I heard and watched the soundbite in real time and have heard and seen it repeatedly since Sunday.  My immediate reaction was, “wow, he’s a sore loser.”  But he was apart of the winning team.  Why would he react that way after a win?

I could take this in many different directions.  Some said that his response showed passion and it was ‘in the moment’ after winning a big game.  Others said that he was arrogant and a thug thinking that everyone who grows up in Compton, California is a thug at heart.  I don’t know since I didn’t grow up in Compton, but I know not to go there alone.

First of all, Peyton Manning yelling out Omaha is not something new.  Stop acting like you’ve never heard him say it when he’s at the line of scrimmage.  Alas, it won’t stop now that the Denver Broncos are headed to the Super Bowl.   Continue reading →

New England Patriots (12-4) vs. Denver Broncos (13-3)

Patriots – 7th

Broncos – 1st

Patriots – 26th

Broncos – 19th

You just knew that if the Seahawks could get Marshawn Lynch going they would beat the New Orleans Saints.  They did and now Seattle is just a little bit closer to getting to their second Super Bowl appearance.  Now the way this game was going it wasn’t a dominant performance by Seattle.  There were many chances for the Saints to make some noise, but a few failed fourth down attempts and a brain fart on the last play of the game by WR Marques Colston marked their fate.  New Orleans’ defense did better than I thought and that should be an encouraging sign going into next season.  As much fan fare as the Saints get on offense, they did run the ball well without Pierre Thomas, but they need more receiving options.  TE Jimmy Graham was virtually shutout and Colston was the only reliable target for Drew Brees.  Seattle did just enough with Lynch, but they will need more to actually win a Super Bowl.

The Patriots always seem to get the best out of players whom they gave second chances to.  RB LaGarrette Blount is the newest to join that class.  He is a bruiser at the line of scrimmage and if he has an opening he is deceptively fast.  The Colts found that out the hard way with their loss at Foxboro.  Normally with the Patriots in the past they don’t run the ball enough to scare opponents.  Now that they use a three man rotation that is starting to center around Blount, teams have to prepare for it from now on.  Indianapolis could have put a little scare into the Pats until Andrew Luck threw an interception on their first drive.  That pretty much set the tone. Now there were many injuries to the Colts this season, the biggest being WR Reggie Wayne.  But the fact that even when the Colts acquired RB Trent Richardson from the Cleveland Browns earlier this season, he has been a huge disappointment.  Without a running game to offset the pressure on Luck the Colts were doomed for an early exit.  It was just delayed by one week.

It was supposed to be a close game and it was for the first half. After the 49ers scored a touchdown just before halftime, the Panthers must not have known there was another half to play.  The Panthers had a long drive to start the second half, but Cam Newton getting sacked and the Panthers offense being stagnant resulted in no points.  That set the tone for the whole half as the 49ers dominated keeping Carolina scoreless and adding another ten points to their lead.  I’m just wondering what seemed to happen to the Panthers who were supposed to be the surprise team of the playoffs.  Judging by the way they played during the season and how they played against the 49ers is they didn’t go with what worked for them.  Cam Newton was involved in the read option offense in the first half and they scored 10 points.  That offensive game plan was abandoned in the second half.  Carolina should be back in contention next year although there might be some new faces.

A simple way to win a football game is to pressure the quarterback. Denver was able to do that against Chargers QB Philip Rivers. San Diego had some problems running the ball effectively too with Ryan Mathews having a bum ankle and Danny Woodhead missing some time late in the game.  Also the Chargers seemed to not have any urgency to their offense when Denver was out to a sizable lead. If San Diego showed more life to their offense they might not have had to spend so much in the fourth quarter.  Denver was the better team, but the Chargers exposed their secondary once again and the Patriots are sure to try it in the AFC Championship game.  San Diego surprised many this year, but they need to fill some holes to make another run next year.

New Orleans Saints (11-5) vs. Seattle Seahawks (13-3)

Saints – 4th

Seahawks – 17th

Saints – 4th

Seahawks – 1st

It seems to be a recurring nightmare for the Saints the last few years.  Traveling to Seattle to play the Seahawks.  They’ve already done so once this season and were embarrassed right from the first kickoff.  If New Orleans doesn’t want it to happen again they will have to do one thing.  Don’t commit a turnover.  Seattle’s defense feeds off their opponent making mistakes.  If the Saints start to do that again they will be in for a long game.  Drew Brees must play his best game of his career.  Yes, even better than his performance to win the franchise’s only Super Bowl title.  There must be a perfect balance between them running and passing the football and the defense must play until the game’s final whistle.  If they do that they could avoid another early playoff exit.  Seattle has a relatively simple task.  Cause turnovers and control the ball for as long as they can.  If they can accomplish those two things then the Seahawks will be hosting the NFC Championship.  If they let Drew Brees run his offense and they can’t get the ball rolling with theirs, then it will be a disappointing end to their season.  Marshawn Lynch has been in the Saints nightmares for many years now and if has another field day in the playoffs, it will be tough to beat Seattle.

Matchup to watch for: Saints QB Drew Brees vs. Seahawks defense

Indianapolis Colts (11-5) vs. New England Patriots (12-4)

Colts – 15th

Patriots – 7th

Colts – 20th

Patriots – 26th

With their Wild Card victory the Colts know that they can’t assume that they will be able to come back and win another game like that again.  Indianapolis has to play better right from the start against a resilient Patriots team who will not let up like the Chiefs did.  QB Andrew Luck did lead the Colts charge to victory, but he must not throw another three interceptions.  They had to abandon the running game being down by so many points last week.  That’ll have to change if they want to keep Patriots QB Tom Brady off the field.  The Colts learned a lot last week and that should help them going forward.  If the Patriots want to crush the hopes and dreams of Indianapolis, they’ll have to do it in a strong fashion.  They can’t leave any room for them to jump back into the game.  Bill Belichick is one of the game’s best strategists and he will have a good one. He doesn’t allow his players to make terrible decisions at the worst possible time, but when they do he does make adjustments on the fly.  They don’t always pane out, but his career in New England shows that he has a pretty good record.  Their defense is suspect and they will be exposed.  They just hope that their offense can do enough to offset that weakness.

Matchup to watch for: Colts QB Andrew Luck vs. Patriots defense

San Francisco 49ers (12-4) vs. Carolina Panthers (12-4)

49ers – 24th

Panthers – 26th

49ers – 5th

Panthers – 2nd

San Francisco didn’t have a healthy Vernon Davis for the entire game against Carolina the last time they met this season.  For every loss the 49ers have had this year, Davis was either out or missing for most of the game.  Also the Niners will WR Michael Crabtree and LB Aldon Smith to face the Panthers.  Certainly it is fair to say that the pressure will be on the 49ers for this game since they are the defending NFC Champions.  But they have shown their resiliency down the stretch with not so perfect performances.  They will need another near perfect performance to defeat the upstart Panthers.  QB Cam Newton is making his playoff debut and it will be interesting to see how he performs.  The last time we saw him play in a big game it was for the BCS National Championship while he was playing for Auburn.  Not many know which Cam will be at the forefront in Carolina’s first home playoff game in some time.  If the Panthers offense can match the intensity that their defense will show then Carolina will tough to beat.  If Carolina’s offense falters then it will be a short lived season for them.

Matchup to watch for: 49ers defense vs. Panthers QB Cam Newton