Tim's Two Cents-January 15

What I'll Be Watching This Weekend.  In an effort to do something different today, here's what I'll be watching this upcoming weekend in sports.

NFL Divisional Playoffs.  Another great weekend of playoff action is almost upon us. 

Will the Cowboys continue their recent hot streak against the Minnesota Vikings?  I certainly hope so if for no other reason than to see Brett Favre lose again.  If that happens, Favre will start crying like the prima donna that he is.  By this time next Monday, I hope Brett Favre is back in Mississippi where he belongs.

Will the Colts take advantage of home field or will rust kick in?  My gut feeling right now is the latter.  History over the last few years has shown that the Colts have had little success as the top team in the postseason.  Peyton Manning, the talented quarterback that he is, has only one Super Bowl victory in his career so far.  He is the face of the Colts.  One could argue that without Peyton Manning, the Colts would not be the good team that they are.  I'll go with the upset and the Ravens because rust will be a big factor for the Colts as usual.

Will the Saints have a party in the Big Easy?  This is a tough one that I think could go either way.  I wouldn't be surprised if the Saints offense breaks out in front the home crowd.  As for their opponent, the Cardinals.  We saw what they're capable of last week against Green Bay.  This one's a coin flip.  I'll go with the upset pick once again and the Cardinals just to mess everything up and make things more interesting.

As for the Chargers and Jets, let's keep it simple and sweet.  The Chargers will continue their late season surge and I think they will host the AFC Championship game next week against the Ravens.  

Australian Open in Melbourne.  You probably wouldn't think of me as a tennis fan at first glance, but I am.  The Australian Open, which starts on Sunday, marks the beginning of the new year in tennis as it is the first grand slam event.  As usual Roger Federer enters the tournament as the number one seed on the men's side.  Barring an unforseen turn of events, it will be another Federer-Nadal final in two weeks time.  If history is any indication, it should be epic if it were to happen.   

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Steve Collis under CC-BY 2.0 License

Tim's Two Cents-January 11

NFL Playoffs Have Finally Arrived.  It was a great first weekend of action in the NFL Playoffs.  I can't remember a time when the action included three rematches from week 17 of the regular season.  There was the Jets at the Bengals, the Eagles at the Cowboys and the Packers at the Cardinals.  The only game that wasn't a rematch was the Ravens and Patriots.

The action kicked off with the Jets and the Bengals on Saturday.  This was a relative close game throughout.  The Bengals were the first to get on the board with a 7 to nothing lead.  The Jets stayed in it though as Mark Sanchez did just enough to give the Jets a 24 to 14 win.  As the game moved along, the Jets defense became a problem for the Bengals offense who couldn't get it going on a consistent basis.  For their winning effort, the Jets will head to sunny San Diego to take on Phillip Rivers and the Chargers.

The Saturday night game was the another week 17 rematch between the Eagles and the Cowboys.  As we soon found out, the rematch played out like it did in week 17.  The Cowboys made the plays on offense and the defense bothered Donovan McNabb all night long.  He and the rest of the Eagles didn't have a chance in the 34 to 14 loss.  It is also clear that the Cowboys are playing some of their best football right now as they will head to Minnesota next week to take on Brett Favre and the Vikings.

The Sunday slate of games was equally as good as Saturday.  The Ravens and the Patriots were the early game.  Let's just say I wasn't surprised by the outcome as the Ravens blew out Tom Brady and the Patriots 33 to 14.  The Patriots this year weren't the 18-0 Patriots that went to the Super Bowl against the Giants a couple years ago.  Bill Belichick didn't seem to be the football god he has been in the past.  The most important factor for the Patriots struggles this season was a lack of veteran leadership in the locker room, and in sports, chemistry is vital to winning in the long run.  As for the Ravens, they will take their show on the road to Indianapolis to battle Peyton Manning and the Colts next week, and I wouldn't be shocked if they pulled out a victory.

As if those games weren't enogh to get the competitive juices flowing, the Packers and the Cardinals was the best of the weekend.  It didn't look like it was going to be much of a game as the Cardinals had a 21 point lead at 31 to 10.  It looked like the Packers were out of it at that point.  Not so fast my friend.  Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had one heck of a game in his playoff debut as he led Green Bay to a tie at 38.  It had turned into a shootout.  I guess both defenses decided to take the day off!  In the end, it had to be decided in overtime as Arizona prevailed with a 51 to 45 win thanks to Karlos Dansby recovering an Aaron Rodgers fumble inside the 20 yard line and the rest is history. It is ironic that the game was won on defense as Arizona punched their ticket to New Orleans next week. 

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Keith Allison under CC-SA 2.0 License
  

NFL Roulette-Week 16

Here are my key games for Week 16 in the NFL:

San Diego Chargers (11-3)

Vs.

Tennessee Titans (7-7)

Chargers: They're on a nine game winning streak and are undefeated in the month of December the last few seasons.  They're hot at the right time.  Phillip Rivers is playing some of his best football right now.  This could be the team that ends the Colts run at a perfect season, should they meet in the playoffs.  Will that happen?  Only time will tell.

Titans: Tennessee has made a nice comeback after starting 0-6.  They are one of a handful of 7-7 AFC teams still in the hunt for a Wild Card playoff spot behind the 8-6 Broncos and Ravens.  Vince Young has played surprisingly since being inserted as the starting quarterback a few weeks ago.  He, along with Chris Johnson, have brought this team back in the playoff discussion.  I think it is going to be tough for them to beat the Chargers though, given the way San Diego is playing right now.

Prediction: Chargers 38, Titans 24

New York Jets (7-7)

Vs.

Indianapolis Colts (14-0)

Jets: This is another one of those 7-7 AFC teams.  Right now, Mark Sanchez still needs to do a lot of work to become an elite quarterback in the NFL.  I also don't trust a coach who cries after a loss in the locker room.  Sorry Rex Ryan.  Sure the Jets are in the playoff hunt, but I don't think they'll be there in the end.  As a matter of fact, we can all but eliminate them from the discussion after this game.

Colts: Let's keep it short and sweet.  I think the Colts will win this game, even if their starters don't play the whole game.  You can bet that if it's close in the fourth quarter and the Colts are trailing, 18 will have something to say about it.

Prediction: Colts 35, Jets 17

Baltimore Ravens (8-6)

Vs.

Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7)

Ravens: Baltimore is in the hunt for a wild card spot.  Along with the Broncos, they currently have one of the two AFC Wild Card spots.  They beat the Steelers earlier this year in overtime.  It's safe to say these AFC North rivals do not like each other, which should make for quite an interesting game.

Steelers: The defending Super Bowl have had a surprisingly tough go of it this season.  They have had their share of bad losses against the Chiefs, Raiders and the Browns.  That certainly doesn't help the cause.  They almost had another loss last week against Green Bay, but Ben Roethlisberger saved the day with a game winning touchdown pass to Mike Wallace as time expired.

Prediction: Steelers 24, Ravens 17

Denver Broncos (8-6)

Vs.

Philadelphia Eagles (10-4)

Broncos: After coming out of the gates strong, Denver has really come back down to Earth.  They no longer lead the AFC West and are fighting to stay ahead in the Wild Card.  I think they will make this a game however a possibly come away with the win.  There's a part me that really wants to see that happen because that would put huge implications on the Eagles game next week versus the Cowboys in Dallas.

Eagles: Donovan McNabb and company have a one game lead over the Cowboys in the NFC East coming in.  Some good news for Philly is runnning back Brian Westbrook has been cleared to play after sitting out last week because of a concussion.  The Eagles have historically done well in the final weeks of a season, but I have a funny feeling about this game.

Prediction: My upset pick of the week-Broncos 34, Eagles 17

Dallas Cowboys (9-5)

Vs.

Washington Redskins (4-10)

Cowboys: How about them Cowboys!  Last week, they shocked the NFL world with their 24 to 17 upset over the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome, temporarily ending their December woes in the process.  Now let's see if they can take the momentum from last week and beat a team that, on paper, they should beat.  These are the Cowboys though.  Stranger things have happened.

Redskins: Where do I begin with this organizational mess?  Head coach Jim Zorn will certainly be gone by season's end, especially after what happened Monday night with that horrible trick play call.  What was that?  For the sake of Redskins fans, I hope something like that doesn't happen again.  New GM Bruce Smith certainly looks like he has a long offseason in store for him.

Prediction: Cowboys 31, Redskins 13

Photos courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Conman 33 under CC-SA 3.0 License
Wikimedia Commons and Ytoyoda and Craig O'Neal under CC-SA 2.0 License
Wikimedia Commons and Andy from Pittsburgh Pennsylavania under CC-SA 2.0 License
Wikimedia Commons and Ruffin Bailey under CC-SA 3.0 License