The best Sundy of the Year

TEN QUICK OBSERVATIONS ON THE DIVISIONAL ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS

10-I thought it was very interesting how all four games last weekend were decided by field goals. The Philly-N.O., Seattle-Chicago and N.E.-S.D. games all had final scores that were only a three-point difference. And the Indy-Baltimore game, the contest that had the largest spread (nine points) was an all kicker competition, with no touchdowns scored.

9-People need to stop saying that Peyton Manning played horribly for the Colts on Saturday. He threw two interceptions against the leagues toughest defense, which isn’t as horrible as it sounds. He knew that the game was going to be low on points, and he had to take risks downfield. Two of them got intercepted, a couple got knocked down and one was just a half an inch too far down the field from being a Colt touchdown. Plus he made that bullet throw to Dallas Clark on third down on the final Indy drive, which iced the Indy win.

8-I was very disappointed in Steve McNair, Jamal Lewis and the rest of the Ravens offense. They never even challenged the Colts defense, instead playing it safe the entire game. I understand that there offense isn’t built to throw the ball downfield, but I thought they became very predictable at the end of the game, which isn’t the way to win in the playoffs.

7-That was some hit that Reggie Bush took on the second play of Saints-Eagles game. But to the Heisman winner’s credit, he got back in there a few plays later and ended up scoring an important touchdown for New Orleans. I’m interested to see how Bush plays this weekend on natural grass, especially if it gets really cold.

6-Chargers fans may disagree, but the worst coaching move of the weekend was Eagles headman Andy Reid’s decision to punt the ball on fourth and fifteen with just under two minutes left in the game. With only two timeouts left, all the Saints had to do was run for one first down and Philadelphia’s season would be over. Sure enough the tired Eagles D-line couldn’t stop Deuce McAllister, and the Saints got the first down to end the game and Reid’s squads season.

5-Was that good Rex or bad Rex that showed up at Soldier Field on Sunday? At times it was hard to tell, but for the most part the Bears QB played quite well. He made some spectacular throws (the TD to Berrian and the third-down strike to Davis in OT), some horrible plays (the fumble where Rex tried to take a Julian Petersen hit and then make a throw) but mostly played it safe. If he does that again, the Bears have a great chance of advancing to the Super Bowl.

4-It seems the popular thing to do these days is take shots at the Bears defense, but on Sunday they came up huge. On five consecutive third and shorts, the Bears D stuffed the Seahawks run game. Then at the end of the game, the often-criticized Tank Johnson came up with a huge sack on Matt Hasslbeck to push the game into overtime. While the unit may not be as good as they were at the beginning of the year, they still have a lot of talent that plays hard every down.

3-Tom Brady averaged only 5.4 yards per pass attempt, threw more interceptions then touchdowns and was sacked twice. Yet when it mattered, he was still as cool as Jules in Pulp Fiction. His final two drives, which resulted in a touchdown pass to former Charger (and Florida Gator) Reche Caldwell and a Stephen Gostkowski field goal, all came with less then five minutes in the game. That’s why Brady is not the second coming of Joe Montana; he’s better then that. He’s truly unstoppable with the game on the line, which is why the Patriots better hope that the game with the Colts on Sunday cones down to the 4th quarter.

2-The Colts are awfully lucky that the Patriots took care of San Diego, because the last thing Peyton and Co. wanted to see this week was Ladanian Tomlinson, Shawn Merriaman and the rest of the Bolts in Ron Burgundy’s hometown.

1-It was obvious, to me at least, after watching all four games last weekend that the best play-by-play/color man duo in the business is FOX’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. While Buck did annoy me by pretending not to know which was longer, half-inch cleats five-eight’s of an inch, he does what a play-by-play guy is supposed to do, which is say the down, distance and spot on the field. Aikman is great at explaining the game and why certain plays work and why others fail.



This weekend provides sports fans with the greatest Sunday of the entire year. Some opposition may come from Super Bowl Sunday, but that involves only one big football game while this week’s provides two. The final round of the Master’s is another challenger, but even the best of golf can’t top two great football games. The only real competition for this title is Selection Sunday. For those of you who don’t know what that is, let me explain. Selection Sunday (Usually the second Sunday in March) is the day of the Big 10 and ACC basketball tournament championship games in the early afternoon, followed by the release of the NCAA tournament brackets. It’s a great day, but mainly because it a preview of what is going to take place over the next three weeks. NFL Championship Sunday is an even greater day because you have four teams who have been going at it for over five months, and it all comes down to 60 minutes of football. Winner’s go on to the biggest game in the world, the losers have to go home and think about their loss for the next six months.

Sunday provides football fans two very intriguing games. In the AFC we have the leagues top two quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, meeting in the playoffs for the third time in the past four seasons. The last two times Brady and his Patriots won, but those games were in Foxboro. This game is at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Will that matter?

On the NFC side of the bracket, the conferences two top seeds have advanced to meet in the spaceship on the lakefront. It’s the speed of the Saints high powered offense versus the strength of the Bears physical defense. On the other side of the ball, there’s the inconsistency of Rex Grossman facing the shakeyness of the New Orleans secondary. Add in the last two winners of the Coach of the Year award, and it’s easy to see why this is such an anticipated game.

Time for my weekend picks. Last week I went 3-1, improving my playoff record to 7-1 and my complete season record to 163-101.

New England at Indianapolis---My head tells me to not pick against Tom Brady and Bill Bellichek in the playoffs. But my gut is saying go with the Colts, who are playing very well defensively right now. Peyton Manning will play well, Harrison and Wayne will make some big plays down the field and Adam Vinatieri will make the Patriots regret not re-signing. The RCA Dome will be rocking and Tony Dungy finally reaches the Super Bowl. Colts 24-14

New Orleans at Chicago---I can’t possibly be neutral in this pick, but both my head and my heart say the Bears will win. Everybody has jumped on the Saints bandwagon this week, and when that happens, that usually leads to a letdown. (See the Ohio State-Florida game or the Mavericks-Heat NBA Finals) Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and the Bears D-Line will have to do a good job containing the N.O. running game, but I don’t see Rex Grossman having a problem scoring on the banged up Saints secondary. Also, if they decide to kick to him, I expect Devin Hester to come up with a big play. Bears 31-26