Friday, February 3, 2012

The NFL Playoffs and the Superbowl



Well we are finally down to the best two teams in the NFL. The fight for the Lombardi trophy, a $88,000 payout and a big fat ring

  
Cash and bling - a young brothers dream.

I know some of you may say that other teams should have made it but if they should be there, they would be there. Don't believe me? Lets look at some of those teams who everyone feels 'should' be going to Indianapolis for the Super Bowl. The list includes those who didn't make the playoffs as well as those who made the playoffs.

Philly Cheese Eagles: First of all, it was Vince Young who proclaimed the Eagles as the dream team. Yes the weak minded, I'm going in to recluse, Vince Young. Nuff said. The Eagles were a preseason favorite of many and with Michael Vick as the QB they had good reason. Add to that a slew of big name free agents, and you have a 'sure fire' recipe for success.What Happened: The Eagles stumbled out of the gate. They failed to give Vick an offensive line to protect him and Vick committed a lot of turnovers. In addition, the defense could not play as a unit in spite of probably the best corner combo in the league. The Eagles seemed to put it together late in the year and played some inspired ball but still fell short of the playoffs. Given how they finished the year, there will be a lot of jockers for the 2012 season. The lack of consistency is what kept Philly out of the big game.

Pittsburgh Tomlins: The Steelers will always be my favorite team in the AFC because of Tomlin. The brother can coach - plain and simple. Pittsburgh's issue lies in the fact that they got away from who Pittsburgh is and what the city stands for offensively: A butt kicking running game and an efficient passing game. Instead, we saw Big Ben tossing 40 passes a game while tossing 14 interceptions with only 21 TD's. He got the crap beat out of him by standing in the pocket waiting for long route combo's and when they needed to run the ball in the playoff game against the Bronco's they could not. They need to go out and get a big dark nasty RB from somewhere who's sole desire in life is to punish defensive players - in other words, they need a running back with the mentality of James Harrison. Moving ahead, with their aging defense, the Tomlin would be wise to get a running game upgrade or his defense will tire out in some games.

Baltimore Ravens: The preseason mindset was, IF Joe Flacco can step up, they would have a legitimate shot at winning a Super Bowl. Well Flacco was consistently inconsistent and even though the Ravens went 12-4 it was due to the running of Ray Rice and a very good defense. Talk about a team who could use Peyton Manning. Flacco was unable to make the Patriots play honest defense and that was the issue in Fox borough. To give Flacco credit, he did deliver a good pass to that idiot, worthless piece of crap Lee Evans but he dropped it - pretty fitting way for that useless receiver to end his wastless career. As you can guess I'm not feeling Lee Evans. He lost me a $1 bet. Bastard.

New Orleans Saints: Two darn consecutive years these dudes refuse to tackle. Two years in a row that Roman Harper is involved in a missed tackle that resulted in a TD. He sucks, the D sucks, Gregg Williams sucks. How the heck do you go with a full blitz and leave freakin Roman Harper as your lone safety. This dude has about as much coverage skills as I do at 44 years old. Why not Zone blitz and give Alex Smith some different looks and force him in to a bad throw. I'm glad Williams is gone, and take Harper and the rest of the no tackling squad with you. Damn that felt good to get out. Moving on.

Green Bay Packers: Green Bay was obviously almost every one's choice to win the Big One. They had arguably, the best QB in the league and a great organization. They stormed out to 13 straight wins and looked to be heading towards Indy. The problem I saw with the Packers is that they never peaked. In this league, it is important to hit a stride, especially in your weak link. This weak link was the Packers defense, who I never felt was getting better. If you have the number 1 ranked offense, you can get a false sense of security as a defense. You are rushing the passer so much that you look like world beaters on defense because the opposing team insone dimensional. Well that may work against week opponents, but not against the Giant's. In that game, when the Giant's D made some stops and forced a few quick possessions by Aaron Rogers, and the defense had to play both run and pass for a full game, we saw their true colors. Until that defense can consistently make stops and make tackles, they will lose to teams who can extend the game.

As you have read, each team had a flaw or two, but each team had a shot at getting to the Dance- but they didn't. I prescribe to the motto that if something should of happened it, it would have happened. The two teams who should be in the Super Bowl, New England and New York, are there. If the Saints could tackle, they would be there. If the Ravens had a consistent QB, they would be there. If my grandmother had balls, she would be my grandfather. IF IF IF.And the list goes on.

Both the Patriots and the Giants have played outstanding football and their head coaches are great motivators and game planners. And most of all, both teams are peaking in those areas which they were vulnerable during the early stages of the season - defensively. Both teams were said to have weak defenses during the season. Both teams have two of the worst pass defenses in the league. The key to their championship run and with any run in sports is the match-ups. Could the Patriots win in Pittsburgh against a franchise QB in Big Ben, and could the Giants beat New Orleans with Drew Brees? Probably not. It's not their fault that they got match ups against Joe Flacco and Alex Smith. Both defenses won with their front seven, but in different forms. The Giants have gotten through the playoffs defensively by putting big time pressure on the QB's - they played three games vs teams who liked to pass instead of using a more balanced attack. The Pats used their front seven to stop the run - they played two teams who rely heavily on the run and have inconsistent QB's.

Ah the perfect storm. They played teams who played teams who fell right in to their defensive strength. Again, getting to the Dance, is all about match-ups than it is how well of a team you have. If the Giants would have missed the playoffs, and say Dallas made it, then Green Bay may have been in the Superbowl. MATCH UPS WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS.

So where are the match ups for the Super Bowl and who has the advantage and who do I think will win? Check in Saturday as I make my final Super Bowl pick. Until then.

Peace

My bad, I almostforgot the most important part about the game. THE FANS

       

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