Panthers beat Patriots on MNF

          It was tough. It was physical. It was a battle.
          It was everything it had been hyped up to be.
          And in the end, Cam Newton outplayed Tom Brady when it mattered most. A year ago most people would have laughed at anyone who wrote that. No one outplays Tom Brady in the clutch. Definitely not Cam Newton. He's immature, he pouts, he whines. He will never outplay the legend, the golden boy, Tom Brady.
          Then he did.
          But there was a flag. And if you've watched any NFL game in the past, you're well versed on the way this thing works. Penalty flags are as imprecise as the men in stripes who throw them. Depending on who you ask, it was the right call and the wrong call and the last call for alcohol. My opinion? Not touching it. I just think that perhaps the football gods are showing the Panthers some love after years of watching Jake Delhomme's old ass drive the team into the ground and Jimmy Clausen's goofy ass keep it there.
          The storyline of the night was unfortunately written in the final three seconds of the game. The headlines in the papers tomorrow will focus entirely too much on one play, when the real story was written by Cam Newton on the Panther's final drive of the game, and punctuated with Ted Ginn's touchdown catch.
          You could almost feel it. We've all seen it before. Cam Newton does just enough to lose by a touchdown. And when Tom Brady took over with three timeouts and about a minute left, it was already being written again. But when that final pass was intercepted in the endzone, and Tom Brady didn't win, everything felt right. Cam Newton won a big game against a big team on a big stage, for the second week in a row no less. San Francisco was a big win, but we all know that beating the 49ers with another young quarterback pales in comparison to taking down Tom Brady. Tom Brady beats Peyton Manning on a regular basis, and I'll go on record saying that Manning is the greatest of all time, but even Brady manages to outduel him.
          Tonight was the biggest win in Cam Newton's career, and I'll venture to say the biggest Panther's victory since they beat Donovan McNabb and the Eagles to get to the Super Bowl in 2003. It was a regular season game, I get it. But for a team that has mired in mediocrity for oh so long, this means a lot. More than can really be quantified in words I think.
          The Monday Night Football stage lights shined bright tonight. But when time ran thin, the star that Cam Newton has become shined brighter than them all.

What a weekend

          Wow. Simply wow. What a weekend in the NFL. Easily one of the best weekends of football I have watched in a long time. All four losing teams scored at least 28 points, and in the game that was the least competitive we saw Colin Kaepernick break a single game record. It was both heartbreaking and triumphant. Extreme emotions flowed from both ends of the spectrum, depending on which team had your support on the day. But if we look at the games simply as a spectator it was an incredible weekend to be a football fan.       

          I personally had my heart ripped out of my chest with the mind blowing shocker in the mile-high city. I am unashamed in my support of Peyton Manning. I firmly believe he’s the greatest quarterback of all time, but I will also admit that there are plenty of very reasonable arguments for other signal callers (especially that super model’s husband in New England). I was devastated to see Manning do everything he needed to win the game, only to have it ripped from his hands by what could be called the WORST play by a safety in recent memory. I also firmly believe that John Fox blew the game by being the most conservative coach EVER. He decided to run the ball three straight times to try and milk the clock for every second and to leave the Ravens with as little time as possible. That is absolutely the correct strategy if Jake Delhomme is your quarterback. But let me do you a favor Fox, and introduce you to PEYTON MANNING. You know, the bionic man who led your team to 11 straight wins, holds innumerable records and is quite possibly the man with the highest football IQ the game has ever seen. But no, good old John Fox put away his man parts in the fourth quarter and made the cardinal sin in the NFL. He played to not lose the game. Allow me to quote Mr. Herm Edwards, who once said so convincingly that “You play to win the game.” Fox apparently missed that day in NFL coaching class, and instead left it up to Flacco to not come up big. Turns out Flacco has a rocket launcher for an arm and Jacoby Jones can run kinda fast. Then John freaking Fox decides that 30+ seconds and two timeouts and Manning at quarterback isn’t enough time to try anything, so he takes a knee. The expletives that flew from my mouth at that moment were enough to make a sailor blush. I’ll paraphrase by saying that Fox has the same genitalia as a Ken doll. Yes my hero Manning did throw the game away in OT with that bonehead interception, and ultimately I guess you can blame the loss on him. But if you did blame him, you’d be wrong.

Flacco's miracle heave (Sorry, best quality I could find)

          The Patriots won, despite losing the little engine that could Woodhead and the “Half man half hulk” who seems to have hit the next level of the evolutionary chain, known to most simply as Gronk. Any of this sound familiar to anybody? Because it should. The boys from the North do this all the damn time. It’s sickening, but admirable. They just win, and as the lovably loquacious Billy Belichick always says… wait he never has anything to say. This section is short because there’s nothing unique to say about this game. It’s January, in the NFL playoffs, Tom Brady and the Pats won. In other news the sky is blue and the sun rose today.

This one is for the ladies

          The Atlanta Falcons, the number one seed that nobody thought was any good. All we heard all week was the team that tied for the best record in the NFL had no chance. Matt Ryan was a choke artist and the Falcons never show up in the playoffs. I’ve got news for you, that’s not true anymore. Ryan jumped all over Seattle, giving his team a 20-point lead early in the game. Then, as if it was scripted for Hollywood, the Seahawks charged back led by the rookie quarterback who was “too small to be a pro.” But the Boston College product known to Atlanta faithful as Matty Ice put that Hollywood finish on hold, surprising the shit out of everyone by driving his team into field goal range in the blink of an eye and watched as Matt Bryant silenced all of the Atlanta critics… for now.

Falcons got a nice cold glass of Matty Ice

          Then we have the 49ers. What an interesting story, Alex Smith leads the team to the conference finals last year, and was in the top five in the NFL in QBR until a little bump on his head changed everything. A young man named Colin Kaepernick ripped Smith’s job away in about 4.43 seconds, which happens to be Kaepernick’s 40 yard dash time. But what would the second-year pro do in his first playoff game? He’d probably fold under the pressure of the big stage, right? Wrong. He ran for an astonishing 181 yards, an NFL single game record for a quarterback, and discount double checked Aaron Rodgers and the Packers all the way back to Green Bay. Can Kaep keep this show rolling? Only time will tell.

Yes it's corny, but oh so true

          I guess I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the Ravens, who hung around long enough in Denver to pull out a miraculous win. Led by the future hall of famer Ray Lewis, who is on his farewell tour, the Ravens have found a way to win. On the football field it is undeniable that Lewis is an emotional leader, and maybe the greatest middle linebacker in NFL history. Off the field is another story, but I’ll leave that topic untouched. Joe Flacco has been one of the most criticized quarterbacks in the NFL for a while now, because he “doesn’t win big games.” However, Flacco is the only NFL quarterback to win a playoff game in his first five seasons. The sound of critics being silenced was apparent on Saturday, as Flacco made throw after throw, hitting Torrey Smith on repeated deep throws and of course the absolute bomb to Jacoby Jones to tie the game with only a few ticks on the clock. Then Flacco and the Ravens took advantage of Manning’s mistake in OT to win the game on a field goal. All allegiances aside, it was an impressive performance and Flacco deserves a lot of credit for the win.

Apparently this is what "shit luck" looks like

          Sitting here with my fingers on the keyboard I can still feel every up and down of the emotional roller coaster that these games took me on. I can only hope that anyone reading this had half of the emotional excitement that I did watching these games, because it’s my opinion that sports have the ability to make someone forget about the world we live in. From kickoff to the final whistle, it can take your mind off of all the trials and tribulations this crazy ass world puts us through, and I believe that’s pretty special.

Super Bowl XLVI

          It all comes down to this. In just over a week the Patriots will take on the Giants in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII. Let's think back to the end of the regular season, the Giants were in a win-and-get-in game against the Cowboys and Fox analyst Jimmy Johnson had stuck the fork in the Giants. They were finished! with a lowly 8-7 record, the Giants beat the Cowboys to improve to 9-7 and sneak into the playoffs. Anyone who predicted that they would knock off the Packers and 49ers in consecutive weeks probably also thought Steven Tyler was a great choice to sing the national anthem. On the other hand the New England Patriots were likely a popular pick to come out of the AFC, even though most wouldn't have predicted that Joe Flacco would outplay Tom Brady.

          First of all let's have a moment of silence for Billy Cundiff and Kyle Williams. They both "lost" the game for their respective teams by making a bonehead move when it was crunch time and have been receiveing endless criticism ever since the games ended. On a serious note, no football game is ever important enough that someone should receive death threats because he cost his team the game, which is exactly what happened to Kyle Williams on Twitter. Calm down football fans, it's just a game.



"I don't know what happened..."



Just another shot at Tebow

         That being said, the next game is the one that matters most. The Super Bowl, every players dream game. The game that everyone imagined when they were throwing the football around in the backyard with their dad. So let's take a look at how each team won last weekend. The Patriots played very average to me. Correction, Tom Brady played very average to me. He turned the ball over and didn't throw a single TD. However their defense cranked it up a notch. One name for you, Vince Wilfork. My goodness Wilfork was unblockable for most of the game. I'd take it a step further and say he was their most valuable player on Sunday. Former quarterbacks always say that the pressure that comes from the outside is managable, but it's the pressure from the middle that they don't like. What I think they need to worry about is Edelman playing defensive back. He's doing his best, but on the final drive that could have led to the game-tying field goal, Flacco went after him almost every play and marched right down the field. Then of course Billy Cundiff proceeded to kick a 32 yard field goal very wide left with 11 seconds remaining.

          The Giants played well despite the weather. They continued to throw the ball effectively and Eli dominated on third down which ultimately was the difference in the game. Despite getting hit a whopping TWENTY times, Eli still put the team on his back and made a big play on a third and fifteen when he found Mario Manningham in the endzone for a TD. Big Blue's defense played well also, holding Alex Smith to only one completion to a wide receiver all game. Then of course Kyle Williams muffed one punt and fumble one in overtime, which lead to the easy field goal from Lawrence Tynes (take note Cundiff). Also let's pause and talk about how awesome Victor Cruz is, he caught ten passes in the rain on Sunday, that's pretty impressive.

          After looking back, now we shall take a look forward at the matchup for the Super Bowl. Tom Brady vs. Eli Manning part two. A few fun facts before we get started. First, in the "Tom Brady Era" the Patriots have only lost three straight games to two different teams, the Giants will try to become the third team with a win in the Super Bowl. Secondly, this will be the ninth time that the Super Bowl will be a rematch of a regular season matchup, with the losing team in the first game winning seven out of the eight Super Bowls. When these two team played in the regular season, the Giants came out on top. No doubt the Patriots will be looking for revenge.
          The Giants 4 defensive end scheme on defense wreaks havoc every Sunday, Eli Manning is fantastic on third down, they have a balanced running attack with Bradshaw and Jacobs, and their receiving corps is very talented with Cruz, Manningham, and the former Tarheel Hakeem Nicks. The Patriots have the two-headed monster with Gronkowski and Hernandez at tight end, Wes Welker to catch every other pass, Benjarvus "The Law Firm" Green-Ellis coming out of the backfield, and some guy named Tom Brady at quarterback. They also have a monster on defense named Vince Wilfork who eats running backs for breakfast. When these teams match up on Super Bowl Sunday there will undoubtedly be some hard hits and some big plays, but the question isn't always who makes more big plays but who will make fewer mistakes. My guess is that this time around Bill Belichick and the infamous hoodie will have his team ready to go to war, Tom Brady will play like his normal self and the Patriots will methodically work their way down the field making fewer mistakes than the Giants. I do believe this matchup will be a higher scoring affair than the last time they met in the Super Bowl, so I'll take Patriots 27 Giants 23.
          Now anyone who knows me realizes how hard it was to pick the Patriots. I don't like them. I haven't liked them since they beat the Panthers in the Super Bowl in 2003. And honestly the Giants were and still are the hottest team in football coming into the playoffs, so they certainly have a very good chance. But when I put aside my feelings I simply believe Tom Brady will win the game for his team. Who are you picking?


Eli Manning



Tom Brady



         

         

Championship Weekend

          Alright ladies and gentlemen, our championship weekend has been set. The Patriots dismantled the Denver Tebows and cruised into championship weekend in dominant fashion. The Ravens... well the Ravens made it. I'd have to say that of the final four teams the Ravens were the least impressive, and honestly minus the Texans costly turnovers they shouldn't have won the game. For the NFC we have the 49ers and the Giants. The 49ers have to be damn proud of themselves after the game they played against the Saints. In what will certainly go down as one of the best Playoff games in NFL history, the 49ers held off Drew Brees and the vaunted offense of the Saints to advance in a wild finish with multiple late lead changes. Then you have the Giants, who only beat the 15-1 Packers in Lambeau Field in very convincing fashion. Blame it on the extra time off, blame it on the dropped passes, blame it on whatever you want, but the Packers were not ready to play yesterday. However, the Giants were very ready, and it showed.
          Now I'm going to make a few predictions on how championship week will play out. The Patriots will win, that should be an easy choice to make. Tom Brady played like a man possessed against the Broncos. Five TD passes in the first half (new playoff record) and six TD passes overall (tied playoff record) showed that the golden boy has arisen from his playoff slump and is back to strike fear into the hearts of his foes. His counterpart for next Sunday, Joe Flacco, is not prepared in any way to keep up with the high-scoring offense in New England. What I find interesting is that analysts were saying the same thing about San Francisco last week. "Alex Smith can't make enough plays to keep up with Brees, and their defense can't stop him enough times to win." I guess those guys were wrong, but this week I think picking the strong offense of the Pats is much safer than it was last week. Plus, even when the Ravens should have had the game in hand, Flacco couldn't make enough plays to put them away. Ray Rice is great, an absolute beast running and catching the ball. I just don't think he can do it by himself. The Ravens defense will slow the Brady Bunch down more than Denver did, but in the end Gronkowski, Hernandez and Welker will be too much for Ed Reed and Ray Lewis to handle. Patriots 31 Ravens 17
          On to the NFC. Even as I write these words I haven't made my pick. The Giants look ready to take on anyone right now. Their D-line is strong and fast and if they can slow Frank Gore down early and force 3rd and 7+, Alex Smith had better watch out. Jason Pierre-Paul is one of the premier young D-lineman in the game, and Umenyiora and Tuck can still make plays with the best of them. However, if Frank Gore can get going early and pick up enough yards to get into 3rd and 4 or less, that will force the Giants D-line to be more patient instead of flying up the field at Alex Smith like a pack of hungry dogs. On the other side of the ball, the 49ers are tough, really tough. Running the ball against them is very difficult, I believe they only allowed one rushing TD all season. Aldon Smith is another fine young defensive linemen, and Patrick Willis is one of the best linebackers in the league. Here's the wild card that no one has really payed attention to all year. Eli Manning. You might say, "Eli Manning isn't a wild card, he's the quarterback, EVERYONE knows about him," but not so fast. Did you know that Eli Manning was only 67 yards away from 5,000 this year? And that Eli Manning threw for an average of 308 yards per game? His numbers are better during this postseason than they were in 2007, when they beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. I don't have the exact statistics, but against the Packers yesterday Eli Manning was converting 3rd downs like it was nobody's business. 3rd and 7, 3rd and 8, 3rd and 11, no problem. He was playing like an elite quarterback, and there is the wild card. Can the 49ers defense get the Giants off the field on 3rd down. And now I've convinced myself of who I'm picking. I'm taking the Giants. Eli is playing like Peyton, he's got Hakeem Nicks playing incredibly well, he has Victor Cruz and he has a pretty good running game with Bradshaw and Jacobs. Giants 24 49ers 20.

          Should my picks hold true, there would be a rematch of Super Bowl XLII. The undefeated Patriots vs the Giants. Eli Manning escaped from several Patriots defenders and threw up a prayer to David Tyree who caught it against his helmet, then he hit Plaxico Burress in the endzone on a slant-and-go and all of New England fell silent. The Patriots had all the records, Brady had 50 TD passes, Moss had 23 TD catches, their offense had many other ridiculous numbers that I won't bother to list here. But Eli got the win. And if this rematch occurs, it will be Tom Brady, Peyton Manning's nemesis, pitted against Eli Manning, Peyton's little brother, in Lucas Oil Stadium, which just so happens to be Peyton Manning's homefield. I though that was an interesting tidbit. I won't bother to pick a winner of that game because it doesn't exist yet, and with my luck I'll be wrong about at least one of these picks anyway. Next week I'll have an analysis of Championship weekend and a Super Bowl pick!

These are for anyone who doesn't remember...