The Godfather of Sports

Super Bowl XLV: Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) v. Green Bay Packers (10-6) Sunday 6:29pm,FOX I could go over how I picked the Packers at the start of the year and wish I put some green down in Vegas on those 1/6 odds for Green Bay... oops. But, you could also point out that I picked the Chargers for my AFC representative oops 2x. However, I want to talk about the LAST football game for a very VERY long time between the Packers and the Steelers. This opening could talk about the past Super Bowls and Bart Starr, Vince Lombardi, Lynn Swann and Mean Joe Green but I won't. History and Hall of Fame stars of the grid iron will have zero affect in who wins this showdown in Dallas. On the surface this is a match-up between two top tier QB's verses two great defenses, true. But, we will take a look at injuries, TWO (lucky you) match-up's to watch for and a X-Factor for both the Steelers and the Packers. Lets start with some injuries of note. Injuries of note: Green Bay - No injurie...

AFC Championship Game: New York Jets v. Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday 6:30pm, CBS Just like every other playoff game these two teams faced each other during the 2010 season. The Jets walked away victorious 22-17. Since 2001 these two teams are 3-3 against each other and more importantly neither team has scored more than 22 points in their respective wins. Everyone is talking about how these two teams mirror each other on O/D and how they are built the same way blah blah blah... I don't see that at all. Well, maybe 'at all' is a bit of an overstatement BUT there are a lot of contrasting themes to look at in this great AFC Championship game. By the way the Steelers are favored by a passive and boring 3 1/2 point spread at MGM Grand and the o/u is 38 which really isn't too shocking, who wouldn't take that under? Key Matchup (NYJ C) Nick Mangold v. (PIT NT) Casey Hampton No flashy stats or crazy pro-bowl resumes BUT they are both great players in the trenches ye...

NFC Championship Game: Green Bay Packers v. Chicago Bears   Sunday 3pm, FOX Basically the entire playoffs have been a repeat of regular season match ups. However, that is not always a bad thing! I am still holding on to ONE of my pre-season Super Bowl picks in Green Bay (no thanks to San Diego) and in all honesty I am happy to see the Bears back in the thick of the playoffs. On paper it is very close, no real injuries coming out of last week, Bears Safety Chris Harris says he will be ready to play this week as well as Packers receiver Donald Driver. During the regular season the Packers and Bears split the series 1-1, the last was a 10-3 Green Bay win allowing them to get into the playoffs (and knocking Tampa Bay out...) With only a 3 1/2 spread (GB fav) and a passive 43 o/u this should be a REAL close ball game. Key Matchup (GB LOLB) Clay Matthews v. (CHI LT) Frank Omiyale   There are 4 guaranteed things in life death, taxes, poor Bears Pass-Pro and Clay Matthews i...

AFC Divisional Round: Baltimore Ravens (12-4) v. Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) Saturday 4:30pm, CBS A REAL wild card weekend last week! But, this round should be just as good! The Ravens and Steelers meet up for the THIRD time this NFL season, in which they split the series against each other (BAL W 17-14, PIT W 13-10.) Not at all close right? These two teams mirror each other with top 5 defenses, a solid playoff QB and a great ground game. So, your question is: "What will make the difference this year around?" Layover. Baltimore is coming off a major beat-down on KC while Pittsburgh sat on a BYE week playing only with themselves (tee-hee.)  Key Matchup (BAL TE) Todd Heap v. (PIT S) Troy Polamalu Every season these two well traveled veterans battle through all 16 games getting nicked and bruised but always make a big play when it matters. Todd Heap is 30 and was 'on his way out' a few seasons ago but has made quite a comeback in 2010. Heap snagged 599yds and 5...

Once again the Godfather of Sports failed to breakdown every single bowl game. Got closer than last year, still... fail. So, my apologies BUT is this going to be one of the best National Championship since USC with Matt Leinart and Texas with Vince Young (hopefully players from this game will have a better NFL career than the two pre-mentioned players.) I am in information overload mode trying to put together the stats/awards/honors for both these astounding teams. Only believe it or not only two players are ranked on the top players on Scouts INC which are the obvious DT Nick Fairley and somehow Cam Newton found his way on there. Las Vegas is at a loss for this game favoring the Auburn Tigers by 1 1/2 points... AND a whopping 72 o/u! In this National Championship edition we will take a look at each team as a whole, a player to watch for on both offense AND defense and finally my prediction.  Tostitos BCS National Championship Bowl (Jan 10, 8:37pm, ESPN ) #2 Oregon Ducks (12-0,...

AFC Wild Card: New York Jets (11-5) v. Indianapolis Colts (10-6) Saturday 8:00pm, NBC The Jets were supposed to run over EVERYONE this year and the Colts as always were expected to hang 50pts on all the teams they faced... neither of these things happened. The Jets had more scandals then they did big runs and the Colts had more injuries than a busy ICU (I am lacking in witty puns and funny analogies at the moment.) But, this game looks and sounds like a great playoff game (as opposed to the Seahawks debacle.) By the way, the Colts are 3-0 when hosting a wild card playoff game since Peyton came to town. NY looked like the fountain of youth for LT but only broke 100yds in one game AND it was against the Bills... enough said. Key Matchup (NYJ LT) D'Brickshaw Ferguson v. (IND DE) Dwight Freeney Brickashaw Ferguson was a great first round pick for the Jets a few years back. He was a true to form blue chip offensive tackle, more importantly a left tackle, which is very rare to ...

NFC Wild Card: New Orleans Saints (11-5) v. Seattle Seahawks (7-9) Saturday 4:30pm, NBC Yes, that isn't a typo. The Seattle Seahawks got in the playoffs coming out of the NFC 'Worst" and earned a home game. Meanwhile, the NY Giants and TB Bucs sit and home with 10 wins (my bias is showing.) But, on a positive note the Saints, who started out rough, where able to escape the best division in the NFL (NFC S) with 11 wins and have a chance to defend their Super Bowl crown. The Saints will be limping into the playoffs after putting both Pierre Thomas AND rookie rushing sensation Chris Ivory on IR. And for the Hawks, they have injury issues as well! They can either go with veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck who seems to be playing at 75% at best OR start backup Charlie Whitehurst who... well was good at Clemson and as Philip Rivers backup.  Key Matchup (SEA Nickleback) Walter Thurmond v. (NO WR) Lance Moore No matter what grouping of receivers the Saints put in rookie corner ...