Super Bowl Sunday

The Super Bowl is upon  us and after all the deflating talk it is finally time for the last football game of the year.  There are those of us in the baseball world that are very happy because that means it is time for baseball to go back to the forefront and we can see spring ahead of us and pitchers and catchers will be reporting very soon. 

The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks are the two teams competing this year.  The Seahawks are looking for their second straight championship and are led by quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch and of course have a very good defense if not great defense.  The Patriots are led by their head coach Bill Belichek and their quarterback Tom Brady.  They have heard all the talk for two weeks now about them cheating with deflating footballs and how they have cheated in the past.  I think though this will be a good game and afterwards especially if the Patriots win you will hear more talk about cheating but for the time being it has basically gone away and everyone is focused on the game.  It should be a very good game. 

These are two good defenses and the Patriots have a very good offense.  The Seahawks offense isn't so good but if they run the ball that is pretty much their offense and Wilson has a knack for making big plays at big times.  If the Patriots stop Lynch though, they should be able to win the game.  I am predicting a fairly low scoring game.  I would say 24-17 somewhere in that range and I am going to go with the Patriots.  I know they haven't won the Super Bowl in ten years and they have lost the last two they have been in.  The last two though have been against the New York Giants who have their number and I think they are going to be extra enthusiastic with everything going on and right now they probably are the best team.  I think the Seahawks are very good but haven't been playing their best, they were lucky to make it out of the NFC Championship game and I think they are ready to be knocked off of their throne.  I am picking the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl and then it is on to the business of baseball. 

The Baltimore Ravens win the Super Bowl in a crazy game

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in a crazy game by the score of 34-31. The Ravens dominated the first half and were well on their way to victory when the power went off in the Superdome. There was a 35 minute delay and when play resumed it was all 49ers for quite a while. The niners were able to get back in the game but were stopped on a first and goal that became fourth and goal and a turnover on downs. The Ravens basically ran out the clock with a interesting strategy at the end to take a safety. 
Joe Flacco was the MVP of the game as he threw for three touchdowns and didn’t throw an interception. In the postseason he threw 11 touchdown passes and did not throw one interception. Flacco in the Super Bowl was 22-33 for 287 yards with the three touchdown passes. Ray Rice led the Ravens rushing attack with 20 rushes for 59 yards and Bernard Pierce rushed 12 times for 33 yards. Anquan Boldin led the receiving corps with six catches for 104 yards and one touchdown. Jacoby Jones had one catch for 56 yards and a touchdown, Ed Dickson had two for 37 yards and Dennis Pitta had four for 26 yards and a touchdown. Torrey Smith had two receptions for 35 yards, Rice had four for 19 yards and Vonta Leach had three for 10 yards. Justin Tucker was 2-2 on field goals and his long was 38 yards. He also converted four extra points. Jones had five kickoff returns for an average of 41.2 yards and a touchdown. He tied the record with a 108 yard kickoff return. That was the first play of the second half which gave the Ravens a 28-6 lead. They led 21-6 at the half and came out flying before the niners got something going with 17 straight points after the power outage.

Colin Kaepernick was 16-28 for 302 yards a touchdown and an interception. Frank Gore led the niners rushing attack with 19 rushes for 110 yards and a touchdown. Kaepernick had seven rushes for 62 yards and a touchdown and LaMichael James had three rushes for ten yards. Michael Crabtree led the receivers with five receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown, Vernon Davis had six receptions for 104 yards and Delanie Walker had three receptions for 48 yards. Randy Moss had two receptions for 41 yards. David Akers was 3-3 on field goals with his long being 36 yards and he made two extra points. James had three kickoff returns with an average of 25 yards and Ted Ginn Jr. had one for 31 yards. Andy Lee had three punts with an average of 53 yards.

Patrick Willis led the niners defense with eight tackles and two assists. Each team had one lost fumble, Ed Reed had an interception for the Ravens and Dannell Ellerbe had six tackles and three assists to lead the Ravens defense.

The countdown is now for the next Super Bowl which will be a year from this one at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey. It will be an outdoor Super Bowl for the first time which should be interesting. This is the last football game until August when preseason football begins so it is a sad time for football fans but a happy time for baseball fans as it is now their turn with pitchers and catchers reporting in a week.

NFL Championship Sunday

The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons by the score of 28-24 in Atlanta to be the first entrant into this years Super Bowl. The Patriots and Ravens faced off in the night game in Foxbourough, Massachusetts and the Ravens came out on top winning the game by the score of 28-13. The Ravens lost last year in the AFC Championship game in the same place so they got their revenge. This also sets up the Harbowl as the two head coaches are brothers who are 15 months apart in age. 
The San Francisco/Atlanta game was a good back and forth game. The second half was especially good as the action picked up, it really went down to the wire but in the end the niners were a little bit too much for the Falcons. The niners overcame an early 17 point deficit. Their quarterback who is in his second year played well again and Frank Gore the running back really had a great game rushing for over 100 yards. The niners also avenged a loss in last years NFC championship game although it was to the New York Giants.

In the night cap it was a very close game throughout the first half. The game was 13-6 in favor of the Patriots at the half and the Ravens dominated the second half outscoring the Patriots 22-0 in the second half. The Ravens defense gave up some big plays but they wouldn’t break and kept New England off the scoreboard. The Ravens offense put the ball in Joe Flacco hands and he looked really good picking apart the Partriots defense.

This is going to be one interesting Super Bowl and I am sure we will hear every detail of the Harbaugh family over the next couple of weeks.

The Saints go Marching In

That was a pretty exciting Super Bowl, it started off kind of boring. The game really got crazy in the second half. I can't believe the Saints won by 14 points especially after being down 10-0 early. It was a offensive game like everyone thought but the big play of the game was an interception return for a touchdown by Porter of the Saints that esentially sealed the game. Peyton Manning had over 300 yds passing but that interception is what he will be remembered for in this game. The Colts had one last chance to score a touchdown with just under 2 minutes remaining but decided to run it which I don't get and were stopped and then the celebration really began. The final score was Saints 31 Colts 17, the game was really closer then it would seem. How did everyone like the game?? What are your thoughts on the outcome?? How about the commercials, I liked the Coke one with the Simpsons and the Tim Tebow ad turned out to be a dud for what it was being hyped up to be. I really didn't see any problem with that ad. I would like to hear everyones thoughts on the commercials also, if you didn't see all of them or can't remember they have them all up on youtube to view. I thought Carrie Underwood did a good job with the National Anthem and The Who was pretty good with their light show. It wasn't much of a coincidence that they played all the CSI songs considering they were on CBS which is the channel the show is on. I would love to hear everyones thoughts on the Super Bowl and anything else to do with it. The Super Bowl is over so lets close out football with this today and then it is on to Baseball. Today is Truck Day for the New York Yankees and on Thursday Pitchers and Catchers will report.

Super Bowl Sunday

The Super Bowl is tomorrow at 6:25PM from Miami,Florida. It looks like it will be a very good game. I think this will be a high scoring shootout type game. I could see it being who ever has the ball last will win. I am picking the Colts to win but I could see the Saints winning also. I think Reggie Bush could be the X factor as he could break a punt return or a run or catch some passes and break loose. I think if the Saints play the way they did against the Vikings they may lose big, they can't expect the Colts to turn the ball over 5 times. As in any football game turnovers will be a huge key. I am going to pick the Colts to win 42-35. What does everyone else think, lets discuss the game and get some predictions in the comments section. I am just hoping for a good game as I have no real rooting interest although I would like to see Peyton and the Colts win another one. Does anyone have any thoughts on the halftime show?? commercials?? The pregame with Carrie Underwood doing the national anthem and Daughtry performing??

Super Bowl Week

The Super Bowl will be upon us on Sunday but this week is the buildup to the Big Game. It hasn't really gotten too entertaining yet. The one big thing is that the defensive coordinator for the Saints basically said they are going to try and hurt Peyton Manning. The other story line so far is colts defensive end Dwight Freeney being injured. The question is will he even play but even if he does how effective will he be. This is definitely a huge break for the Saints. I expect this to be shootout anyway but this will definitely give the Saints more of a chance. I would expect this game to get in the high 30's if not 40's. It hasn't gotten a lot of attention yet but Archie Manning who is the father of Colts QB Peyton Manning used to be the QB for the New Orleans Saints. It is an interesting story even though of course he is going to root for his son. I don't know if this is a story but Saints running back Reggie Bush said he would propose to his girlfriend Kim Kardashian if the Saints won the Super Bowl. He only needs one more win so lets see what happens. There is actually a prop bet on this to see how long it will take if they win.

The Super Bowl Is Set

The AFC Championship game had the momentum carrying New York Jets taking on the Indianapolis Colts. The game was in Indianapolis where in week 16 the Jets ruined the Colts perfect season. That game back then was controversial as the Jets were 7-7 and the Colts were 14-0, the Colts pulled their starters in the second half after leading and of course ended up losing the game which kept the Jets alive for the playoffs. The Jets won the next week to get themselves in the playoffs and then won 2 playoff games on the road to get to this AFC Championship game. The Jets and their fans wanted validation bad but the Colts were ready to prove that they let them in the playoffs and they were going to knock them out. The final score was Colts 30 Jets 17. The game started off very well with the Jets, they were playing good and getting to Peyton Manning a little. The Jets had a 17-6 lead with just over 2 minutes left in the first half. Peyton Manning got the ball and as he does so often in the 2 minute drill, he took his team down the field for a touchdown to get them within 17-13 at the half. The Colts got the ball in the second half after stopping the Jets and went down and scored again to take the lead that they would never relinquish. It was like a switch flipped on and Peyton Manning just took the Jets defense apart. He threw for near 400 yards with 3 touchdown passes. The Jets running game never got it going like they had in the previous playoff games and Shonn Greene left the game with an injury which hurt them badly. Mark Sanchez played a pretty good game but in the end the Colts were just too good for the Jets and they are headed back to the Super Bowl with Peyton Manning trying to win his second ring. The Mannings have been in 3 of the last 4 Super Bowls and this week Archie Manning will be front and center with his son in the Big Game against his Old Team. The NFC Championship was a great game, it was back and forth the whole game. The Minnesota Vikings really controlled the game but had 5 turnovers which kept the Saints in the game. The Saints did cause most of those turnovers as you could really see them going for the strips and playing aggressive defense. Brett Favre was really getting hammered and even left the game at one point for an injury. He is a tough guy though and came back in after getting taped up. The game ended up being history repeating itself. The Vikings were in field goal range with not much time left when Brett Favre threw a pick and the game went into overtime. The Saints won the coin toss and ended up going down the field and kicking the game winning field goal. This is a rule that is going to have to be looked at and we can debate that another time. The last time Brett Favre was in the title game was in 2007 with the Packers against the Giants. He threw a pick in OT that ended up leading to the game winning field goal by the Giants. I don't think you ever know with Brett Favre but the way he got beat up last night this may be the end for him. I can't see him saying yeah let me try this all again next season. It should be a great Super Bowl and we will have plenty of time to go over everything with the Big Game. Congratulations to the Saints and Colts, it is really good to see New Orleans be able to celebrate after everything that city has gone through and it will be a big boost for them.

NFL Championship Round

The AFC and NFC Championship games will be played tomorrow. The first game will be the New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts for the AFC title. The Colts were undefeated in week 16 when the Jets came to town needing to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The Jets did pull out a controversial victory and have reeled off 3 more in a row after that to get to this point. The reason the game was controversial is because the Colts were 14-0 and leading at the half when head coach Jim Caldwell decided to pull his starters and the Jets went on to win the game keeping them in the playoff hunt and eventually they did make it and won 2 playoff games on the road to get here. The Colts fans really wanted the undefeated season and this is something that win or lose will be discussed all offseason. If the Colts do go on and win a Super Bowl it won't be as big of a deal but everyone will still wonder if they would have gone undefeated and if they lose well then it really will be criticized. I really like what the Jets have done in the playoffs and they won't change their style now. They will run the ball and play good defense but in my mind the Colts are the best team in football and they are home. I don't see the Jets winning this game although it should be close. I am picking the Colts to win by the score of 24-17. The NFC Championship will be at 630 tomorrow night and have the Minnesota Vikings taking on the New Orleans Saints. The Saints who have been a long suffering franchise will host their first ever title game. They have never made it to the Super Bowl. I think with all that has gone on in that city they really need this and are riding a wave of momentum and passion. The Vikings have played great football this season but not on the road and I think this will be the end for them. I see the Saints winning this game by the score of 35-21. I hope everyone enjoys the championship games and tomorrow night we will find out who will be facing off in the Super Bowl.

Steelers win 6th Title

The Super Bowl turned out to be a great game for the second straight year. I would of liked to see less flags thrown but it was an enjoyable game. I think it came out like most people thought but I came out of this game thinking the best football team wasn't even playing. I am not just saying this because I am a Giants fan but they were the best team all year and if they would of gotten past Philly I think they would of been in the Super Bowl to defend their title. The Giants biggest problem of course was that because the Plax incident happened so late in the season that they couldn't adjust but hey it is what it is. The Steelers I felt would be the team out of the AFC for most of the year even though the Titans were considered the best team. I think Big Ben made up for his poor showing in the first Super Bowl he was in. Kurt Warner didn't do anything to hurt his chances of becoming a hall of famer. He didn't win the Super Bowl but he played very well. We knew about Larry Fitzgerald coming into this game and the Steelers did a good job of shutting him down until the fourth quarter when he made his presence felt. Anquan Boldin had a good game, he may be trade bait but we shall see. The halftime show was great and I think Jennifer Hudson performed one of the best National Anthems I have ever heard especially being the first public appearance since the murders of her mother, brother and nephew. The NFL season ended on a high note and now we start the transition to baseball season.