Conference Championships

Well, the Super Bowl is all set. A rematch of one of the best regular season games of the year, the NFL is certainly very pleased with the matchup. You have the undefeated New England Patriots, the most hated team in recent memory, and the New York Giants, playing in a huge market. Great ratings!

Thoughts from the weekend:

New England-San Diego
As I thought, it turned out to be a close game. The Chargers were pretty banged up, and they should be commended for a fantastic finish to their season after starting out 5-5. Maybe Norv Turner is the right guy to get this talented team to the promised land. LT didn't do much to add to his legacy, not playing the whole game. One thing that made me angry was when one of the Chargers, I think Cromartie, got an interception and then did Moss' weird little celebration. After LT ripped NE for doing Merriman's "Lights Out" dance last year, I guarantee that he won't go after his guy. But whatever. New England didn't play well, but they still were able to beat a very good SD team. They should be just fine against NY.

New York-Green Bay
A great game that GB gave away. Favre reverted to his pre-2007 bad Brett, throwing horrendous interceptions. I don't think they ran the ball as much as they should have, Grant was coming off a 200 yard game last week. Favre'll be back next year. Eli played well again, but since he hasn't turned the ball over at all this postseason, he probably has a lot of pent-up turnovers in him. Maybe 4 picks and a fumble? I still don't trust him. Should be a fun Super Bowl though.

Something irrelevant that I just noticed: All four teams in the conference games have two words in their name: New England, New York, Green Bay, San Diego.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???

Democratic debate on right now. Stimulus plans!

Twirling Towards Freedom

Three different winners today. Romney won Nevada, as expected, and McCain edged out Huckabee in South Carolina. Sure looks like McCain has the most momentum right now. But Romney and Huckabee are still right there. Thompson is far out, but there's still a chance he makes a comeback, and Giuliani has always been banking on Florida. Hillary won for the Democrats, which was huge. Obama will probably win South Carolina, so preventing him from getting back-to-back wins was important. Still either candidates' race. Edwards didn't do too well, I think he'll be done after Super Tuesday.

Conference championship games tomorrow. The Predictions:
New England 20, San Diego 17
Green Bay 20, New York 17

Wow, what a great weekend of football. Upsets galore! Some quick thoughts from each game:

Pack-Seahawks
The Packers offense is great. Ryan Grant answered any questions about both his ability to be a playmaker and also about his intestinal fortitude. He had a great game after bouncing back from two early fumbles. He didn’t let those mistakes kill his confidence. Green Bay’s gonna be a tough team to beat. The Seahawks, on the other hand, are overrated. They desperately need to upgrade their wide receivers and running backs in the offseason. Alexander isn’t close to the player he once was. Deion Branch is good, but he’s too injury prone, and even when healthy he’s only a number two. Hasselbeck isn’t good enough to win with no help. He’s not Tom Brady.

Giants-Cowboys
This game was a big letdown from the Cowboys. They played horrendously. All they can do is work hard in the offseason and try again next year. Maybe they could get TO a box of tissues. The Giants played well, but I don’t think they’ll beat Green Bay next week. Eli may have confidence, but that doesn’t mean he’s good. I see Green Bay winning handily.

Bolts-Colts
This is just one of those games that you can’t do much about. The Chargers are now 9-3 all time at the RCA Dome, and have a three-game win streak against the Colts. For whatever reason, they have their number. They got beaten up but were still able to pull out a victory. They’ve been on fire, and I think next week’s game will be a lot closer than people think. As Tony Dungy said in his press conference, the Colts got into scoring position four times but failed to come out with any points. The turnovers were key, and they just couldn’t rebound. They failed to execute on 4^th down late, but that happens. If Tony Dungy chooses to retire, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Colts pursue Josh McDaniels. He would be perfect for that offense.

Jags-Pats
Obviously I’m biased, but the Pats’ offense played great. Brady is moving up the list of all-time great QBs. Here’s my list as of now:

1. 1. John Elway
2. Joe Montana
3. Tom Brady
4. Peyton Manning
5. Brett Favre

If the Pats do go on to win the Super Bowl, I think Brady will eclipse Montana, and maybe Elway as well. Their defense, however, did struggle, especially early. The Chargers have a good offense, even though Philip Rivers sucks. I think this game will be close, and I’m eagerly anticipating it.