Archive for January, 2010

Super Bowl XLIV: Team Peyton vs. Who Dat Nation

 

Some Brett Farve sentimentalists might have preferred seeing the 40-year-old have one more go at the NFL’s biggest game, but it’s hard to argue with the fact that the 44th Super Bowl is a football fan’s ideal match up. Not since 1993 has two #1 seed teams met in the Super Bowl. The Saints and Colts have been the two best teams in the NFL all season and deserve to be where they are. On one side you have the most accomplished quarterback in the NFL in Peyton Manning (some say the best QB ever) and the other you have the feel good story of the New Orleans Saints, a shinning light to the Louisiana city still rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina. To add further meat to the game’s back story Peyton’s father Archie Manning is one of the beloved Saints of all-time having played 10 years in the Big Easy during his playing career. Having reached their first Super Bowl in the organization’s 44-year history, the “Who Dat Nation” (as New Orleans fans call themselves) believe their Saints are a team of destiny. Colts fans would disagree as they’re hoping to see their boys bring hope a second Vince Lombardi Trophy in four years. No matter what happens in Miami on February 7th football fans should prepare themselves for one great game.

Colts and Baltimore

After Baltimore put out a shocking win against the New England Patriots in first round action, they will have to take on another of the toughest teams in the league, the Indianapolis Colts. This is the year of the Colts. Or it certainly looked like it was going to be until they decided to fold in the towel (as someone once told me) during one of the last games of the year. It turns out that they didn’t even want to go for the undefeated season and let the opponents win. Baltimore, however, is doing what they usually do by making a very late season run and throwing off everyone else’s game plan. This could be the perfect storm for the Colts. The football fan base seems to be divided about whether they want to see the Colts win or lose. Some people still admire Peyton Manning’s playing abilities. Others are tired of seeing Indy win so much all the time. On Sunday, we will get to find out and it’s going to be very exciting indeed!

Jets Win

The New York Jets were able to beat all odds by winning against the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend. The difference maker was the play of Mark Sanchez, who has finally come to the realization that he doesn’t have to win the game on a single play most of the time. He was able to put together a good solid offensive game and then his win was amazing. The Jets weren’t supposed to come this far. They played great guns at the beginning of the year, but then slackened off. Now Sanchez & Co have jumped back into their original ability. They are maturing and might be a real force in the AFC next season. It’s not clear that they will survive their next game, but they will have learned a lot either way. If they make it, so much the better. Nicely done!

Eagles vs Cowboys

For certain sections of the NFL, the biggest game this weekend will be the Philadelphia Eagles vs Dallas Cowboys. Since they are division rivals and playing in Dallas, the whole thing is going to be rocking. One or another of these teams is going to be one-and-done and no one is going to be happy about that. In Philly, there has been a lack of playoff success for a long time. People are considering making big changes if they don’t get anything close to playoff success. The Cowboys were able to avoid the much-touted December meltdown that people were talking about. But since they have had so many troubles in getting deeper into the playoffs, the consequences for failure might be very high. Let’s get ready for a great game this weekend!

Playoffs to Begin

The NFL playoffs are about to begin. For most of the fans, it would appear that the top two teams are going to be hard to beat. In the AFC, the Colts and Chargers are going to be very difficult to show up on the field. The Chargers are an amazing team that has gone on a huge run here at the end of the season, which is what they’ve been doing for years. But no one has seen a San Diego team like this for a long time. Meanwhile, the Colts almost went undefeated. On the NFC side, the top two are the Saints and Vikings. These two are a little bit softer, because we’ve seen them fold a little more easily at the end of the season. Maybe that’s just because they didn’t have as much to prove, but we’ll have to keep an eye out for any weakness in them. Otherwise, it would appear that the Cowboys and Eagles are looking like strong potential teams to arrive in the second round of the playoffs now. It’s coming up soon so make sure that your show is ready to go.