So I always get this wrong, but I guess this is what I do to fill space on the internets.
NFC:
Wildcard Round: Green Bay over Philadelphia New Orleans over Seattle
Divisional Round: Green Bay over Atlanta New Orleans over Chicago
NFC Championship Green Bay over New Orleans
AFC:
Wildcard Round: Indianapolis over New York Baltimore over Kansas City
Divisional Round: Pittsburgh over Indianapolis New England over Baltimore
AFC Championship Pittsburgh over New England
Superbowl: Pittsburgh over Green Bay
- I think the Patriots are clearly the most complete team, but the Steelers appear to match up well in that Big Ben can buy time in and out of the pocket, and Mike Wallace can expose a weak secondary. I also think its been 2 years, so the Steelers are due...as the resident team that always seems to find a way to win in the playoffs.
I didn't actually make formal picks all the way through, but I will say that I'm batting 1.000 this weekend so far, with Green Bay beating Atlanta and Pittsburgh edging out Baltimore.
Now, if New England and Seattle (!!!) can be good little soldiers today, we'll really be onto something.
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"Just because you feel it doesn't mean it's there."
1. I think I hate the Jets more than I actually like the Patriots. At least this version of the Jets.
2. I'm probably done with football until next year. I'll probably watch the Super Bowl, because I'll probably be at a party, but it will be passive at best.
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"Just because you feel it doesn't mean it's there."
1. I agree with you. This Jets team is among the most unlikeable teams in recent memory. At least back to the 93-96 Dallas Cowboys, who were horribly unlikeable.
2. I am not ashamed to be a New Yorker and be into this season's playoffs for the sole purpose of rooting against the Jets, for the reasons stated above. So if the Jets lose Sunday, I will ultimately have less to watch for in the Superbowl than if they win.
Well, I can quasi pretend to be a genius. I got the Superbowl teams right, though pretty much nothing else.
All in all an interesting day yesterday, as I consoled those Jets fans that have been good sports throughout the years, and then bathed those other Jets fans in taunts.
The weird thing about being in a area with numerous teams in the same sport is that the "crosstown rival" concept all depends on the fan. Many Giants fans would be rooting for the Jets and vice versa when their team is gone (save for this year after Rex basically called the Giants out a day after losing to Indy in last year's AFC title game). Sometimes, the same holds in some of the other sports (save for hockey where the Rangers/Devils/Islanders are blood rivals). But it all depends on who you are talking to...some fans feel the need to really despise their city's counterpart, even if they play in different conferences (Jets/Giants, Yankees/Mets). Amazing how it is those same fans looking for sympathy when their team falters exactly how they always seem to.
In the end, I did my fake root for the Jets...a half-hearted attempt at decency, especially since every bar in New York was pro-Jets. Underneath it all, I rooted against them, though solely for revenge as that Jets fan chirped in my ear about the Giants all season. Just desserts.
So now that I've been exposed to as much of the Jets misery/backlash/backlash to the backlash nonsense, some thoughts on the game that still matters:
I always find a team to root for in the Superbowl. Whether it is my weird preference for an old school team knocking off an upstart (see my rooting for Steelers against both the Cardinals and the Seahawks), my favorite team (the Giants magical 2007 season), or plain disdain for one of the teams (basically every time the Cowboys, Redskins or Eagles are in the Superbowl) yes I rooted for the Patriots in 2 Superbowls on this premise alone - against the Rams and Eagles (hated those Rams teams). I just haven't found a team I would really prefer to win this year. And it is because I like both of them. I am genuinely interested in watching the game this year, and have expectations for a great game between two very good teams. The matchups are very compelling: Roethlisberger and Rodgers, Matthews and Polumalu, suspect running game and suspect running game (forgive me for not trusting Mendenhall or Starks just yet), two great sets of receivers...they just seem so evenly matched. Can't wait.
So who else thought that the game was pretty boring. Here I was looking forward to it for 2 weeks as some epic old school matchup, it turns out pretty close to what I expected, and it bored me to tears. Neither team really felt up and coming, or was a great underdog, or had much of a story to it, and I feel like the game ended just that way.
I will say the Halftime show almost rivaled the Aerosmith/Britney Spears spectacle as one of the worst ever.
