NFL Conference Championships

Since my Super Bowl picks (Packers and Chargers) are both out after a mere one playoff game each, let's press the reset button now that we're a week away from the big game.

Jets vs. Colts: Yes, the Jets have an awesome defense. Yes, they like to pound the rock, and the Colts are vulnerable to that sort of thing. No, the Colts can't run themselves. But this is a different Colts team. It's a team that wills itself to win. Some will say that a tight game favors the Jets because of their defense. I say it favors Indy because they have #18. I think Manning will pick apart whatever blitzes and coverages the Jets have. Even if they don't get any huge plays Manning will be happy to kill New York 6 or 7 yards at a time. Manning's stats on the day... 35-50, 285 yards, 1 TD 0 int. Colts 20, Jets 10. (On a side note, Jets' opponents have missed five straight field goals this post season. Absolutely uncanny and absolutely lucky. That's the kind of bull crap that a win-ugly team like the Jets needs to get a championship.)

Vikings vs. Saints: Both teams have come off dominating wins and seem to have their swagger back after struggling the last month of the regular year. The Vikings looked especially impressive to me after they dismantled the Cowboys, a team that is far more balanced than the Cardinals, who the Saints beat. But the Vikes can't win. They mustn't. I can't watch FarveTV for two weeks. Right... It's not possible... OH GOD!! Saints 34, Vikings 28.

NFL Division Round 2010

• So much for me bad mouthing the Saints. I really thought, at the very least, that this game against the Cards would be competitive. It was the high scoring affair that most were predicting. It's just that the Saints did all the scoring.
• And so much for me bad mouthing the Colts. They beat the Ravens Saturday through good, old fashioned hard work and determination. The Colts get most of their press clippings via big plays by Manning and the receivers. But over the past few seasons, they have really learned to grind out wins and how to win ugly. Though the 20-3 score would indicate otherwise, their victory was the result of a full game of battling the tough Ravens' D and the Colts' defenders tightening their chinstraps against the Ravens' vaunted running game. The result was still in doubt for most of the fourth quarter.
• It was enjoyable to see the hated Cowboys feel the pain of having kicker Shaun Suisham on the roster. He missed two makable field goals Sunday. Not that it made much difference. The Vikings' pass rush is back and forced Tony Romo into more turnovers than a German bakery.
• And just when you thought we would see all front runners in the conference title games, the Jets come along and screw things up. The defense kept them in the game and the offense made just enough plays to win. Meanwhile, are the Chargers the new Colts? The super talented team that fails time and again in the playoffs?
• I tell you what though. The Colts better beat the hell out of the Jets next week. And the Saints better beat the Vikes. I don't think I could stomach the sports media if one of them made it to the Super Bowl. Worse yet what if the Jets AND the Vikings make it. It may be the first Super Bowl in 20 years that I skip watching. I couldn't deal with replay after replay of Joe Willies index finger held aloft in 1969 or god forbid Farve Fest 2010!

NFL Hyperbolic Statements-Week 13

A couple teams to watch for and a couple on suicide watch. What I want for Xmas. And cut this guy now...

I Hate You: Shaun Suisham, Redskins. I hate to keep advocating physical violence, but this dude needs a flogging with a broom handle. I looked at his numbers and really they're not that bad, but from my observation this guy misses so many easy kicks. I've been calling for him to get cut for two years. I knew as soon as the 'Skins allowed the Saints to tie the game and went into OT they were going to lose. It's just one of those seasons for both teams. The Saints at 11-0 feel like they're never out of a game. The 'Skins feel like they can never get a break. It reflects in both teams play.

Teams You Should Be Afraid Of: No one is really talking about them because of the ridiculous seasons the Colts and Saints are having, but the league needs to watch out for both the Cardinals and Chargers. Let's not forget that the Cards are the defending NFC champs. They served that notice to the Vikings in a big way Sunday night. The Chargers are another team I would not want to face when the playoffs start. They are quietly 9-3. Both teams have tremendous offensive weapons, fearless quarterbacks, and underrated defenses.

Teams I'm Not Afraid Of Anymore: The Steelers and the Patriots. The Steelers have lost four in a row. Two of those games were against the Chiefs and the Raiders. Yeck. A Super Bowl caliber defense should not give up 21 in the fourth quarter against anyone, never mind the Raiders. The Patriots have gone from offensive juggernaut to one dementional. And on the defensive side they are inexperienced. Furthermore, Tom Brady apparently thinks it's ok to just chuck the ball to Randy Moss even when completely blanketed. Not only that, but Brady seems to be calling out his teammates out for not working hard. According to some sources he may be talking about the aforementioned Moss.

Please God, Please: Can we have a Saints vs. Colts Super Bowl? It seems like it's been a long time since we've seen a real battle of the big boys in the biggest game. Some people like underdogs. I want to see the two most dominant teams with the two nastiest QB's go blow for blow in the Super Bowl. AND how freaking cool would it be for both teams to be 18-0 going into the game?

File This One Under WTF: I am attempting to cultivate my own Buffalo wing sauce. Frank's Red Hot etc. just haven't been cutting it for me. Today as I was cutting up jalepenos and habeneros to put in the food processor, I decided to sample a piece of the raw habenero. Aaahh, Scoville Units!!!! Well, as I write, the sauce is simmering and the wings are roasting. Let's how this turns out.

Championship Sunday Round Up

• I usually know who to cheer for come Super Bowl time. But there are a lot of reasons to like both Arizona and Pittsburgh. Not least of which is that Warner and Roethlisberger are two of my favorite QB's.
• Roethlisberger can be maddening at times, the way he holds the ball ...and holds the ball. But yesterday he was at his slippery best without turning it over. His receivers, including Santonio Holmes in particular, did an awesome job of getting open once the play was busted. It was like sandlot football out there.
• People forget that in Kurt Warner's St. Louis days the running game was there to keep teams honest. They threw a lot obviously, but they also got huge chunks of yards on the ground and often had a team average of over 4.5 yards per carry. When Warner has that to help him, he's even more deadly. As opposed to Big Ben, he gets the ball out quick and is one of the most accurate passers in the game.
• This just in: Larry Fitzgerald is a monster. He's like Randy Moss without the baggage. Plus, as a bonus, he breaks tackles like Jerome Bettis. He is deceptively strong.
• It took Arizona this long to find a consistent winning formula. I don't know how, but the defense is playing much better. These certainly doesn't look like the same squad that surrendered 426 points this season. I kept waiting for an opponent to run all over them. It never happened. That combined with a commitment to the rush themselves are the reasons for their success.
• I can't help but feel bad for Donovan McNabb. The right thing to do is blow it all up now in Philly and get something in a trade for McNabb and even Westbrook. I can see a 5-11 season next year easily.
• I can envision McNabb having a lot of success on a team where he doesn't have to be the man. Minnesota would be perfect.
• Joe Flacco's inaccuracy finally caught up with him. As I said before, it was pretty remarkable how he was able to avoid turnovers with the way he sprays the ball all over the field.
• My thoughts and prayers are with Willis McGahee, who suffered a devastating hit yesterday. He was carted off the field on a stretcher. Fortunately, preliminary medical reports are that he is in good condition, but he will remain in the hospital for observations.
• I guess I have to stick with my pre-playoff Super Bowl Pick. Things didn't pan out exactly as I thought, but the Steelers seem poised to win their second championship in four seasons and their record setting sixth as a franchise. I think it will be a very close game with the Steeler defense making the one play they need. Steelers 24, Cardinals 17.

Ravens and Cardinals Move into Final Four

The Ravens and Cardinals moved into their Conference Championship games yesterday. I watched most of the Ravens game and they were completely outplayed. The scary Ravens defense was pushed around by the Titans offense line, but the Titans 3 turnovers, 2 in the red zone, were the difference. Another game changing event was the injury of Chris Johnson. The star  back did not play in the second half because of an ankle injury. This exposed the Titans biggest weakness, lack of an offensive playmaker. This should be their number 1 priority in the offseason. 

The Cardinals shocked everyone by crushing the Panthers 33-13 in Carolina. The Cardinal defense stepped up and had 6 takeaways. Jake Delhomme was awful throwing 5 picks to a slightly above average secondary. All the pundits thought Arizona didn't have a chance and it seems the Cardinals used that as very effective bulletin board material. 

The interesting aspect of the NFC playoffs is today's game Eagles v. Giants. If the Giants win, Arizona has to come East for the second week in a row and play in the unpredictable winds in the Meadowlands. The Giants would be the clear favorite. However, if the Eagles win, Arizona gets a home game against an Eagle team that will probably be beaten up considering the physical play expected in today's 1 pm game. Needless to say, the entire state of  Arizona has just become members of the D. McNabb fanclub. Expect a tough game, but the G-men are rested and playing at home. New York 20 Philly 13.

NFL Divisional Playoffs

I gave you all my thoughts on Giants vs. Eagles and Titans vs. Ravens in my last post. Now for the other two games, which I think are a lot easier to predict. First of all they feature my two Super Bowl teams that I picked at the start of the playoffs. Secondly these second seeds have much more favorable match ups as the Steelers and Panthers face a couple of fraud divisional winners in the Chargers and Cardinals respectively.

Both the Chargers and Cardinals have explosive capabities on offense. San Diego has been rejuvinated by Darren Sproles and the Cardinals passing game has its swagger back. (If I can digress for one minute, it appears that LT is nearing the end of the line. He is banged up and probably won't play Sunday, but beyond that his burst seems gone. I love LT as a player and person. He will probably end up in the HOF, but RB's sure to get old in a hurry once their time is up, don't they?) However, the playoffs are mostly about defense and the Steelers and Panthers have that in spades. They will find a way to make a stop, force a turnover, or get a sack at the right time to win these games.

The Steelers and Chargers played that Ed Hocchuli game early in the season and Pittsburgh won by a point. This will be a much talked about aspect of this weekend's game. Will it have any bearing on this playoff rematch? No, no, and no, so stop talking about it. The Chargers probably have as good a chance to pull an upset as anyone, but I just can't see it happening. I can see Phillip Rivers losing his mind after getting sacked for the fourth time though.

There is no way Arizona will be able to stop Carolina's running attack. If they hold Carolina under 140 yards, I will eat my hat. I know they corralled Michael Turner, but I can't envision them doing that two weeks in a row. Their body of work shows Arizona to be a poor defensive team. They allow 110 yard rushing per game, 16th in the NFL, and 426 points, 5th worst in the league and the worst of any team in the playoffs. One good game does not a season make.

Cardinals, Chargers make a fool of Dan

So far it's an inauspicious start for me and my playoff predictions.  I really thought that the Falcons would be able to run all over the Cardinals.  Instead Arizona held Michael Turner to 42 yards on 18 carries.  Their defense, whom I had bad-mouthed, even added a touchdown on top of it when they blew up a hand off in the third quarter and Antrelle Rolle returned the fumble all the way.  The Cardinals never relinquished the lead after that.

The MVP for the Chargers was arguably their punter, Mike Scifres, who consistently pinned the Colts in their own end.  The most impressive punt was the one that he boomed in the fourth with the Chargers down three that hit at the one and careened directly toward the sideline.  This put the Colts' backs against the wall for their last meaningful possession of the game and set up the Chargers with great field position to eventually get the tying field goal.  Then it was the Colts defense that killed them in overtime with penalties, allowing San Diego to drive deep in Indy territory.  Darren Sproles then atoned for an earlier red zone fumble with the winning TD run.  You can't say enough about what he meant in the absence of LT.  San Diego continues to have Indy's number as they have won four out the past five meetings.