NFL Playoffs Aawww yeah!

[Ivan]

Ok playoff football is here and I love it! With that said, I am sort of disappointed with the Seahawks. I am a huge Seattle fan, always have been, through it all. Even though they beat the Redskins, who they really should have beat up on, their ball control was horrible, I mean this is the playoffs!!! Dropped punts? Yeah it was raining, that is no excuse. What really urks me is Shawn Alexander, the league’s MVP. Before the game some of the ‘Skins defense was telling the press how it was going to be no problem shutting Alexander down, saying “we gonna hit him in the mouth, and next time he will not run the ball with as much authority.” Shawn heard that and sort of laughed it off – so I was thinking yeah Shawn, make look stupid out there…Uhhhh first he fumbles the ball right into their hands, and then gets a concussion? The defense did what they said they were gonna do. Now I know Holmgren and the Seahawks want to save Shawn for the next game, but what about the current one?? WTF? I understand saving a player, but the kind of football I respect is the kind where the players rise up for the playoffs and represent their city with pride, toughness, resiliance..Not showing the rest of the teams in the Superbowl hunt your best and feature player can get shut down with relative ease. I was watching Shawn leaping and jumping around celebrating on the sidelines when Hasslebeck scored. It just annoyed me that I know that to win championships or even to get to the Superbowl as a player, you play hurt, ask anyone who ever played with Walter Payton. The Hawks easily could have lost today, extending their playoff drought since 1984. Now as a defensive minded player I know what the next team is thinking, whether it is Chicago or Carolina, they are gonna go right after Alexander and try to bust him up bad. Once a player of his caliber and status shows the opposition (ESPECIALLY in the playoffs) he can be taken out of the offense with sheer physicality, it gives the defense tons of confidence. I mean this is Football and it is going to get rough, especially when it is one and out of you lose. Just ask IAB, Army, Sherm, JBK, Josh B., what makes great players great is they do great things in big games, regardless of if they get banged up. Shawn is gonna have to bring his best game. Otherwise it is gonna be up to Hasslebeck again. I just was turned off by his sub-par performance. That kind of play will not generate wins. This is the playoffs, this is going to happen, you cannot show weakness/vulnerability, especially your teams franchise All star. They looked like crap today IMO.

OTHER NFC GAME:
I actually am going with Chicago. I know they already beat Carolina in the reg season, but that game also had to career highs broken: Steve smith had like 12 recs and a whole bunch of yards, and the D sacked Del Homme 8 times!  I do not think Chicago can do that again. I do think that Chicago at home at Soldier field, with that awesome defense they have (hey their D line gets to the QB – they do not even have to blitz much) can eek this win out. Carolina is a very tough team, but in the end I give Chicago the nod. Now if the Bears DO win they play Seattle…In seattle. The way the Seahawks played today, they would lose to the Bears, so I hope they get their ducks in a row ASAP.

AFC:
Well the AFC championship will probably be a better game than the Superbowl.
The Pats and the Broncos is going to be a great game. A total chess match, and I had the hardest time picking the winner. I decided I could not pick against Bill Belicheck and # 12. However Mike Shanahan and crew have a very good football team, and I think the Broncos are going to be a power in the AFC West for a long time.

The Colts are going to beat Pittsburg and they are going to do it with textbook football play. The Colts are going to get beat up and pushed around, but I like to think of it like this: In a boxing match, a boxer and a puncher can square off. The boxer might take a lot of damage from the puncher, but ultimately the boxer will get the win by being so fundamentally superior. That is what is going to happen to the Colts…UNLESS they lose Manning early (Like Palmer – who I feel so bad for, I know EXACTLY how he feels as I had the same injury AND prognosis as him last June) then the Steelers could take it. I think the Colts vs. the Patriots will be the best game we will see this year.

Superbowl:
Well if Seattle can relax and play their style of football (West coast) and run the football effectively then I have them edging out the Bears (if they beat the Panthers) in the NFC only to lose to the Colts. I just wonder though, if New England will, in dramatic fashion, still maintain their legacy/dynasty.

GREAT YEAR FOR PRO FOOTBALL HOWEVER IT GOES!!!

 

[Ivan]

My hats off to Denver

Holy smokes Denver really impressed me with the way they played. So I am thinking Denver at Indy will be a great game. But tommorow's game Pitt vs Indy will be brutally delightful.

 

[babygetoboy]

I don't want to tak about the Skins game. my boys let me down, damn it.

 

[jawbreakerkid]

I'm happy to see you pick my Bears over Carolina. All the so called experts are picking Carolina. The Bears completely out physicaled the Panthers in their first game. You can game plan all you want, but when the man in front of you is beating you on every plan, the greatest game plan is thrown out the window. DeShaun Foster has run against teams like the Giants and the Falcons, his dancing and spinning will only get him hurt against the Bears. Lance Briggs and Urlacher will knock his spleen out if he tries that shit. The Bears D softened up a bit towards the end of the year because they were missing their starting safeties (Mike Brown and Chris Harris), they are both healthy now and ready to make plays. Also, the Bears O line will man handle the Panthers up the middle. Thomas Jones will have running lanes all day which in turn will open up the pass for Rex Grossman, Bernard Berrian and Mushin Muhammad. I respect the Panthers, but on offense they are one dimensional which doesn't work against a defense like the Bears. I say Bears 17 Panthers 10.

Super Bowl pick, Indy over Chicago

 

[Jwillbc55]

BEARS!!!!!!!!!

 

[jerrywear]

it was exact conversation yesterday with some guys in the gym,we going with chicago and indy to the super bowl

i was watching secial on the bears friday,it was like 4 hours long,and everyone who was on the bench with injuries are back.so D is definetly going to be stronder then before, and O its just got stronger after Rex got back.
but again it doent matter how its going to end i am with chicago for ever

I'm happy to see you pick my Bears over Carolina. All the so called experts are picking Carolina. The Bears completely out physicaled the Panthers in their first game. You can game plan all you want, but when the man in front of you is beating you on every plan, the greatest game plan is thrown out the window. DeShaun Foster has run against teams like the Giants and the Falcons, his dancing and spinning will only get him hurt against the Bears. Lance Briggs and Urlacher will knock his spleen out if he tries that shit. The Bears D softened up a bit towards the end of the year because they were missing their starting safeties (Mike Brown and Chris Harris), they are both healthy now and ready to make plays. Also, the Bears O line will man handle the Panthers up the middle. Thomas Jones will have running lanes all day which in turn will open up the pass for Rex Grossman, Bernard Berrian and Mushin Muhammad. I respect the Panthers, but on offense they are one dimensional which doesn't work against a defense like the Bears. I say Bears 17 Panthers 10.

Super Bowl pick, Indy over Chicago

 

[draven]

wonder

Bears being in the worst division in football wonder if they are that strong...beat a few decent teams but unsure as the schedule strength was pretty weal IMO.. im in Chicago too so used to beng disappointed

 

[jawbreakerkid]

are you kidding me? Have you looked at the AFC East and the NFC West? St. Louis, San Francisco and Arizona in the same division?!? Miami, Buffalo and the Jets in the same division?!? You say the NFC North is worse? Seattle was the beneficiary of a weak schedule of some bad opposing kickers. Seattle is nowhere near as good as that 13-3 record. Whoever wins the AFC wins the super bowl anyway. Only NFC team capable of winning the super bowl are the Bears because they do two things very well, defense and run the football, which can keep the high powered AFC offenses off the field.

 

[draven]

no

those are weak too.... just hope what happened against a real upper echelon team like Pitt....was just bad day... other than that would be nice to see em go , but ill be going to work either way on monday so not that big of deal.

 

[Ivan]

Holy surprise!!

I was STUNNED by how dominating Pitt was today -- very impressed with thier defense. If they play like that from here on I do not see anyone stopping them. They could not have started peaking at a better time. That reverse call on Troy P's. int. was crap too. Willie Parker just showed the world he can get downfield just as fast if not THE fastest in the NFL. Manning should have taken the loss on the chin and not blamed his O line. True, they had protection problems, but Peyton was rattled and subsequently played not up to his pedigree.

As for the Bears game....ooohh man that sucked!!! They KNEW they had to do something about Steve Smith, and instead he had his way all day. The defense (VERY surprising) actually let them down and thier piss poor offense gave them a lift. I think they should have kept Thomas Jones a little more involved in the offense, and not passed so much on 1st and 2nd down. Regardless it was a fun, physical game to watch.

 

[terryd5150]

How about them Panthers!

I noticed a lot of guys on here predicting Chicago over Carolina or Chicago to win it all. Chicago had a weak schedule, so I feel like that's a tough thing to decide based on who they played.


Anyway, I guess that's why they play the game. Because no matter what a team looks like on paper, any team can be beaten.

 

[jawbreakerkid]

Bears blew that one big time! They threw the first 6 downs of that game. Their offensive game plan hung the defense out to dry. The D was on the field way too often in the first half for them to be effective. Also, I don't understand why the had Charles Tillman on Steve Smith and Nathan Vasher on the other side. I guess their thinking was to have Vasher shut down one half of the field and give Tillman safety help over the top. Well, we saw how that worked and the Bears failed to make an adjustment. Once the BEars got the running game going they made a game out of it, but it was too little too late. The Bears will be STRONG next year, look for 2nd year wideout Mark Bradley to have a monster year!!! They need one more CB and a SAM linebacker and their defense will be unstoppable.

Pittsburgh...WOW!!! Peyton Manning hung his O-line out to dry in his news conference...not cool. So much for my Super Bowl pick...LMAO

 

[swervedriver]

PANTHERS!!

What about them Panthers!!! I cannot say this enough, they simply have the best head coach in football right now! This man knows how to get it done with the personnel he has to work with... The Bears D talked alot of shit all week saying how they would shut Carolina down again and that Steve's numbers last time were a fluke, but as we saw they simply had NO answer for Steve Smith.... Not many teams do... All I have to say is the Seahawks better look out because the Panthers might be headed back to the Superbowl baby!!

 

[jerrywear]

tel me about it
my two teams indy and chicago i picked(and a lot other people i know)LOST wtf?they played so bad it wasnt even funny.
i dont remember when the last time i saw chicago D playing like that.WOW it was imberising,i had people over and we all were like wtf just happened????
but at least i have a hope that they will play better next year

Bears blew that one big time! They threw the first 6 downs of that game. Their offensive game plan hung the defense out to dry. The D was on the field way too often in the first half for them to be effective. Also, I don't understand why the had Charles Tillman on Steve Smith and Nathan Vasher on the other side. I guess their thinking was to have Vasher shut down one half of the field and give Tillman safety help over the top. Well, we saw how that worked and the Bears failed to make an adjustment. Once the BEars got the running game going they made a game out of it, but it was too little too late. The Bears will be STRONG next year, look for 2nd year wideout Mark Bradley to have a monster year!!! They need one more CB and a SAM linebacker and their defense will be unstoppable.

Pittsburgh...WOW!!! Peyton Manning hung his O-line out to dry in his news conference...not cool. So much for my Super Bowl pick...LMAO

 

[phreak]

cya bears

it was too sweet whipping up on those shit talking bitches. they simply had no answer for smith, period. he made their secondary look like high schoolers.

it's a shame what happened to foster, but honestly i think goings can carry the running game, as long as our front line can open the lanes up for him.

my worry is pep- he looked like he was in serious pain. if we don't have him for the pass rush we could have issues. i was looking for an update on his injury but couldn't find out how bad off he was.

oh yeah, as for those who slagged the experts for picking carolina... they just showed why they are the experts and you are not.

 

[jawbreakerkid]

you can pin this loss 100% on the Bears coaching staff, not their so called "shit talking players." Smith smoked our 3rd best CB and a nickel back, which I still can't understand why he was on Smith. We'll be back. I hope to se the Panthers in the same spot next year.

 

[HAZMAT]

NFL

DENVER BRONCOS SUPERBOWL CHAMPS!!!!!!!

 

[Armageddon]

WOW I really don't know what to say to this.. actually yes I do. I'm pissed and can't believe what I just saw. I almost lost my toes freezing watching this game and can't understand for the life of me why! I can give you five plays of why this happened: 1/2- steve smith's two touchdown catch's. The first one I think he pushed off on and the second on the db fell down trying to man turn and that is SAD! I wasn't that impressed with what Carolina did. 3-Then take dumbass's first 2 punts, they were a total of 37 yards and left Carolina in Chicago's side of the field. The expired play clock, yes they would have lost yards but there wouldn't have been a penalty and would have given them a shot. 4- They last punt that Carolina made would have gone for a touchdown if Vasher opened his eyes. HE had the entire Carolina sideline wide open with only the punter to possibly make the tackle and he tried to take it across field and lost 5 yards. 5- Last pass of the game for chicago was illegal contact all the way, plus there was a previous pass interference that wasn't called either. Smith couldn't do shit against Vasher all game and they should have left him man'd up with him all day.
I look at this team next year and wonder how can you improve. The D just needs to keep everyone healthy, especially M. Brown. So this brings us to the offense, were do you start. They have everything you need, but yet something is missing. Eveyone can say a QB but how much pt did he really get this year to prepare for this game. Well can't wait till I go to the D, that is going to be a fun town to be in on the 5th

 

[jawbreakerkid]

We need a tight end. I would love to have Heath Miller in a Bears uniform opposed to Cedric Benson. Once Mark Bradley, Mushin Muhammad and Bernard Berrian are all on the field together with Thomas Jones and a quality tight end added into that mix, the Bears will be tough on O, we have a solid line, but without our two speed receivers healthy, they just don't get enough seperation. I would like to see another CB added, Jerry Azumah won't be back, and I would like to see another LB besides Hunter Hillenmeyer. He's solid, but one more swarming, speed LB would make that defense unreal.

 

[AWN2004]

DENVER BRONCOS SUPERBOWL CHAMPS!!!!!!!

I believe you are going to right in that prediction. Im a die hard Colts fan...I think I went around the house looking for sharp objects to slice my wrists open for about 3 hours last night. I hope the Broncos win.