Pro Bowl Now Officially a Joke

This weekend is the Pro Bowl, and the hype around the game couldn't have ever been lower than it is this year. This year is the first year the Pro Bowl has been held before the Super Bowl. It's usually a week or two after the Super Bowl. Also, this year is the first year in a long time that the Pro Bowl has been held on the Continental United States. It's usually in Hawaii but is in Miami this year. These are both attempts by the NFL to make the Pro Bowl relevant in the eyes of football fans. But, in my opinion, these changes are having the opposite effect and are making the Pro Bowl officially a joke.

First of all, I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that moving the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl is the stupidest thing the NFL has ever done. Sure, they wanted to make it earlier so people would still be in the football mood before the Super Bowl, which would make them richer and would, IN THEORY, make the game more popular. But they couldn't be further from the truth. For starters, the Saints and Colts Pro Bowl players can't play in the game because they are in the Super Bowl. This sucks, because when a team makes it to the Super Bowl it usually means they have great, Pro Bowl players on their team.

Secondly, not having the Pro Bowl in Hawaii is stupid as well. Players look forward to going to Hawaii at the end of the season, not Miami. Sure Miami is a great city, but the Pro Bowl and Hawaii were made for each other. It's fun to watch a Pro Bowl game in Hawaii. Seeing the coaches wearing necklacees and the players with a calm cool attitude in the middle of a Hawaii day. This is one thing I sure will miss when I watch this year's Pro Bowl.

You know the Pro Bowl has fallen when players are declining invites to play in the game. Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger are just a couple who declined invites but there were others. Brett Favre likely won't be playing in the game. It used to be that it was an honor to play in the game, but now players are treating it like it is a joke. And, as far as I'm concerned, it is. Sure I'm still going to watch it, but I couldn't be more disappointed in the NFL than I am now.

"Above: Pro Bowl logo, http://mysportsjournalism.com/"

Colts Beat Jets, Advance to Super Bowl

Well, besides the Vikings Saints game on Sunday there was one other game, the AFC Championship Game. It matched the Indianapolis Colts against the New York Jets. The Jets were the only wild card team left in the playoffs and were playing very well. That is until they lost 30-17 to the Colts on Sunday.

The Jets started off well building a 17-6 lead in the first half. Mark Sanchez and Shonn Greene, a couple of rookie Jets, were playing brilliantly. But then the Colts showed why they are one of the best offenses in the NFL and how they went 14-2. They scored 24 unanswered points and looked unstoppable on offense. Even with Jets cornerback, Derelle Revis, shutting down Indy's top receiver, Reggie Wayne, Peyton Manning hooked up with other receivers and weapons he has on offense and showed just how great he really is. Pierre Garcon, Colt's receiver, showed just how dangerous he could be with a huge game. Other than the obvious motivation of a Super Bowl berth, Garcon was also playing with new life after he found out earlier in the week that his family in Haiti was safe after the devastating earthquake.

Even though the Jets lost, they look very promising for the future. They have the main pieces set in place and I feel will be a good team for a while. The Colts will go on to face the Saints in the Super Bowl and it should be a very good game. Peyton Manning vs. Drew Brees will be a very interesting matchup and will be a high scoring affair I think. One thing is for sure, this game will be great and I'm looking forward to watching it.

"Above: Colts quarterback, Peyton Manning, http://americansportsblog.wordpress.com"

Vikings Lose Heartbreaker

Well, this sucks. The Vikings once again fail to make the Super Bowl losing tonight to the Saints 31-28 in overtime. The Vikings completely dominated this game with twice as many yards as the Saints. But, the Vikings screwed themselves over with six fumbles, three lost, and two interceptions. The second interception hurt the most, because the Vikings were getting into position to win it at the end of regulation with a field goal, but Favre rolled to his right and instead of running for a few yards he threw an interception that brought the game into overtime.

In overtime the Vikings didn't even get the ball. The Saints had a good return and were helped by a couple bogus penalties that set up the game winning 40 yard field goal by Garret Hartley to give the Saints their first Super Bowl apperance in franchise history.

I can't believe how bad the Vikings played in this game. Peterson can't hold on to the ball and Favre made some dumb throws. The Vikings blew the game. They should have blown out the Saints. The Saints weren't moving the ball at all, and most of their points came off Minnesota turnovers, that's probably not that big of a surprise since the Vikes had three of them.

But overall Favre played pretty well. The Vikings almost pulled off a victory even though they played terrible. I just hope that Favre comes back next year. In my opinion I don't think he will, but one can hope. If Favre comes back I see them right back to this spot next year and will definately have learned their lesson from this embarassment of ball security in a big game such as this. But I guess the Vikes will have a long time to think about how they can take care of the ball next year. And, on the bright side, the Vikings can play in the Pro Bowl, even though that is a terrible consulation game for the Super Bowl, which was theirs if they didn't blow it like usual.

Vikings @ Saints Preview

This weekend's game is going to be the biggest game of the year in the NFC with the 13-4 Minnesota Vikings taking on the 14-3 New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, LA. Not only are these two teams the top seeds in the NFC, they are also the top two scoring offenses in the NFL. Each team has a great quarterback, Brett Favre for the Vikings and Drew Brees for the Saints. Each team scores a lot of points as well, and both teams looked like the top teams in the NFC for most of the year.

Last week both teams manhandled their opponents, with the Vikings manhandling the Cowboys 34-3, and the Saints demolishing the Arizona Cardinals 45-14. Both teams showed just how good their offenses were, and their defenses didn't play to shabby either.

Let's start with some match-ups. When the Vikings have the ball, I feel they have the advantage. Brett Favre is playing the best football of his career and is not turning the ball over. They are the second best scoring offense in the NFL and are facing the 20th ranked Saints' defense. If the Vikings offensive line gives Brett Favre enough time to throw the ball, the Saints will have no chance in stopping the offensive attack of the Minnesota Vikings and all of their weapons on offense. If they somehow manage to slow down Favre, the Vikings can just hand it off to Adrian Peterson, who is the best running back in the NFL and can hurt you if you don't keep an eye on him.

When the Saints have the ball, I feel it is even. Sure Drew Brees is an awesome quarterback and has a lot of weapons on offense, but I don't know if he will have enough time to get the ball to them with the killer pass rush of the Minnesota Vikings front seven. But, it will be a handful for the Vikings defense as the offense of the Saints is one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. Reggie Bush, the Saints running back, had a good game last week, but is facing a much tougher defense in the Vikings than he faced last week. I do know one thing, the Vikings will hold the Saints to less than 45 points.

I am positive that this will be a great game. I think it will be close most of the game, but the Vikings will pull away and win a trip to their first Super Bowl since the 1970's.

My pick is: Minnesota Vikings 31 New Orleans Saints 20.

"Above: Minnesota Vikings quarterback, Brett Favre, celebrating after the Vikings clinched a spot in the NFC Championship Game, http://nydailynews.com"

Jets Sneak By, Saints and Colts Cruise

The divisional round of the 2009 playoffs featured four games. Three of which were blowouts. The Saints crushed the Cardinals 45-14, the Colts won 20-3, and the Vikings won 34-3. Only the New York Jets, who faced the San Diego Chargers, were challenged winning 17-14, and securing their spot as the only wildcard team to make it to the conference championship games this weekend. How does this happen? These are supposed to be good match-ups between two good teams, but somehow three out of four ended in blowouts. Maybe the higher seeds really are the better teams, with exception to the Chargers of course.

On Saturday, the high-flying Cardinals faced off against the high-scoring Saints. Tim Hightower, running back of the Arizona Cardinals, scored on the first play from scrimmage to put the Cardinals up 7-0. But this was the end of Arizona's good fortunes for this game. Their defense showed just how bad they were, giving up 45 points for the second week in a row. I don't care how good your offense is when your defense plays as crappy as it did this postseason. It's hard for any team to win when they give up 45 points to the opposing offense, as the Cardinals really gave themselves no chance to win this game.

The other game on Saturday was between the Indianapolis Colts and the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens were coming off a whooping of the New England Patriots the previous week, and were looking for their second straight trip to the AFC Championship game. But the Colts had other plans. Colts quarterback, Peyton Manning, showed why he is one of the best in the league scoring 14 points in little over a minute before halftime. This pretty much put the game away, because the Ravens offense was terrible in this game and stud running back, Ray Rice, was pretty much a non-factor. I'll be the first to admit that I really like this Ravens team. They have a second year quarterback in Joe Flacco, a young running back in Ray Rice, and a good defense. I think they have the components to be back here in contention almost every year. But the Colts showed us why they are the number one seed in the AFC, and how they were 14-0 before pulling their starters against the Jets.

The game on Sunday between the New York Jets and the San Diego Chargers was by far the closest game of the weekend. Coming into the game, people didn't know if the Jets had enough firepower to slow down the Charger offense. And, man they showed they did. Derelle Revis, cornerback for the Jets, shut down his side of the field, and forced the Charger offense into uncomfortable situations. Kicker, Nate Kaeding, of the Chargers missed three field goals which would have been the difference in the game. On offense for the Jets, rookie running back, Shonn Greene, and rookie quarterback, Mark Sanchez, showed us just how bright the future is for the New York Jets. Greene played lights out and Sanchez didn't make mistakes. That's just what the Jets needed to pull of this upset.

With the cruddy teams out of the way this playoff season, I am excited to see both the NFC and AFC Championships with a Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl victory a couple weeks from now.

"Above: Jets running back, Shonn Greene, http://nj.com"

Vikes Win! Crush Dallas in 2009-2010 Playoff Debut for the Vikings

What a great way to open the playoffs if you are a Minnesota Vikings fan such as myself! On the other hand, if you are a Dallas Cowboys fan you have to be disappointed after the Vikings completely demolished the "red-hot" Cowboys 34-3 earlier today.

It was clear who the better team was. The Minnesota Vikings manhandled the Dallas offensive line forcing six sacks and three turnovers. All game the Vikings prevented the Cowboy offense from clicking. Their stout running game was held to under one hundred yards, and quarterback, Tony Romo, was held to under 200 yards passing along with an interception and three fumbles, two of which were lost. The Vikings offense, on the other hand, allowed quarterback Brett Favre all day to find Vikings receivers down the field. For the most part this receiver was Sidney Rice, who had a career day with three touchdown receptions and 141 yards receiving.

All this week I had heard how the Cowboys were a matchup nightmare for the Vikings. How the Vikings needed to play their best football to beat them. How Dallas's offense was unstoppable and how their defensive line would have a field day against the Vikings. Well, how did that all turn out? The Vikings CRUSHED the Cowboys and showed that they are now the team to beat in the NFC. I can't wait to hear the analysis of the game by all the analysists that said the Vikings had no chance of winning. Sure they have to go to New Orleans, but the Vikings will be fine. They are a matchup nightmare and will be very tough to beat next week.

Tony Romo played terrible and the Cowboys looked like a team that didn't know what to do. The Vikings were killing them and they had no way to stop them. With this slaughter, Dallas's head coach's, Wade Phillips, job is on the line as he has only one playoff win in six tries and is forced to watch the rest of the playoffs back home.

Brett Favre, on the other hand, played amazing as well and became the only quarterback in NFL history to win a playoff game in his 40's. He also beat Dallas in the playoffs for the first time in his career. After this great performance, I am very excited for next weekend's big game between my Vikings and the New Orleans Saints.

Cardinals Win, No Defense in the Desert

Today the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Green Bay Packers 51-45 in overtime. It was a great, high-scoring game, and officially eliminated Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers from Super Bowl contention and the Arizona Cardinals will head to New Orleans to face the Saints.

The score of the game tells all. There was absolutely no defense! None! Both defenses should be embarrassed as they were both unable to stop the opposing offense. In fact, the defenses were so bad that this game had the most combined points in playoff history! Coming into the game the Packers had the second best defense in the NFL. Well, it sure didn't look like it tonight. In fact, they only forced the Cardinals to punt one time. Just one time in the whole game! That is embarrassing. There is no way they are one of the best defenses in the league. You could say, oh the Cardinals are just a really good offense. Well, even though that is true, that still doesn't explain giving up 51 points! That is ridiculous! But give the Packers credit, they didn't roll over. Aaron Rodgers played well in his first career postseason game, but the Cardinals were just too much for the Packers.

The Cardinals' defense wasn't much better, giving up 45 points to the Green Bay Packers. But when they needed a play, they sure got one, a fumble recovery for a touchdown in overtime. If you would have told me that this high scoring offensive game with two terrible defenses would end in a defensive touchdown in overtime I would have thought you were crazy. But that is just how this game ended. How can the Packers lose when they score 45 points! That just shouldn't happen. It just shows that the Packers defense needs improvement because they can't ask much more from their young quarterback and their offense that plays great like they did tonight.

I have to admit, this was a great game to watch. Warner played unbelievable and Rodgers didn't play too bad himself. But the real story was the cruddy defensive efforts of both teams. They both showed huge weaknesses and the Cardinals will have to fix those problems if they are to have any chance of beating the New Orleans Saints next week.

Everyone gave the Cardinals no chance of beating the Packers; no one but me and Frank Caliendo. But they showed just how good they really were, and if they can get their defense to play a little better, they will be a very dangerous team this postseason.

Vikes Will Face Cowboys

Yesterday the Dallas Cowboys faced off against the Philadelphia Eagles for the second week in a row. They were playing in the Wild Card round, the first round of the playoffs, on the NFC side. Last week the Cowboys beat the Eagles for a second time that season and were playing the Eagles for the second week in a row at home. If the Cowboys won, the Vikings would play them. If the Eagles won, the Vikings would play the Cardinals.

This game was not even close. Philadelphia got embarrassed for the second straight week, losing 34-14, and finished their season with two straight losses to the Cowboys, after their previous 6 game winning streak. Dallas looked like the better team and are now considered the best team in the NFC. I, even though I'm biased, feel this is bologna! Just because they beat the Eagles doesn't make them the hottest or best team. The Eagles obviously had issues and were not as good as people thought they were. I think the Vikings will be well prepared next sunday and will be able to handle the Dallas Cowboys after their first round bye.

The Vikings defense has shown the past few years that they are the best running defense in the NFL. This will limit the Cowboy running game. With the running game out of the way, the Cowboys will be forced to pass, which will allow the Vikings, led by Jared Allen, to pin their ears back and get to Tony Romo. On offense, the Vikings have shown throughout the season just how balanced and talented they are. They are on a hot streak coming off the strong second half showing against the Chicago Bears and the romp of the New York Giants last week. If they can protect Favre, they will keep the Cowboys on their heels all game and will make for a long day for the Cowboy defense.

This is a very interesting matchup and should be a great game. I am looking forward to watching it and hoping it results in a Viking victory. If they can pull this win out, I would feel much better about their chances of winning the Super Bowl in February and capping off a great season.

"Above: Picture of Minnesota Vikings Quarterback, Brett Favre, http://www.collegerecruiter.com"
"Above: Picture of Dallas Cowboys Quarterback, Tony Romo, http://www.zimbio.com"

Hawks Win Orange Bowl

Last tuesday was a great day to be an Iowa Hawkeye fan. They won the FedEx Orange Bowl 24-14 over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (link). It was their first BCS bowl victory in school history and capped off an 11-2 season as well. This season definitely was a successful one for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

They jumped out to a 9-0 start in route to one of their best records in school history. They finished second in the Big Ten Conference, with only Ohio State standing in their way of winning the conference title. They won an at-large bid in a BCS bowl, making it the second time in school history that the Hawkeyes have made it to a BCS bowl. The first time was a loss to the University of Southern California Trojans. The last time the Hawkeyes won a major bowl game before tuesday's game was in the 1950's! That is a long time! But this bowl season wasn't just good for the Iowa Hawkeyes, it was good for the whole Big Ten Conference.

Over the past few years the Big Ten has been called a weak conference. Just last year they had only one win in the bowls, and guess who that was. It was the Iowa Hawkeyes who manhandled the other USC, the University of South Carolina. This season, with the Hawkeye victory over Georgia Tech, the Big Ten Conference finished 4-3 in bowl games, and have started to gain respect from the nation after what has been a rough couple of years.

But, back to the game. There was a lot of talk coming into the game that it would be tough for Iowa to slow down Georgia Tech's triple option rushing game. They had put up a lot of points and yards this season and were the 11th best offense in the country coming into the game. But Iowa was not to shabby on defense this year. They were the 11th best defense in the country. And this Iowa defense was the main story of the night. They completely shut down the Georgia Tech offense holding them to their fewest offensive yards in quite a few years. Adrien Claiborne played like a man on a mission recording nine tackles and two sacks and disrupting the offensive line all game. This especially excited Hawkeye fans such as myself who heard a couple weeks ago that he will be returning for his senior season! That is great and will help keep the Hawkeyes a top defense in the nation next year.

This game was an amazing game for the Hawks and showed just how good they are. GO HAWKS!

"Above: Orange Bowl between Iowa and Georgia Tech, http://espn.com"