The NFL Divisional Playoff weekend was a tale of two days this weekend. On Saturday, both Green Bay and New England won just like they were supposed to. The big story in Green Bay was the snow and Ryan Grant running for 201 yards! In August, seriously, who thought that the Packers would be just one victory away from the Super Bowl? Definitely not me. The Packers really have a team full of no names on the offensive side of the ball with the exception of Brett Favre whose Hall of Fame acceptance speech may have to be reworked if the Pack can make it to the Super Bowl this year.
As expected, the Patriots were able to pull away from the Jaguars in the fourth quarter and continue their march towards destiny. After some blowout victories, including a 52-7 romping of my beloved Redskins, the Patriots have looked just a step above human for most of the last month and a half of the season.
Sunday was one of the better days for playoff football in recent memory though. While personally, I was not surprised one bit at the Cowboys loss (Tony Romo clearly is ready for an off-season game of catch with his girl Jessica) , the Chargers’ victory over Indianapolis was one of for the ages.
Without LaDanian Tomlinson, the Chargers were able to hold off the defending champs thanks to an inspired performance by Philip Rivers who had 3 touchdowns and nearly 300 yards passing without throwing the ball 20 times! The Chargers defense was able to hold the Colts in check when it counted through some key turnovers despite Peyton Manning collecting 402 yards through the air.
Who would have thought that Norv Turner could take the Chargers to the AFC Championship game? The hiring of Turner seemed like a desperate move by general manager A.J. Smith to fill the void left by the firing of Marty Schottenheimer after posting an NFL best 14-2 record last year. Well, I guess it is time to remove my foot from my mouth because Turner looked inspired on the sidelines (and tan from the beautiful San Diego weather), and made a great play call with the screen pass to Darren Sproles that went for a touchdown and ultimately turned the momentum to the side of the Chargers.
In the final game of the weekend, the Cowboys failed to win a playoff game again bringing the running total to 9 years. Eli Manning and the Giants seemed to not make a single mistake and played typical Tom Coughlin football. Meanwhile, the Cowboys looked like a team that continues to choke. And more importantly, can Jerry Jones spend a few dollars on a center who can snap the ball in the shotgun formation? Marion Barber got his first start of the year and looked like the running back everyone claims he is, but the Giants were simply better.
So, the question is, who is going to be playing for the Super Bowl?
New York vs. Green Bay – New York has been on a roll, but Green Bay keeps winning, I have the Pack winning 24-20 over the Giants in a close battle. The spread as off today has Green Bay by 7.
San Diego vs. New England — As much as I would love to see San Diego beat the Patriots, it just won’t happen. The Patriots offense is simply unstoppable. I guess all Brady needed was a legitimate number one receiver and we would be talking about the Patriots winning 7 straight titles. Patriots win 42-24. Vegas is giving the Patriots 14 points, when was the last time they had a spread less than two touchdowns?
That means we will have the Green Bay Packers squaring off against the superhuman New England Patriots for the Lombardi Trophy. Excuse me for not being excited at all for that match up, but I guess after two weeks of rampant news coverage and Sportscenter episodes from the Super Bowl I will have no choice but to be excited.
Is it March Madness yet?
