I'd say that pretty much is the story of my life...but anyways here goes...
New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
Fresh from his romantic vacation to Cabo, Tony Romo will be ready to lead Dallas to the NFC title game. My biggest reason for picking Dallas in this game is the lack of Jeremy Shockey for the Giants. Every time these two teams meet, Shockey absolutely abuses safety Roy Williams (last time they met Shockey had by far his best game of the year with 12 catches for 129 yds and a TD). What I don't understand is why Dallas continues to insist on leaving Shockey one on one with the feared horse-collarer. No disrespect to Mr. Williams, who is still a great play-making safety, but Shockey in street clothes will be a huge plus for Dallas. Additionally there has been question as to whether "The Player" will be healthy enough to go for Dallas. All negativity about TO aside, he is one of the best competitors in the game and you can be assured that he will play, and he will produce against a suspect Giants secondary. On the other side, the Giants are led by the boyish Eli Manning. Coming off an almost flawless performance in Tampa Bay, baby Manning now has a chance to hush his legions of nay-sayers. However, Eli has shown time and time again, that with a little pressure, he will falter. For some odd reason, the Bucs didn't blitz him as much as they could have, and Eli was able to stand back, make smart throws, and pick them apart. Expect Dallas to send all-pro LB Demarcus Ware time and time again, and for Eli to never find his rhythm.
Dallas 31 NY 23
Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers
Matt Hasselbeck may take this ball in this game, and he may score, but he certainly is not going to win. Brett Favre has the chance to finally end his career the way he always wanted. He is in position to culminate his season of rebirth in a Super Bowl title, and then ride off into the sunset as the best signal caller ever (after taking a number of records away from the great Marino this year). Combine Favre's newly found success with upstart running back Ryan Grant and you have a pretty potent offense. Donald Driver may be the most underrated receiver in the league as he never drops the ball, even on the 100 mph fastball Favre throws on the 3-yard slant routes Driver specializes in. The Green Bay D has been solid all season behind phenomal pass rush from pro-bowl defensive end Aaron Kampman and brilliant coverage all season from a secondary that includes former Heisman trophy winner Charles Woodson and Al Harris. Seattle has done their job all season and won what is arguably the worst division in football (they get to play San Fran and St. Louis twice!!) It's hard to believe Shaun Alexander was once an MVP as he ran for an unimpressive 704 yards and 4 TDs this year. Seattle's defense will have to be what keeps them in this game. They are very capable as they have been great all year. Patrick Kerney has proven to be one of the best free agent acquisitions of the off-season as he leads the defense with 14.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. I see Seattle struggling to establish the run, but Hasselbeck having a solid game. A few plays by the D Seattle will keep it close but Favre and Co. at Lambeau will be too much.
Green Bay 27 Seattle 23
Jacksonville Jaguars at New England Patriots
I thought briefly about being trendy like a lot of other NFL pundits (can I call myself that?) and picking the Jags. Key word in that sentence: briefly. This New England team is just too good. Offensively and defensively they are the best collection of football players I have ever seen. Behind a pretty good quarterback who's accolades I'm not even going to bother listing...(fine I will...NFL MVP, AP Offensive Player of the year, record 50 TD passes in a season, Pro Bowl starter) and a blue-collar crew of LBs on defense, the Pats should have no problem with a very good Jacksonville team. Any other year, the Jags would give the Pats a run. The Jags don't have the explosive passing game that will be necessary to keep pace with Bellicheck's brood. They do what all good teams do. They run the ball, and they stop the run (and they do both very well). Against these Pats however, that just won't be enough. I see Brady connecting with King Dactyl Randy Moss twice and Wes Welker having another productive outing. Kudos to Jack Del Rio, David Garrard, Fred Taylor and Co. for having a great season, but guess what guys, this just wasn't the year to have it.
Patriots 37 Jaguars 14
San Diego Chargers at Indianapolis Colts
I don't any possible way that the 6'5 230 pound, quarterback with a laser rocket arm doesn't lead his team to what will prove to be a historic match-up with the spy-gate squad in the AFC title game. Manning and the Colts will be too much for the San Diego with a hobbled (at best) Antonio Gates. Even though no word has been given on whether or not he will play, if he does, toe injuries tend to nag and linger, and thus his performance will have to be affected. That being said, the Colts and Defensive player of the year and human missle Bob Sanders will be able to key on one of the best offensive players the game has ever seen. Ladanian Tomlinson is the Chargers last hope, but the load should be too much to handle. Yes I am aware that the Bolts did win the regular-season match up between these teams but let's take a few things into consideration...1) Peyton Manning threw six interceptions (chances of him throwing four this weekend 1 in 1,302.)2) Dallas Clark didn't play. Clark is one of Manning's favorite targets and with him off the field, the middle of the field wasn't as open as he would have liked. 3) Antonio Gates played and was 100% and although he only had 26 yards receiving, his presence on the field is enough to change how a defesne plays. 4)All that being said, the Chargers won...by TWO POINTS. Norv Turner will be outcoached and the Chargers will be outplayed.
Indianapolis 37 San Diego 17
Friday, January 11, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Yayyy Skinsss!!!! :)
Let me preface this fine piece by saying, over the last couple of weeks, the general feeling of those loyal, die hard, Skins fans has been exemplified by their completely heterosexual away messages (see headline as example).
With that being said, it's time for a Cowboys fan to do something I haven't done since I was born. Here you go Skins fans, I am finally giving your sorry organization something you will hold dearly for the rest of your lives: props.
Rewind to week 14. Going into the Chicago game, the Skins were sitting at a stellar 5-7, including a dogfight with Miami (yes, they played into overtime against the Dolphins) Arizona, the Jets, and Bills (which they had lost after their HOF [possibly an Alzheimer's patient] coach tried calling 8 timeouts to ice the Bills kicker, only to draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty reducing the game winning kick from 51 yards to a chip shot 36 yarder). They has also endured a 45 point drubbing by the Pats (a loss is acceptable but 45 points !!?!), and had recently let Terrell Owens get in the end zone FOUR times in a loss to arch-rival Dallas.
So here they sat, the hapless Redskins. Even though they had done very little worthy of praise all throughout the season, Skins fanatics stuck by their side. Unconditionally optimistic, fans everywhere of the Burgundy and gold didn't rule out the post-season. They argued, even though those games against the bottom feeders of the NFL were so close, a win is a win, and we got the job done. The odds of going undefeated to end the season were definitely small, but the motto of the Redskin faithful still held strong, "we still have a chance".
The most important part of the rest of their season would be their focus. You'd think focus would be a seemingly easy task when you are getting paid millions of dollars to do your job, and know your entire lively hood relies on it right? However, the focus of Redskin Nation was shaken in the worst possible way. On November 27, Sean Michael Maurice Taylor, standout safety, new father, and recently righted member of society was tragically gunned down in his home in Miami. The fans who thought the world of him, the players who bled, cried and fought hard with him, the coaches who molded him, and his family who loved him all mourned his death to the greatest extreme. Never mind the fact that the franchise had just lost one of the most explosive players in the league (led the league in interceptions when he passed away) and has just experienced a huge set back in terms of developing their defense, they still had to FOCUS on the task at hand which was to finish this season.
Back to week 14..... Heavy hearted, the Skins were playing inspired football against the Bears. In a must-win, the Skins were thrown another curve ball that would have a huge effect on the rest of their season. In the second quarter, starting quarterback Jason Campbell went down with a dislocated left knee cap which would most likely shelve him for the remainder of the season. Ice cold off the bench comes Todd Collins, who had been a backup in the league and seen no meaningful PT for the last TEN years. Collins, doing his best Tom Brady impersonation, went 15 of 20 for 224 and 2 TDs as he and the Skins went on to beat the Bears.
Since then, Collins has been nothing short of magnificent. "In Todd We Trust" had become the slogan of the Skins playoff campaign. Starting the next three games (under intense pressure no less, as these games were virtually must-win for the Skins playoff chances) Collins was highly efficient and threw 3 TDs and no picks in three huge wins. The first of those coming on the road at division rival New York who was also scrapping for the post-season. After that it was on the road again against a hungry, Minnesota team who need a win just as badly as the Skins. Finally came Dallas, who, due mostly indifference, but also to the fact that Skins were determined, got whacked.
Now the Skins wild ride has come to a brief halt as they have reached their short term goal. They earned themselves a spot in the post-season in form of a trip to Seattle this weekend. Whether they continue their story-book second half and pull off a win against the same team that knocked them out of the playoffs two years ago, and then go to Dallas and wipe the ever-lasting smile off Tony Romo's face, by knocking off the king of the conference Cowboys thus adding to arguably the most intense rivalry in sports, and then put on their long underwear and and go beat the rejuvenated, gun slinging Hall Of Famer while overcoming the greatest home field advantage in sports, before conquering the best team in NFL history behind Todd Collin's six touchdown passes and Reed Doughty's three interceptions of the best QB ever is yet to be seen.
To this point however, the Redskins have been living a dream. Whether it's destiny, a new focus, or just purely putting together the pieces they had all along, the Redskins have been taking care of business. And for that... I applaud them.
With that being said, it's time for a Cowboys fan to do something I haven't done since I was born. Here you go Skins fans, I am finally giving your sorry organization something you will hold dearly for the rest of your lives: props.
Rewind to week 14. Going into the Chicago game, the Skins were sitting at a stellar 5-7, including a dogfight with Miami (yes, they played into overtime against the Dolphins) Arizona, the Jets, and Bills (which they had lost after their HOF [possibly an Alzheimer's patient] coach tried calling 8 timeouts to ice the Bills kicker, only to draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty reducing the game winning kick from 51 yards to a chip shot 36 yarder). They has also endured a 45 point drubbing by the Pats (a loss is acceptable but 45 points !!?!), and had recently let Terrell Owens get in the end zone FOUR times in a loss to arch-rival Dallas.
So here they sat, the hapless Redskins. Even though they had done very little worthy of praise all throughout the season, Skins fanatics stuck by their side. Unconditionally optimistic, fans everywhere of the Burgundy and gold didn't rule out the post-season. They argued, even though those games against the bottom feeders of the NFL were so close, a win is a win, and we got the job done. The odds of going undefeated to end the season were definitely small, but the motto of the Redskin faithful still held strong, "we still have a chance".
The most important part of the rest of their season would be their focus. You'd think focus would be a seemingly easy task when you are getting paid millions of dollars to do your job, and know your entire lively hood relies on it right? However, the focus of Redskin Nation was shaken in the worst possible way. On November 27, Sean Michael Maurice Taylor, standout safety, new father, and recently righted member of society was tragically gunned down in his home in Miami. The fans who thought the world of him, the players who bled, cried and fought hard with him, the coaches who molded him, and his family who loved him all mourned his death to the greatest extreme. Never mind the fact that the franchise had just lost one of the most explosive players in the league (led the league in interceptions when he passed away) and has just experienced a huge set back in terms of developing their defense, they still had to FOCUS on the task at hand which was to finish this season.
Back to week 14..... Heavy hearted, the Skins were playing inspired football against the Bears. In a must-win, the Skins were thrown another curve ball that would have a huge effect on the rest of their season. In the second quarter, starting quarterback Jason Campbell went down with a dislocated left knee cap which would most likely shelve him for the remainder of the season. Ice cold off the bench comes Todd Collins, who had been a backup in the league and seen no meaningful PT for the last TEN years. Collins, doing his best Tom Brady impersonation, went 15 of 20 for 224 and 2 TDs as he and the Skins went on to beat the Bears.
Since then, Collins has been nothing short of magnificent. "In Todd We Trust" had become the slogan of the Skins playoff campaign. Starting the next three games (under intense pressure no less, as these games were virtually must-win for the Skins playoff chances) Collins was highly efficient and threw 3 TDs and no picks in three huge wins. The first of those coming on the road at division rival New York who was also scrapping for the post-season. After that it was on the road again against a hungry, Minnesota team who need a win just as badly as the Skins. Finally came Dallas, who, due mostly indifference, but also to the fact that Skins were determined, got whacked.
Now the Skins wild ride has come to a brief halt as they have reached their short term goal. They earned themselves a spot in the post-season in form of a trip to Seattle this weekend. Whether they continue their story-book second half and pull off a win against the same team that knocked them out of the playoffs two years ago, and then go to Dallas and wipe the ever-lasting smile off Tony Romo's face, by knocking off the king of the conference Cowboys thus adding to arguably the most intense rivalry in sports, and then put on their long underwear and and go beat the rejuvenated, gun slinging Hall Of Famer while overcoming the greatest home field advantage in sports, before conquering the best team in NFL history behind Todd Collin's six touchdown passes and Reed Doughty's three interceptions of the best QB ever is yet to be seen.
To this point however, the Redskins have been living a dream. Whether it's destiny, a new focus, or just purely putting together the pieces they had all along, the Redskins have been taking care of business. And for that... I applaud them.
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