[solvegas]

Today was an interesting day. It started when the Seahawks beat the 49ers therefore eliminating a team that was in the Super Bowl 2 years ago. The Cardinals kicker was better than the Rams earlier this week and the Cardinals became the first NFC team to be assured a playoff spot. The Cardinals and Seahawks play each other next week. The Packers were shocked by the Bills and with the Lions beating the Vikings the NFC North is a tie. Both the Lions and Packers should win next week and make their game in the final week the deciding game to find out who wins their division. My Cowboys beat the Eagles and are now on top of the NFC East but if the Cowboys fuck up and lose one of the two upcoming games they may not make it into the playoffs as a 11-5 team due to tie breaker rules. Cowboys are undefeated on the road and with todays victory they have clinched as best team on road games. The NFC South ... what can you say. Carolina, New Orleans and Atlanta have no business even being in the hunt but one of these three losers will win their division.  The picture in the AFC became much clearer as Denver, New England and Indianapolis clinched their divisions. The AFC North is a mess with Cincinnati, Pittsburg and Baltimore with a chance to win the division. San Diego, Kansas City and Buffalo are still in the running. We shall see what next week brings about.

[pedonbio]

Meh.

My money's on Kansas City to take it all. I foresee numerous self-inflicted wounds.

[tdotter]

 

[gOOber]

 

[solvegas]

Well, this past week clarified the playoff situation. It began on Saturday where the collapsing Eagles dropped a game against the Redskins 27 - 24. Next day the Cowboys broke and saddled the Colts 42 - 7 and won the NFC East. Then the Seahawks plucked the Cardinals and are now perhaps the best team in the NFC. The Seahawks should beat the Rams and win their division. The Cardinals might lose to the 49ers due to their quarterback situation and they seem to have lost their mojo. The Packers and Lions both clinched playoff spots but the upcoming game this Sunday will determine who actually wins their division.  All of the above teams deserve their spots and are quality teams. Then you have the NFC South. The upcoming game between the Falcons and Panthers should, if there was justice in the present NFL system, not matter. Two teams that can't even be .500 for the season have no business in the playoffs. The NFL should change the rules so that only .500 and above teams can qualify even if they win their division. Otherwise a better team like the Eagles would have qualified. My $0.02. The AFC also saw two teams qualify, the Bengals and the Steelers. Bengals beat the Broncos to get in and the Steelers beat the Chiefs to qualify. The upcoming game between them both will determine the champion. The Patriots victory, combined with the Broncos loss, ensures the Patriots have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Colts really looked awful but the loss did not affect their status anyways. There are now five teams in the AFC looking for the last playoff spot, the Chargers, Dolphins, Ravens, Texans and Chiefs. As of now, the Chargers have the best chance according to the convoluted NFL tie breaker rules. I personally hope they do. I was stationed 12 years in San Diego and got to see them play at Jack Murphy stadium a few times back in the 80's.

[pedonbio]

I know what you mean, sol. Playing an NFC team is like having a bye week.

Of course, it could be worse. In Italian and Spanish soccer it all depends on who paid of the most refs.

[pedonbio]

Another week passes; Earl Thomas demonstrates the value of karate in preventing touchdowns.

[solvegas]

Another week passes; Earl Thomas demonstrates the value of karate in preventing touchdowns.

LOL. Well, the regular season is over and this coming weekend there are several good pairings. In the NFC the Cowboys play the Lions. Both teams have had bad playoff experiences for many years. The Cowboys have only won one playoff game since they won Super Bowl XXX and the Lions haven't done too well either, not winning a NFL Championship since 1957. Yup, Pedonbio was a k1d then.  The Cardinals play the Panthers. I'm going to stick my neck out and say the Panthers win. They have won four games in a row and in spite of their overall shitty record, they can beat the Cardinals because the Cardinals have no Quarterback and their play has been poor lately. In the AFC it will be divisional rivals Steelers and Ravens. I think the Steelers can take it since they are playing at home and the weather at this time of the year is shittier in Pittsburg than Baltimore. The Bengals and the Colts is the other game and this season Indianapolis has done poorly against playoff caliber teams so I'll take the Bengals. My $0.02.

[pedonbio]

It's a bye week for the Ospreys, so there's lots of chatter among the fans. For those who want the Ospreys to win, there is a lot of nervousness because they will be playing the Panthers next week. For old-time Seattle sport fans there is a nervous twitch reflecting back to the days when the Mariners were total fuck-ups. During the Yankees golden age, when they were always in the Series, there was only one team that consistently beat them: The Mariners. The Yankees were a finely-tuned team of experts. The Mariners were total fuck-ups who would bunt a soft pitch, swing at way-outside balls and sometimes get a piece of it. In short, they were so bad that the Yankees couldn't defend against them. Now the Osprey fans have the same problem against the Panthers.

[solvegas]

The Wild Card playoffs are finished and only one game was decided in the last few minutes. Cowboys beat the Lions and the controversial pass interference call / no call will be discussed by the officiating crew for a while. It went my teams way so I have no controversy about it. Panthers beat the Cardinals proving the old adage that you need a whole team to win and the Cardinals essentially did not have a Quarterback. The Ravens dominated the Steelers at Pittsburg which surprised me but the Steelers didn't show much heart in the game. The Colts finally beat a quality team this season ( they lost 42 - 7 to Dallas two weeks ago for example ) and looked good doing it defeating the Bengals. This weekend matchups will be quite good mostly. I expect the Seahawks to annihilate the Panthers since they are scalding hot right now. The more interesting match up will be between the Packers and the Cowboys. Packers are favored but it can go either way. Packers hardly ever lose in the frozen tundra of Lambeau field and the Cowboys haven't lost on the road this year. The Ravens go against the Patriots. This could be an upset. After all, the Patriots did lose to the Jets recently. But I'll put my money on the Patriots. The Colts will most likely not survive the altitude and bad weather of Denver and the Broncos should win. Domed stadium teams tend to do poorly in Denver. And that is my $0.02.

[pedonbio]

The silly season:

[tdotter]

My picks.
1.Seattle over Carolina-The Seahawks might not get to the Super Bowl but Carolina won't be the team that beats them.
2.Denver over Indy-See above.Indy is not good enough yet.If Denver loses to Indy then Peyton should retire.
3.Dallas over Green Bay-I would be scared if I was a Packers fan regarding Roger's calf injury.One tackle and he could be gone from the game.Also,Dallas beat a much better defensive team in the Lions last week.However,if the weather is bad then forget it.The Cowboys will get smoked.
4.New England over Baltimore-I'll be surprised if this is not the closest of the 4 games.Patriots are healthy and they are well rested.

[pedonbio]

The Carolina team is better than the final score--31 to 17--indicates. They are tactically excellent. If they ever figure out a strategy, they will be a serious contender. They did become the first team in the last seven games to score a TD against the Ospreys in the fourth quarter, which is quite an achievement.

See, the Ospreys have memories. The first time they appeared in the Superbowl (against the Steelers) they led for the first three quarters and got their butts kicked in the fourth. They have remembered this, so any team they play has got to build up a big enough lead in the first three quarters to survive some Hell in the fourth, because the Ospreys don't give up anything for free in the fourth.

Not that I care.

Lose, guys. It's the Seattle way.

-----------------------
P.s.-- Well, sol said it, so I'll repeat it--Time for a Denver QB to retire.

[gOOber]

Lose, guys. It's the Seattle way.

I dunno, you`re a lot more optimistic than I am.

[pedonbio]

Meh. IMHO the Ospreys just beat their toughest opponent, alas. I had some hope since they were trailing 16-0 in the third quarter. If there ever has been or ever will be an "America's Team", it's Green Bay.

By the way, what is the deal with Denver? If the coach doesn't make it into the BigBowl, they fire him?