NFL Playoffs

[Avante]

Denver
Detroit
Houston
Cinncy

....are simply speed bumps. They stand no chance at all of making it to the Championship games.

Pitt is too banged up to make a serious run.
Baltimore can't win the big road game.
Atlanta could surprise but I doubt it.


New York is the team that...??????? You just never know with them. If somebody is going to surprise it's them.

Then there's the power.

Green Bay
New Orleans
Niners
New England

As we can see the Patriots are by far the best AFC team. I seriouly doubt anyone is beating them...at home. They will represent the AFC in the big game. The NFC isn't as simple. While I doubt the Niners (Smith at QB???) or the hot/cold Giants can go into GB and win there I can't say that about the Saints. Yep, it will be the Saints vs Packers for the NFC crown and I am.....??? I have no problems seeing Drew Brees and all those receivers giving the Pack all they can handle ..if..the weather isn't a major factor.

If my life depended on it however....

New England Patriots vs Green Bay Packers


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once upon a time the fullback was the stud runner....Jim Brown, Jim Taylor, John Henry Johnson, Cookie Gilchrist, Dick Bass, J.D Smith, Nick Pietrasonte etc etc. As we know ...ancient history. Right now we are seeing a Wes Welker as a new breed of cat (something I thought of long ago, a speedy/quick cat out in space). Then there's Darren Sproles. Why the Saints didn't figure out..."Reggie Bush a far faster Wes Welker"....??? Most guys can catch a flare/short pass. Why not put a quick/speedy guy out there as a big part of the offense? Percy Harvin, Johnny Rodgers, Brian Westbrook. Desmond Howard, Rocket Ismail..can make anyone miss. I'd be looking for that guy, with a guy like Tavon Austin (WV) the first on my list.

[guru]

Yeah, I think the Pats get thru to the Super Bowl almost by default. The Bengals and Pats have similarly terrible secondaries, and the Bengals are probably stronger on the defensive front. But the Pats have Brady, and Dalton is no Brady(yet). A shame the Bengals lost Johnathan Joseph(free agent) and Leon Hall(torn achilles), or we might be talking about a 15-1 Bengals team being the only legitimate threat to the survivor of the Saints/Pack.

As it is, this year's Big Game looks to be a real gunslinger shootout, but ultimately the Pats just won't have the overall balance to match strides, especially if it's the Packers. But whoever goes between Brees or Rodgers, there's going to be alot of drooling going on in their film room...

Dangerous to make a final call this far out(and I reserve the right to edit LOL), but I'd say

Packers 45
Patriots 34

[502CD]

I'm not sure the Pats can get by the Ravens. They have the type of defense that always gives NE fits. Most of the Pats O-Line is injured and that will only help a team like the Ravens.

[Pego]

I would not dismiss the Steelers so cavalierly.

[Avante]

Yeah, I think the Pats get thru to the Super Bowl almost by default. The Bengals and Pats have similarly terrible secondaries, and the Bengals are probably stronger on the defensive front. But the Pats have Brady, and Dalton is no Brady(yet). A shame the Bengals lost Johnathan Joseph(free agent) and Leon Hall(torn achilles), or we might be talking about a 15-1 Bengals team being the only legitimate threat to the survivor of the Saints/Pack.

As it is, this year's Big Game looks to be a real gunslinger shootout, but ultimately the Pats just won't have the overall balance to match strides, especially if it's the Packers. But whoever goes between Brees or Rodgers, there's going to be alot of drooling going on in their film room...

Dangerous to make a final call this far out(and I reserve the right to edit LOL), but I'd say

Packers 45
Patriots 34

If the Packers and Pats do make it and are healthy by SB time, I also see the Pack winning, more 28-21-ish.

[Avante]

I'm not sure the Pats can get by the Ravens. They have the type of defense that always gives NE fits. Most of the Pats O-Line is injured and that will only help a team like the Ravens.

Can't see the Pats losing a big ..home...game vs any Peyton Manning-less team. Flacco on the road vs Tom Brady at home.

[Avante]

I would not dismiss the Steelers so cavalierly.

I see them playing the Pats for the AFC crown. Without Mendenhall and a less than 100% Big Ben...on the road....I gotta lean towards the Pats.

[BruceFlorman]

I would not dismiss the Steelers so cavalierly.

I see them playing the Pats for the AFC crown. Without Mendenhall and a less than 100% Big Ben...on the road....I gotta lean towards the Pats.

If by "AFC crown" you mean the AFC Championship Game, since as the #1 seed, the Pats get the lowest seeded survivor of the Wildcard Round, then I guess you're picking Bengals over Texans tomorrow, right? Because if the Texans and Steelers win this weekend, New England would host Pittsburgh next weekend in the Divisional Round, while Baltimore would host Houston.

[Avante]

As a league the QB play has been about bad as it's ever been. No so with the elite few. We are assured of a SB with great QB's. Thank God!

[Master Po]

Interesting to go back and re-read some of our predictions as the playoffs progress. On that note, I happened to pick up a pre-NFL season copy of The Sporting News (i.e., from August 2011), in which they made predictions for each team for the entire season, including not just W-L records, but predicting which games each team would win/lose. I didn't read it in complete detail -- most of it was close for the top teams, within a couple of games for the season W-L records. Of course they were wrong on Cincy and Denver, predicted as 4-12 and 3-13, respectively, and no mention of Tebow in the Denver profile. Most noteworthy however was one place they were exactly right -- they didn't just predict GB to be 15-1, they also predicted that the one loss by GB would be to KC. Pretty good guessing on that point!

[Avante]

Interesting to go back and re-read some of our predictions as the playoffs progress. On that note, I happened to pick up a pre-NFL season copy of The Sporting News (i.e., from August 2011), in which they made predictions for each team for the entire season, including not just W-L records, but predicting which games each team would win/lose. I didn't read it in complete detail -- most of it was close for the top teams, within a couple of games for the season W-L records. Of course they were wrong on Cincy and Denver, predicted as 4-12 and 3-13, respectively, and no mention of Tebow in the Denver profile. Most noteworthy however was one place they were exactly right -- they didn't just predict GB to be 15-1, they also predicted that the one loss by GB would be to KC. Pretty good guessing on that point!

I have that issue. I also have a mag that predicts the point spread winning best bets for each week. Hard to believe they hit about 65%, which is great. There really is a science to picking football games. The thing is it's very time consuming. So many things to take into consideration. A lot of homework. You better be very serious about it because it's a job. You start with knowing how each team performs as one of these four things...

home favorite
home dog
road favorite
road dog

Now how do these teams do in Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan. Heading into a bye/coming off a bye. How are they on the fake stuff/grass. After a Monday night game and on and on and on.....

[gh]

As a league the QB play has been about bad as it's ever been. No so with the elite few. We are assured of a SB with great QB's. Thank God!

Did the Niners trade for a new QB?

[Master Po]

Interesting to go back and re-read some of our predictions as the playoffs progress. On that note, I happened to pick up a pre-NFL season copy of The Sporting News (i.e., from August 2011), in which they made predictions for each team for the entire season, including not just W-L records, but predicting which games each team would win/lose. I didn't read it in complete detail -- most of it was close for the top teams, within a couple of games for the season W-L records. Of course they were wrong on Cincy and Denver, predicted as 4-12 and 3-13, respectively, and no mention of Tebow in the Denver profile. Most noteworthy however was one place they were exactly right -- they didn't just predict GB to be 15-1, they also predicted that the one loss by GB would be to KC. Pretty good guessing on that point!

I have that issue. I also have a mag that predicts the point spread winning best bets for each week. Hard to believe they hit about 65%, which is great. There really is a science to picking football games. The thing is it's very time consuming. So many things to take into consideration. A lot of homework. You better be very serious about it because it's a job. You start with knowing how each team performs as one of these four things...

home favorite
home dog
road favorite
road dog

Now how do these teams do in Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan. Heading into a bye/coming off a bye. How are they on the fake stuff/grass. After a Monday night game and on and on and on.....

Avante -- I was hoping you would follow up on this post -- you obviously pay close attention to this sport -- I'm just a casual interested fan with no particular team interest. Thus, when I inadvertentely found myself in a doctor's office waiting room for a while yesterday and read that SN issue, I was really impressed with how much they had right at that level of detail, and how close they were on most of it. They also saw Detroit and SF, iirc, as some of the most improved (though improved more than even SN writers expected). Of course, some things could not be predicted, like Denver/Tebow, and they saw Indy as 10-6. But otherwise, I was really impressed with their pre-season analysis. Seems like so many factors in play that one could hardly predict the entire season in advance with any degree of accuracy.

(And as for gh's comment about SF's QB -- it's a good point. Being a casual observer -- for the first half of the season, I thought they did have a new QB -- I was surprised to learn that was the same guy they had before!)

[gh]

a tale of two Saints' offenses this year:

Grass Turf
Record 3-2 10-1
Points/game 25.8 38.0

[Avante]

As a league the QB play has been about bad as it's ever been. No so with the elite few. We are assured of a SB with great QB's. Thank God!

Did the Niners trade for a new QB?

As you know....huge...Niner fan and have been all my life. So obviously it's...yippeee!!!!...right now. How long has it been since we are talking Niners in January?

I can see them "maybe" getting past the Saints. It wouldn't shock me. As you know home/road/fake stuff/grass...is a biggie. What would shock me is the Niners beating both the Saints and Packers. I don't see that happening.......this year.

They need a big speed receiver, no Vernon Davis doesn't have that kind of speed. They also need another solid cornerback. Not that the defense isn't great as is.

[Avante]

Interesting to go back and re-read some of our predictions as the playoffs progress. On that note, I happened to pick up a pre-NFL season copy of The Sporting News (i.e., from August 2011), in which they made predictions for each team for the entire season, including not just W-L records, but predicting which games each team would win/lose. I didn't read it in complete detail -- most of it was close for the top teams, within a couple of games for the season W-L records. Of course they were wrong on Cincy and Denver, predicted as 4-12 and 3-13, respectively, and no mention of Tebow in the Denver profile. Most noteworthy however was one place they were exactly right -- they didn't just predict GB to be 15-1, they also predicted that the one loss by GB would be to KC. Pretty good guessing on that point!

I have that issue. I also have a mag that predicts the point spread winning best bets for each week. Hard to believe they hit about 65%, which is great. There really is a science to picking football games. The thing is it's very time consuming. So many things to take into consideration. A lot of homework. You better be very serious about it because it's a job. You start with knowing how each team performs as one of these four things...

home favorite
home dog
road favorite
road dog

Now how do these teams do in Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan. Heading into a bye/coming off a bye. How are they on the fake stuff/grass. After a Monday night game and on and on and on.....

Avante -- I was hoping you would follow up on this post -- you obviously pay close attention to this sport -- I'm just a casual interested fan with no particular team interest. Thus, when I inadvertentely found myself in a doctor's office waiting room for a while yesterday and read that SN issue, I was really impressed with how much they had right at that level of detail, and how close they were on most of it. They also saw Detroit and SF, iirc, as some of the most improved (though improved more than even SN writers expected). Of course, some things could not be predicted, like Denver/Tebow, and they saw Indy as 10-6. But otherwise, I was really impressed with their pre-season analysis. Seems like so many factors in play that one could hardly predict the entire season in advance with any degree of accuracy.

(And as for gh's comment about SF's QB -- it's a good point. Being a casual observer -- for the first half of the season, I thought they did have a new QB -- I was surprised to learn that was the same guy they had before!)

One thing the great teams had in common.......Coach/QB combo. Bilichek/Brady, Shula/Greise. Noll/Bradshaw, Manning/Stabler, Landry/Stuabach, Johnson/Aikman, Lombardi/Starr....so you start there. Teams with that combo do have an advantage. Then you look at scheduling dynamics. Back to back on road, Monday nights and who is played next. Games after a big division game. Games heading in/coming off a bye week. All those things matter at the NFL level, keep in mind anyone really can beat anyone in the NFL. A frw turnovers a big special teams play is all it takes. College ball...LSU beats Troy State no matter what happens/situation/circumstances.

As we know there will always be....Rams beat Saints.....type games that made no sense at all. Kansas City beating the Packers...well it was the last road game for Green Bay and the Chiefs were 5-1 vs the spread in their last 6 meetings vs Green Bay.

The good teams will go....6-2 or better at home, 5-3ish on the road. The bad teams lose to the good teams as roadwarriors. Two bad teams....go with the home team. Home/road....huge....in the NFL.

You really have to love football (history of how teams play in certain situations) to be able to go 11-5 straight up or 65-68% vs the spread, on a consistant basis.

[Brian]

a tale of two Saints' offenses this year:

Grass Turf
Record 3-2 10-1
Points/game 25.8 38.0

True, but New Orleans is peaking correctly; they have the momentum and could go all the way. Game tomorrow (against the 49'ers) could be the best game of the playoffs, championship and Superbowl included. [Here's hoping; once Minnesota is done each season, I don't care who wins, I just want to see a great game.]

If the Giant's defense plays like they did in the Wildcard game, Green Bay will have a tough day at the office.

Thanks to Tebow-mania, Brady & Co. have something they haven't had in the last decade-plus: the opportunity to come in to a playoff game relatively under the radar.
.

[jazzcyclist]

a tale of two Saints' offenses this year:

Grass Turf
Record 3-2 10-1
Points/game 25.8 38.0

One of our local talking heads summed up the situation perfectly this morning when he said, "We (south Louisiana) NEED a Saints win badly to help us get over our (LSU) hangover". Everybody I know - young and old, Black and White, male and female - has been devasted by what happened Monday night. I've never witnessed anything like it. I was at a party last night and people seemed more eager to see the Saints ease their pain than they were in seeing the Saints advance to the NFC championship game. I was talking to one of my co-workers Friday who happens to be a life-long Saints season ticket holder, and instead of being amped up 24 hours before the Saints kickoff, she was still stewing about the Monday night incident. The Saints WILL win today, because surely the football gods can't be that cruel, can they?

[Avante]

Let's see...

Ravens the best bet of the weekend.

The Pats will beat Denver.

Now it gets interesting.

The Saints are the better team, but not sold on them on the road/outdoors. Slight lean...Saints.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Giants beat Green Bay. But, I have to go....Packers.

[Pego]

5 TO's by the Saints and only 6 points down .

[mike renfro]

The last four minutes of 49er Saints was the most entertaining NFL playoff game I've watched in awhile. Hell, the wise woman wore her 49ers jacket and sweatshirt. Our outside of San Diego daughters had other stuff to do, so TIVOed the game, and when it ran long, didn't get the last couple of series (all TDs). The NE Den game was the bloodbath expected.

Go Gmen tomorrow. A home NFC champs game would be good.

Actually, I would like to see the Ravens beat the Pats next weekend, to maybe set up the brothers Harbaugh 2nd round. This time on a neutral field. But my feeling is that it will be a NE GB SB.

[Avante]

The last four minutes of 49er Saints was the most entertaining NFL playoff game I've watched in awhile. Hell, the wise woman wore her 49ers jacket and sweatshirt. Our outside of San Diego daughters had other stuff to do, so TIVOed the game, and when it ran long, didn't get the last couple of series (all TDs). The NE Den game was the bloodbath expected.

Go Gmen tomorrow. A home NFC champs game would be good.

Actually, I would like to see the Ravens beat the Pats next weekend, to maybe set up the brothers Harbaugh 2nd round. This time on a neutral field. But my feeling is that it will be a NE GB SB.

The Niners have beaten.....Lions, Steelers, Giants, Cincinnati and New Orleans all playoff teams. Barely losing to Cowboys/Cards, they only had one clunker......in Baltimore on a short week. They can beat the Giants at home.....again. Keep in mind the Giants are a physical team (yes I know the NFL is all physical, but there are a few teams.....) they might take a lot out of the Packers in losing. While I doubt we can go into Green Bay and beat them there I had my doubts we'd could beat the Saints. Yes being at home is different than going on the road. That Niner defense...wow! They could.....knock Rodgers out of the game. A very real possibility. Yes I wouldn't want any player seriously hurt.

[SQUACKEE]

My voice is gone from screaming for the 9's, omg what a roller coaster.

Who would we rather play next week, the Gmen at home or Packerville? I think the gmen have a more complete team, I dont know, whoever it is is going down baby!

[Conor Dary]

Yahoo! The Packers are out!

And with Tebowism done for a year at least. A very good weekend.

[guru]

Hard for me to be too happy about the Pack, considering their OC tragically lost his son this week.

It does set up a possible rematch of the '08 Super Bowl, which would be very intriguing.

[Conor Dary]

Hard for me to be too happy about the Pack, considering their OC tragically lost his son this week.

It does set up a possible rematch of the '08 Super Bowl, which would be very intriguing.

I think it goes without saying the drowning was a tragic event. But I am still glad they lost.

[Pego]

Hard for me to be too happy about the Pack, considering their OC tragically lost his son this week.

It does set up a possible rematch of the '08 Super Bowl, which would be very intriguing.

I think it goes without saying the drowning was a tragic event. But I am still glad they lost.

[Avante]

My voice is gone from screaming for the 9's, omg what a roller coaster.

Who would we rather play next week, the Gmen at home or Packerville? I think the gmen have a more complete team, I dont know, whoever it is is going down baby!

The Niners have a running game. Gore is a stud. So instead of third and 6-8 we'll be 3rd and 2-3. There goes that Giant pass rush.

If the Niners play as they can, they will beat the Giants...again. Obviously they could (for some unknown reason) come out flatter than a pancake. If stoked/reay to play, next stop...Superbowl!!!!!!!!!

[Brian]

Great weekend. Across the board, one of the best I've seen in many seasons. Most games of the caliber you only see NFC/AFC championship weekend.

Tendency to say the Saints screwed up. But more accurate is SF MADE them screw up. Wow, what a ball-hungry defense!

Denver has been an overachiever all season. They did what they should have and got as far as they could have. Their fans have good reason to be happy.

The Brady Bunch are a machine! Granted, probably the two least likely to advance teams were Denver and Houston (Houston, if for no reason other than Baltimore has the playoff experience, all things equal), so beating Denver may not have been as "true" a test as say, the Giants beating the defending Superbowl champion Packers. But even so, it was clear New England has an incredibly impressive mechanism in place, regardless of opponent.

[BTW, I refuse to ever call a team a "world" champion for a game that is really only played in your own backyard, no matter how great the ability of that athletes playing it. Just me.]

This Giants team is indeed something special. But having said that, they only lost to Green Bay by 3 points about a month or so ago (38-35, Dec. 4), and that Giants team in early December looked nothing like the one that has been playing so cohesively since late December. Perhaps Green Bay wasn't all they were hyped, once the injuries started coming in November. Or, like a lot of teams before them, they simply got too tired, too beat up going unbeaten throughout 7/8ths of the regular season. Consider: Green Bay has three defensive players in the Pro Bowl this season, but arguably--for whatever reason--only Matthews has played up to a Pro Bowl level lately. [And for that matter, Chicago also has three defensive players in the Pro Bowl and look how the Bears crumbled late in the season. Again, for whatever reason.] New York 2011-12 is bringing back memories of that 2007-08 team when they beat previously-unbeaten New England and won it all. Eli looking very Montana-ish; breaking huddle, the eyes of a cold-blooded killer.


I find myself looking forward to next week with more interest than in many years. And there is potential for a media/advertisers paradise: Next week sees East Coast Giants vs. West Coast 49'ers--two huge markets. Superbowl weekend could see the same, with East Coast New England (or Baltimore) vs. West Coast San Francisco. What would be a lesser thrill all around would be to end up with two East Coast teams. For prime interest all around, borrow a page from Tebowmania and pray for the 49er's to win.
:]

[Actually, a Giants/New England match-up would also be a great game on the field, primo marketing aside. The only potential snoozer might be Giants vs. Ravens, if Baltimore plays badly. I say "might" be, as this has been an exciting playoffs two weekends in a row with two more to come, so I put no limits on anything this time around.]


This weekend was so good it made me forget about the Vikings.

Oh...damn.

[Grumble, grumble, play like a sausage...]
.

[Conor Dary]

My apologies to you Pego. I know how much the Packers mean to you, but being a Bears fan I just couldn't take 2 Super Bowls in a row from up north.

[Pego]

My apologies to you Pego. I know how much the Packers mean to you, but being a Bears fan I just couldn't take 2 Super Bowls in a row from up north.

Actually, the Badgers mean more to me than the Packers. Here is a funny story. When our daughter moved to Chicago Heights in 2000, I was looking for a sports bar that would show the Packers. The three of us were attired in Packers regalia and entered one of those bars. Every TV, of course, had Da Bears, all Bear fans. I walked up to the bartender and asked, if he could find the Packers for one of the TV's. As he tried, I told him "You know, God is a Packer. You will be rewarded." The entire bar was laughing their asses off. He did not find the way, so we left. I soon did find a place, where we could go for the next 10 years .

[gh]

The Niner-Raven game at Thanksgiving was tagged The Harbowl.

If they meet again in February, will it be the Super Baugh?

(not my coinage)

[SQUACKEE]

One of the Giants players said they are unbeatable and wont be denided. I guess they should cancel the game, why even play it. I thought the game was won on the field, not with your mouth.

Thanx for the lockeroom nitro, idiot.

[Avante]

One of the Giants players said they are unbeatable and wont be denided. I guess they should cancel the game, why even play it. I thought the game was won on the field, not with your mouth.

Thanx for the lockeroom nitro, idiot.

I dig it, you got to have that. No way,....

media....so how you plan on winning the game?
player....well they have some real studs on the defense and Vernon Davis is a monster. We'll need some turnovers and a whole lot of luck to just stay close. Win the game.....hahahaha!...you gotta be kidding.

[SQUACKEE]

One of the Giants players said they are unbeatable and wont be denided. I guess they should cancel the game, why even play it. I thought the game was won on the field, not with your mouth.

Thanx for the lockeroom nitro, idiot.

I dig it, you got to have that. No way,....

media....so how ypi plan on winning the game?
player....well they have some real studs on the defense and Vernon Davis is a monster. We'll need some turnovers and a whole lot of luck to just stay close. Win the game.....hahahaha!...you gotta be kidding.

You should think your gonna win- just keep your big mouth shut. Dont be a Jet coach or player, have class like the 9's. You'll never see Belicheck guarentee a victory, he's too smart. Saying your unbeatable is meaningless, everyone is beatable. You can say, I think we have better team and we should win.