Man, a guy has to take two weeks off and the Broncos knock off the Steelers
in the playoffs. What is the world coming to? I mean seriously, what happened? I
apologize for my absence but life has thrown a few curveballs throughout the
month of December. I’m in the midst of a life change, I had some holiday
traveling, and I’ve been sick. A lot has happened to say the least. Now that
life has leveled out it’s time to play catch up on some writing…
The Lions-Saints game was as brutal as I thought it would be. First off, Calvin
Johnson is an amazing player to watch. The game he had last Saturday was a thing
of beauty to watch. He and Stafford played pitch and catch all day and it was
close to unstoppable. The problem is they were playing a VERY motivated Drew
Brees and New Orleans offense. The Saints offensive line dominated Suh, Fairley,
and the rest of the cast on defense. The amount of passing yards, points, and
records Brees was able to set is unbelievable. Aaron Rodgers had a great year
but my friends, Drew Brees IS the MVP of the NFL. Between the records, the
dominance, and the amazing surge they went on after the Rams loss (still a fluke
in my opinion) is nothing short of stunning.
I always thought there was a chance Denver would beat Pittsburgh, I just never
really thought it would happen. I should have looked at the injury report
closer. The Steelers offensive line was decimated. They had one starter left
from Week 1 and most of them hadn’t played in the position they were forced to
play. Mike Wallace and Hines Ward look old. It’s sad to say it but they look
and play old. I know I preached it earlier this season and I was wrong but
you’re starting to see the fall of the Roman Empire. They need to get younger
on their offensive line and in their linebackers. Their d-line is ok and the
secondary can wait a bit longer but the linebackers allowed the biggest plays of
the day. The final touchdown in overtime was a perfect play call and Tebow hit
it right on the money because it split the seam between the linebackers and
defensive backs leaving nothing but open space for the winning touchdown.
Congratulations to Denver on a well deserved victory.
I should also mention at this point I understand what makes Tim Tebow a good
quarterback in the NFL. I caught the NFL Films “All Mic’d Up: Tim Tebow”
the other night and was astounded. In previous shows I’ve watched quarterbacks
do a lot of “football talk”, running through plays, etc. Tebow took time
after bad series to sit down and encourage his teammates. In games where they
trailed and had that one shot, he gave these calm “We’re going to do this
right now” type speeches. Each time, they came back and won. The most
interesting one was the Bears games. He threw a perfect pass to one of his
receivers that would have been a TD on 3rd and 10 and it went between his hands.
On the field he asks his fullback did it go through his hands. He shook his head
when he found it was a “yes” and went oh well next time. They got back to
the bench and he sat down next to the receiver and calmly said, “I’m going
to throw you one more of those and you’re going to catch it for a touchdown
next time.” Sure enough, fourth quarter, same pass, same play and the guy
catches the ball and puts them on the 5 for the winning touchdown. After the
play he slaps him on the head and said “See, I told you so.” Do I think
Tebow is going to be an elite quarterback in the NFL? Maybe. With two more
seasons of work he has no choice but to get better. The key is his teammates
truly like him and believe in him. They will do whatever they can to win
together.
I’m sure Disney will make a movie out of the first “Miracle Tebow Season”.
Just imagine it. Timmy is on the bench praying for his shot. Kyle Orton gets
pulled and Timmy is told to warm up and get ready to go in. They highlight the
first game where he almost brought them back. Disney cuts to the week of prep
for their first win where the Broncos come from behind. They do the montage of
them running through the locker room three weeks in a row with cuts to ESPN
headlines of “How are the Broncos doing it?” Then, the conflict starts.
Success affects the team in ways they didn’t realize. They still stand
together but they get beat down by the Patriots in a nationally televised game.
The last week of the season they are mired in a losing streak but back into the
playoffs. Then you have scenes of people scoffing that the Broncos can beat the
mighty Steelers come Sunday. You have Big Ben give an interview about how his
leg is falling off but come Sunday he’ll be 100% and ready to play. They show
shots of Big Hair himself, Polamalu, grunting and trying to not sound like a
sissy (his voice is quite pleasant and not intimidating at all). Finally, before
the game Timmy gives the locker room the “nobody believes in us speech. No one
comes into our house and beats us. No one thought we had a chance but we
believed in each other and believed God would honor us. Let’s go out there and
shock the world but first let us pray.” Tebow leads them through a fiery
prayer then the team runs out on the field. Disney does the dramatic action
shots and has plenty of tense goose bump moments. The set up for the final play
in OT is magical. The play moves in slow motion with lineman leaping in
Timmy’s face until he spots the open receiver and delivers the bullet. The
second the receiver catches the ball the slo-mo stops and we cut back to Timmy
Tebowing as the winning touchdown scores. The stadium goes crazy as Tim walks up
to Big Ben and shakes his hand, then he walks up to Polamalu who instead gives
him a hug and says in his tiny voice “good job Tim”. Tim smiles and points
to the sky. From there Disney does their weird “afterword” montage with
footage of the Patriots game with captions about what happens next. It proudly
states this: “The Broncos went in to New England the underdogs yet again and
shocked the world beating The Patriots on a last second touchdown. Unfortunately
the Broncos lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game by a field
goal. Tim Tebow was given a big contract by the Broncos and has led them to
three straight division titles but the Broncos have still fallen short of the
Super Bowl. Tim vows to get there….with his brothers, the Broncos.”
Tell me that movie isn’t in the works and in that exact order. I should
copyright this now for a piece of the action.
Now that I’ve gone on a 700 word tangent, it’s time to get back to recaps.
Why are the Falcons allowed into the playoffs year after year with MATTY
IIIIICCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEE??? They have been such a fraud all year playing crappy
teams with the most fair-weather fans in the NFL. They have ZERO heart and
rolled over and died in New Jersey. They put all their eggs in the “Julio
Jones is our missing piece” basket. The only problem is their defense is
amazingly average and it was hardly exposed until a GOOD team cleaned their
clock. Enough said. Next year when Carolina is in second place in the division
all will be right with the world (provided Drew Brees doesn’t sign with Dallas
and the Saints go in the cellar when their franchise player is offered more
money than he could dream of in free agency by Uncle Jerry).
---------Divisional Round Picks------------
New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers
Jim Harbaugh should be commended for the job he has done with taking the 49ers
from one of the worst teams to arguably a top five team in his first season as
coach with Alice (typo intentional) Smith as his quarterback. Here’s the
truth. It’s going to be sexy to pick the 49ers this weekend but don’t be
fooled. New Orleans is going to score 30 points, guaranteed. The big question is
does Alice Smith have the ability to put up 31? I don’t think so.
Final Score: New Orleans Saints 38, San Francisco 49ers 24.
Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots
The last time these teams met, New England won because it was able to take
advantage of two turnovers. I truly don’t believe that happens again. The win
over the Steelers has given the Broncos momentum and they should be able to
squeeze a win out in New England. Is it going to be hard? Yes. Will the Patriots
score? Yes. The question is can the Denver offense execute like it did last
week? If they can score on the Steelers, they can just as easily score on the
Patriots.
Final Score: Denver Broncos 23, New England Patriots 20.
Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens
Houston had a great win last week, no doubt. The problem is the Ravens defense
will eat them for lunch. It will be somewhat close as a final score but only
because Houston will get a garbage time touchdown. The Ravens are notorious for
letting up in the final five minutes and letting those cheap touchdowns occur.
Final Score: Baltimore Ravens 24, Houston Texans 17.
New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers
The Giants almost pulled off the upset last time they were in Green Bay if you
will recall. The Packers have injuries on the offensive line and the defensive
line. The strongest parts of the Packers are their quarterback and receivers.
The rest is amazing average. I think this game is close but the Giants pull it
out. The Giants have this amazing ability to rise to the occasion in big games
(see the New England surprise that I correctly predicted earlier this season)
but flame out in meaningless games (see Seattle and Washington games). Get ready
cuz the upset train is pulling out.
Final Score: New York Giants 27, Green Bay Packers 24.
---------NFL Newsline-----------
So here’s something interesting. As everyone knows I am a diehard Redskins
fan. There have been significant rumblings the Peyton Manning to Washington
Redskins trade is going to go through post-Super Bowl. The Colts have officially
decided to start over and with the departure of Peyton’s friend (the former
GM), it is now all but certain he is going to be traded.
So here’s the question is it a good or bad move for Washington? Realistically
they will owe Manning a ton of money. To get him I would imagine they are going
to trade at least a first round pick or a second and third round pick. Manning
probably has 3 seasons in him. Is that a reasonable enough time for Washington
to draft the quarterback of the future and have him learn from the master? Not
if they have to surrender a first round pick. The only way this works is if they
can get a good first round pick immediately. When Peyton rides off into the
sunset, the new quarterback needs to know the system and have some of the
knowledge. I don’t know how I feel about it yet but the rumblings I’m
hearing are from some pretty reliable Redskins sources I follow.
Thanks for reading everyone. Sorry I missed the last two weeks but life has a
way of changing your priorities very quickly.
