Divisional Playoffs

[Bart]

Seahawks - Redskins,Seattle should win this one going away.If the Skins beat the Seahawks the same way they beat the Bucs, (advantageuos officiating) I will nominate Bigunrealfor the title ofGuru of gurus.


Pitts - Colts,Can the Steelers keep the momentum going into Indy? Ben's playing smart and can run it pretty well. I like the razzle dazzle long pass play last week.The Colts could be a little rusty after clinching their division and messing around for weeks, but they are at home in that noise box. If I had real money on the line I would go with the Colts, but since I don't , I have a sneaking suspicion Cowher will come out spitting and spewing andsnatch a win from Dungy's crew. Am I nuts? Maybe.


The Bears beat the heck out of Delhommeseveral weeks back, sacking him 8-9 times, it wasn't pretty. The Cats now areputting it together in all fazes of the game and their defense is nothing to sneeze at either. I like Urlacher but if they don't cause Jake to cough the ball up, I don't see Grossman lighting up the board. The Bears at home incold weather made the Falcons look like school girls, but I think Carolina is loaded for Bear this time around. The Cats should de-claw the Bears ...sorry Lovie.


Pats- Broncos, I hate to pick one over the other. Plummer has been outstanding and deserves much more fan fare than he's gotten. And of course Denver handed it to the Pats last time they played, putting them way behing early. Broncos are very tough at home too. Lynch still nails people and they run the ball great. Shanahan and Belichick are pretty crafty old war horses, so which team has the advantage? The crowd at Mile High will be nuts, the Pats better not fall behing early, they might not be able to come back. Dillon seems to have lost whatever he had, so it could be abigdefeat for New England, who just isn't as good as they were in the past. Oh wait... I forgot, they still have Brady.I'm going with the the Patriots.


I've just picked three teams to win,that are not playing at home. We'll see how smart or dumb that is.

 

[Don Wassall]

As has been the case the past few years, the strongest teams are all in the AFC. It will be interesting to see how Indy plays after such a long time without being involved in a meaningful game (and of course enduring America's Tragedy). I can't see the hometown Steelers winning, but it should be a much closer contest than the one-sided regular season game won by Indy.


I'll take New England over Denver. Can't bet against the champs the way they're playing.


I like Carolina and Seattle. Carolina is similar to New England in being one of the least wed to the Caste System and that's reason enough to pull for them in the NFC.

 

[Spooge]

Im looking for the Panthers and Patriots in the big one. Probably
won't happen but what the heck. Can't stand the thought of Saint
Dungy getting all the credit for Manning, nor the spectre of Lovie
holding up the trouphy becuse of Urlacher.

 

[Realgeorge]

The Seahawks actually have white men on defense! Several white linebackers, no less. Go Seahawks!! Sink the Skins! [It's 14-3 Seattle in 3rd Qtr]

 

[guest301]

There they go again. Chris cooley catches and has a nice run on a 45 yard pass and the announcer feels obligated to say "he's not known for being fastest around"(while the play was in progress)..Why be such a self -hater to say that..only reserved for the white guys.

 

[guest301]

If Washington comes back to win this game..let's hope that speedy jimmy farris or "slow" chris cooley scores the winning touchdown.

 

[JD074]

Like clockwork. Cooley goes for 52 yards and immediately that jerk commentator says that he "doesn't have a world of speed." I should be used to it but it's still so infuriating. They simply must undermine a great play by a white player. Hey, 52 yards is 52 yards, period. It was a great play regardless of his speed.

 

[white lightning]

If Cooley didn't have good speed,he wouldn't have had the great season he had.I have seen him burn many defenders but we know that any white athlete is always considered slow.What a joke!Great game for Cooley despite the loss.I hope the Seattle throws the ball more to Joe the next game.One reception after the year he had is insane.Get him the ball and he will help them get to the Super Bowl!

 

[White Shogun]

I think these idiot announcers have a certain lingo or dialect, if you will, that they use in order to talk non-stop for 3 hours.

Think about how many times you hear phrases like "great hands." Or, "pin them back deep," during a punt. Hell, I bet we could start an entire thread of nothing but cliches mouthed by these idiots during games.

I've give two to get the ball rolling. Anybody else?

 

[White Shogun]

Where you at, Bigunreal?! I'm with you - its a conspiracy!

I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT CALL ON ASANTE SAMUEL!!

It was offensive pass interference all the way on Lelie, all the way. Samuel had position and was going for the ball and Lelie was doing everything he could to keep him from catching the ball - including pulling on his shoulder, grabbing his arm, it was blatantly obvious - and they missed the call.

Only thing I want to know is who's dog is in the fight? Is the money on Denver? Will a Denver - Indy matchup generate more $$$ for the NFL or what?

Talk about ONE PLAY changing the game??

(Of course if Faulk had held onto the ball in the first place... )

Un-f-believable.

 

[nhl411]

wow one of the worst calls ive ever seen...and from the referee who wasnt even near the play no less

 

[Bart]

I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT CALL ON ASANTE SAMUEL!!

It was offensive pass interference all the way on Lelie, all the way.

What a horrible call. It was about half an hour before the flag came out. It's tough to overcome that type of call on the road in playoff atmosphere.

 

[White Shogun]

What a horrible call. It was about half an hour before the flag came out. It's tough to overcome that type of call on the road in playoff atmosphere.

If anybody can do it, Belichick and Brady can. I don't know about you but I'm rooting all the way for the Patriots now.

I hope Asante Samuel comes back and burns them with an INT return for a TD.

Anybody else besides me notice Champ Bailey is getting burned tonight? Hear anybody talking about it?

Me neither.

 

[White Shogun]

Ok, ok... Bailey makes a great INT.... then gets run down by a TE because he doesn't finish the play? Watson made a helluva run to bring him down.

The Pats are jinxed. Now Vinatieri misses a field goal? How often does that happen?

 

[nhl411]

blaah I guess it just wan't in the cards for my patriots this year

 

[Bart]

I'm disappointed. Three fumbles and a deadlyInt.were just too much to overcome in a hostile stadium. The Pats didn't get any thing going on the ground except for a couple small burstshere and there.It would have been nice to continue for three in a row, but it was uphill all the way for them this year. This may have been their last hurrah. Rats!!


Okay, that said I gotta give props to the Snake. I've been pulling for him all year. Nobody in football can roll out and throw the ball as well as he does. Other than a poor across field pass, he played like a winner.

 

[Freedom]

You've gotta admire Dan Morgan, John Lynch, Bill Romanowski, and many
other whites too. Grant Wistrom. We need a white Shaun
Alexander. Speed and strength and moves. Give Brian
Urlacher the ball.



Anyway, Ben Watson is respectable. He's got poor hands.
However, he is hard working and was a rare student athlete. He
studied engineering at DUKE.

 

[SteveB]

What a game by John Lynch! He had 5 tackles and 2 or 3 QB pressures plus an interception that iced the game. Great job!

Why was Troy Brown receiving punts instead of Tim Dwight? That muff at the end of the game killed the Patriots.

 

[White Shogun]

SteveB I was just logging on to ask the same question about Dwight. I thought perhaps he only ran back kickoffs but not punts, anybody know?

I was upset earlier about the call against Asante Samuel, but truth is the Patriots lost that game on their own. At least 3 fumbles (I lost track,) the Brady INT in the endzone, Vinatieri missing FG, like Bart said thats too much to over come in a hostile stadium.

The 'Skins had three takeaways, an early lead, and knocked Shaun Alexander out of the game, but still lost.

 

[Bart]

Hasselbeck showed who the REAL MVP was for the Seahawks. He deservesto receive a lot more respect.They won without Alexander, they would havelost withoutMatt.That catch by JJ was crucial, but did anybody notice that neat basketball like spin move he put on the guy ...very quick.

 

[Don Wassall]

Dwight's been returning punts more than kicks this season. He had been returning punts the whole game till Troy Brown was put in and had that killer muff. If Brown was put in simply because Dwight hadn't broken one, that was a big mistake.


It just wasn't the Patriots' night. Champ Bailey's interception return was very close to being a touchback, and the interference call on Samuel was bogus. But as Bart pointed out, Plummer played very smart, mistake-free ball again except for a first half pick.


I'll be rooting for the winner of the Pitt-Indy matchup to beat the Broncos.

 

[White Shogun]

Hasselbeck showed who the REAL MVP was for the Seahawks. He deserves to receive a lot more respect. They won without Alexander, they would have lost without Matt.

Excellent, excellent point Bart! I hadn't even thought of that! I think Alexander is a great running back, but nonetheless, how much of an MVP can you be if your team can win a playoff game without you?

It would be interesting to see how the Colts would fare if Edgerrin James goes down.

 

[Lord_Lugdreg]

That catch by JJ was crucial, but did anybody notice that neat basketball like spin move he put on the guy ...very quick.

I am pretty sure I caught that play. That was the one where Hasselbeck pointed for him to go downfield and he spinned and headed down there for a catch.

I am glad the Seahawks defeated the Blackskins.

He had been returning punts the whole game till Troy Brown was put in and had that killer muff. If Brown was put in simply because Dwight hadn't broken one, that was a big mistake.

Seems like it was a desperation move on the part of the Patriots. Well they do like to move players around alot like how they sometimes let Vrabel score some TDs or sometimes they even put some Offensive Linemen in there out of position too so I don't have any big issue with letting Troy Brown return a few punts when they are losing.

I hope the AFC Conference game ends up being Broncos vs. Colts because I think the Broncos can beat the Colts. I just don't like them anymore after them ignoring Stokely and the media shoving James Dungys death down out throats everytime someone turns around.

 

[GWTJ]

Bottom line is, the Patriots offense was stopped by the Broncos defense. Turnovers don't just happen, most times they are forced. Brady's inteception was forced, so were the fumbles. I also think Shanahan did an excellent job preparing his team.

I did feel like Vinateri's missed field goal was a very bad omen for the Patriots. Kind of made it a complete team effort in playing poorly that day.

I would rather see the Steelers go to Denver if they beat the Colts anyway.

 

[bigunreal]

I am very, very happy to have been wrong in my prediction. Hey, I'll
put my record up against the Jean Dixons of the world anyday. The
"script" is not always easy to predict; they really had me fooled,
especially after the way the game started (Seatlle's first drive ends
up in an Alexander fumble, who gets knocked out of the game in the
process). I was actually fooled twice; when Seattle was up 17-3, I
thought it was over again. However, then the pathetic Redskin offense
suddenly was able to muster a TD drive (featuring a typical Joe Gibbs'
magical bounce off a defender) and when Seattle fumbled the kickoff
(how was that clown in the game- he muffed the first three punts to
him), I thought "here we go again!" But, I was wrong. This doesn't
change my opinion that the games are fixed. It's just that on rare
occasions, I actually enjoy the way the script is written.