parody debates, pieces like Family Feud and Melania thoughts could be more effective. This is an election season where to really make a point, they'll have to go out of the box besides just the debates.

First impressions on Alec Baldwin as Trump, I think he was perfect for this role. His portrayal was more biting and accurate to the present day than Hammond's was. Hammond's impression was still stuck in the 90s/Apprentice era. It'll be interesting to see how Alec evolves through October. (7.38)

Margot Robbie: 7.38

NFL Season Preview

Finally, a new season is upon us, and one that could see some significant changes, with Peyton Manning's retirement and Tom Brady's 4 week suspension. Like always, I'll try my best and throw out my own predictions. I actually got last season's superbowl matchup, so lets see how these all pan out.

AFC East:

Patriots: 11-5

Jets: 9-6

Bills: 8-8

Dolphins: 6-10

Brady may be sitting out the first 4 games, but I don't think the Patriots will see too many bumps in the season's opening with Jimmy Garoppolo. They may drop a game or two, but then get back on track one Brady returns. As for the rest of the division, the Jets could be contenders, but its just tough to rely on them to rise to the occasion when they're expected too. The Bills will be the Bills. Maybe they have their QB of the future in Tyrod Taylor, but there have been a number of distractions for them, along with Rob Ryan now joining his brother in the coaching ranks. And I may be totally off for the Dolphins, but its the same with the Jets, its just tough to count on them.

AFC North:

Steelers: 12-4

Bengals: 10-6

Ravens: 6-10

Browns: 6-10

The Steelers have run into some defensive injuries (specifically Bud Dupree), along with questions on TE, but Big Ben and AB (coming off a recently signed restructured contract) are coming off healthy, along with a solid O-Line for the time being. They'll be without Le'Veon Bell, but they still have Deangelo Williams who played like a top starter last year when asked. The sky's the limit for Pittsburgh as long as they stay healthy on offense and get the defensive line to step up. The Bengals should be right with them the whole way, but come up short in the end. As for the Ravens, they've declined in recent years, and I don't see much difference. Finally, with RG3 at the helm with a second chance, I think he may see some rough patches, but the Browns won't be a complete embarrassment as they've been.

AFC South:

Jaguars: 11-5

Colts: 10-6

Texans: 7-9

Titans: 4-12

Yes, you read that right, and no, I'm not high. I could see this being a breakout year for a young Jaguars team. They've had some stellar drafts over the past couple years and I see it paying off here. Yes, the Colts and Texans could be contenders (though I have some questions about Brock Osweiler and the Texans offense), but I'm going out on a limb here. Blake Bortles has shown the capabilities of a top young QB. Meanwhile, the Colts are coming off a rough season that saw them go through a plethora of QB injuries. Their O-Line will make or break them. And the Titans are still growing, hoping for a full year with Marcus Mariota, along with a new running attack.

AFC West:

Raiders: 12-4

Chiefs: 10-6

Broncos: 9-7

Chargers: 5-11

Again, yes, you aren't seeing things. A 12 win season for the Raiders. They've been rising and actually drafting intelligently recently, leading to weapons for Derek Carr and a young defense with play-makers. They proved to be tough last year, and that'll continue this year. The Chiefs have a good home atmosphere to deal with, and hopefully a healthy Jamaal Charles at RB. The Broncos could deal with some turmoil on offense, without Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler. Instead, it'll be Trevor Siemian getting the week 1 start.....so yeah. They'll really have to rely on their defense to be the best and  go above and beyond last year. As for the Chargers, it feels like they're wasting Philip Rivers.

AFC Playoff Picture:

1) Steelers

2) Raiders

---------------

3) Patriots

4) Jaguars

5) Bengals

6) Colts

AFC Wildcard:

Colts vs. Patriots

Oh the story-lines this would make. I think the Colts and their whining would still be on the Pats' minds.

Bengals vs. Jaguars

Good for the Jags getting a winning season, but the Bengals would want a re-do on their collapse during last year's collapse against the Steelers.

AFC Division:

Bengals vs Steelers

Hopefully with a healthy defense by this point, I see this going down to the wire, but with a win...fair and square this time.

Patriots vs. Raiders

The Tuck game...likely still sends chills through Raiders' fans. That may be ancient history in NFL terms, but I see Carr prevailing here. 

AFC Championship:

Raiders vs. Steelers

An old rivalry potentially being renewed with a young Carr and the vet Big Ben. This could be a fun and high flying match, but the home edge pushing the Steelers over the top.

NFC East:

Giants: 10-6

Cowboys: 9-7

Washington: 7-9

Eagles: 5-11

This is a division in flux, with Philly moving on from Chip Kelly, and the Cowboys being without Tony Romo for an unknown period of time with another back injury. With that being said, I see the Giants emerging from the East. The Giants are certainly a roller coaster type of team, but I think they persevere. Factoring in rookie Dak Prescott starting for Dallas, and counting on Romo coming back sometime around week 6 possibly, the Cowboys could definitely be a contender. I think improvements from New York and Dallas will bring Washington back down, and I don't quite know what Philly is right now. They traded Sam Bradford and appear to be riding with rookie Carson Wentz, who didn't have much time in preseason with the starters

NFC North:

Packers: 12-4

Lions: 8-8

Vikings: 7-9

Bears: 4-12

A few weeks ago, this looked like it could be a tight division between the Vikings and Packers, but then Teddy Bridgewater went down for the year with a knee injury. They regrouped and dealt a top draft pick for Sam Bradford, but I think they could see some twists and turns in their opening weeks before getting it together, and with Green Bay, it could be too late by then. The Lions will be looking for a new go-to receiver with Calvin Johnson's sudden retirement, and the Bears are the Bears...lost.

NFC South:

Panthers: 12-4

Buccaneers: 8-8

Falcons: 6-10

Saints: 5-11

This has the makings of another runaway division. The Panthers just seem above and beyond everyone else here. The Bucs are on the rise, but its not their time quite yet, and Matt Ryan and the Falcons have been trying to find themselves for a while now. The Saints may have Drew Brees, but with serious deficiencies on  defense. 

NFC West:

Seahawks: 13-3

Cardinals: 11-5

49ers: 7-9

Rams: 6-10

A potential battle to the end with Seattle and Arizona. That relies on the Seahawks running attack, and whether Carson Palmer will have a healthy complete season for the Cardinals. The 49ers had seemed to be disorganized, but the Colin Kaepernick anthem protest has seemed to bring the team together. He'll start as the back-up, but I mean, how long are they really going to go with Blaine Gabbert. I could see Kaepernick regaining some of his form in the back-half of the season. And the Rams, now in Los Angeles, look like they'll have more problems at QB, with 1st round pick Jared Goff really struggling in the pre-season. He'll be inactive for week 1. They have some nice weapons on offense, including Todd Gurley, but that'll only take them so far.

NFC Playoff Picture:

1) Seahawks

2) Panthers

-----------------

3) Packers

4) Giants

5) Cardinals

6) Cowboys

NFC Wildcard:

Cowboys vs. Packers

Counting on Prescott or Romo here, it may be even a slight miracle for Dallas to make the playoffs. But here facing Green Bay, that's where their road ends.

Cardinals vs. Giants

Relying on a healthy Carson Palmer, the Cardinals have the potential to go on a deep run.

NFC Division:

Cardinals vs. Seahawks

This could be a fun one with this divisional rivalry. But I give the edge to Seattle.

Packers vs. Panthers

This one could be one on defense, and with that, the edge goes to Luke Kuechly and the Panthers.

NFC Championship:

Panthers vs. Seahawks

A rematch of last year's divisional game, where Carolina ran it up early, but Seattle clawed back to make it a game. I think, being at home, Seattle will be more prepared.

In a playoff of rematches and rivalries, we see a Super Bowl 40 rematch. Seahawks fans very much still hold a grudge on Big Ben's TD in that game. I think this game is close early, but Seattle pulls ahead late, and Russell Wilson gets his 2nd ring. 

.  

Remembering Christina Grimmie

On the evening of June 10th, singer Christina Grimmie was tragically shot during an autograph session at a concert in Orlando. 

Christina was a young rising star, starting with Youtube covers, before setting out on The Voice and releasing original music. Personally, I was first introduced to her during the summer of 2011 with a cover she did with Kurt Hugo Schneider and Sam Tsui of "Just A Dream".

I remember being amazed at her mature voice. She seemed like such a natural. That video then lead me to her channel, where I discovered her own youtube channel and her covers.

There's something about when you first come about a new artist. Its like a new world is opened up to you, if that makes any sense. You go through their early material, and you wonder how you didn't know about them sooner.

It was around this time that Christina was making it towards the mainstream, doing interviews for the American Idol 2012 Tour, along with making connections with artists like Selena Gomez. But through it all, it didn't change her. She still seemed to be that down to Earth girl who loved music.

I remember how excited I got when I found out that she would be competing on the 6th season of The Voice. Those kind of shows (The Voice, American Idol), have always been a guilty pleasure of mine. This was something different though, already being a fan of someone coming in, and watching their growth throughout the season. Christina quickly found her voice on the show, putting some interesting and creative twists on songs you wouldn't have expected.

Following her season, she was able to launch more of her original music, and begin regularly touring.

Christina Grimmie was on her way, doing what she loved to do. Fame and exposure seemingly never changed her, still just as connected to her fans as her earlier days, uploading cover requests on Youtube. 

Following this tragic incident, petitions   have been launched to improve security around concert venues. I could go on about changes that have to be made, both with this and in-light of the shooting that followed just days after in Orlando at the Pulse club, but I wanted this post to just be a remembrance and a look-back at Christina's great talent. While taken away far too soon, she still left us with a great showcase of her talent. We can think of what could be, but lets just appreciate and be thankful for what she gave us and how committed she was to her friends and fans.