The Conference Championship Games will be played on Sunday....interestingly, The Gold Sheet published an article this week about how these title games are often times not competitive....
The Gold SheetSince 2000, the home team is 5-2 Straight Up (SU) in the NFC while the home team does not fare so well in the AFC with a mark of 3-4 SU....
Over that same time span, the NFC Underdogs are 4-3...however, the favorite has covered the last three years in the NFC: Chicago -2.5 over New Orleans; Seattle -3.5 over Carolina; and Philadelphia -5.5 over Atlanta....
On the AFC side, the Dogs are 4-3 over the last seven years...
Here is the most interesting trend...since starting the season 8-0 Against the Spread (ATS), the Patriots have struggled ATS with a mark of 2-7 including four straight losses....on the flip side, San Diego is read hot ATS...the Chargers have won their last eight games ATS....
In the NFC, the Giants are 6-1 in their last seven games ATS including winning their last four games...the Packers are just as good as they have posted a 9-2 mark ATS...The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has a special section devoted to the NFC Championship Game.... Green Bay Packers Special SectionOhm Youngmisuk of the New York Daily News writes how both teams are preparing for the cold weather.... "While Sunday's game won't approach that or the coldest NFL game ever played - the legendary 1967 "Ice Bowl" NFL Championship Game at Lambeau between the Packers and Cowboys played in minus-13 degree weather with a wind chill of minus-48 - it will still be freezing." .... Ohm YoungmisukThe Boston Globe's Mike Reiss breaks down each position and see who has the advantage between the Patriots and Chargers.... Mike ReissThe San Diego Union-Tribune's Nick Canepa tells the national media to deal with the fact that the Chargers, not the Colts, are in the conference title game..... "I'm sick of it all. Why play the games? Why bother? Just get those "American Idol" idiots to pick the Super Bowl finalists. Don't have a regular season. Don't have playoffs. Go straight to the Roman numerals." .... Nick Canepa
On Sunday, former Brooklyn Dodgers hero Johnny Podres died....everyday I look through various newspapers on the internet, including the New York City papers.....but I did not find out until a few minutes ago when a small note was in today's USA Today on page 5.....Podres' death deserved more attention than being in the notes section....steroids and Congressional hearings were on the front of the sports sections....I also did not see it on ESPN.com.....
For those who are not familiar with Podres, he brought Brooklyn Dodger fans their only World Series title while in Brooklyn when he beat the hated cross town Yankees in game 7 of the 1955 World Series....he is not in the Hall of Fame, but Podres did not need that honor....by beating the great New York Yankees, he was a hero to all in the borough of Brooklyn.....it is just ashame that today's media relegated his death to the inside of the sports page...New York Times Obit
San Diego Union-Tribune Tim Sullivan writes that somehow, the Chargers keep surviving.... “In Greek myth, these tag-team monsters are known as the Scylla and the Charybdis. In the NFL, they are the defending champion Indianapolis Colts and the so-far unbeaten New England Patriots.” .... Tim SullivanBoston Globe’s Mike Reiss gets a variety of opinions about the Chargers.... “Former NFL head coach Dennis Green, whose background was on the offensive side of the ball, has spent considerable time inspecting the defenses of both clubs in his role as an analyst for Westwood One radio.” .... Mike ReissNew York Daily News’ Mike Lupica talked with former Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi about Eli Manning’s growth..... “So Accorsi, who was taping the game, hoping to watch all of it later secure in the knowledge that the Giants had won, was in church when he found out that somehow the Giants had gone down the field in the last minute of the first half and scored.” .... Mike LupicaMilwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Greg Bedard writes how Green Bay’s defensive front has been playing big.... “The Packers ended up giving up just 28 yards rushing in 18 carries, by the far the lowest mark of the season. They sacked Matt Hasselbeck twice and officially registered five additional pressures. But it felt like more. The Packers' front dominated the Seahawks' offensive line and set the tone for a defense that essentially yielded just three points and gave up a season-low 200 yards of total offense.” ..... Greg Bedard
Here are a few thoughts from each of this weekend's NFL Playoff games....
Seattle @ Green Bay
- I am not a big Brett Favre fan, but it was nice to see the "old man" win....
- Greg Jennings is fast becoming a star in this league
- Just two years ago Shaun Alexander was the league MVP....his star has fallen fast....
Jacksonville @ New England
- New England's fake Statue of Liberty play was a thing of beauty....
- Jacksonville needs to get the ball in Maurice Jones-Drew's hands a few more times during a game....
San Diego @ Indianapolis
- It has been a lost season for Marvin Harrison
- The Colts need to re-work their defense...sure Dwight Freeney was lost for the season, but there is no way they should have let Billy Volek beat them...
- I hope New England kicks the shit out of San Diego for Marty Schottenheimer's sake...Norv Turner does not deserve to go to the Super Bowl...
New York @ Dallas
- I wish the media and fans would stop making Tony Romo to be some super stud quarterback....don't get me wrong, he's a nice quarterback, but damn it, stop praising this guy already....he has never won a playoff game yet....he is 0-2 in the playoffs....Tony Romo is NOT Brett Favre....he is NOT Tom Brady...and he is NOT even Matt Hasselbeck....
- The New York Giants are a better football team without Tiki Barber....it looks like last year's implosion was centered around Barber and his ego....
Sam Mellinger of The Kansas City Star writes that life has changed for Michael Vick now that he is in the famous Leavenworth pen... "Over that fence and wall, past the guards and gates, it will probably be impossible for Vick to truly be treated like the other inmates. He will be asked for autographs and singled out for fights. He will be given first dibs on the weight bench and randomly told to get to the back of the line at supper time." .... Sam MellingerGeorge Vecsey of The New York Times writes how two southern announcers were music to northern baseball fans ears..... "They were two of the distinctive American voices, born 97 miles apart as the catbird flies. Red Barber and Mel Allen spoke the language of baseball in Southern cadences to Northern ears." .... George VecseyBill Reiter of The Kansas City Star writes how new Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin met his father after years of not seeing him..... "He was barely 20, with little money in his pocket and less of an idea of what was going to happen next in life. His father — the man he was named after — had left the family when young Frank was 9, and things had been tough ever since. He had seen him only once in nearly 15 years." .... Bill ReiterKaren Crouse of The New York Times writes how tennis star Maria Sharapova was awed by meeting Michael Jordan..... "The story revolved around an airport, which figures, because Maria Sharapova lives out of a suitcase, crisscrossing the globe to play tennis. As she told it, the man walking to the car on the tarmac in Miami looked really familiar." .... Karen CrouseMichelle Kaufman of The Miami Herald writes how motherhood has not slowed down Lindsay Davenport..... "Davenport was known to get down on herself during matches, sometimes for something as trivial as one bad shot. Her body language would change. Her textbook ball-striking would disappear. Now, she is playing looser, having fun, and her results have been the talk of tennis for months." .... Michelle KaufmanBill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times writes that people should watch the Patriots make history, even if they believe the team cheated.... "I hate the New England Patriots because they are convicted cheaters. But I can't stop watching them because, in a brilliant 31-20 divisional playoff victory over Jacksonville on Saturday night, they never cheated themselves or their fans or the game." ..... Bill PlaschkeAnne Blythe of the Raleigh News and Observer writes that even though Marion Jones is heading to prison, her records will still be upheld at North Carolina..... "Her No. 20 basketball jersey hangs from the Carmichael Auditorium rafters in recognition of the contributions she made to the 1994 NCAA championship team. There will be no erasing of records still standing from her days as a lightning-quick basketball point guard or as a college long-jumper or sprinter." .... Anne BlytheBryan Burwell of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes the St. Louis coach Rick Majerus may not be pleased after his team scored only 20 points the other night, but he is happy back at coaching..... "He loves the gym. He loves the smells, the sounds of basketballs and sneakers squeaking and screeching across the hardwood. He loves practice. He loves the games. He loves the game films. He not only loves it, he probably needs it." .... Bryan Burwell
