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.

Recap of Wildcard Weekend

Wildcard weekend lived up to it's name, it was wild. The Jets/Bengals game which started it all off and last nights Green Bay/Arizona game were the good ones. The Dallas Philly and NE/Balt games were pretty much blowouts. I will start with the Jets/Bengals game since the New York Jets are the home team for me. The New York Jets played a pretty dominant game, good defense and a solid running game. They also didn't turn the ball over and Mark Sanchez was good, they didn't make him throw it all that often which is a good thing. He really wasn't in any third and longs which is another way from limiting the mistakes that he could possibly make. The Bengals were awful especially there quarterback Carson Palmer who was overthrowing guys left and right. Chad Ochocinco once again was shut down and maybe he needs to learn how to shut his mouth and just play the game. I give the Jets credit for getting down 7-0 but not panicking and once they tied the game up they took control. It looked early on like the Jets could be in trouble but they weathered the storm and then were fine after that. They will now move on to play San Diego in San Diego on Sunday afternoon. The other AFC game between New England and Baltimore was a shocker. The Patriots were down 21-0 before you even blinked and they just couldn't catch up. I wonder if Tom Brady was really hurt as he played a terrible game, he wasn't helped by the offensive line which just let him get beat up back there. The Patriots are still a good team but are no longer the dominant team and have some work to do to get back there. Baltimore will travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts on Saturday. The NFC started off with the Dallas Cowboys once again dominating the Philadelphia Eagles. I guess you could say that Tony Romo and Wade Philips have the monkey off of their back now. They look like they are going to be a tough out the rest of the way. The offense is really rolling along with Romo looking sharp and their defense has been playing great. I really think Brett Favre and the Vikings are going to be in for a really tough battle. The last game of wildcard weekend turned out to be a really fun and entertaining shootout. The Arizona Cardinals got up big on the Green Bay Packers but to their credit they wouldn't quit and battled all the way back. Arizona had a chance to win it on a chip shot field goal in the closing seconds but missed it and the game went into OT. This was a game where it was back and forth and the teams kept matching each other score for score. There was basically no defense in this game and then when it is all said and done the game ends in OT with a fumble return for a TD by Arizona which will go on and play the Saints in New Orleans.

Football begins with a couple of victories

The New York Giants and New York Jets both opened their seasons with wins. The Jets defeated the Texans by the score of 24-7 and the Giants won by the score of 23-17. I will start with the Jets who saw Mark Sanchez had a impressive first game as a pro. He was 18 of 31 for 272 yards and 1 touchdown and a interception. Thomas Jones had 107 yards rushing and Leon Washington contributed 60 yards rushing, he also had 24 yards recieving. Dustin Keller had 94 yards recieving and Jerricho Cotchery had 90 yards recieving. Chansi Stuckey had 64 yards recieving. Rex Ryan is known for defense and the Jets defense just looked awesome. Joe Namath gave Sanchez a pregame pep talk and it seemed to work as there weren't many negatives, he really had a sparkling debut. The Giants score was closer then the game really was as Washington scored a late TD. The Giants defense was really good other then that, one of the touchdowns scored by the Redskins was on a fake FG and another FG was because Eli Manning threw a interception setting them up perfectly for at least a FG. Justin Tuck had a great game with 1 1/2 sacks and being all over the field. Osi Umineyora didn't have a great game but he did have one big play where he caused a fumble and ran it back 37 yards for a touchdown. Eli Manning had a pretty good game being 20 of 29 with 256 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Jacobs only had 46 rushing yards, Ahmad Bradshaw had 60 rushing. The Giants spread out their passing attack, Steve Smith had 6 catches for 80 yards, Kevin Boss had 3 catches for 62 yards and Mario Manningham had 3 catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown was the first of his career. Hakeem Nicks had a couple of catches for 18 yards but left the game with a sprained ankle. Domenick Hixon only had 1 catch for 10 yards and Brandon Jacobs had 2 for 17 yards and Bradshaw had 3 for 11 yards. Lawrence Tynes was 3 for 3 in field goals. The Giants now will go on the road for 3 straight which will be difficult. The Jets will come home and face the Patriots.