Well, I didn’t fare as well as I did in round 1, but I didn’t do too bad at all. I picked 2 out 4 games correctly, but I was 3-1 against the spread. I’ll take it. These playoffs have had some of the more entertaining games I have seen in a while. The final 4 are all very good teams in their own special ways and I can see any of them playing in the Super Bowl in 2 weeks. Today is going to be a great day for football.
Let’s look at the Conference Championship matchups: New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears – Although I’m not a big NFC guy, I’m pretty excited about this matchup. The Saints are obviously the emotional favorite around the country right now. Everyone seems to be jumping on their bandwagon. Even the “experts” are in love with them. Amazingly, every single one of the 8 “experts” on ESPN.com have picked them to win this game (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/features/talent). How is this possible? The Bears have a better record, they are playing at home in the snow (2-4 inches expected today), and they have possibly the best defense in the league. So, how can everyone pick them to lose? Well, here are a few things to consider: Although the Saints are a warm-weather team, their QB, Drew Brees, went to college at Purdue, which is a colder-weather school. The Bears QB, Rex Grossman, went to Florida which is obviously a warm-weather school. If the field gets messy, and you can bet it will, expect to see a lot of running in this game with a few shots downfield to keep the defenses honest. Also, look for Special Teams to come in to play, with both Devon Hester for the Bears and Reggie Bush for the Saints returning kicks/punts. Either of them could bring it to the house at any time. So, the weather shouldn’t be considered a negative for New Orleans. The Bears defense, although still very good, has not played as well in the past several weeks due to injuries. The Saints should be able to score a few points on them with the offense they have. They have very good running and passing games, so they should be able to find the weaknesses and exploit the Bears defense. Can I honestly say the same about the Bears offense with confidence? They still have Rex Grossman at quarterback. Who knows what will happen when this guy takes the field? He’s bound to make a mistake or two, and if the Saints can capitalize on this, it could make all the difference in the world. So, call me a bandwagon jumper if you want, but the Saints are a darn good team and they have just as much of a chance to win this game as anyone. Final Score: Saints 24 Bears 20
New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts – I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised about the participants in this game. It seems like every year, these two teams are in the hunt for the Super Bowl, and quite often they end up playing each other in the playoffs. The last two times these teams met in the playoffs, the Patriots were on the winning end, but the last two times these teams met, both in the regular season, the Colts were the victors. Has the tide shifted, and are the Colts the better team now? Or, are the Pats going to step up like they always do when it really counts and send the Colts packing again? A lot of people are saying the Pats are lucky to be in this game. They did everything they could last week to lose to the Chargers, but as it turns out, San Diego did more to lose that game, and that’s exactly what happened. Well, that’s why you play the game every week. Although the Patriots were outplayed in many categories, they came up with the big plays when they needed them, so they deserve to be where they are. On the flip side, the Colts weren’t supposed to win last week either, but their defense stepped up for the second straight week and they never trailed against the Ravens. In fact, they haven’t trailed once for the entire playoffs. I don’t expect that to continue in this game. The Patriots have a better, more balanced offense than the Chiefs and Ravens. Not to mention they still have the Tom Brady at QB, and he seems to always step up in big games, especially against the Colts. Does that mean they are going to win? Maybe…maybe not. I am expecting a lot of back and forth action in this game. Peyton Manning has a huge monkey to get off his back, and Brady/Belichick want to keep it there. Either way, this is going to be a damn good game, but I’m picking the Colts because I picked the Chargers last week and the Patriots won. Maybe it will work again. Final Score: Colts 31 Patriots 30
So there you go…it’s going to be Saints and Colts in Miami on February 4th playing for the Vince Lombardi trophy. That’s defintely an exciting matchup that I would love to see. Actually, I wouldn’t mind seeing any of the possible matchups between these four teams. I can’t wait!
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