NFL Playoffs Talk

[jdcord]

Here's an interesting viewpoint on the Divisional Round last weekend:


In Saturday's games, the obvious winners were the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers.  In Sunday's games, the obvious winners were ...................... the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers.

     


The Patriots now get to face an injury depleted San Diego Chargers team - at home in Foxboro, no less - instead of having to face their arch nemesis, the Indianapolis Colts.  And old man weather will be bringing a projected high temperature of something along the lines of a "balmy" 18 degrees on game day.  But that obviously won't have any effect whatsoever on the warm-weather, southern California, Mexico-bordering Chargers.    (*cough*)    ......... ummmmmmmm, ........ all things considered, I think I'll go out on a limb, here, and say that the Patriots will win by double digits.  I know, I know, that's pretty daring of me, but I like to live on the edge.   *L*


The Packers, on the other hand, get to face another pass-rush oriented defense in the bitter cold, snowy, and slippery confines of Lambeau Field.  (hint:  slippery ice and/or snow tends to completely negate anything even resembling a pass rush ....... just ask Patrick Kerney and the rest of the Seattle Seahawks).  Add to that the fact that, due to injuries, the Giants' secondary is basically starting their third string players, and you have a recipe for disaster.  And, as if that weren't already enough, they also get to face Eli Manning and his proven track record of utter futility in cold weather games, and they get to do so in what is projected to be a high temperature in the single digits (I heard a predicted high of 4 degrees, per the NFL Network).  The Giants have had a great run in these playoffs, but me-thinks that all signs for this weekend are pointing to a blowout win for the Packers.

 

[newkris]

*sigh*  any other good stuff you can say about the packers?  i'll just revel in the victories . . . . oh, brett, what a man!

um, yeah, last week's game was pretty fun to watch - although i only saw the packers.com clips because i live in MN and they don't believe in football here.  *sheesh*  crazy place.

anyway, yes, i do think the pack has a pretty good chance, but stranger things have happened.  i, unfortunately, will not see this game either since church starts at 6 and the game at 5:30.  so . .  yell softly so i'm not tempted to leave church early.

have the pats and the pack ever played in a super bowl?  (i feel like i should know this answer, but my boys aren't here to tell me.)

[jdcord]

.... have the pats and the pack ever played in a super bowl?  (i feel like i should know this answer, but my boys aren't here to tell me.)

Sure they have!  1996.  The Packers won due to the heroics of MVP return man, Desmond Howard.  Favre was the Packers QB, of course.  But the Pats QB was Drew Bledsoe, and the Packers won't be so lucky this time.  But for the last two months or so I've been of the opinion that the Packers match up better against the Patriots than any other NFC team, so it should be a great game.

[newkris]

ah, yes.  that's right.  i remember the famous run.

wow, don't tell my boys i forgot they played the pats in '96.     i'd be grounded for real.

did you watch that game?  and whatever happened to desmond howard?  i know he wanted a bigger contract than the pack could pay him for the next year.  i don't know that we ever got a better punt returner than him.  he was something. 

i can't believe that was so long ago.  i thought favre was an "older" player then.  he was just a kid!

[jdcord]

...  did you watch that game? 

Sure did; but I was rooting for the Patriots (as I will be this year, as well).  I've been a Pats fan since 1974, and although the Redskins will always be my favorite team, the Pats are a very close second.  As for that game, Desmond Howard's kickoff return for a TD was a heart-breaker.

...  and whatever happened to desmond howard?  i know he wanted a bigger contract than the pack could pay him for the next year. 

I'm not really sure.  The thought comes to mind that following his Super Bowl MVP, he ended up signing for big bucks with the Raiders.  Then again, I may just be thinking that because for a 3-4 year stretch around that time, seemingly every  Super Bowl MVP (or other highest-profile free agent of the year) was signing for big bucks with the Raiders - all of them almost immediately turning into very expensive, high-profile busts.  .......... Yes, there truly is nothing new under the sun:  because Al Davis was  Dan Snyder, at a time when Snyder himself was still only dreaming of being Dan Snyder.

[newkris]

very true.  nothing new. 

i think brett might be something new under the sun, however.  not only older than the average, but better at an older age.  and i don't just say that because i'm a brett fan, but those kinds of things and his general character are what make me a brett fan.

who do you think will be the big stars of this week-end?

are you surprised that the pack being the youngest team in the nfl this year has done so well?  do you think it's the mccarthy factor?

[jdcord]

who do you think will be the big stars of this week-end?

Brady, .... of course.  And with the cold weather, and the shape of the Giants' secondary, Favre is a pretty good bet to have a big game also.  And on the Pats, I also expect Mike Vrabel to have a big game on defense, feasting on either Billy Volek or an injured (and slowed) Phillip Rivers (with a combination of sacks and either INTs or fumbles).

I would say Ryan Grant as well, but he had 200+ yards last week, and it's pretty rare for a back to have a game like that and come back with another big game the following week:  I suspect he'll have a 50-80 yard game, but maybe he'll surprise me. 

Also, Vincent Jackson of the Chargers is a stud, and may manage to single-handedly keep the Chargers in the game for the first 2-3 quarters (but the Pats should run away with it in the 4th, if not sooner).

are you surprised that the pack being the youngest team in the nfl this year has done so well?  do you think it's the mccarthy factor?

.

I think McCarthy is certainly a big reason for it.  But I also think it's the Brett Favre factor:  the old veteran leading a group of eager young cadets (and inspiring them with his own talent and toughness). 

............. and, of course, you can't rule out how a great defense can make an above average offense look like the second coming  of ......... well, ....... this year's Patriots.  *L*

[Scott]

The Giants are playing good football right now and they can put pressure on the QB, Favre is not that mobile anymore and he may be susceptible to the rush.

I want the Pat's to win, but I think the Giants could beat them.

[JakeLeonard]

***yawns to the most extreme sense***

I'm getting really bored of the whole Patriots thing...and perhaps the Packers, even they haven't won a title since who-knows-when. The Patriots just need to back off for another five years.

Before you know it, if the Pats win the Super Bowl, a lot of football fans won't be renewing their season tickets anywhere. Total monopoly.

[newkris]

haven't won since who knows when?  funny boy.  you are NOT from WI, clearly.

i'll forgive you. 

[JakeLeonard]

haven't won since who knows when?  funny boy.  you are NOT from WI, clearly.

i'll forgive you. 

well, considering that it is soccer, baseball, and college sports is what I mainly follow up on.

[jdcord]

The Giants are playing good football right now and they can put pressure on the QB, Favre is not that mobile anymore and he may be susceptible to the rush.

As of this morning (1/18/08), the forecast for the start of the game is a balmy 3 degrees Fahrenheit, with snow flurries.  Add to that Green Bay's excellent offensive line, and the result will be a Giants' pass rush that will be virtually non-existent.  And that will itself result in over-exposing the extremely poor state of the Giants' secondary;  an injury riddled, vastly depleted group of third and fourth string, picked up off the street because no one else was available at this late date, Defensive Backs which - as long as there aren't any heavy winds to speak of, and under those circumstances - are sure to get lit up by Favre and company like the Griswald residence in Christmas Vacation.

Sorry, but unless that weather forecast changes dramatically, it's going to be a very long game for the Giants' defense, and an almost certain double-digit win for the Packers.  In fact, with that weather, a 20+ point win for the Packers wouldn't surprise me one bit.  This one could get really ugly, folks.  Especially for Giants fans.  It's been a great run these past 3 weeks, but it ends in horrible fashion this weekend in the bitter cold, snowy, and frozen hard as a rock tundra of Lambeau Field.

......... but hey, there's always next year!

:grin:

[jdcord]

Wow!

The Giants look to have it wrapped up in the final 2 minutes.  They're at the Packers' 21 yard line, and it's first down.  Chip shot field goal coming up to win the game, ............ unless a miracle happens for Green Bay.

The weather stayed cold, but the snow that was being forecast yesterday rerouted itself elsewhere.  That was huge for the Giants!  That, and the the fact that Eli is still playing out of his mind!  ...... and this time in seriously cold weather (which has been his bane up to now).  Maybe he really has "come of age" in these playoffs??  I'm stunned.


UPDATE:  high snap on the 36 yard FG attempt, and the kick is shanked!  Here comes overtime, and the Packers get the ball first!  Wow!  Looks like Favre may have gotten his miracle after all.  I can see it now:  if they win this game it will be dubbed "Miracle at Lambeau", or something like that.

[jdcord]

Giants win!  Giants win!


Favre threw an interception deep in GB territory, setting up an easy kick for the Blue Gints.  What a horrible end to Favre's dream-like, twilight run through this season.


........ of course, in the long run it doesn't really matter, because no one is beating the Patriots this year anyway, but I'm still shocked.

[newkris]

*sigh*  i had text updates all through church (who has church on a sunday when the packers are in the playoffs?   . . .   i am NOT in WI!)

and then a meeting after church . . .  but . . .  it was all for nought.  too bad for brett, but maybe that will make him want to come back next year.  sounds like it was quite the game.  the score was quite back and forth - and not much of a score for these two teams.

okay.  fine.  i hope the pats win the super bowl. 

[Scott]

The Pack LOST!!!!




The Pack LOST!!!!




The Pack LOST!!!!





The Pack LOST!!!!

[newkris]

scott, really.  you act like such a . . . a . . . VIKING fan!   

[Scott]

scott, really.  you act like such a . . . a . . . VIKING fan!   

nay nay

I hate the Vikings equally as well! 

[bishopnl]

........ of course, in the long run it doesn't really matter, because no one is beating the Patriots this year anyway, but I'm still shocked.

What a way to spend the morning...going back reading these confident, smug quotes about the Patriot's greatness....ahhhh...how refreshing to think that Brady woke up this morning as the leader of the greatest dy...ahh, I mean, the greatest team to choke when it counted. 

[melissa15]

 

[Scott]

it was nice to see Toomer, the old Michigan boy have a good day.

It was also good to see a Manning not named Peyton do well!

[jdcord]

Hey, the Giants played great.  There's no doubt about that. 


The Giants deserve all the credit in the world.  They won that game!  The Patriots didn't "give" them the game.  During their last minute opportunity the Giants simply rose up and willed themselves into a performance for the ages (an amazingly "acrobatic" and mind-boggling performance, at times - at least on that 3rd down play), and they "took" the game! 


So to claim that the Patriots "choked" does two things:

1)  It clearly shows the vengeful, irrational hatred one has against the Patriots.  ....................... and,

2)  It completely insults the Giants!  Because in the charges of "choking" also lies - by necessity - the inherent, but unspoken claim that the Giants didn't actually win the game by rising to the occasion and truly "winning" it, but that instead the only  reason they won the game was that they were merely the lucky recipients of a "choke job" by the Patriots - without which, by obvious inference, the Patriots would have, and should have, won the game. 

So in this situation the charges of "choking" are indeed a horrible insult - only not to the Patriots, but to the Giants instead!  And after that great game, both teams deserve better.

[bishopnl]

Ha!  Nice way to twist my words.

My reference to "choking" wasn't meant to say that the Patriots played poorly or lost the game for themselves.  It's just a figure of speech for someone who just comes up short when it really matters.  It certaintly wasn't by luck on the Giants part, or by unluckiness on the Patriots part.  The Giants were just the better team.

And my hatred of the Patriots is no more irrational than the constant zeal to defend what is truly a classless, despicable franchise.

[jdcord]

And my hatred of the Patriots is no more irrational than the constant zeal to defend what is truly a classless, despicable franchise.

I know.  Cowboys fans should really be ashamed of themselves.     


....... but we digress.  So let's get back to talking about the classiest and, dare I say it, most "God fearing" franchise in all of the NFL:  the New England Patriots.      :grin:

[newkris]

....... but we digress.  So let's get back to talking about the classiest and, dare I say it, most "God fearing" franchise in all of the NFL:  the GREEN BAY PACKERS      :grin:

ah, and we finally agree on something.   

ok.  i'm ready for talkin' packers again.  did brett re-sign yet?  anyone know?  they just don't talk football here like they do in wi.  of course, i probably wouldn't either if the vikings were my home team . . .