Category — Football

All this commotion about the New York/New Jersey is ridiculous. When did the Superbowl become so political? Playing the Superbowl in a cold weather outdoor stadium is awesome to me (and I’m a fan of a warm weather/pass happy team). I know playing in the snow is not ideal but why does everything have to be perfect for the biggest game of the season? Everyone wants to party in a warm weather Miami type of place but this is the Superbowl, not vacation. Leave the warm weather and the parties for the Pro Bowl. The Superbowl should be about the game not the circus that surrounds the game. I’ve just realized this a rant…I’m fine with that. This is good for the Superbowl and the NFL. Over.

Donovan McNabb has been someone that I’ve always sympathized with. Here’s a guy that has been hearing boos since the day he’s been drafted. And that’s coming from his own fans. McNabb has not been a chump. He has great stats and keeps his team in contention year in and year out. Yet for some reason Philly fans hold him to some sort of crazy standard. So McNabb has been shipped within the division and Kevin Kolb inherits the burden of ridiculously high expectations. I hope Kolb, a UH alum, does well because if he doesn’t at least hit McNabbean numbers (3,000+ yrds, 20+ TDs, and around 85 QB rating) things will get ugly for him. (Poor Kolb is in a division with Romo, Eli and McNabb.) However McNabb is shipped the the elephant graveyard that is Washington. I hope the guy gets something nicer than a new Chunky Soup commercial.

Hey kids! After going 1-3 last week, I need to pick up my game and pick every game right if I want a winning record in the playoffs. It really hurts me that the only winner that I picked correctly last week was the Cowboys. And I had the Cardinals all wrong. I should have known that Kurt Warner was going to be playoff ready. Although, the Green Bay Packers almost won that game after being completely out of it. You can’t say that was a bad game, easily could be the best game of the playoffs.

Arizona at New Orleans

I don’t really know what to think of this game off the bat. The Saints have been my pick to go to the Super Bowl for most of the season. But the Cardinals offense, even without Anquan Boldin, is perhaps unstoppable. Their defense however seems to be pushovers. I’m going with the Saints because they have both a potent offense and defense. The only way the Saints can lose is if they break down.

Baltimore at Indianapolis

The Colts are a great team. Forget all that benching the starters stuff. Forget that they didn’t be part of history. All you have to know is that they want one thing and one thing only. They want to win the Super Bowl. That’s why they benched starters and decline an invitation to be ‘historic.’ The Colts are going to be ready to play. The Ravens aren’t chumps though and are ready to smack around the Colts offense. I think this will be a lower scoring game than most people think. However, Peyton ‘MVP’ Manning is going to pull through and win it for the Colts.

Dallas at Minnesota

No matter how hot the Cowboys are, I still think Vikings are a better team. I’m still waiting for the Cowboys and Tony Romo to fall apart and I’m picking that this is the game. The Vikings defense is intense and Jared Allen has put a target on Romo’s jersey. And how I forget to mention The Ol’ Gunslinger. Gunslinger is going in this game willing to do anything to win, even ignore Brad Childress’ playcalling…

New York Jets at San Diego

So right now I’m thinking to myself, I haven’t picked a wild card team to go on to the next round. And it’s not changing now. I think the Chargers are going to expose the Jets. The Jets play with a lot of emotion but are not as great of a team as they are made out to be. The Jets are a good story and have become media darlings but that doesn’t make them a good playoff team.

There it is.

After mailing off my picks to an unbiased accounting firm, it appears that in week seventeen I went 12-4. That’s the second week in a row I went 12-4, which is good. If I was a AFC team I could have easily got in the playoffs with a record like that. That means this season I went…(drum roll please) 163-91 (.641). Let the ticker tape parade begin, because that’s a pretty solid season. (Just image how better I could have picked if I wasn’t a Houston Texans fan.)

I’m just throwing this out there so take it however you want to: “The Sports Guy” Bill Simmons went 133-116-5 this year. I love “The Sports Guy” so this isn’t a crack on him, but Bill step it up next season.

It was a great season friends. I had fun. You had fun. It was a good time. Let’s enjoy the playoffs. I’ll see you later, I’m off to change my last name to UnoSeisTres-NueveUno.

Alright so let’s take a quick look at the wildcard matchups…

New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals

Everyone is going on and on about this game being tough on the Bengals for the beating they took last week. But the Bengals had nothing to play for and didn’t want to give away any “secrets” so that they could win the playoff game. The Bengals are just like that boxer that is cornered with his gloves up taking punch after punch only to lash out and beat the snot out of the other fighter. The Jets play with a lot of emotion but will probably fall short because of a unproven quarterback and a drop happy wide out. The Bengals are the better team, but this is still going to be a close game.

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys

This is the game that has me scratching my head the most. I think the Eagles are the better team and I hate the Cowboys with every fiber of my being, but I’d be a fool to say that there is any other team that is bringing this much fire into the playoffs. However, these Cowboys are not as good as some of the other Cowboys teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs in years past. As much as I hate to do it, I’m going with the Cowboys on this one. Although I really hope that Tony Romo finds a way to show that he’s still a bonehead. The Eagles have this game in the bag if ghost of playoffs past haunt Romo.

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

This year I feel like all of these matchups are almost too close to call. The Ravens defense has the edge in this game but you can’t count the Pats out (even with a possibly weak Wes Welker). The Pats proved in the Texans game last week that they have a potent backup for Welker should he need to sit out on plays. The Ravens offense is no joke either, Ray Rice is going to be all over this field today. I’m going with the Patriots because they are better coached. I think that the Ravens have more fire, but I have to go with the Pats here.

Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals

This is the only pick that I feel confident about. I think the Packers are going to push around the Cardinals. The Packers are hungry and I feel the Cards are on the decline and a little complacent.