The winner of the 2007 Vince Lombardy trophy will be the San Diego Chargers. They have the entire package: offense, defense, and special teams. Plus I think it's about time for Marty Schottenheimer to prove his critics wrong by keeping his head out of his ass for entire playoff series. Sorry to the Ravens, who are my second choice to win if the Chargers chartered plane crashes during the playoffs. Sorry also to the rest of the AFC which are just pretenders this year (and especially those Colts who failed to notice you have to keep your opponent's point totals under the total you score in order to win).
Ah, the NFC, what can you say? The Cowboys come into the playoffs a beaten squad who, from head coach down to waterboy, don't have a clue what happened to them. Any team which loses in a game that matters to the Detroit Lions doesn't deserve to be in the playoffs anyhow. So, Sayonara to T.O. and Jerry Jones better hope that Parcells returns after T.O. gets let go. The Seahawks should slap a bright new bandage on their ego with an easy win over Dallas and then play sacrificial lamb the following week.
New Orleans is the feel good story of 2006, indeed. Drew Brees goes to the Saints and excels. Reggie Bush becomes the man of the future. An entire downtrodden community has something to lift its spirits. Unfortunately, that was 2006 and the playoffs are in 2007 where each and every game matters and teams like the Eagles aren't going to go brain dead the second half and let them squeeze out a victory. Da Bears would be the logical choice from the NFC if they weren't dinged on defense and screwed at QB.
Will Tiki manage to pull another personal best out of the bag for the playoffs? Could be, but doubtful. Facts are that the Eagles handled Tiki well the first two times they played. Shockey might play, but he hasn't really been much of a factor in any Eagles-Giants matchup of late. And Plexico Burress without Amani Toomer as another receiver threat becomes Plexiglass Burress. The Eagles should handle the Giants easily this weekend. A healthy Westbrook and Garcia behind an offensive line that's playing killer football should have the Giants defenders wondering what happened to them (and keep that "deer in the headlights" look that Coughlin's been favoring pasted on his face).
Illegitimi non carborundum.
2
 1
|
Re: Mark This Down.
Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 07:38:20 PM EST
5.00 (informative)
|
The winner of the 2007 Vince Lombardy trophy will be the San Diego Chargers.
I'm just not so sure of that. Sure Schottzy has changed his Martyball ways here in the regular season but when push comes to shove in the waning minutes of an afc championship game -- even in sunny San Diego -- which tactics will he fall back on? People are seriously sleeping on the Ravens. They've got the defense and the old vet quarterback willing to give his entire body to the game. Rivers still makes the occassional, "I'm still feeling this thing out," mistake of a first year starter, even if he did show incredible grit playing the second half of last Sunday's game on a severly sprained ankle. I know SD has a defense, too, but that Baltimore D wins games all by itself and this year for once they haven't had too. Still, I'm picking SD, too :-)
The only picks I haven't settled on are the AFC first round matchups. I think they're a moot point, though, because those top 2 seeds in the AFC are probably far and away the best two teams in the NFL and will almost certainly face each other in the championship game. I wish KC and the Jets would upset Indi and the Pats but those would be two seriously playoff experienced teams for those relative newbies to take care of, the LJ factor not withstanding.
Over in the NFC, I think Dallas will find SOME way of staunching the blood letting in their defensive backfield even if Parcells has to play d-back himself. They did hold the NFL's #2 offense in Philly to its least impressive offensive performance since that Monday night massacre in Indi. Philly had damn well better beat New York, if only so that I no longer have to look at Coughlin's shocked face on an NFL sideline. Too bad he can't take the douche Eli with him. With Strahan and Shockey, is that not the best sideline in the league for entertaining facial expressions?
I do see Dallas (or anyone else with two pages of a football playbook to rub together) dispatching Chicago but I can't see Philadelphia (or anyone else) upsetting a rested New Orleans squad in the Super Dome so I guess that puts them in the Super Bowl to face SD. I'm holding out hope Philly can still run the table, though :-)
escalators never fail; they just become stairs
4
1
|
Re: Mark This Down.
Wed Jan 03, 2007 at 08:36:02 PM EST
5.00 (informative)
|
Sayonara to T.O. and Jerry Jones better hope that Parcells returns after T.O. gets let go.
Somebody brought up the idea recently that nobody can really have TO on their team after this because of what he'll do but that his talent is so undeniable, people might sign him for a couple weeks, let him go, maybe bring him back a little later if he's still available, etc. The whole situation is so bizarrely unthinkable because it's such a singular situation. But then, TO is a singular situation and it seems like that's all he really wants -- one way or another to be stand out and be different. Is it possible, some team might pay TO not to play and then unleash him during the playoffs or something like that?
Just because he's such a media whipping boy, I try to like the guy but I was re-watching the '98 wild card game when he made the catch with 8 seconds left against Green Bay and the guy is bawling at the end of that game, literally bawling in the arms of his coach to the point where Mariuci is like, dude, get over it. I mean he just saved Mooch's job and the guy's reaction goes from "yes we won" to "dude calm down" in half a second. He's just so exceedingly weird, nearly to a Michael Jackson level (relatively speaking -- the guy is a model citizen who doesn't even drink among a league of thugs off the field) in the degree to which he's a total pariah among his co-workers. But that only made me think -- is this what the age of media over-exposure does to people? Or just our image of people?
So anything really is possible in how the NFL as a collective will react to TO. Seriously, who would sign the guy? Miami's new coach. Hey bring back Ricky, too, introduce them to each other and hope they cancel each other out? Maybe Ricky can get TO smoking to calm the f down. The weed has worked better than TO's anti-depressants for most of my friends. Denver -- is Shanahan that desperate? Oakland -- could Randy Moss be the only alpha dog in the league able to put TO's ego in check?
escalators never fail; they just become stairs
Well, this wasn't Pittsburgh's year, but since I live in northern Delaware now I guess I can be happy that the Eagles are having a good year. My personal desire would be a San Diego vs. New Orleans Super Bowl. The teams seem to match up well and it shouldn't be boring since both have explosive offenses. The other good matchup would be a Bears vs. Ravens game - but if that did happen, is it possible for the Super Bowl to end in a nothing-nothing tie? Here are my picks (winners in all caps):
AFC Wild Card Round
KANSAS CITY vs Indianapolis
Two words to explain why Indy won't make it past the first round - Larry Johnson.
NEW ENGLAND vs New York
Two great coaches, but I think the Patriots just have a more talented team. Mangini will get a ring before he retires, but not this year.
NFC Wild Card Round
DALLAS vs Seattle
The Cowboys should win this one, but I don't have a lot of confidence in this pick - still, how can you pick a Seattle team that only managed a 9-7 record, even though they're in the worst division in the NFL?
PHILADELPHIA vs New York
The Eagles have the Giant's number - sad to say, but Tiki's going into early retirement.
AFC Divisional Round
SAN DIEGO vs Kansas City
The Chargers lost a close one to the Chiefs early in the season, but they handled them easily in week 15 - no reason to suspect things will change in the playoffs.
BALTIMORE vs New England
Belichick's decision to cut his entire receiver corp at the end of last season dooms the Pats in this game. Baltimore's run defense is absolutely stifling, and while I think Brady could handle the pass rush if he had a good rapport with his receivers, their relative inexperience will mean that they won't always be ready for him to throw the hot route or to catch the dump off pass.
NFC Divisional Round
CHICAGO vs Dallas
All the matchups favor the Bears - that said, all the matchups favored Chicago last year and they still managed to lose to Carolina. Hopefully another year's experience will keep them moving on to the Championship Game.
PHILADELPHIA vs New Orleans
This could go either way, but I'm calling the Eagles because they have more playoff experience and probably better team chemistry than a relatively young New Orleans team.
AFC Championship
BALTIMORE vs San Diego
The Ravens defense is just too good for a first year quarterback, and even LT can't carry it alone against such a dominant run defense.
NFC Championship
CHICAGO vs Philadelphia
Tough game to call, but I think the Bears should be able to run the ball against Philadelphia, and I think Chicago's talented linebacker corp matches up well against an Eagles team that relies on quick, short passes.
Super Bowl
BALTIMORE vs Chicago
This is one for the true fans - two dominant defenses and two offenses based on the run and on fundamentals of the game. Great for those of us who care, but will probably end up going down as one of the most boring Super Bowls ever. Which, of course, means that the final score will be 55-49.
Ce n'est pas une pipe. C'est une signature.
Nick Saban left Miami for the lucrative playing fields up in Alabama. Art Shell got the ax in Oakland, but Al Davis wants to find a position so he can remain a "valued member of the Raider family." I'm thinking, Al could make him a greeter at the team dressing room as a life-sized reminder of what happens to you when you go 2-14. The GM at Tennessee resigned just ahead of getting canned. I wonder if Jeff Fisher will be long in his job? Bill Cowher resigned to spend more time with his family. I wonder if the Giants throw up a massive turd on Sunday whether Coughlin won't be shown the door?
But head coaching jobs are like a revolving door in the NFL and Mora is already talking to the Dolphins. If Fisher does get the ax, he probably won't have any trouble finding another gig. Cowher, if he's not just suffering from Steel City rust, might be enticed to coach elsewhere. I doubt that anyone is going to hire Denny Green to do much of anything, but then I figured Ray Rhoads was coaching road kill after his stay in Philly.
Illegitimi non carborundum.
Wild Cards first.
Pats - Jets: Pats win and cover whatever the spread is. Brady lives for this stuff. The Jets are young, exciting, and done in one.
KC - Indy: Peyton gets wild, the Colts' D is tired of being humiliated, and Indy pulls out a shootout win.
Cowboys - Seahawks: Dallas is out of magic, chemistry, and tranquilizers. Seattle is out of cornerbacks. This game will stink, but Seattle pulls it out.
Eagles - Giants: The Giants haven't shown up for a game in weeks, don't know why they'd start now. Eagles.
Second round:
Chargers - Pats: Chargers win easily. Take the over.
Ravens - Indy: Ravens win easily. Take the under.
Bears - Seahawks: Seahawks in a big upset. The Bears are the least-well-equipped team in the league to take advantage of Seattle's broken secondary, and Seattle can run on the Bears.
Saints - Eagles: The Eagles have looked great, but Garcia's magic runs out here.
League Championships:
Chargers - Ravens: The two best teams meet here in a pick-em game. Ravens win a close one because they can shut down anyone's running game, and if Rivers has to carry the Chargers, he will be tortured by the Ravens' secondary. This time it will be low-scoring, unlike the regular-season shootout these teams had.
Saints - Seahawks: Saints win easily.
Super Bowl:
Ravens - Saints: The whole world is rooting for the Saints. The Ravens know this, and shut the Saints out.
I'm just amused at the icon used for this story. :)
This is not a signature.
The Chiefs are not going to do much this postseason... I can accept that. I think they have a puncher's chance against Indy, but can't see them getting past the Chargers in San Diego even if they do advance.
Having said that, last Sunday's unexpected turn of events with everything falling in place and 3 home teams blowing games to allow the Chiefs into the playoffs was one of the single most entertaining sporting days I've observed in my entire life, maybe going back to KU winning the '88 final four.
That's a quote from Mike Holmgren, coach of the Seattle Seahawks, at the unbelievable moment which sent the Cowboys scurrying for tee times at various golf clubs around the country. He then added, "just another entry for the journal." He was referring to Tony Romo's mishandling of a snap from center for what would have been a game-winning field goal (actually not any more challenging than an extra point) in the final minutes of the Cowboy-Seahawk matchup yesterday. From obscure back up to savior of the team to nationally televised goat; this was the arc of Romo's life this year. Actually, the Cowboys played a much better game than I thought possible from them, thereby negating my prediction for an easy win by the Seahawks. It's fairly obvious to me that whomever the Seahawks play next week, Chicago or the Saints, they're going down and going down hard. But then, I did foresee that easy Seahawk victory here, didn't I?
Illegitimi non carborundum.
