Eighteen and One...

Talk about The Boston Globe jumping the gun a little early with this book on 19-0. Also, how about the Patriots earlier this week trying to file a patent on the term "19-0"... Maybe this time it was the Patriots who got caught up in all the hype this time?

Live Blog!

So a few people mentioned the idea of live blogging which further pushed my own intention of doing it. So follow the game on your television sets and when you get a chance, stop by there for my analysis. Feel free to drop any comments and I will throw them in here.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

10:37 PM:

Me: go read the update

Cindy: hahahh

Cindy: umm that the GIANTS ARE THE BEST TEAM!!

Cindy: duh!

Cindy: and the pats can sit on it!

Cindy: the the 72 dolphins still own.

Cindy: =]

10:34 PM: So Cindy is also pointing out that David Tyree made a ridiculous 32 yard catch on the 3rd down conversion and he also had a touchdown reception as well. So his props are there now... did I miss anything else Ms. Murray?

10:04 PM: THE MOST DISAPPOINTING 18-1 SEASON! There will never be a more disappointing season than the ones Patriots just had. Quite a disappointing end by Belichick when he ran onto the field and would not leave with 2 seconds left. Congratulations to Eli for having his moment, taking that knee and winning that championship. Congratulations to the New York Football Giants.

10:01 PM: I kind of expected that deep bomb pass to Moss to fall into his hands.

9:57 PM: This is the stuff legends are made of. Crazy play on 3rd down to convert and then the touchdown pass...

9:47 PM: Important first down by Jacobs.

9:44 PM: Two minute warning... can Giants convert the first down?

9:39 PM: Can they make it any more easier for Brady and Moss? Touchdown Patriots... 13-10 Pats. 2:42 to go. Is this where Eli becomes a legend?

9:25 PM: Careless mistake by Eli to Burress... could have easily converted the first down. Now the Patriots get the ball back with 8 minutes to go and Tom Brady has another chance to led a game winning drive in the 4th quarter. Can the Giants D continue to come up with great stops?

9:12 PM: Good Coke commercial with Bill Frist and James Carville.

9:10 PM: 11:05 left in the final quarter.. the Giants score their first touchdown and lead 10-7.

9:07 PM: Finally the big play Giants had been looking for... and the one to catch is Boss - who has stepped up big time since Shockey went down.

9:00 PM: The look on Brady's face after the failed deep bomb to Moss fails says it all. Brady is frustrated, Patriots offense is stopped yet again... can the Patriots be unraveling?

8:51 PM: Good call by the Giants to go over the top to Burress but still have not converted anything big. How long can the Giants D hold down the Mighty Patriots?

8:43 PM: Interesting call by the Patriots to go for it on 4th-and-14 from the Giants 35. Once again the Giants stop them, now can Eli and company reply?

8:40 PM: Now the Giants allow 14 yards on a 3rd-and-13...

8:37 PM: Big overturn here... Patriots successfully challenge that the Giants had 12 men on the field. Get that call, get the first down and usually the Patriots will capitalize on opportunities like this one.

8:30 PM: Giants D in the past 3 of the 4 Patriot drives have held them to only 3 drives on the possession.

8:21 PM: Almost the start of the second half now... The Patriots struggled on offense in that first half. Their defense did pretty good holding the Giants to only 3 points and you know they are more than happy playing like this and gonna keep waiting for Giants to make their mistakes.

7:50 PM: Important fumble. I have not seen Brady pressured this much in the longest time. Very impressive first half for the Giants... If you are a Giants fan, you have to feel really good knowing you held the Patriots to only 7 points in the half. Giants had a couple of opportunities to convert and they will have to start converting because sooner or later you know the Patriots are going to strike again. Manning looking good so far, short passes are there and even the running game is there every now and then.

It's me signing off for an hour or until Tom Petty is done. I'll be back for the second half.

7:27 PM: I do not remember a single time this season that Brady was sacked on back to back plays... Giants D playing great, holding Patriots with back-to-back 3-and-outs.

7:21 PM: Just when the Giants' D comes up big, their offense comes out just as flat... follows a Patriots 3-and-out with one of their own... barely taking any time off the clock.

7:18 PM: BIG stop here by the Giants defense. I was talking here during the last Giants possession with my brother and I agree with what he said. The Giants do not necessarily have to get a touchdown but just protect the ball and put something on the board. Keep your eyes for the end zone but be happy with a field goal... this is only the first half.

7:12 PM: That is the last thing the Giants needed. HAVE TO make those catches there... cannot give the Patriots these free opportunities. Wasted at least 3 points right there and now with the interception, Patriots can have a time consuming drive to limit the Giants to probably only one more drive this half.

7:09 PM: Impressive catch by Toomer and now Giants need to convert.

7:00 PM: 7-3 Patriots. Giants need to respond now, do not want to give Patriots the ball back with the chance to push the lead to 11.

6:57 PM: Costly pass interference by Pierce for the Giants. You have to turn around on a play like that and just not tackle a player without looking. Had a chance to hold the Patriots to 3 but probably will not now. 4 downs to pound it in.

6:45 PM: Giants ran an impressive first drive. 16 plays - the longest drive in terms of plays for an opening drive in Super Bowl. Eli Manning looks pretty good so far but they will need to convert drives into touchdowns instead of field goals if they want to keep this game close.

6:26 PM: Giants call tails and end up winning the toss... 3 minutes to kick off now.

6:18 PM: Unofficially the anthem was at 1:55... good luck to those that betted over on the 1:42 line.

6:13 PM: Here come the Patriots, led by Brady and Bruschi.

5:50 PM: Switched over to C-SPAN for a bit and turns out Maria Shriver comes out to support Barack Obama in California.

5:39 PM: My dad continues to insist that since the Patriots are 18-0 they might as well win the 19th game as well. I am certain he does not understand that the Patriots are now like the Yankees of baseball. They are going to be hated. Maybe it is not fair to the Yankees since they were never caught cheating.

5:36 PM: I was not aware but my friend Matt from RIT tells me Coughlin coached there when they had a football team from 1971-73. Who knew?

5:29 PM: Talking about Tom Coughlin's mentality... several Giants' players joked that if they win the game today, Coach Coughlin might give them the day off tomorrow.

5:22 PM: Jeremy Shockey is shown on tv... turns out he is actually going to be at the game with the team.

5:15 PM: So far I saw two early commercials... one about the deaf community in America and certainly a well done commercial.




Only an hour and 15 minutes until game time...

Super Bowl Prediction

Well here it is... Super Bowl Weekend. It's also time for a game preview between the hometown New York football Giants and the team everyone loves to hate - the New England Patriots.


New York Giants vs. New England Patriots (6:30 PM - FOX)

It has been nearly two weeks since the Conference Championships but here we finally are. New York Giants against the New England Patriots, certainly not the match up most people expected at the start of the playoffs.

Everyone always likes a feel good story and this year's Giants are just that. They have won about a million straight games on the road, having defeated the Cowboys and Packers in back to back weeks, their quarterback has finally come into a zone, the team has all the confidence in the world... but let us not forget who they are going up against. The Patriots are in pursuit of a perfect 19-0 season, they are not going to let that slip away to a team with just momentum on their side.

Breakdown:

Head Coach:
Tom Coughlin has done wonders getting his team to finally believe in each other after the miserable start but he is always a visibly angry coach. Bill Belichick is truly a genius at his position and no one comes close to him. Maybe if they had one week to prepare... maybe... I would have given the Giants the nod especially with the way they played week 17. Edge: Patriots.

Offense:
The Patriots have put together the greatest offensive season the NFL has ever seen. Tom Brady threw for 50 touchdown passes, Randy Moss caught 23 of them and I have not even started talking about Wes Welker or Laurence Maroney or Kevin Faulk or Dante Stallworth. As good as Eli Manning is playing, the Patriots just have too many weapons compared to the Giants. Edge: Patriots.

Defense:
This is the place where the Giants can provide the difference. Even though I would probably give the two teams a push here with the Giants D-Line and the Pats' Secondary. I think if Osi or Strahan some how find a way to do something no team really has all year - rush Tom Brady or apply constant pressure, they can create turnovers and keep the game close. Edge: Giants.

Special Teams:
Giants' fans hold their breath everytime Lawrence Tynes comes on to kick. That is enough reason to give the Patriots the edge but if Domenik Hixon can give the Gaints good field position, it can prove to be the difference. Edge: Patriots.

This is not going to be a rout as many people are expecting the Patriots to put on the Giants. Give the Giants some credit. It is too hard for a team that is not talented to make it to the Super Bowl by fluke. They have the ability to win it but they lack the experience and possibly a true superstar. Randy Moss has been completely ineffective for the Patriots in the playoffs and they still have won their games rather comfortably. The Giants have had everything clicking and they have pulled off two heart-wrenching victories. This playoff season was the time for Eli Manning to step out of his brother's shadow and has the chance to not only become the 2nd quarterback to win a Super Bowl after going 0-2 in his first two playoff games (Peyton Manning) but he can also lead the first team to a championship after they had a losing record at home (3-5).

Giants keep it close but Patriots find yet another way to win their 19th game and complete the great season in NFL history. 35-28 Patriots.

P.S. How funny would it be if the game came down to a game winning kick and Stephen Gostkowski pushes it wide with Adam Vinatieri sitting at home watching the game.

EDIT: Early results on an ESPN.com poll asking viewers what they would rather see. The Patriots go 19-0 or would you rather see the Giants upset the Patriots. Too bad this is not like the Presidential Elections, New York Giants are carrying about 40-45 states... enough to translate to about 57% of the total votes.

Conference Championship Recap

So I guess I am finally getting around to talking about the two games because I am finally getting over the Packers loss. I will start with this game first because certainly this was arguably one of the best playoff games I have ever seen. A back and forth game from the start where neither team really got true momentum and even though it was a game that many will argue Giants dominated from the start (outside the one 90 yard pass to Driver). The Packers, much to my surprise, never established a running game that had really balanced out their offense in the second half of the season and really burst wide open in the last game against the Seahawks. Give all the credit in the world to Eli Manning who kept going to Plaxico Burress against a clearly over-matched Al Harris. Make no mistake about it, Packers gave this game away to the Giants with their mistakes but Eli stayed composed the entire game even though the Packers responded to every Giant score. I will still say it, Tom Coughlin's decision to play all of his starters in that 'meaningless' Week 17 game versus the Patriots really brought this team together and there is no way they are in the Super Bowl unless their starters play that game. 3 straight road playoff wins, 10 straight road wins... this team has the momentum that could produce a victory in Arizona, but that is a little too early to call. Momentum is a dangerous opponent to play against regardless of who you are.

Oh by the way, Patriots continued their winning ways basically because the Chargers could find a way to score in the red zone. They were held to four field goals, two of which certainly could have been touchdowns and who knows, might have produced a different result at the end of the game. Regardless, the Patriots played less than their 'A' game but still found a way to win. They did that this game and have done that often over the course of the season and now stand one win away from a perfect 19-0 season. I will not elaborate more into what I think happens in two weeks but yea, I just might pick the Patriots two weeks in a row, who knows?

Conference Championship Predictions

Well here we go again... it is Conference Championship weekend - the Final Four of the National Football League. 3/4 the first week but a very disappointing 1/4 last week - only 50% for the playoffs... gotta pick it up with a perfect week this week.


San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots (3:00 PM - CBS)

Not too many people expected the Chargers to pull off the upset over the Colts last week without the help of Rivers and LT for the entire second half but give credit to Norv Turner and his team for sticking together and pulling out a gutsy playoff victory. Let me just say that the Chargers will not be able to repeat the same kind of result this week unless they do have quality contributions from Rivers, LT and Gates. The Patriots have proven all year long that you might slow them down for a little bit by taking away Moss or taking away their running game but that only works for so long. They just have so many weapons on offense that they can give any defense nightmares. Now the Chargers do have quite an athletic defense that has the ability to stay with the Patriots playmakers and with the weather forecast for heavy gusts, the Patriots short passing game that they run so well will probably be in full use. Chargers need to be able to apply some sort of pressure onto Brady if they want to have any chance this game. Brady was sacked on the first play of the game last week but then he was barely touched for the entire game after that. If San Diego can bring pressure often, I can see them keeping this game close in the 4th quarter otherwise it is an easy path for the Patriots to the Super Bowl. Patriots 31-21.



New York Giants at Green Bay Packers (6:30 PM - FOX)

Now this is the Eli Manning everyone had been waiting for. Who really expected this Manning brother to be in the Conference Championship game while is brother was sent home packing? Give all the credit in the world to Tom Coughlin for playing his starters in the last game of the regular season against the New England Patriots - these guys really came together on the field then and that has led to 2 straight victories on the road for the Giants. Now they head to Green Bay where the high temperature for Sunday is forecasted to be about 4 degrees. Brett Favre is a career +40 in win/loss ratio at home and only has a handful of losses when the temperature drops below freezing. Everyone questioned the Packers running game at the start of the year and whether it would be good enough to provide a balance to defenses to keep them honest with their prolific passing attack. Ryan Grant proved that last week with a franchise record for rushing yards in a playoff game - one that seemed very unlikely after he fumbled the ball twice on the Packers first two possessions of the game. The Gaints' pass rushers need to be able to do what most teams have not been able to do all year and that is bring pressure on Brett Favre and force him to make mistakes. He has really cut down on his interceptions and if he manages the game again the way he did last week vs. Seattle, the Giants are in for a long day in Green Bay. I think you have to tip your hat to Eli Manning for finally bringing his game to that next level and I certainly think he is going to have another efficient game this week, I just do not think that will be enough for the battered Giants team to pull out a victory at Lambeau Field. Packers 35-20.

Divisional Playoff Results - Part 1

So as you could have probably deciphered from the previous post that the Packers put a beat down on the Seahawks. Certainly, I failed to account for the weather that certainly affected both teams. The slick ball early on caused two fumbles for the Packers even though the second one was a solid tackle from the defense. On the flip side, Seahawks were never able to get going offensively where balls they should have caught slipped out of their hands and the running game was seemingly stuck in the snow. I was afraid the youth of the Packers would finally catch up with them and it showed a little bit early when Grant fumbled on the first two drives but boy did he make up for it with franchise record for rushing yards in a post season game. Another well played game by Brett Favre and his wide receivers who continue to get a majority of their yardage after catching the ball (YAC!). Now they go on to face the winner of the Giants/Cowboys game (vs. Giants at home, on the road if against Cowboys). Oh by the way, Brett Favre is 0-9 in his career at Texas Stadium.

The game of the weekend as I had earlier predicted certainly lived up to it in 3 of the 4 quarters - Patriots just dominated the 3rd quarter which proved to be the difference maker. Tom Brady looked like he was going for some XBox Live Achievement for consecutive passes completed at one point but finished the day going 26/28 (92.9%) - which is a post season record for highest completion percentage in a game beating Phil Simms' 86% (I think). Jags did a good job taking Randy Moss out of the game but they were still unable to stop Tom Brady and his passing attack. David Garrard had a great regular season with only 3 interceptions but he also had 3 in 2 post season games and it caught up with him today on his final drive of the game. He's a smart quarterback who will develop into a star in the league if he continues to play like this. A little disappointed with the lack of a running presence by the Jags with either Taylor or Jones-Drew (combining for 68 yards). Now the Patriots will host the winner of the Chargers/Colts game, both teams who can keep with the Patriots offensively but the question will still remain... Can any defense slow down these Patriots?

Divisonal Playoff Prediction

Well here we go, NFL Divisional Playoff Weekend is just about here.

Seahawks at Packers (Saturday @ 4:30 on FOX)
I really want to see how Brett Favre decides to play this football game. He has lost 6 of his last 8 playoff games and could be his last game in Green Bay. Hopefully he does not play like he did in the Dallas game, going back and just slinging every pass 50 yards down the field. The Packers need to continue doing what got them to the playoffs this season - spread out the wide receivers and allow them to gain yards after the catch as well as using Ryan Grant to keep defenses honest. I think if the Packers still to that game plan, Seattle just cannot score enough points to beat them this year, maybe if they had Shaun Alexander of a couple of years ago where they would run over everyone but this year they ranked 20th in the league on the ground and with passing game that is only decent, I think Green Bay squeaks out a win in Lambeau Field. Green Bay 27-24.

Jaguars at Patriots (Saturday @ 8:30 on CBS)
This is probably going to be the best match up of the weekend. The Jaguars are coming off an impressive victory in Pittsburgh and you know the Patriots after their 16-0 regular season performance do not want their season to end with a disappointment. I like the way the Jaguars defense plays and forces the offenses to become one dimensional with their great rushing defense. Yes the Patriots are great a passing team but the Jags have an athletic defense that could pose trouble for the likes of Moss or Welker. I think if the Jaguars just hold their own in the early stages of the game and do not succumb to a deep pass or two early, they are a team that can probably will out a win later in the games where so many other teams have failed. I think that because of their quarterback David Garrard - who is no Eli Manning, no AJ Feeley and certainly no Kyle Boller - he is a much better quarterback and only threw 3 interceptions in the regular season... that is going to be key, protecting the football. For everything that the Patriots have done this year, you certainly cannot count them out but do not overlook the Jaguars because I see them winning this game. Jaguars win 31-24.

Chargers at Colts (Sunday at 1 on CBS)
If you want to see a game with two high powered offenses, this is the game to watch. It is not only Peyton Manning vs. LaDainian Tomlinson, but Manning has so many options in Wayne, Addai, Clark and now add Harrison into that mix as well. Phillip Rivers will be troubled with the apparent loss of Antonio Gates who is still game time decision will not be 100% even if he plays but they have added Chris Chambers since the last time these two teams met and that will provide some balance in the Charger attack. Chargers pulled out a lucky win earlier in the year when Adam Vinatieri missed a chip shot, I have a feeling Manning will not let the game be that close this time around. One thing that is often overlooked about this Colts team is their defense. The D ranked #1 in the league in scoring, allowing just over 16 points a game and while they put up nearly 30 that does not bode well for their opponents. No team has put up over 25 points on the Colts this year and it will still be the case after this game. Colts win easy 35-21.

Giants at Cowboys (Sunday at 4:30 on FOX)
So Eli Manning finally got that monkey off his back last week with an impressive win over the Bucs. The Giants certainly have everything working for them right now - they have the momentum, they have the confidence in their quarterback and everyone seems to be on the same page and traveling to Dallas, they are going to need every bit of that if they wish to pull out a victory. The Cowboys pretty much limped into the playoffs losing 2 of their last 3, scoring only 12 points in the loses. Tony Romo and company should benefit from the extra week's rest and the home field advantage but the winning streak the Giants have can be very dangerous. Everyone says it is very difficult to beat a team 3 times in one season but I think if they have done it twice already, they sort of know what to do against you and unless the Giants make dramatic changes I do not see how they will avoid making it 3 straight.A healthy TO should provide to be the difference maker in this game, I see the Giants falling just a little short. I know I am going to take beating from some over enthusiastic Giant fans but I will stick by my original prediction, Cowboys win 24-17.