NFL Playoffs

[ShadowedFlames]

Well, I'm happy. Ravens win, no Tom Brady demanding a new rule because of how important he thinks he is (this last is said with tongue firmly in cheek, mind ) and Baltimore didn't kill themselves with penalties.

 

All in all, I'm happy to call that a success and move on to Indy.

[totti]

Heartbreaking game for us Pack fans, but awesome to watch nonetheless. Warner was in a different class and when he's playing like that it doesn't matter how good of a defence you have, it wouldn't surprise me if they went all the way again. I think you have to give praise to Rodgers though, his numbers were incredible for somebody who through a pick with his first ever pass in the playoffs. Has to go down as one of the most exciting games in playoff history, it had everything. Hopefully we can have a good off season and come back stronger next year. I want us to sign a cornerback in the draft with Harris and Woodson aging, but I know we'll go offensive linemen.

 

Anyway my picks for the Divisionals. Hopefully I can go better than 2-2.

 

Ravens vs. Colts

This will be a close game because the Ravens will get pressure on Manning, but he's playing in a different class to everybody at the moment and you get the feeling that if he really has to then he'll drive down the field and put that ball in the end zone.

 

Jets vs. Chargers

Depends if Merriman and Phillips show up, but without Williams at nose tackle I think the Jets will probably run all over them all day anyway. However, the Chargers passing attack is a lot better than the Bengals and i'd trust Rivers and his recievers a lot more than Palmer and his the get it done.

 

Cowboys vs. Vikings

I was wrong to pick against Dallas last time and I think they can go out and upset the Vikings and their very poor secondary.

 

Cardinals vs. Saints

I don't think the Saints are as a good a team as they've been made out to be this season. The Cards coaching staff are so creative as shown against us and with Boldin added to the mix Warner has four great targets to look for. I'm calling another shootout here.

[lazorbeak]

Just watched the replay, Rodgers kicked it up to him. Heartbroken.

 

Did you see that Rodgers was pulled down by the mask before there was any change in possession? And here I thought late-game whistle swallowing was a problem only the NBA had.

[Wade]

Did you see that Rodgers was pulled down by the mask before there was any change in possession? And here I thought late-game whistle swallowing was a problem only the NBA had.

 

Yeah, I did. I chose not to harp on it, though, because there were a lot of blown calls on both sides of the ball.

 

 

As far as the Packers draft, the only OL I can see us going after would be a T. I'm pretty pleased with the youth/skill level of our interior linemen.

 

A corner would be nice, every time I see Tramon Williams play football, another hole is punched into my wall. He reminds me of Ahmad Carroll. I'll never forget when they made him practice with boxing gloves on so he would stop holding the receivers.

[BHK1978]

Okay here are my picks for next week.

 

Ravens vs. Colts

 

Ah the old Baltimore team vs. the new Baltimore team. I have to go with the Colts.

 

Jets vs. Chargers

 

Cowboys vs. Vikings

 

This is more of an I hate the Cowboys since the 1990's pick. That being said I do think that the Vikings can beat them.

 

Cardinals vs. Saints

 

 

As long as the Cowboys lose I am happy. I do not mind seeing any any of these teams winning the whole thing.

[totti]

Yeah, I did. I chose not to harp on it, though, because there were a lot of blown calls on both sides of the ball.

 

 

As far as the Packers draft, the only OL I can see us going after would be a T. I'm pretty pleased with the youth/skill level of our interior linemen.

 

A corner would be nice, every time I see Tramon Williams play football, another hole is punched into my wall. He reminds me of Ahmad Carroll. I'll never forget when they made him practice with boxing gloves on so he would stop holding the receivers.

 

Our line is fine when we have Clifton and Tauscher at tackle, but those two are getting pretty old so I wouldn't say no to a good young tackle. Hopefully we can trade up a bit and get one of the better ones in the draft.

 

I think Williams could be decent in the future but he has nowhere near what it takes to replace a player like Al Harris at the moment. Hopefully Harris will stay on for another season, but hes starting to get old now.

 

Everything else is fine by me though, those are the two positions they need to be looking for.

[Remianen]

I want us to sign a cornerback in the draft with Harris and Woodson aging, but I know we'll go offensive linemen.

 

Have to go O-line. Injuries in that area largely decimates a team without good depth.

 

As far as the Packers draft, the only OL I can see us going after would be a T. I'm pretty pleased with the youth/skill level of our interior linemen.

 

A corner would be nice, every time I see Tramon Williams play football, another hole is punched into my wall. He reminds me of Ahmad Carroll. I'll never forget when they made him practice with boxing gloves on so he would stop holding the receivers.

 

Again I harp on depth. "Pretty pleased" doesn't cut it when three starters miss time and you're stuck with waiver wire fodder to protect your crown jewel. I'll give Aaron Rodgers all the credit in the world for playing behind that abysmal group. He's got grit. Sure, not Philip Rivers playing in the playoffs with a torn ACL grit, but that's once in a lifetime, throwback style stuff. Rodgers could be scary good if given time. But having your quarterback sacked 50 times a season doesn't allow him to be scary good.

 

Our line is fine when we have Clifton and Tauscher at tackle, but those two are getting pretty old so I wouldn't say no to a good young tackle. Hopefully we can trade up a bit and get one of the better ones in the draft.

 

I think Williams could be decent in the future but he has nowhere near what it takes to replace a player like Al Harris at the moment. Hopefully Harris will stay on for another season, but hes starting to get old now.

 

For a team like the Pack, I don't think trading up would really be the answer. They're good already, with just a few holes to plug. I think quantity would serve them better than selling out for a little more quality. They could use more depth in several areas (like someone to spell Ryan Grant). The Giants won a Super Bowl with 'Earth, Wind, and Fire' and everyone since has tried to build the same thing (the Ravens are a good example). The Titans are going to dump LenDale White and for a 4th or 5th round pick, he might offer some value. Also, a huge trend this year is going to be athletic college quarterbacks who can do other things (see: Edelman, Brad Smith, Josh Cribbs, even Mike Vick and Pat White). With the pressure defenses are continuing to bring, offenses are looking for wrinkles to exploit those tendencies.

 

I like the Pack personnel wise. They just NEED to improve that O-line (interior and on the corners) and they need to groom replacements for Woodson and Harris. They'll probably need to do it via the draft too since an uncapped league does not play to the Packers' organizational strengths. But some of their needs can be fulfilled cheaply, like a breakaway threat on special teams (see: Knox, Johnny).

[BHK1978]

Wow I did think the the Jets would win! And even though I am not a Jets fan, I am still happy that they won if only to piss off the Patriots fans.

[AfRoMaN36]

Do you believe in miracles?

[Remianen]

Wow I did think the the Jets would win! And even though I am not a Jets fan, I am still happy that they won if only to piss off the Patriots fans.

 

Confession time!

 

While I'm not a Jets fan, I am a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE Rex Ryan fan. A few years ago, some friends and I sat down and watched tape of the Ravens and wow. This man schemes like a mad scientist. I think him and Jim Johnson (RIP) are/were the best D-coords in the league. That's not to say Dick LeBeau sucks (obviously he doesn't) but those two find ways to blitz from the oddest angles with the weirdest timing imaginable. Throw in his personality and I might have to pick up a green & white number.

 

But the thing that's probably going to kill them against the Colts is the person wearing the #6 jersey. Well that plus the fact that Thomas Jones appears to have lost....Thomas Jones. But at least Shonn is fresh.

[BHK1978]

Do you believe in miracles?

 

Hey it happened to the Giants two years ago, why not the Jets?

 

Oh and with that my picks:

 

Jets vs. Colts

 

Sorry AfRoMaN but I am not sure I believe in this miracle. This will not be a repeat of Super Bowl III.

 

Vikings vs. Saints

 

Could see this going either way but I would like to see the Aints finally get into a Super Bowl. And that is just because of the team's history, they have stunk for far to long.

[AfRoMaN36]

Confession time!

 

While I'm not a Jets fan, I am a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE Rex Ryan fan. A few years ago, some friends and I sat down and watched tape of the Ravens and wow. This man schemes like a mad scientist. I think him and Jim Johnson (RIP) are/were the best D-coords in the league. That's not to say Dick LeBeau sucks (obviously he doesn't) but those two find ways to blitz from the oddest angles with the weirdest timing imaginable. Throw in his personality and I might have to pick up a green & white number.

 

But the thing that's probably going to kill them against the Colts is the person wearing the #6 jersey. Well that plus the fact that Thomas Jones appears to have lost....Thomas Jones. But at least Shonn is fresh.

 

You still have a good one-two combination despite Jones not being at 100%. They will need it too because Sanchez cannot out-quarterback Manning. But the Jets can out defend the Colts. They need to keep their receivers on Revis Island and muster points wherever they can get them as they did today. They hung in there on week 16 even when Manning was in the game, and being a die-hard I hope they can pull the upset here.

[dcxbox]

Hey it happened to the Giants two years ago, why not the Jets?

 

Oh and with that my picks:

 

Jets vs. Colts

 

Sorry AfRoMaN but I am not sure I believe in this miracle. This will not be a repeat of Super Bowl III.

 

Vikings vs. Saints

 

Could see this going either way but I would like to see the Aints finally get into a Super Bowl. And that is just because of the team's history, they have stunk for far to long.

 

saints have had good teams before but always **** up at this point. i fear next week. im a fan and will be in the dome for the game have my tickets. but i just dunno if they can beat the vikings. i was hoping for the cowboys i think we had a chance ina re match. unless farve suddenly retires before the game, i just dunno

[Remianen]

You still have a good one-two combination despite Jones not being at 100%. They will need it too because Sanchez cannot out-quarterback Manning. But the Jets can out defend the Colts. They need to keep their receivers on Revis Island and muster points wherever they can get them as they did today. They hung in there on week 16 even when Manning was in the game, and being a die-hard I hope they can pull the upset here.

 

Problem with this thinking.

 

In Rex's scheme, Revis is responsible for ONE receiver, for the whole game. Against the Colts, that one receiver is going to be Reggie Wayne. But that doesn't help them at all since Lito can't shutdown Pierre or Austin and none of their linebackers can cover Dallas Clark without lots of help. One of the hallmarks of Rex's schemes is having one very high quality/shutdown corner as that allows you to bring pressure from the safeties and the linebackers. He had Chris McAllister and Samari Rolle (and a past his prime Prime Time) in Baltimore, Darrelle Revis here.

 

That's mainly what I'm looking forward to seeing, how Rex schemes to cover that defense's shortcomings. I firmly believe that if you manage to hit Peyton a handful of times, the Colts will change their gameplan to prevent that (by going with max protect schemes), even if they're torching you in the passing game. Problem is, he rarely gets sacked and even more rarely gets battered. I know one thing, they'd better bring hellish pressure from the very first snap. Jim Leonhard is not the person I'd want man-up on Dallas Clark for an extended period of time.

 

I'm going with the Colts and Vikings (only because I think the Vikes are going to hit Drew Brees a lot and that's the easiest way to throw a QB off).

[CQI13]

By default, I'll be rooting for the Saints...though this might be the first Super Bowl since Baltimore/NYG that I decide to skip. I don't find any of the teams compelling enough.

 

The Jets are the Jets.

The Colts quit at the end of the season, because "undefeated is not historically significant."

I hate Brett Favre.

So that leaves the Saints, but they have Reggie Bush. Lesser of 4 evils I guess.

[Johnny Fenoli]

By default, I'll be rooting for the Saints...though this might be the first Super Bowl since Baltimore/NYG that I decide to skip. I don't find any of the teams compelling enough.

 

The Jets are the Jets.

The Colts quit at the end of the season, because "undefeated is not historically significant."

I hate Brett Favre.

So that leaves the Saints, but they have Reggie Bush. Lesser of 4 evils I guess.

 

WOW, skip the Super Bowl, all together? I couldnt do that, even if there's two junior high teams playing.

 

I'm in your boat now too, cheering for the Saints... They're closest to me, and have never won the super bowl. I HATE the colts, HATE... The vikings just beat my Cowboys... The Jets, are futher away... So, Saints it is. I'm hoping for a Saints vs Jets super bowl.

[jbergey_2005]

Funny stuff.

 

So 3 out of the 4 best teams throughout the season are left and a team has numerous storylines around them(Jets) and you guys arent excited for the possible super bowl matchup. Is it possible that you just dont like the NFL period?

 

I am just curious as what some of you would feel is a good Super Bowl matchup?

 

Would the Cowboys/Raiders do it for you?

[jbergey_2005]

WOW, skip the Super Bowl, all together? I couldnt do that, even if there's two junior high teams playing.

 

I'm in your boat now too, cheering for the Saints... They're closest to me, and have never won the super bowl. I HATE the colts, HATE... The vikings just beat my Cowboys... The Jets, are futher away... So, Saints it is. I'm hoping for a Saints vs Jets super bowl.

 

I sat next to a few Cowboy fans at the game yesterday. They were great people and handled everything really well considering how annoying it must have been for them having to deal with that loud dome and the fact that The Cowboys didnt bring their best effort. Most of the stuck out the entire game which is another thing I was very impressed by.

 

I gained a lot of respect for Cowboy fans yesterday.

[GruntMark]

Funny stuff.

 

So 3 out of the 4 best teams throughout the season are left and a team has numerous storylines around them(Jets) and you guys arent excited for the possible super bowl matchup. Is it possible that you just dont like the NFL period?

 

I am just curious as what some of you would feel is a good Super Bowl matchup?

 

Would the Cowboys/Raiders do it for you?

 

The Cowboys are the most popular team in America.

 

And the Raiders are more popular than...at least the Saints.

 

So yes, I would say some people would be more interested in seeing those two teams in the Super Bowl.

 

Is it possible that in a league of 32 its come down to 4 teams that some folks just dont care about? I guess we should all just jump on a bandwagon...

[The Final Countdown]

The Cowboys are the most popular team in America.

 

And the Raiders are more popular than...at least the Saints.

 

So yes, I would say some people would be more interested in seeing those two teams in the Super Bowl.

 

Is it possible that in a league of 32 its come down to 4 teams that some folks just dont care about? I guess we should all just jump on a bandwagon...

Even if the Raiders are more popular than the Saints...would you really rather see JaMarcus Russell in the Super Bowl than Drew Brees?

[jbergey_2005]

The Cowboys are the most popular team in America.

 

And the Raiders are more popular than...at least the Saints.

 

So yes, I would say some people would be more interested in seeing those two teams in the Super Bowl.

 

Is it possible that in a league of 32 its come down to 4 teams that some folks just dont care about? I guess we should all just jump on a bandwagon...

 

And that is why I used the Cowboys as an example.

 

Has nothing to do with jumping on the bandwagon. I was under the impression that you played the season and went through the playoffs so you could come up with a matchup from the best team in each conference in which the average NFL fan would be excited about.

 

The #4(Colts), #10(Vikings), #20(Jets), and #24(Saints) in popularity are still left so its not like the Colts vs the Vikings with 2 Hall of Fame QBs wouldnt make an popular matchup if that is what you are looking for.

 

If you cant get excited to watch the Main Event of the NFL season because your favorite team isnt in it of course that is fine but it doesnt make sense to me. My favorite team hasnt been to the Super Bowl since I was 3 years old but that doesnt keep me from enjoying the game every year.

[BHK1978]

If you cant get excited to watch the Main Event of the NFL season because your favorite team isnt in it of course that is fine but it doesnt make sense to me. My favorite team hasnt been to the Super Bowl since I was 3 years old but that doesnt keep me from enjoying the game every year.

 

I have a bit of a confession, I have missed like ten Super Bowls. There were a whole stretch of them from the late 90's to early 00's that I missed. Either due to not caring about who was in the Super Bowl (Flacons vs. Broncos, Chargers vs. 49ers) or just missing it because I had to work.

 

In fact the Super Bowl kind of annoys me, because the game is usually a blow out. All though in recent years they have been pretty good (like when the Giants beat the Pats!!!!). Also, you have all these people who know nothing about football watching the Super Bowl. I have a friend (yes I have friends) who hates football but come Super Bowl Sunday he shows up wanting to watch the Super Bowl.

 

Also, I hate the fact that everybody talks about how many Super Bowls teams have won. What the NFL and AFL championships don't count? I mean the Giants won four NFL titles but nobody ever talks about that. No the only thing that seems to matter is their three Super Bowl wins.

 

Honestly, if given the chance I would much rather watch a World Series game. But then again I am a baseball mark. And thus ends yet another one of my off topic rants.

[The Final Countdown]

I think it's actually pretty remarkable how many great (or competitive, at the very least) Super Bowls there have been over the last 10 years or so.

[GruntMark]

Even if the Raiders are more popular than the Saints...would you really rather see JaMarcus Russell in the Super Bowl than Drew Brees?

 

I wouldnt. But then Im not a Raiders fan.

 

I just think its alittle naive to say that you arent an NFL fan if you arent hyped about every Super Bowl.

 

If it ends up being the Saints vs New Yorks B Team...thats just not that interesting.

 

There have been plenty of Superbowls that have been hard to get hyped about unless you are a fan of one of the franchises involved. Rematch of Cowboys vs Bills following the year Dallas destroyed them? Or Ravens vs Giants? Good teams, but terribly boring. Hard to think of a weaker Super Bowl QB combo than Dilfer and Collins.

[Remianen]

And that is why I used the Cowboys as an example.

 

Has nothing to do with jumping on the bandwagon. I was under the impression that you played the season and went through the playoffs so you could come up with a matchup from the best team in each conference in which the average NFL fan would be excited about.

 

The #4(Colts), #10(Vikings), #20(Jets), and #24(Saints) in popularity are still left so its not like the Colts vs the Vikings with 2 Hall of Fame QBs wouldnt make an popular matchup if that is what you are looking for.

 

If you cant get excited to watch the Main Event of the NFL season because your favorite team isnt in it of course that is fine but it doesnt make sense to me. My favorite team hasnt been to the Super Bowl since I was 3 years old but that doesnt keep me from enjoying the game every year.

 

*shrug* I don't think anyone has a problem with your amended statement. But saying a person isn't an NFL fan if they don't lose their freakin' minds over the possible Super Bowl matchups is, well, daft. I don't particularly care for the possible matchups from the teams remaining, does that mean I'm not a fan at all? Even though I can diagram the 'go-to' play for every franchise's offense (which typically means I watch far more game tape than the 'casual fan')? Why is JaMarcus's contract such a boondoggle for his team and the league in general? Bring out all the Super Bowl fans who can answer that one.

 

I tend to get more excited about the draft than I do about the Super Bowl. I think that's where the visionaries earn their keep.

 

I wouldnt. But then Im not a Raiders fan.

 

I just think its alittle naive to say that you arent an NFL fan if you arent hyped about every Super Bowl.

 

If it ends up being the Saints vs New Yorks B Team...thats just not that interesting.

 

There have been plenty of Superbowls that have been hard to get hyped about unless you are a fan of one of the franchises involved. Rematch of Cowboys vs Bills following the year Dallas destroyed them? Or Ravens vs Giants? Good teams, but terribly boring. Hard to think of a weaker Super Bowl QB combo than Dilfer and Collins.

 

To be fair, the Super Bowl you cite wasn't about the quarterbacks. It was more about could either offense score at all against their respective defenses (especially after the Vikings game). Defensive players don't tend to win MVP in that game unless either the quarterbacks were weak AND the defensive player had an outstanding game. Happened.

 

I think I'd like to see the Jets face the Saints but only to see how Rex schemes against that offense given the (relative) lack of top shelf talent.