Wild Card Predictions

NFL Playoffs. EASILY my favorite sports weekends of the year. Toss out any baseball dates, the Masters, March Madness, NBA, or NHL playoffs. Tell the Olympics to take a hike too. Don't disturb me or ask me to do anything these days unless you got TV's present... and even then it better be very important!

I made a number of pretty crappy predictions this year, notably taking the Steelers to win it all, but I figure to keep the streak alive and make some crappy round by round playoff predictions too. I'm actually so bad at predicting that I predicted the Cowboys to go to the Super Bowl at the halfway point then at the three quarter poll reverted to missing the playoffs but now in fact they are looking Super Bowl bound again, ugh.

I'll predict these games in order of which time they are on:

New York Jets @ Cincinnati (-3)

Last week's game, ahem, means JACK SHIT when predicting this match up. Cincinnati had nothing to gain by trying to win. Let's say the Bengals tried to beat the Jets, showed them everything they had up their sleeves, but fell short. They would then be rematching the Jets having already played their hand. Instead they did the smart thing and laid down. They sat Cedric Benson, played vanilla offense, vanilla defense, took their beating, and are ready for this week.

Let's not fail to mention that the #4 spot in the AFC is better than the #3. Why not play the rusty, playoff choke artist Colts round two instead of the Chargers? Smart move from Marvin Lewis.

Also did anyone see the Jets celebrate last week? Dunking their coach with Gatorade, doing victory laps around the stadium, and going nuts... Wow I'm impressed. You beat two teams who laid down for you. Texans fans must be pretty pissed off! I think the Jets, pardon my slang, blew their load last week.

I'll take Cincy (-3). Cincinnati 24 - NY Jets 13


Philadelphia @ Dallas (-3.5)

Everything I just said above can be reversed here. The Eagles had EVERYTHING to gain by winning this game. A win last week gives Philly the #2 seed and a first round bye. Instead they got destroyed and are now the #6 seed looking at an ugly rematch.

I know the whole Dallas, Tony Romo gag job is on everyone's minds but this team is peaking at the perfect time. They beat the 'then undefeated' Saints in New Orleans and have pitched back to back shutouts versus the Redskins and Eagles; the latter was riding a six game winning streak going into the game. Every team that has a label as chokers is stuck with that until they show otherwise but that doesn't mean they can't win. See Indianapolis: 2006.

I like Dallas (-3.5) to win a tighter game this week. Dallas 27 - Philadelphia 17


Baltimore @ New England (-4)

I don't really like the feel of this game as a Patriots fan. Brady is obviously dinged up, Welker went down, and I still don't feel like the Patriots have much of an identity. They seem to be living off this Patriots aura, Brady-Belichick are amazing, hey we won a bunch of Super Bowls 5 years ago stuff.

Let's be honest here. Brady has had the ball with a chance to win games against: Buffalo, NY Jets, Denver, and Miami. He could have closed out Indianapolis and Houston. He failed in every game aside from Buffalo on the opening Monday Night. Maybe he needs another year to get back on his feet, maybe the play calling has sucked, maybe he's more hurt then we are led to believe, or most likely this just isn't his season (and I hope this doesn't hold true for years to come).

This has hands down been Belichick's shittiest season. His decision making has been crappy and he just isn't pulling his usual magic that we are accustom to. Hell, look at 2008. They lost Brady and he guided that team to an impressive 11-5 season. It looked like a BB coached team. Maybe it's the turnover on the roster, maybe it's just a few fluky decisions that didn't work out for him, maybe the loss of McDaniels hurt the offense more than we think, but just like with Brady above... it's a bunch of excuses. They just aren't getting it done.

In the Patriots favor is that they have never lost the opening round playoff game with Brady & Belichick. Aside from 2005 they have won at least two playoff games each time they get into the dance. They are also 8-0 at home this season. The cold weather won't mean shit against Baltimore though who also is use to having nippy balls.

To me this just feels like a back and forth game where a gut punch fumble or pick six turns a Patriots 3 point deficit into a Ravens 10 point lead. I hate to do it but...

I'll take the Ravens (+4) to cover and win the game.... Baltimore 30 - New England 20


Green Bay @ Arizona (-3)

The result last week is a lot like the Jets-Bengals game. Means DICK. Arizona had two game plans laid out. One if the Vikings had lost which would have meant a win & Dallas win (which did happen) earns the Cardinals a bye. They had a second game plan if the Vikings won. The Vikings beat the shit out of the Giants so the Cardinals decided to roll over week 17.

This game here is the hardest for me to predict only because the Cardinals are easily the most Jeckyll & Hyde team in the NFL. I would say about 80% of the people probably feel the Packers are on a nice roll. There always seems to be one game each year in WC weekend where a home team reminds people why they are the home team. This isn't even mentioning that the Cardinals are defending NFC Champions.

I will take the Cardinals (-3). Arizona 34 - Green Bay 30

.... Knowing my track record I fully expect to be 0-4.

Indianapolis is German for a Whale's Vagina

Apologies to my three loyal readers for having written naaaaaathan lately. It's a combination of writer's block, laziness, and frankly nothing too interesting to discuss.

Thank you, Indianapolis.

Wow is all I have to say, wow. What a bunch of, for lack of a better word, pussies. I can't follow nor agree with their decision to pull starters and hand over their perfect season for billions of reasons.

My gahd, where do I start? Hmmm... we'll start with recent history of getting on a roll before the playoffs.

I already wrote a blog early about getting hot at the end of the year. I believe the blog was titled that the beginning of the season (the first 3 quarters of it) means diiiiiiiiick. You win games to put yourself into position but you NEEEEED to get rolling this time of year to carry it into the playoffs. The 2005 Steelers, the 2006 Colts, the 2007 Giants, the 2008 Cardinals (albeit runners up)... all HOT at the end of the year. The 2005 Colts, the 2006 Bears, the 2007 Patriots, the 2008 Titans... they were all phenomenal three quarters through the season but they didn't play their best ball down the stretch. Let's be honest, when you get into the playoffs you can throw that regular season record out the window. So without even mentioning the 19-0 possibilities let's acknowledge that resting up and getting rusty before the playoffs is duuuuuumb. Right now I'm not even looking at records. The Colts are choosing to become rusty, the Saints are stumbling, as are the Vikings. I'm willing to wager none of these three teams reaches the Super Bowl. Give me the hot team like Dallas, Philadelphia, San Diego, or New England any day.

I will put my stamped seal of approval guarantee that the Colts come out flat in that divisional round playoff game. If that game is versus New England then look out. I don't like the Pats much this year to win it all necessarily but they could absolutely come into Indy and punch them in the throat a few times. The Patriots have one great upset win in them.

If Indy lucks out, and gets Cincy or some lucky #6 seed (outside of Pittsburgh) in the first round, then they'll clunk their way to an ugly 10 point win. Then they'll host San Diego (who the Pats can't beat) and get stomped by 17 points. Something like 41-24.

Now I like San Diego more than Indianapolis anyway in terms of this match up, but additionally just look how these two teams are trending. San Diego has been beating down great teams while the Colts feel that a 4 week bye is the best approach. Let's remember they were sitting people last week against Jacksonville, this week versus the Jets, and then I'm assuming next week against Buffalo. It's just a stupid bass ackwards approach.

The 2005 Colts should be clear enough evidence of how much this doesn't work, but hey, I effin hate the Colts so I'll be happy to see Manning's 7th career first playoff game loss (to Brady's zero).

On to my second point; this "injury risk" bull shit. To Bill Polian, Jim Caldwell, Anorexic Tony Dungy, and any other gay Colts fan... the ONLY ONLY ONLY ONLY injury that could hurt your team is to lose Manning. That's it. There is a caveat however, Peyton Manning has never missed a game in his entire career!!!!!!! He has only been sacked 10 times all year!!!! He wasn't hit once all game!!!!!! Has Peyton Manning ever even seem shooken up from a hit in his career? Maybe like 5+ years ago but definitely not any time recently. You are more likely to have had Rosie O'Donnell interrupt the flow of Sunday's game by streaking across the field at the 2:00 warning causing mass pukeage, than for Manning to have been injured. You just can't make the argument that you were saving Peyton Manning for health reasons... it's a load of shit and if they thought he was at any risk then they are simply stupid. He is at risk at any juncture of the game. Why even start the game then?

Now how can sitting these players and giving this game away possibly be looked back upon as a wise move? If you go on to win the Super Bowl at 18-1 people won't say, "wow, Christ, good thing Caldwell pulled starters in the 3rd quarter vs. the Jets." They will instead say, "great season but man they could have been 19-0."

A team wins the Super Bowl every year and to some degree those teams go down in history, but how often do you talk about the 2002 Bucs? The 1991 Redskins? The 1981 49ers? The 1973 Dolphins? The 1970 Colts?

Answers: Never, never, rarely, sometimes, and never.

How often do we hear about the 1972 Dolphins? I would guess somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 times per year.

Peyton Manning has won many MVP's. He has won a Super Bowl. He will break every passing record by the time he is done - even if Favre keeps trying to hold him off. Being pulled Sunday though HURT Peyton Manning. This man is no fool he knows that immortality comes with 19-0. He is an all time great no matter what but finishing undefeated would put him in another category.

Here's another point to be made to the gay ass Colts. Your ARCH-RIVAL, other great team of the decade New England Patriots just tried and failed to go 19-0 just two years ago. Why not one up them and stick it to them? Where is the killer instinct? Man so many unanswered questions.

All of this blabbering and I haven't even touched upon how the fans were utterly cheated. Fans in Indianapolis could have been bouncing their grandchildren on their knee 50 years from now talking about the 19-0 Colts. Instead they will talk about how either they won a Super Bowl at 18-1 that should have been 19-0, or that the team was rolling but lost all its momentum once their wuss coach pulled players.

Or how about fans of the Texans, Broncos, Ravens, or Steelers? Gee, thanks for handing the Jets a win on a silver platter.

Hey I won't argue that I hope the Jets make it and are matched up agains the Patriots in round 1!!

The Colts organization has done so many things right in the past 10 years. They were a laughingstock when I was growing up and to imagine them winning more games in a decade than any team ever is amazing. They have drafted well, held onto core players, and built a team with strong leaders who are always in a game. They have a great crowd and home field advantage. I can't help but think though that this letting off the accelerator mentality that comes from Bill Polian, Tony Dungy, and now Jim Caldwell has cost this team one or two more Super Bowls in this decade.

I'd be willing to bet it costs (not helps) them again... let alone a shot at immortality.

The 3 quarter poll

Just a measely four weeks ago I had a midway point blog... Let's see how some of my forecasts did. Italics is from my prior blog. Bold is my thoughts now.

Halfway point of the year... shit is going by wicked fast. Fortunately though we now got Thursday night games basically from here on out (Each of these matchups has fucking sucked. Hey NFL Network pull your weight a li'l more and get us a good game).

As I predicted in my first blog... the Jets are heading towards an 8-8 finish at best. (boo ya!)

Although their record may not indicate it by the end of the year (and probably won't - Actually it will ), Miami is easily the second best team in the AFC East.

The Saints and Colts are undefeated but I don't expect to see either in the Super Bowl... however of those two teams the Saints have a much better chance due to the fact that the NFC isn't as strong... (this could be wishful thinking now with the Colts... the Steelers and Pats are falling apart. San Diego, you're our last hope!)

Brett Favre will fizzle out - let's all calm down. (Could Sunday nights game be the beginning of the end of this Brett Favre honeymoon session? Let's hope!)

Even if Brett Favre doesn't fizzle out he will def throw a crippling INT in the playoffs... it's his M.O. (I'd bet the farm on this happening)

Denver will finish 10-6 or 11-5... their hot start will be enough to get them a wild card berth where they'll be waxed in the first round... San Diego will win that division. (looking good but not exactly a ballsy prediction. SD always starts out slowly)

The Bengals will be the other AFC wild card team... I do think they are for real but Pittsburgh will take the division by a game. (Welllllpppp, swing and a miss! The Steelers rely on Polamalu like the Colts do Manning. No, really....)

The NFC West should be sent on a space ship to the sun... what a brutal division to watch. (Hmmm I'm willing to reel that ship back in... I do like watching Zona and San Fran)

The first team on the outside looking in at the playoffs come year end in the AFC will be the Texans. (Texans shat the bed a lot quicker than I anticipated. Jacksonville is the last team looking in at the end of the year)

The closest team in the NFC will be the Eagles... Is there anyone more Jekyll and Hyde than Donovan McNabb??? (Eff me this is gonna be the Cowboys... we'll read more about them further down, ughhhhh I suck at predicting)

The Patriots will beat either the Colts or Saints but I'm just not sure which one yet... I'd guess the Saints but they won't beat both of them. While we are here, the Patriots will probably finish 12-4 but not earn a bye on account of a shittier conference record which keeps biting them in the balls each year. (Two fat L's!!!! I was off in my predictions too cuz the Pats got their taints obliterated by the Saints but had the Colts on the ropes. The Pats will finish 10-6 but this will get them into the playoffs as the #4 seed)

Here are my predictions which will be wicked wrong:1. Colts 2. Steelers 3. Patriots 4. Chargers 5. Bengals 6. Broncos (Well at least I admitted that I'd suck, which I did. It will be 1. Colts 2. Chargers 3. Bengals 4. Patriots 5. Broncos 6. Dolphins)

AFC Team in Super Bowl: Steelers (Yowzers, I gave them the kiss of death. The Steelers flat out need Polamalu. Bruce Gradkowski won't toss 3 Td's in the 4th vs that long haired beast. The Chargers are Super Bowl bound this year)

1. Saints 2. Cowboys 3. Vikings 4. Cardinals 5. Falcons 6. Giants (This isn't too good either... what was I on??? 1. Saints 2. Vikings 3. Cardinals 4. Eagles 5. Packers 6. Giants)

NFC Team in Super Bowl: Cowboys (Who predicts two teams in the super bowl at the halfway point where neither will make the playoffs??? Eeeesh. Cowboys are heading for their patented December bed-shitting. Wade Phillips and Tony Romo are just a pair of losers. Saints will be playing for the Super Bowl as an 18-0 powerhouse.)

Super Bowl Champion: Steelers (Don't need to re-hash why I suck... Chargers knock off the Saints in a big upset. This goes down as the Brees bowl with his former team against his current one)

Good lorrrrrrrrrrrrrrddddddddd the only thing we know in the NFL is that we don't know much!

Top dynasty of my lifetime

In my opinion there is one dynasty to which modern NFL teams should hold themselves up to as the model of true success. That is the 1980's-1990's San Francisco 49ers. Sure, the 1990's version wasn't really much of a dynasty as far as winning championships but those teams were exceptional year in and year out. Anyone around my age or older knows undoubtedly how nasty those 49ers teams were each year. They were on Fox every Sunday at 4:00 as the national game. Even people a bit younger than me at least caught the tail end of the Young/Rice era.

Here is the 49ers record each year from 1981 to 1998 along with their playoff success.

1981: 13-3, NFC West Champs - Super Bowl Champions
1982: 3-6, Strike shortened pubey season (the only one of this time frame)
1983: 10-6, NFC West Champs - Lost NFC Championship
1984: 15-1, NFC West Champs - Super Bowl Champions
1985: 10-6, Wild Card Loss
1986: 10-5-1, NFC West Champs - Lost Divisional Playoffs
1987: 13-2, NFC West Champs - Lost Divisional Playoffs
1988: 10-6, NFC West Champs - Super Bowl Champions
1989: 14-2, NFC West Champs - Super Bowl Champions
1990: 14-2, NFC West Champs - Lost NFC Championship
1991: 10-6, Missed Playoffs
1992: 14-2, NFC West Champs - Lost NFC Championship
1993: 10-6, NFC West Champs - Lost NFC Championship
1994: 13-3, NFC West Champs - Super Bowl Champions
1995: 11-5, NFC West Champs - Lost Divisional Round
1996: 12-4, Lost Divisional Round
1997: 13-3, NFC West Champs - Lost NFC Championship
1998: 12-4, Lost Divisional Round

Total Record: 207 - 72- 1
Playoff Record: 22-11

NFC West Titles: 13
NFC Championship Appearances: 10
Super Bowl Appearances: 5
Super Bowl Titles: 5

All Pro Seasons: 37
Pro Bowl Player Seasons: 109

That run was pretty damn sick. The main component to that run being so successful was definitely having Joe Montana from 1981 to 1990 and then Steve Young from 1991 to 1998. It'd pretty much be like Brady or Manning being followed by another top 10 all time QB.

The 49ers run was filled with tons of great moments and plays. In 1981 you have The Catch. Up to this point in their existence the 49ers pretty much blew. They however finished 13-3 and were trailing the Cowboys 27-21 in the NFC Championship game. As you can see in that clip the drive was outstanding. Then on the touchdown play you have Montana getting harassed by 14 Cowboys and Clark making a disgusting catch in the back of the end zone on really a broken play (or at least broken off pass route). This play pretty much catapulted them into an unprecedented 18 year run.

The 49ers also completely outlasted their rivals in this time frame. It all started in 1981 with Dallas. Now the Cowboys would come back to be a HUGE (and dominant) rival of the 49ers from 1992 to 1995 but it took the Cowboys 11 years (from 1981 to 1992) to get back on top. It included a 1-15 1989 season and the infamous Herschel Walker trade (idiot Vikings).

The Giants were huge rivals of the 49ers from 1985 through 1990, beating them in the playoffs in 1985, 1986, and 1990. After 1990 though the Giants fell off the map while the 49ers rolled on. At the latter end of their run the Packers were the next thorn in their balls. The Packers beat the 49ers in the playoffs in 1995, 1996, and 1997. If not for The Catch II then it would have been in 1998 as well. Nonetheless from 1981 to 1991 the Packers scurried around and until the Favre days were finally able to be competitive again.

Speaking of The Catch II this was just another notch in the playoff success of an all time franchise. The 49ers announcer makes a great call on this play compared to the catatonic Pat Summerall (althought Madden giggles in delight). Another great call, and one of my favorites, was Steve Young's crazy touchdown run in a 1987 game vs. the Vikings. This run turned out to be a game winner. All announcers should be that fired up.

The whole Steve Young/Joe Montana QB battle from 1987 through 1992 is a *bit* before my recollection, but man, so insane. First off these two guys are first ballot hall of famers and both probably top 10 all time talents. You have to wonder how much better Young's numbers would have been had he got the chance to play full time in 1987 AND 1988 AND 1989 AND 1990!! Could you imagine in today's game having a backup QB of that caliber stand on the sidelines for FOUR years!? It's nuts, there is no way it'd happen! However Young did get a fair amount of action since Joe Montana, and this was his one major downfall, was so injury prone.

A number of teams have won back to back Super Bowls: Green Bay I & II, Miami VII & VIII, Pittsburgh IX & X then XIII & XIV, San Francisco XXIII & XXIV, Dallas XXVII & XXVIII, Denver XXXII & XXXIII, and New England XXXVIII & XXXIX but San Francisco really had a good shot at winning four in a row. There are years when you can say 'well if the cards fell right this team could have won' but with the 49ers I kind of look back at 1987 and 1990 like, damn, those were some HUGE missed opportunities (here's the call "There will be no three-peat)!!!

Before talking about that - quick side tangent - the Cowboys of the 1990's were the other team that did have a chance at three (or four) straight as well but missed out in 1994 by falling to the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.

In 1987 the 49ers were a league best 13-2. Jerry Rice had busted onto the scene, Roger Craig was establishing himself as a top NFL back, Charles Haley joined the show as a dominant pass rusher, Montana & Ronnie Lott were in their primes, and you had Bill Walsh playing chess while all other coaches played checkers. The 49ers matched up in the Divisional Round against the 8-7 Minnesota Vikings. It really was just one of the bigger bed-shitting/upsets you'll ever see. Vikings receiver Anthony Carter had over 200 yards that game and carried the Vikings with acrobatic catch after acrobatic catch.

In 1990 the 49ers were looking to become the first team to win three straight super bowls after winning it all in 1988 and 1989. They finished a league best 14-2 this year and were just an utter powerhouse. They hosted the Giants in the NFC Championship game clinging to a 13-12 lead with about 3 mins left to play. Trying to run out the clock, Roger Craig was stripped by Lawrence Taylor. The Giants went 30 yards or so on the ensuing drive and Matt Bahr squeaked his 5th field goal in as time expired. Now the 1990 Bills were no gimme but I'm pretty sure that Craig fumble cost them a third title.

All this 49ers talk and we haven't even talked about the FIVE Super Bowl titles. Unless the 49ers opponents were in Bengal Stripes, the game was a complete rout. They beat record setting Marino in Super Bowl XIX 38-16, DESTROYED the Broncos 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIV, and beat down the Chargers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX. Thanks in large part to the 49ers (and a few other NFC teams) almost every Super Bowl of the 1980's to mid 1990's totally sucked. I'm not sure if it was inferior opponents or the 49ers were just this good but when people compare the 2001-2007 Patriots teams to these 49ers teams it's so hard to give the nod to the Pats just in that there wasn't this amazing dominance. Yes the 2007 Patriots destroyed people, but we all remember how that ended (just puked in my mouth).

The two Super Bowl titles against the Bengals provided one of the greatest goal line stands in Super Bowl XVI and one of the greatest finishing drives in Super Bowl XXIII.

You can list out Super Bowl stats and records and it's just completely dominated by the 49ers:

Super Bowl Resume: An unblemished 5-0

Super Bowl MVP's: Joe Montana - 3 (all time record)

Super Bowl Touchdown Passes: Joe Montana - 11 (all time record, 0 Int's by the way)

Super Bowl Receptions: Jerry Rice 33 (all time record)

Super Bowl Receiving Yards: Jerry Rice 589 (all time record)

Super Bowl Touchdowns: Jerry Rice 8 (all time record)

Most Points: 55 in Super Bowl XXIV

Biggest Margin of Victory: 45 in Super Bowl XXIV

Single game performances are littered with 49ers too:

TD Passes: Steve Young 6 in XXIX, Joe Montana 5 in XXIV (#1 and #2 all time)

Receiving Yards: Jerry Rice 215 yards (all time record)

Receiving Touchdowns: Jerry Rice 3 in Super Bowl XXIV and XXIX (all time record)

The Colts, Patriots, and I suppose Steelers have all had a pretty nice run in the 2000's. They would all need to keep this going for another 8 to 10 years to match the 49ers run. A lot of it I suppose is the luck of landing a great QB but I would definitely bet against either of these teams matching that success.

All in all it was an insane TWO decades for the 49ers. If you had told the 15 year old me that San Francisco would be a staggering/shitty team from 2003 to the present I never would have believed it. If I picked up the standings any given week of my childhood I would see SF atop the NFC West with the Rams, Saints, and Falcons all but eliminated by week 12. I guess it should make all of us Patriots fans quit being so nitpicky about our team and just ENJOY THE RUN. In 2021 we could be the ones watching the Alex Smith, Shaun Hill, JT O'Sullivan, Ken Dorsey, or Trent Dilfer of the Patriots stink up the joint each week.

Oh and this run by Garrison Hearst vs the Jets in overtime in 1998 was one of the sickest plays, stiff arms, and hustle of down field blockers that I've ever seen. Plus I friggin hated the Jets like no other at this time. I couldn't figure out a way to incorporate this into the blog but here it is anyway.

Mr. Glassman on Spygate

This is written by Glassman... anyone who ever wants a forum to bitch/vent/rant/discuss lemme know and I'm happy to post your stuff... Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Patriots did NOT cheat.

The term "cheat" was invented by the media backlash that ensued after the Patriots were caught video taping the Jets. Naturally, bitter Patriot haters took the term and ran with it and they haven't stopped running.

Now don't misunderstand me, what the Patriots did was wrong and it violated the rules of the NFL. However, that is not the same thing as cheating.

Using the word "cheating" implies that an unfair advantage was gained. Since it's perfectly legal to steal the other team's signals, the Patriots didn't gain an advantage over any other team. And yes, it is legal to steal the other team's signals and yes EVERY single team in the NFL does it in one way, shape, or form. Of course, I don't expect you to take my word on such a bold claim. Read these articles below if you require further proof.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=sando_mike&id=3017542 http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=chadiha_jeffri&id=3017423

So why were the Patriots docked a 1st round pick and fined so heavily? Well they violated the rules. This rule to be exact:

"Any use by any club at any time, from the start to the finish of any game in which such club is a participant, of any
communications or information-gathering equipment, other than Polaroid-type cameras or field telephones, shall be prohibited, including without limitation videotape machines, telephone tapping, or bugging devices, or any other form of electronic devices that might aid a team during the playing of a game"

Keep in mind the reason they were penalized. They used a video camera at a time when they were not supposed to. They were not fined because they stole signals. As we just proved, stealing signals is considered legal. Taping signals as opposed to writing them down by hand or describing them into a tape recorder are just different means to the same end. The final result is that you get some idea of the what the other team is trying to do defensively. If you and two friends all agree to meet at the mall, you probably go three different ways to get there. The end result is that you still arrived at the mall. Sure, one of the ways was easier (video taping), but the end result is no different. Get it?

Perhaps no greater proof that taping doesn't help you anymore than the conventional way to steal signals is this. From 2001 to 2006 (pre-spygate), the Patriots had the best record in the NFL. From 2007 to midway through the 2009 season (post-spygate), guess who has the best record in the NFL? I'll give you just one guess. Yep. The Patriots. If the video tapes were truly the difference, shouldn't the Patriots suddenly turn into losers overnight? But they didn't. Ironically, the Patriots win% is higher post-spygate then pre-spygate ulitmately burying any thought that taping might have played a part in their victories. Go to pro-football-reference.com and do the math if you don't believe me.

What about the tape of the Rams walkthrough and Matt Walsh?

The tape of the Rams walkthrough N-E-V-E-R happened. I cannot stress this enough. Matt Walsh absolutely hated the Patriots and wanted to get back at them. However, he lied about having the tape. NO such tape was ever found because it never existed. There is another very good article that goes into details as to why this whole rumor is ridiculous. You can read it here if you need further proof regarding this matter:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=mortensen_chris&id=3398849

No doubt that what the Patriots did was wrong but, seriously, they payed the price. Enough already. There will be no *asterisks* next to their titles and Belichick will find himself in the hall of fame someday. The sad fact is that most non-patriot fans are insanely jealous of the Patriots success and would do or say anything to bring them down. You have to understand that. Be honest, would anyone even care if the Lions had taped signals?

Do you need more? Yep, sometimes I like to beat a dead horse.

Here are some more tidbits on past dynasties. What a surprise, the Patriots aren't the only dynasty to break the rules:

1) The 3-11 Dolphins were charged with tampering with another team's coach in the hiring of Don Shula in 1970. As we all know the Dolphins went on to win 2 Superbowls and have a perfect season. The Dolphins were charged a 1st rounder for that one.

2) The 1995 49ers paid players under the table to beat the salary cap and avoid losing them to free agency. They were fined $900,000 and lost 2 draft picks.

3) The 1998 Broncos did the same thing. Fined $950,000 and a 1st rounder.

4) It's widely known that the 1970's Steelers were the first team to use steroids. They didn't receive any fines or penalties but should a * be next to all 4 of their titles?

Personally, I don't give a crap about any of this stuff. All of these teams still worked hard and earned their championships. You have to give respect where respect is due. However, how do you justify calling the Patriots cheaters without also calling these franchises cheaters too? You can't.

As for the whole spygate thing, it lives on for one reason. If the rest of the league can't stop the Patriots on the field, at least they can yell ignorant comments like "cheaters!". Maybe it helps them sleep better at night.

Nipped in the balls again....

Man that Pats-Colts game was the 2006 AFC Championship game all over again. Now I'm not going to take the approach that going for it on 4th down was the reason for this loss. You can go ahead and read some dingleberry douchy writer like Pete Prisco or Ron Borges for that. Admittedly I thought at first that it was really dumb but I'm going to defend that decision cuz there were about 45 other things that I feel are more to blame.

Plus, the Colts with a timeout and 2:00 mins were probably going to march up the field and score anyways. I do believe that.

First off, how many coaches do you see punt the ball on 4th and 6 at the opponents 38 down 7 in the 4th quarter like the following will actually happen:

1. The punt won't go into the end zone.
2. The defense will stop them.
3. When you do get the ball back you will have this good of a chance and enough time to go get a TD.

Look at Andy Reid last week kicking a MEANINGLESS field goal against the Cowboys then never getting the ball back. If I have a coach, I want one with some balls. I'm still not completely sold per say but I'll go into the fox hole with someone like BB over Andy Reid any day.

Here are some of the stupid things though:

1. Wasting timeouts. This always kills me, why do teams take a 2nd half timeout over a 5 yard delay of game penalty? Dude what's 5 yards in the 3rd quarter opposed to an EFFING TIME OUT!??? Then they call 2 timeouts during that last drive. It was sloppy. Coaches should have a plan in mind and definitely need to hold onto timeouts. I'm not sure that the Faulk catch would have been overturned but it was worth challenging. BB fucked this up big time. The ref who made the call saw Faulk's back and therefore couldn't accurately see where he caught the ball, but due to dickless idiocy we'll never know.

2. If BB knows damn well in his mind that this if 4 down territory then why not run on 3rd and 2? Here you force the Colts to use a timeout and you probably at worst have no gain. If the Colts *don't* use a timeout then you run the Faulk play and the booth is able to review since you are under 2 mins.

3. Ok so you went for it and bleeped up. On the 2nd play of the ensuing drive, Joseph Addai ran right through the middle and it seemed most Patriots were ok just letting him score. However Brandon Merriweather STUPIDLY tackled him at the 4. This is the only play that made me yell out loud. I yelled "aww let him score!!!!" The Patriots would have had 1:15 left down by 1 with no timeouts. I will take my chances!!!! Now you may say that Addai coulda pulled a Pocket Hercules and kneeled at the 1, but let's remember... the Jags were down 1. It would have been BALLSY to knee at the 1 still needing a TD. Merriweather... DUMB!!!!!!

4. You have a play you like, great. You completed the pass, awesome. But for the love of Christ run the friggen route longer!!! Why do you call a play that close to the sticks?? If you need 2 yards then Faulk needs to run his out to the 31 yard line. Then if he bobbles, that dildo ref can spot him at the 30.5 instead of the 31.

I also want to know what is changing with the Colts magically turning it on and the Patriots D completely crumbling time after time in the last 4 mins? Is it really just fatigue??? These are professional athletes. Are they softening up? Are they playing prevent? This is what kills me the most. You KNOW that the Colts are dangerous and that Manning can zip up the field. Keep doing what you are doing. This is one of the reasons you can defend BB. I would bet a lot of money that Manning takes the Colts 70 yards for a TD anyway. That D had 11 guys with forks sticking out of their backs.

This game felt just like that Bills-Pats game on the opening Monday night. I thought to myself, if Indy can score before the 2 minute warning without using timeouts they have a very good chance. Then you just need a 3 and out to give yourself a chance.

I hear some Pats fans saying, 'Hey don't worry we'll beat the Colts if we play in the playoffs.' Do you really believe that though? You think that Manning & co. won't put up 30 some odd points again? I don't feel very confident. Sure the Pats played 56 solid minutes but I'm not sure I trust the D to play that well through 56 minutes again. I still believe Indy will vag out in the playoffs as that is what they always do and will continue to do. I just think it will be at the hands of the Steelers or Chargers and not the Patriots.

Also do we already forget that BB went for a 4th and 1 at his own 25 versus the Falcons? We just like to say "he's the tits" when it works and "he's a douche" when it doesn't. It's not exactly hard to do AFTER you know the conclusion.

So I can applaud BB for having a sack, however, he effed this up by pissing away timeouts, running two passes in a row when he knew he was gonna go for it on 4th down, not telling his players to allow a score in that kind of situation, and running the 4th down play a yard shy for Faulk.

But if you don't feel the same then go read the articles by those turds Borges & Prisco.

Halfway point....

Halfway point of the year... shit is going by wicked fast. Fortunately though we now got Thursday night games basically from here on out (thank gahd). Here are some random thoughts through 9 weeks of the NFL season...

As I predicted in my first blog... the Jets are heading towards an 8-8 finish at best.

Although their record may not indicate it by the end of the year (and probably won't), Miami is easily the second best team in the AFC East.

The Saints and Colts are undefeated but I don't expect to see either in the Super Bowl... however of those two teams the Saints have a much better chance due to the fact that the NFC isn't as strong...

Brett Favre will fizzle out - let's all calm down.

Even if Brett Favre doesn't fizzle out he will def throw a crippling INT in the playoffs... it's his M.O.

So much for the 49ers being back... now they suck again. Although Vernon Davis is a beast.

Denver will finish 10-6 or 11-5... their hot start will be enough to get them a wild card berth where they'll be waxed in the first round... San Diego will win that division.

The Bengals will be the other AFC wild card team... I do think they are for real but Pittsburgh will take the division by a game.

The NFC West should be sent on a space ship to the sun... what a brutal division to watch.

Aaron Rodgers has had a raw deal... First he sits behind that pube Brett Favre for 3 years... Then he finally gets the job but Favre wants to come back... the Packers clearly make the right decision but you still gotta listen to morons like Skip Bayless talk about how Green Bay would be 15-1 with Favre playing... Then Rodgers himself plays really well but the Packers have probably the shittiest offensive line in the league so their record has been very poor.... Now with regard to Skip Bayless, he is obviously just a giant turd but doesn't he realize that the Green Bay Packers will still be here in 4 years? 6 years? 9 years??? Doesn't he realize that Favre won't? Doesn't he realize that Rodgers probably will? Doesn't he realize that Rodgers is good? Doesn't he realize that every team that DOESN'T have a good QB (such as Cleveland, Detroit, St Louis) totally blows??? Why does that douche continue to argue this ridiculous point???? Man I hate him.

The Seahawks and the Bills have unquestionably the most attrocious uniforms... Did Stevie Wonder come up with those designs??? Good loooooooord!!!! That green uniform worn by Seattle was unquestionably the worst thing ever worn at a professional sports level. I am willing to give the 1970's MLB a pass on this since everyone dressed like douches back then.

The first team on the outside looking in at the playoffs come year end in the AFC will be the Texans. The closest team in the NFC will be the Eagles... Is there anyone more Jekyll and Hyde than Donovan McNabb???

People need to stop calling Matt Schaub "Matt Schwab." There is no W. People need to stop pronouncing Adalius Thomas (pronounced correctly as A-dale-us) as "A-dale-eee-us." While we are at it, it's Mark Teixeira (pronounced correctly as Teh-sheir-uh) not "Tex-er-uh." Honestly are these people just stupid or are they ignorant to the correct way to say things???

The Patriots will beat either the Colts or Saints but I'm just not sure which one yet... I'd guess the Saints but they won't beat both of them. While we are here, the Patriots will probably finish 12-4 but not earn a bye on account of a shittier conference record which keeps biting them in the balls each year.

If my math is correct the Patriots have a record of 763-2 against NFC teams in the BB era. Sadly these wins mean jack shit in playoff seeding tie-breakers.

The governator approved a bill to begin building a new stadium in LA... there are seven teams immediately rumored to be in the mix to move to LA: Raiders, Rams, Jaguars, Vikings, Bills, Chargers, 49ers

A team *IS* going, I don't think there is any doubt... my prediction is the Raiders with the dark horse being the Jaguars... if the 49ers, Bills, or Vikings moved that'd be a travesty

Dallas Clark will continue to molest the Patriots... among most other teams..

Here are my predictions which will be wicked wrong:

1. Colts 2. Steelers 3. Patriots 4. Chargers 5. Bengals 6. Broncos

AFC Team in Super Bowl: Steelers

1. Saints 2. Cowboys 3. Vikings 4. Cardinals 5. Falcons 6. Giants

NFC Team in Super Bowl: Cowboys

Super Bowl Champion: Steelers

Reasoning.... in the AFC defense will win and I trust that Steelers D... they seem to have made themselves into a similar version of the 2001 to 2004 Pats... they have an efficient offense that can pass and put up points... their QB scares the bijesus out of you come the end of the game... the defense blasts everyone and I don't think anything will phase them come playoff time

In the NFC I think we can safely say that each year it's a total and complete crap shoot. I would rather have a leg amputated that stand by Favre and picking the Saints is too trendy, I don't see a team going wire to wire.... so Cowboys it is... this would be the 4th meeting between these two teams in a Super Bowl