Defending Super Bowl champs knocked out of the playoffs

OK, here are my picks for the NFC Divisional Playoffs:

1.     San Francisco 49ers over New Orleans Saints.

2.     New England Patriots over Denver Broncos

3.     Baltimore Ravens over Houston Texans

4.     Green Bay Packers over New York Giants

Not bad.  I got three right.  Interestingly, I said that I would love to see a big upset to add some drama to the playoffs.  Well, I got an upset and I am sure Packers fans are mad about my wish.

It is not surprising that the New York Giants came prepared to play.  While they only won nine games during the regular season, they ended strong.  I also think that they had a little chip on their shoulders because people were not really taking them serious.  It is surprising that they went into Lambeau Field and beat the Packers by 17 points.

Here is why the Packers lost.

1.     Nonexistent running game - QB Aaron Rodgers was the leading rusher.

2.     Listless passing game – Too many incomplete and dropped passes.

3.     Not focused – Three fumbles and two failed onside kicks.

So the teams for the conference championship games are set.  The New England Patriots will host the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC Championship Title.  The New York Giants will go west to play the 49ers for the NFC Championship.   I think the 49ers and Patriots will win.  But, if one can upset the Patriots, the Ravens certainly have the potential.

NFL conference champions are on Sunday.  The AFC game is at 3 p.m. on CBS and the NFC game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on FOX.

Ciao!

Heels & Helmets

Not bad.  I got three out of four right. 

A football week to love

I am asking for forgiveness now.  I am all over the place this week.  Between my beloved Wolverines winning their first bowl game since 2008, a crazy weekend of NFL playoff games and the Allstate BCS NationalChampionship game happening tonight, there is a lot to talk about in football.  Forgive me.

AMAIZEING all right

Last week Michigan Football got a boost with a victory over Virginia Tech in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.  While the football world declared that a win showed that Michigan was back; Head Coach Brady Hoke, said that, “Michigan never left.”  Gosh it is so nice to have a Michigan Man back at the helm of this program.  I know, this seems a little arrogant, but there is a difference.  It is not about growing up in the state.  It is not about being an alum of the university.  Coach BoSchembechler who started the designation was not either.  It is about understanding and respecting a great tradition with a very proud history.  It is about loving Michigan football.  I hate to seem corny as if I don’t have a life outside of Michigan football (I do, really); but it is the truth.  When you have that knowledge and passion, you lead with enthusiasm and make everyone buy into your system.  This is what Coach Brady Hoke did.  Yes, he had experience coaching at Michigan, so he had the trust of the university’s community.  However, he did not come in and make a mockery of the most winningest college football program by saying things like running out of the tunnel into the largest football stadium in the world would mean nothing to him.  Who would jump up to support someone like that?  Not me.  It is ungrateful.  Hoke also understood what was important to his audience.  Win a Big Ten Championship.  He reiterated this several times to the media throughout the season, so you know that he believed this to his core and would work hard to make it happen.  This is a leader that you get behind.  If I feel like this as an alum over 600 miles away from Schembechler Hall, imagine what it did for the guys inside in the locker room.  This is why I agree with Coach Hoke, Michigan never left.  We are the same program, with great talent and a desire for excellence.  We now just have a coach who understands this.

O…M… Tebow

Wild is really not descriptive enough for the way the first weekend of the NFL playoffs ended in Denver.  Tim Tebow, who many criticize for not having an arm to be a NFL quarterback, completely dismantled the Steelers defense, with his passing game.  He threw 316 yards and had two touchdowns to take out the tough Steelers.  The passes were not short either.  One of touchdowns was an 80-yard pass in overtime that finished the game on the first play 11 seconds into overtime.  It was historical because the NFL used to play sudden death in overtime, so the first team to score won the game.  Now in playoff games, if you don’t score a touchdown, the other team has an opportunity to get the ball.  Tebow eliminated that option by going all out on the opening play of overtime.  I am still in awe.  Now Tebow will have to travel to New England and work his magic against Tom Brady’s Patriots.  I can’t wait.

Allstate BCS National Championship

Tonight’s BCS title game will feature two schools from the same conference for the first time.  LSU (#1) and Alabama (#2) are rivals in the Southeastern Conference.  They are playing for the second time this season.  Neither team scored a touchdown at their meeting during the regular season.  The game should be good because of the defenses.   I am going to give the edge to LSU because they have home-field advantage and cornerback Tyrann Mathieu.  He is the only corner to since Charles Woodson to get national attention at that position and be nominated for the Heisman Trophy.  Catch the game on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Ciao!

Heels & Helmets®

Happy New Year!

What a year it has been in the NFL.  It seems so distant now, but six months ago we were panicking about the NFL lockout.  Fans were on pins and needles hoping that NFL owners and players would reach an agreement so that America could have its favorite sport.  Fortunately, for fans, sports bars, chicken farms and pizza companies, a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was reached and not one down of professional football was missed.

The lockout ended just around the time training camps usually start.  Teams rushed to sign rookie contracts, get players to practice and bolster their rosters with free agents.  The Philadelphia Eagles shocked everyone by signing four pro-bowl defensive players.  Nnamdi Asomugha (cornerback), Jason Babin (defensive end), Cullen Jenkins (defensive tackle), and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (cornerback) all became Eagles within three days of each other.

The Eagles offense led by Michael Vick was fast and exciting in 2010.  They put up points and made it to the playoffs.  The defense on the other hand needed some help.  Especially against teams that pass a lot.  With some impressive additions to the secondary and Vick healthy, I thought that Philadelphia would make the playoffs and end up representing the NFC in Super Bowl XLVI.  You know, defense wins championships. 

Sticking with the fact that defense wins championships, I picked the New York Jets to win the AFC and play in the Super Bowl.  With 10 starters returning on defense and cornerback Darrelle Revis not holding out this year, I was sure that this would be the year for the Jets.   

Neither the Eagles nor the Jets made the playoffs.  Both teams finished the season at .500, winning only half of their games.  It was disappointing to see Philadelphia come in third in the NFC East, but there is reason to be hopeful.   In December, the defense started to look like the strong unit that I expected to see all season.  Unfortunately, for the Jets things are gloom.  Their young quarterback, Mark Sanchez, really struggled.  He was finished the season fourth in interceptions (18) thrown this season. 

The road to Indy for Super Bowl XLVI gets tough this weekend when the NFL playoffs start.  Here are the contenders.

AFC

No. 1 New England Patriots (13 – 3)

No. 2 Baltimore Ravens (12 – 4)

No. 3 Houston Texans (10 – 6)

No. 4 Denver Broncos (8 – 8)

No. 5 Pittsburgh Steelers (12 – 4)

No. 6 Cincinnati Bengals (9-7)

NFC

No. 1 Green Bay Packers (15 – 1)

No. 2 San Francisco 49ers (13 – 3)

No. 3 New Orleans Saints (13 – 3)

No. 4 New York Giants (9 – 7)

No. 5 Atlanta Falcons (10 – 6)

No. 6 Detroit Lions (10 – 6)

Get dates and times for NFL playoff games.

The teams to beat are the Patriots and the Packers.  The Patriots are first in the AFC without a deep threat wide receiver.  Tom Brady has been manhandling defenses using two tight ends.  You have to be scared of the Packers because of their depth.  Anything can happen during the playoffs.  Green Bay’s backup quarterback, Matt Flynn, put up 480 yards and 6 touchdown passes in the team’s final game of the season. 

The other team that you have to watch is the San Francisco 49ers.  Jim Harbaugh has done a great job coaching this team.  They are prepared and run the ball well, which will help them use the clock during the playoffs.  If anyone can sneak passed the Packers, it will be the 49ers.

Ciao!

Heels & Helmets

Santa thinks the Lions are looking nice

Santa and his reindeer showed up in Motown early.  It has been a rough decade in Detroit, so Santa had to double and triple check his list to make sure that Lions should get some sparkle over coal.  Despite all of the naughtiness from Ndamukong Suh, Santa decided that overall the Lions were nice. 

I agree.  The Lions are really nice.  They only needed to win on Saturday to clinch their first playoff spot since 1999.  With that in mind, they demolished the San Diego Chargers and extinguished their hopes of going to the playoffs.  Lions QB Matthew Stafford, had three touchdown passes with three different receivers, tight end Brandon Pettigrew, running back Kevin Smith and super star wide receiver Calvin Johnson, known as Megatron.  The Lions are so nice that Megatron matched a single-team record with 15 touchdown receptions.

So, after years of coal in December, Santa finally gave Lions fans a little sparkle during the holidays.  It must feel like the most wonderful time of the year in Detroit.

Ciao! 

Heels & Helmets®

Eagles v. Jets is like Man v. Nature

The Philadelphia Eagles playing the New York Jets at home was like an episode of “Man vs. Nature.”  Man is smart, but you know what happens every time he truly encounters nature?  A natural disaster.

That is exactly what happened yesterday.  The Jets’ came flying in to The Linc with their man-made engines and wings hoping to improve their playoff chances.  Unfortunately, for Jets fans the speed and power of Rex Ryan’s team was simply no match for what nature unleashed on the gridiron in South Philadelphia. 

The Eagles with its natural wings spanning 90 inches soared high and controlled both sides of the ball.  On defense, fumbles and interceptions led to 21 points putting Philadelphia up 28 – 0 in the second quarter.  Like an American Bald Eagle, Michael Vick’s vision of the field was sharp.  He made good decisions on passing and running the ball.  He rushed and scored one touchdown by stretching into the end zone.

Man attempted a valiant attempt to come back, but after halftime it was over.  There was nothing the Jets could do to stop the Eagles.  They kept the Jets offense off of the field and ran up the score.  At the end it was all nature and the Eagles wiped out the Jets 45 – 19.  Yes, a natural disaster. 

Ciao!

Heels & Helmets®

The Tebow difference

Eight weeks ago the Denver Broncos looked lifeless.  They had only won one game and sat last in their division, the AFC West.  After their bye week (Week 6), they returned with a new starting quarterback and transformed into a new team.  The new leader on the Broncos’ offense is Tim Tebow.

I was asked if the difference in Denver’s performance was because Tebow’s style was similar to the wildcat.  While many people refer to wildcat as an offense, it is not actually an offense system.  It is a formation used in an offense system.  In this formation, the ball is snapped directly to the running back.  Tebow can play in a wildcat formation because he is athletic and runs well.  He can throw defenses off by taking the snap and running or lining up as a receiver. 

Denver uses an option offense.  Tebow is a dual threat to defenses because he can pass or rush.  As a result, Denver has an "option" to allow Tebow to rush like a running back.

Tebow is good, but there are a lot of good QBs in the NFL.  Not many of them have completely turned their teams around as a new starter in the middle of the season.  The difference is that he believes that he can win.  It is clear that his belief is contagious in the Broncos locker room.  Since he took over Denver has only lost one game and are now in first in their division. 

All of the wins were not pretty.  Five of them came when the game was tied or the Broncos were down entering the fourth quarter.  Tebow fights until the end and keeps his teammates fired up to get the win.  That is the difference he brought to Denver.

Ciao!

Heels & Helmets®

BCS bowl selections stir up annual controversy

December is here and college bowl game season is officially upon us.  Yesterday, the BCS selected its bowl games participants and like every year the controversy began.  The two big debates are over the rematch that will happen between LSU Tigers (#1) and Alabama Crimson Tide (#2) in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game and the Michigan Wolverines trip to the AllState Sugar Bowl to play Virginia Tech Hokies.  

The championship game will feature schools from the same conference for the first time.  Everyone outside of the Southeastern Conference wanted to see any one-loss team in the championship game except Alabama.  While, I understand the frustration I get the selection.  Alabama only lost one game.  That lost was to LSU and the game was really close.  Neither team scored a touchdown showing how tough their defenses are.  Their defenses got them in the national championship and it will be a good rematch.

I am a B1G TEN girl and this reminds me of 2006 when Ohio State and Michigan were #1 and  #2 respectively.  It was dubbed, the Game of the Century.  Michigan lost by one field goal and did not play Ohio State in the national championship.  Naturally, I wanted that rematch.  I am glad that Alabama will have a chance to see their rival again. 

As for the Sugar Bowl, the major dissension is Michigan representing the B1G TEN in a BCS bowl and not the Michigan State Spartans.  Both schools had two losses during the regular season, but Michigan lost to Michigan State.  The Spartans played for the conference title but lost to the Wisconsin Badgers.  In the minds of some, the Spartans should have been the obvious choice to a BCS game.  The problem is that they lost the B1G TEN title to a team that they previously beat.  Last year, I said that Michigan State got robbed because they shared the title with Ohio State and Wisconsin, but after beating Wisconsin they were not selected to play in the Rose Bowl.  This year they had a chance to be the outright B1G TEN champ and did not deliver.  It does not look favorable to the committee to lose at the end of the year.

I will not pretend that this is only football.  The BCS is not the NCAA.  They are not reserved about their desire to have good games, schools with passionate fans and great experiences for the cities.  The reality is schools like LSU, Alabama, Michigan and Virginia Tech will help the BCS achieve all of their objectives over Boise State. 

I am not in love with the BCS.  I am not even a fan of the arrangement.  I think that it is complex and at times arbitrary.  I would love to see a playoff system that allows us to truly get a college football champion by action on the gridiron.

Check out all of the BCS and non-BCS bowl games.

Ciao!

Heels & Helmets®