Alrighty, here we go Super Bowl XLIII. Arizona is the underdog as they have been in every game of the post-season, it seems to be like a fine position for the Cards to be playing from. I saw this interview with John Madden yesterday and he said something that makes you realize what is so great about the Super Bowl, he said analysts and people are not predicting the winner, they are guessing. Think about that statement, "they are not predicting they are guessing." This is the beauty of the Super Bowl, it comes down to the best two teams in the league in one game to decide who is the world champions. No other teams in the league matter right now, the Titans started 11-0 doesn't matter, the Colts won 11 straight doesn't matter, Dolphins won 10 more games this year than last year doesn't matter. Ask Peyton Manning or Tom Brady if they would rather be in Big Ben's shoes right now than their own, I'm sure they would say they would rather be in his. It does not matter that the Cards went 9-7 in the regular season or that the Steelers had the best rated defense in the league, all that matters is what happens in the 60 minutes played on Sunday. That is why this is the most popular thing on television all year, nobody knows what is going to happen, Hines Ward doesn't know, Kurt Warner doesn't know, John Madden doesn't know, Al Michaels doesn't know, nobody knows. Company's pay millions of dollars for seconds of air time during this game, imagine that, "Oh here, here is 10 million dollars let me put some frogs saying Bud-Weis-Er on the screen for 30 seconds," that is how big the Super Bowl is. It is bigger than the Kentucky Derby, bigger than the Indy 500, bigger than the World Series, the NBA Finals, and the Stanley Cup, you get seven games in those sports in football you get one, one game that will be remembered forever. The entire country will be tuned in Sunday afternoon to see what team does it this year and which team will be enshrined in history amongst the greatest teams ever. So like Madden says, I will not be making a prediction this week, I will be making a guess: I am guessing that the Arizona Cardinals will end their 61 year drought of not having a title and win this Sunday. I have nothing but great things to say about both teams but I think the big play ability of Arizona will be the difference and Kurt Warner will win his second Super Bowl MVP solidifying his spot amongst the games greatest ever in the Hall of Fame. Enjoy the game everyone, I know I will.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Cinderella Cards Continue Quest...
The way the atmosphere in Glendale was you would have thought the Cards had never played in a conference championship before, and yea that is the truth. Once again it was Larry, Larry, and Larry, 3tds in the first half. Warner came out on fire hooking up with his main man several times in the first half opening up a good lead on the Eagles. The Eagles showed their resiliency in the second half and mounted a good comeback but Kurt Warner played near flawlessly orchestrating a 14 play near 8 minute drive in the fourth quarter to put the game just out of reach for the Eagles. The game was not flawless for the Cards though, a blowup between O-coordinator and Anquan Boldin put a small damper on the biggest win in the franchises history. The Cards say this blowup does not matter and will not affect them in the Super Bowl. I like this Todd Haley guy and I think he handled it the right way, he did not walk away from Boldin he gave it right back to him and Anquan shut up. I could not disagree more with the people who say the coordinator should call plays from the booth so incidences on the sideline like this do not happen, if Haley would have been in the booth Boldin would have been screaming at someone else and the situation could have escalated even more. When you have a coordinator like Todd Haley who is not afraid to get back in the face of one of the team's stars it reminds the entire team that no single player is bigger then the team or the goal of the team, Jason Garrett and T.O. are you listening...? Boldin is a class act and it was a heat of the moment type thing and I do not think it should affect them in the Super Bowl.
About the Steelers, what can you say, they are the Steelers. Controlled the ball, did not turn it over, and Big Ben made the big plays when you needed the big plays. Hines Ward's injury took away Ben's go to guy but that did not matter Santonio Holmes stepped up big. Troy Polamalu showed Ed Reed that there is another safety that can pick the ball off and take it to the house, this play by Polamalu sealed the victory. As I expected Flacco got a little rattled in this one, I am not going to blame it on him being a rookie though, Pittsburgh's defense is so good they could have done that against almost every quarterback in the league.
About the Steelers, what can you say, they are the Steelers. Controlled the ball, did not turn it over, and Big Ben made the big plays when you needed the big plays. Hines Ward's injury took away Ben's go to guy but that did not matter Santonio Holmes stepped up big. Troy Polamalu showed Ed Reed that there is another safety that can pick the ball off and take it to the house, this play by Polamalu sealed the victory. As I expected Flacco got a little rattled in this one, I am not going to blame it on him being a rookie though, Pittsburgh's defense is so good they could have done that against almost every quarterback in the league.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Feelin' Kinda SUNDAY!
Heavyweight fight in the AFC and battle of the veteran QBs in the NFC. First off I want to point out a few things that most analysts are forgetting to mention right about now: It is a general consensus among people like Ron Jaworski, Stephen A. Smith, and Skip Bayless that this is a quaterback driven league and that games are won in the passing game, lets look at what has happened come playoff time. The top passers with the exception of Kurt Warner are vacationing watching these games on the television, no Peyton, no Brees, no Rivers, no Romo, no Favre, no Cutler. Lets look at the teams that are left Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Philly, 3 of the best 4 defenses in the league, and Arizona a mediocre defense in the regular season is playing with urgency and in 2 playoff games has a +7 turnover differential. Looks like this quarterback driven league is run off the road by the stand up defenses come playoff time.
Philly vs. Arizona: On Thanksgiving Arizona went into Philadelphia and got embarrassed, do not expect a blowout in the NFC Championship. Arizona was on a short weeks rest and had to travel across the country with little gameplan. Look at that game, there defensive gameplan was very bland and McNabb and Westbrook diced them up. The Cards got in a hole early and couldn't climb out. The difference in this one should be which defense can force the other team's QB into more mistakes.
Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore: Pittsburgh 2-0 vs. Baltimore this season, do not listen to that stuff that it is hard to beat a team 3 times in one season. It is hard to beat any team in the playoffs despite what happened in the regular season. All that 2-0 means is you had their number. Pittsburgh should have the edge, their Super Bowl team is almost entirely entact besides Bill Cowher and Jerome Bettis, it has been a few more years for Baltimore although their recipe for winning is very similar to that of their Super Bowl year. Both defenses are very stingy when it comes to giving up points, it should come down to who scores touchdowns and not field goals.
Picks: NFC game I think is literally 50/50 but I am going with the Cards at home and hopefully my boy Warner building that hall of fame resume.
AFC game should be an old fashioned slobberknocker but I think Flacco will show he is human and the Pittsburgh D will take advantage of the rookie, I'm taking Pittsburgh.
Philly vs. Arizona: On Thanksgiving Arizona went into Philadelphia and got embarrassed, do not expect a blowout in the NFC Championship. Arizona was on a short weeks rest and had to travel across the country with little gameplan. Look at that game, there defensive gameplan was very bland and McNabb and Westbrook diced them up. The Cards got in a hole early and couldn't climb out. The difference in this one should be which defense can force the other team's QB into more mistakes.
Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore: Pittsburgh 2-0 vs. Baltimore this season, do not listen to that stuff that it is hard to beat a team 3 times in one season. It is hard to beat any team in the playoffs despite what happened in the regular season. All that 2-0 means is you had their number. Pittsburgh should have the edge, their Super Bowl team is almost entirely entact besides Bill Cowher and Jerome Bettis, it has been a few more years for Baltimore although their recipe for winning is very similar to that of their Super Bowl year. Both defenses are very stingy when it comes to giving up points, it should come down to who scores touchdowns and not field goals.
Picks: NFC game I think is literally 50/50 but I am going with the Cards at home and hopefully my boy Warner building that hall of fame resume.
AFC game should be an old fashioned slobberknocker but I think Flacco will show he is human and the Pittsburgh D will take advantage of the rookie, I'm taking Pittsburgh.
Sanchez bouncing...STRAIGHT UP
Straight up this is a great decision to forgo the 5th season at USC and go to the NFL. Think about this for a minute, Sam Bradford is staying at Oklahoma. This means Sanchez will only be battling with Georgia's Matthew Stafford for the top spot to the Detroit Lions. Matt Leinart's decision to stay must have been a glaring factor to Sanchez, remember if Leinart would have come out a year earlier he likely would have been the number one overall pick to San Francisco and made millions of dollars more, not to mention probably be starting rather than waiting his turn behind Kurt Warner. Look at this from Bradford's perspective, he probably had a slight edge over Stafford but in deciding to stay in the college game his stock can only go down. I think Bradford's decision to stay in school will probably end up similar to Matt Leinart's decision which means less money. Things could not have fallen into place any better for Mark Sanchez he's leaving school following a 4td 400yd performance in the Rose Bowl route of Big 10 foe Penn State, what's better than that. Remember Leinart returned only to be outplayed by Vince Young in a national title game, you think losing to Bradford, McCoy, or Tebow in a national title game crossed Sanchez's thoughts? Possibly. Think about this too, a lot of analysts neglect this fact, they think experience outweighs everything, but look at Matt Cassel. Matt Cassel is the freshest quarterback in the NFL, from high school to the NFL he got hit a number of times you can count on one or two hands. Sanchez is ready, almost prototype 6'3 and 225, only took one year of hits in the college game. Sorry Coach Carrol let him go you've got at least a couple QBs you can start who won't take you out of the top 5 preseason for 2009.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Steelers only team that does work at home...
Home field and a first round bye proved to be the killer for 3 of the 4 teams at home in the divisional round. For some reason the teams that are playing through rolling along with momentum handled their business against those which had the first week bye with the exception of Pittsburgh. The four remaining teams are a #2 seat, #4 seat, and both #6 seats. I think this shows the parity in the league and the separation from top tier to middle tier teams is very slim. I think of the teams that lost in the divisional round the Chargers and the Giants will be faced with the most questions and decisions to make in this off season. The questions are swirling regarding contracts of LT and Sproles in SD and the decision whether or not to bring back Plaxico in New York is stirring. That being said lets get back to the teams still competing this season, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philly, and Arizona.
Pittsburgh handled their business at home after having a week to rest up. The Chargers came out fast getting a big quick score from Vincent Jackson, but Pittsburgh was Pittsburgh in this one. This was the only threat the Steelers were faced with, throughout the rest of the game they controlled the clock with Willie Parker and played shutdown defense. The little lightning bug Darren Sproles was held in check besides one big play during mop up time. I feel the Chargers do have what it takes to make the jump to the next level, but against a team like Pittsburgh are just outmatched.
Baltimore went into Tennessee ball hungry. Tennessee drove the ball consistently but turned the ball over at 3 crucial times deep in Baltimore territory. This was uncharacteristic for the Titans because this was the opposite of what won them so many games this season, it did not help that Chris Johnson sat the entire second half with a foot injury. Joe Flacco, like all season, not astonishing numbers but made two huge throws one to Mason one to Heap that were huge game deciding throws by the rook. Bottom line, Baltimore out-played and out-physicaled the Titans.
Philly went into the Meadowlands and took care of the Champs. This game was painful to watch because I reluctantly predicted the Giants would win this game in hopes that Eli would legitimize himself as a top tier QB in the league, but sorry Eli you are still the little brother and still not quite a top 10 QB in the NFL. Philly looked like they wanted it more, once again Jim Johnson's defense came out hungry and the Giants looked unenthused and uninspired. Sorry Giants it was a great run last year but you have got a whole lot to think about this off season, like Plaxico and whether to bring back Jacobs or Ward or both.
Arizona = upset of the season. Not a single person in America gave the Cardinals a chance against the Panthers and this fueled the Cardinals fire. Carolina came out strong and everyone thought yup, this is what's gonna happen, except the Cardinals they answered with Larry Fitzgerald, Larry Fitzgerald, and Larry Fitzgerald. In this game he solidified himself as far and away the best wideout in the league, possession catches, acrobatic catches, and catching and taking it to the house. The Cards D was no slouch either, they forced 5, yeah count it 5, Jake Delhomme interceptions. Sorry Jake I like you, I love the fiery leadership and attitude but you can't expect to win throwing it to the wrong team so often. Big-ups to my boy Kurt Warner, keep building the hall of fame resume.
Pittsburgh handled their business at home after having a week to rest up. The Chargers came out fast getting a big quick score from Vincent Jackson, but Pittsburgh was Pittsburgh in this one. This was the only threat the Steelers were faced with, throughout the rest of the game they controlled the clock with Willie Parker and played shutdown defense. The little lightning bug Darren Sproles was held in check besides one big play during mop up time. I feel the Chargers do have what it takes to make the jump to the next level, but against a team like Pittsburgh are just outmatched.
Baltimore went into Tennessee ball hungry. Tennessee drove the ball consistently but turned the ball over at 3 crucial times deep in Baltimore territory. This was uncharacteristic for the Titans because this was the opposite of what won them so many games this season, it did not help that Chris Johnson sat the entire second half with a foot injury. Joe Flacco, like all season, not astonishing numbers but made two huge throws one to Mason one to Heap that were huge game deciding throws by the rook. Bottom line, Baltimore out-played and out-physicaled the Titans.
Philly went into the Meadowlands and took care of the Champs. This game was painful to watch because I reluctantly predicted the Giants would win this game in hopes that Eli would legitimize himself as a top tier QB in the league, but sorry Eli you are still the little brother and still not quite a top 10 QB in the NFL. Philly looked like they wanted it more, once again Jim Johnson's defense came out hungry and the Giants looked unenthused and uninspired. Sorry Giants it was a great run last year but you have got a whole lot to think about this off season, like Plaxico and whether to bring back Jacobs or Ward or both.
Arizona = upset of the season. Not a single person in America gave the Cardinals a chance against the Panthers and this fueled the Cardinals fire. Carolina came out strong and everyone thought yup, this is what's gonna happen, except the Cardinals they answered with Larry Fitzgerald, Larry Fitzgerald, and Larry Fitzgerald. In this game he solidified himself as far and away the best wideout in the league, possession catches, acrobatic catches, and catching and taking it to the house. The Cards D was no slouch either, they forced 5, yeah count it 5, Jake Delhomme interceptions. Sorry Jake I like you, I love the fiery leadership and attitude but you can't expect to win throwing it to the wrong team so often. Big-ups to my boy Kurt Warner, keep building the hall of fame resume.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Chargers Rock-n-Sproles, Cards, Ravens, Eagles all soar over competition
This wild card weekend was full of surprises on Saturday and full of predictables Sunday. Congrats to SD for showing their worth at 8-8 and beating the hottest team in the league, by the way only got 25yds from LT, nice coming out party for Darren Sproles. Congrats to Wisenhunt and the Cards, he is a coach that a lot of people forget about when talking about the great coaches in the league, but when you hold one of the top rushers in the league to 40yds in a playoff game thats a hell of an accomplishment, big-ups to AZ defense, and Kurt Warner, you are improving that hall-of-fame chance man congrats. My boy showed up big time, Ed Reed my Defensive Player of the Year, thanks man for making me look good on that award you are my co-MVP of wild card weekend. Pennington, not so hot man...I'll get into it more later. Eagles, all I can say is Jim Johnson, imagine if both 6 seats made it to the Super Bowl, that would be the sickest defense matchup possible, solid game Philly.
Arizona vs. Atlanta: Thanks for putting Edge back in and not putting the game completely on Kurt Warner's back. That balanced attack plus a couple big plays from Boldin and Fitzgerald that's all you need. On the other side of the ball stopping the run was huge, Turner 42yds I just hope you can do the same thing against the two-headed-monster in Carolina next week. Atlanta showed they were capable of victory in flashes. Sorry Matty-ice it seemed everytime you needed a big play you were staring down Roddy White and I know he is your go to guy but when he is the only guy you look at when you need a conversion it makes it pretty easy for the defense to defend. But great season rook, Atlanta's future looks promising with you at the helm.
SD vs. Indy: The game everyone was looking forward to the most this weekend exceeded its expectations. Peyton played like Peyton but the Chargers D did just enough to set up a last second field goal to tie it up and the coin flip kept Peyton on the sideline in over time. The difference in the game was SDs spark plug Darren Sproles who amassed 328 all purpose yds, 105 rushing, 45 receiving, 106 kick returning, 72 punt returning. He capped off the game with a 22yd td run in over time. This the third highest all purpose yards anyone has ever amassed in a postseason game ever.
Baltimore vs. Miami and Philly vs. Minnesota: Both Baltimore and Philly proved to be extremely dangerous six seats. Baltimore has to do just enough offensively and Ed Reed and that will take care of the rest. By the way Ed Reed got shammed not being defensive player of the year, James Harrison c'mon, he is good but he is not even the best player on his own defense let alone the best player in the whole league. Philly took care of business as expected against an inexperienced Minnesota team. The inexperience of Tarvaris Jackson was glaring in this matchup. This sets up an NFC East battle Eagles vs the Champs, should come down to who controls the ball and does not turn it over. If Brandon Jacobs has a big game the champs should take care of business.
My picks for the divisional round: Steelers, Ravens, Giants, Panthers
Arizona vs. Atlanta: Thanks for putting Edge back in and not putting the game completely on Kurt Warner's back. That balanced attack plus a couple big plays from Boldin and Fitzgerald that's all you need. On the other side of the ball stopping the run was huge, Turner 42yds I just hope you can do the same thing against the two-headed-monster in Carolina next week. Atlanta showed they were capable of victory in flashes. Sorry Matty-ice it seemed everytime you needed a big play you were staring down Roddy White and I know he is your go to guy but when he is the only guy you look at when you need a conversion it makes it pretty easy for the defense to defend. But great season rook, Atlanta's future looks promising with you at the helm.
SD vs. Indy: The game everyone was looking forward to the most this weekend exceeded its expectations. Peyton played like Peyton but the Chargers D did just enough to set up a last second field goal to tie it up and the coin flip kept Peyton on the sideline in over time. The difference in the game was SDs spark plug Darren Sproles who amassed 328 all purpose yds, 105 rushing, 45 receiving, 106 kick returning, 72 punt returning. He capped off the game with a 22yd td run in over time. This the third highest all purpose yards anyone has ever amassed in a postseason game ever.
Baltimore vs. Miami and Philly vs. Minnesota: Both Baltimore and Philly proved to be extremely dangerous six seats. Baltimore has to do just enough offensively and Ed Reed and that will take care of the rest. By the way Ed Reed got shammed not being defensive player of the year, James Harrison c'mon, he is good but he is not even the best player on his own defense let alone the best player in the whole league. Philly took care of business as expected against an inexperienced Minnesota team. The inexperience of Tarvaris Jackson was glaring in this matchup. This sets up an NFC East battle Eagles vs the Champs, should come down to who controls the ball and does not turn it over. If Brandon Jacobs has a big game the champs should take care of business.
My picks for the divisional round: Steelers, Ravens, Giants, Panthers
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