-First, as an east coast guy, the 3:00 o'clock start-time was annoying. It's tough enough to kill 4-5 hours on a normal Sunday but yesterday was brutal. Ok, enough crying.
-The Packers/Bears game was ugly to say the least. The Packers ran the ball effectively but relied on it too much in the second half when it wasn't working. I'm usually overzealous with my "he should be fired" as far as coaching goes, but should Lovie Smith be considered to get the axe? He's been there a long time, lost a Super Bowl and has been given a plethora of solid coaching. Smith's decision to punt on the Packers 31 (it went into the end zone for an 11-yard net) was immediately a horrible decision, not to mention punting a couple of other times in Green Bay territory. While the footing may not have been good at Soldier Field (someone called it |STAR|Soldiers|STAR|) to not have a single field goal attempt given the different situations was weird. Robbie Gould and Mason Crosby are at least above average NFL kickers.
-Dom Capers killed Mike Martz. A lot has been made of Aaron Rodgers but the Packers defense has been unbelievable. In three playoff games they've allowed 51 points to regular-season successes Philadelphia (27.4 ppg), Atlanta (25.9 ppg) and Chicago (20.9 ppg)? That's a total of 74.2 points per game scored during the regular season. The Bears seemed to have only one screen set up for Forte that never worked. They should have had at least a few different screens (wide receivers included) ready to go. The swing pass was there a lot and it worked when utilized (go back and see Forte wide open on the end of first half pick).
-I'm still disturbed by the B.J. Raji dance after the pick-six. That play was almost Leon Lett all over again.
-Aaron Rodgers did not have a great day. His second pick to Brian Urlacher was terrible and the low throw to Driver (albeit under pressure) caused the first. When an interception happens off a tip, don't throw all the blame on the receiver. Eli Manning this year had a bunch of tipped interceptions and those tips were not on balls thrown on the numbers.
-The Pro Bowl is next week. I don't care, at all. Am I the only one?
-On another bitter note, if you've been to every Super Bowl, missed grandkids births, family weddings, you're a rich arrogant bastard in my book. All of us would love to have the money to attend the big game but flaunting it and being proud is pretty shameful. Go away Visa commercials.
-Speaking of shame, I recommended "Shameless" on Showtime a few weeks back and rarely do I see a second episode that trumps the pilot. This happened and while I love Canada, William H. Macy (why isn't he just William Macy, I'm not Kevin C. Payne?) has a great Canada rant in episode #2. Harry's Law? I expect more out of you David E. Kelley.
-I'm totally behind the movement to get the Super Bowl to a cold weather stadium. Let's see those "I've been to every Super Bowl" idiots freeze. Seriously, if you play the playoff games there, play the Super Bowl there. There's little argument against this, no?
-Aaron Rodgers, O/U 1.5 Super Bowl wins for his career? Remember when he was stuck behind that jackass Brett Favre?
-Kudos to Matt Forte, I'm not sure why we're worried about bringing in Chester Taylor at the goal line but Forte definately showed up yesterday. Jay Cutler, not so much. Note this here – if we find out Jay Cutler had a broken leg, he's absolved of any scrutiny. However, even if he had a torn ACL, you gut this out. It's a long offseason to recover from any type of injury. Before you blast me about that comment, know that I've had two ACL repairs in (one in each knee) and the last one was about two years ago. My doctor (who was awesome) told me that I could have the surgery |STAR|or|STAR| he could teach me how to brace the knee and adapt. Cutler is not a wide receiver or running back counting on cutting and running ability. Again, he's absolved if it's something ridiculously serious. After an afternoon of gaffes from Buck and Aikman, they both were looking who to praise for benching Todd Collins and bringing in Caleb Hanie. Apparently it was an elbow injury that shelved Collins, not a personnel decision. Again, fail on the announcers' part although that's the norm and not the exception for those two bumbling idiots. Notice I'm being subtle this week.
-Speaking of Caleb Hanie, his performance was even better knowing the difference between a backup coming into a game cold in relief and having a week of practice with the first team, right? Think Matt Flynn vs. the Lions and Matt Flynn vs. the Patriots (with a week of first-team snaps).
-Halftime next week, are you looking forward to the Black Eyed Peas? I'm kind of looking forward to Fergie, although I'm not sold on her. Ever see the episode where Seinfeld dates the girl who looks great in a certain light and they have to meet at a particular booth in the diner? We're in that territory but genius commercial with her and the cherry stem.
-We blog live every Sunday about the NFL games. Please, please chip in with observations (we are up to 473 comments this week). Don't state the obvious; tell us what you're thinking. We always welcome that and that being said; I'll likely be at a SB party and not be able to blog. That doesn't deter the message.
-For quite some time, Clint Dempsey has been my favorite American soccer player. Does anyone like him better than me? I'd say there are a ton of supporters at Craven Cottage ready to put up a statue of him. While facing relegation out of the EPL, Dempsey scored a goal for Fulham to beat Liverpool 1-0 on May 5, 2007. This kept Fulham in the EPL and is rumored to have saved the club around $60 million. This season has been another disaster for Fulham, who a few weeks back was once again destined to face relegation. Who stepped up? "Duece" once again. He scored twice Saturday in a 2-0 against Stoke City, provided the assist on a 1-1 draw the game before against Wigan and tallied in the 3-0 win against West Bromwich the game before that. Let's hope he's close to this level at the next World Cup. Speaking of which, let's hope the Michael Bradley rumors from Borussia Monchengladbach (say that 10 times fast) to the EPL come to fruition. Keeping in mind the solid season Stuart Holden has had at Bolton; I assure you there's some solid promise for the U.S. at the next World Cup.
-Braylon Edwards has been clutch in these playoffs. Both he and Santonio Holmes (among a ton of others) are free agents for the Jets next year. Holmes is the bigger priority to be signed, no? Troy Polamalu gambled and lost on the long Holmes TD pass. I'm not sure everything is right with Troy and it wouldn't surprise me to see a significant offseason surgery.
-I'm reserving my right to handicap the Super Bowl. I'm too lazy to go back and quote where I said it last year but I backed the under (my "best bet") and the Saints. After going 1-1 this weekend, I'm 7-3 for the playoffs. I'll post my predictions somewhere in the next two weeks, if you care. The opening line for the Super Bowl was Green Bay -2 with an over/under of 45. Quickly the Packers moved to -2.5 (expect that at 3, quickly) and the over/under is now at 45.5 or 46. Funny thing is I remember that you could have taken the NFC +4 late in the season when New England was on a good run. It also seems that Vegas is begging you to back the Packers at that spread. The last time the Super Bowl outcome was less than three? Don't ask. I'm grabbing the salt container as I go back to Super Bowl 25 - Giants 20, Bills 19.
-On some level I would have loved to see a Jets/Packers Super Bowl, putting two new teams in for the title. The Steelers were the complete opposite yesterday from the two halves they put up against the Ravens. They'll need to put up a whole game if they want to have a chance.
-I saw a note that Mike Tomlin (who I love) shut off the lights on his team, played Phil Collins and didn't get any other details. I'm guessing he played "In the Air Tonight" (think Miami Vice) and not "A Groovy Kind of Love" or "Can't Stop Loving You." After "In the Air Tonight" put me down for "Against All Odds" and "Take Me Home" as my next favorite Collins' songs. Yes, rag on me in the comments below, I still love both songs.
-If you're a Bengals fan (staring at you JE) do you want a Carson Palmer trade? Methinks you would, no?
-On third down, kudos to the Steelers to call a pass to make the play and run out the game. If you miss you can still punt and play defense.
-There's going to be a weird spot in the first round draft, where from pick 17 to 32 there will be only one team (the Seahawks) who will be in the market for a quarterback. Other than them, I'd guess a trade will happen and Ryan Mallett will go to someone. Here am I as a Bills fan hoping they trade up and do this (despite all the defensive needs).
-The potential loss of Maurkice Pouncey is worth at least one point on the spread for the Super Bowl. There was not good communication between Ben Roethlisberger and Doug Legursky and while a couple of weeks of practice will help, it's still a concern. On a lighter note, Maurkice's twin brother Mike Pouncey (he's a center too) will be in the upcoming draft and will get a nice check based on both his and his brother's performances' this year.
-Solid day for Rashard Mendenhall to say the least. He looked nimble and had a crazy nine-yard run in the first half when it looked like he'd be stopped for a loss. Remember he's still young at the ripe age of 23 and could be in line for a big Super Bowl given that the Packers aren't great against the run.
-If I told you Ben Roethlisberger would go 10-for-19 for 133 yards, no touchdowns and two picks, would you have thought the Steelers would have won the AFC Championship game?
-Mike Wallace, one catch for six yards. DPOTY? Congrats Darrelle Revis, I don't care about the time missed.
-Antonio Brown and Sam Shields - when you make a play to end the game get down and end it. Nothing good can come of you getting extra yardage, go Brian Westbrook in those situations.
-Last and maybe most intriguing part of my blog (which may not be saying much). I'm in three different playoff fantasy leagues and wanted to comment on one. This may be the most used playoff format which is why I found it relevant. We did a league with a bunch of RotoWire guys as well as our good friends at Yahoo. This was your standard, pick them and you have all of their stats for the playoffs. As a result, everyone had the Patriots (the overwhelming pick to win the Super Bowl) at the top of their charts. Best QB – Tom Brady, best RB – BenJarvus Green-Ellis, etc. However, the first round exits of both number one seeds got me to thinking this weekend – are they the right call to bankroll in this format? To his credit, my friend Mark Stopa took Aaron Rodgers with the first pick and bankrolled the rest of the Packers to likely win the title. So let's look at what's happened the last few years in the playoffs:
2010-2011 – Green Bay and the New York Jets have played seven games. The Patriots, Falcons, Steelers and Bears will play a total of seven games.
2009-2010 – Arizona, the New York Jets and Baltimore played seven games. The Colts, Chargers, Vikings and Saints played nine games.
2008-2009 – Arizona, Philadelphia and Baltimore played 10 games. The Giants, Carolina, Titans and Steelers played six games.
2007-2008 – San Diego, the Giants and Jacksonville played nine games. Dallas, Green Bay, Indianapolis and New England played seven games.
I'll stop there. My point is we need to back and gamble on the Wild Card teams next year in the fantasy playoffs. The opportunity to play four instead of three games makes a big difference. All of the teams I mentioned in the first sentence participated in the Wild Card round while the latter teams received byes. From a fantasy standpoint we need to strongly consider this next year and grab the perceived "hot" team playing the first week in the playoffs, IMHO.
What did I miss? Agree/disagree? Hit it up in the comments folks, you know I'll respond.