It started off so great. Sitting in a box suite, enjoying the Heat's overtime win in Milwaukee, I felt that it was a sign of good things to come. Granted the Big 3 shot a combined total of just under 35%.The Seattle Seahawks defeated the defending champion Saints. Awesome. This weekend will be great. Now hopefully the NFL will take off all those Tracy Porter Saints fans commercials which suddenly gives me an urge to slap a small baby. Nobody predicted the rout that would ensue on Saturday afternoon, but I think the one telling statistic I heard before the playoff game was the New Orleans Saints have never won a road playoff game. Ah well.....
On to the tragedy that was the demise of the Indianapolis Colts. Let me begin with stating that Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports may be the biggest African-American homer of all-time. If you want to laugh whilest reading an absurd piece from somebody who is supposed to be an unbiased professional sports writer please feel free. Michael Vick, the dog-killing, middle-finger-pointing, gambling-ring-backing, EX-CONVICT!, is more mature and grown up than Peyton Manning. Good Lord.
Now to the game. The Jets simply outplayed the Colts at every position except quarterback. Their offensive scheme of setting up the run with the pass was pure brilliance mixed with absurdity. The Colts' maligned defense had no answer for the Jets in the second half, and the ignorance of Special Teams by the Colts once again rears its ugly head in the form of a 44 yard kick off return with under two minutes to go. I give all the credit in the world to Rex Ryan. He rushed with four the entire game, sat back with 8 in the defensive backfield and forced Manning to check to a run. The lack of any run game killed the Colts in the regular season, and its 2 for 6 on third and 1 will serve as the most important key statistic when I look back on the day that I wish to forget.
Peyton Manning is no 9-10 in the playoffs. He has 1 super bowl title and better statistical playoff numbers than his nemesis, Tom Brady, except for record. My argument has been made perfectly clear in previous posts. The Colts lack of coaching prowess, special teams blunders, and no running game or defense of the running game are the sole reasons why they lost this game. Once again, Manning is under scrutiny for losing against a team that, besides his position, is extremely better. It's unfortunate, but hey, c'est la vie.
I did not watch the Chiefs Ravens game because I couldn't figure out who would want to.
All of the people across the USA. I love my Green Bay Packers. Let's first put it out there. The Philadelphia Eagles were not the better team. The Packers exploited their lack of depth in the defensive secondary, and their lack of a significant pass rush. Aaron Rodgers has a 121.83 quarterback passer rating in two playoff games. I would use my Peyton Manning argument in defense of Rodgers as well. It certainly was not his fault for the loss in Arizona or the close game in Philadelphia. His greatness will be something to behold in future years. To be fair, I did say he would prove to be a better quarterback all-time than Brett Favre, and I stand by that prediction.
The Packers over 100 yard rushing performance is a little over-hyped however. James Starks had a great game on Sunday; however, there were consistent 7 man fronts with sometimes 3 safeties back deep. Do not expect this to occur in Atlanta. The Falcons are an experienced, fast, and strong defense. Rodgers and the defense will need to try and win this one again. I think they will pull off the slight upset.
I was torn between a good weekend bad weekend situation with the Colts losing, and the Packers winning. The clincher for a good weekend came with Lebron's first forty point performance of the season and a consecutive overtime win for the Miami Heat. Uh oh, Charlie. I think I'm getting ready to order my six pack of Spotted Cow.
