nfl-general
The National Football League playoffs give football fans a little bit of everything. Whether it be a botched snap on a field goal that would win the game, a game winning field goal, or driving down the length of a football field to win a game. This is the best time of the year for football fans, regardless if your team is in or out.
Last week, all four home teams held serve. Since the new playoff format started, the home teams have never won the first 8 games of the playoffs so there are likely a couple of road upsets this week. Check out more in depth analysis on our podcast.
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Here’s a set of alternate picks from a SC user.
By David J. Cohen
The playoffs have a different feel this year than in recent years. In those years there were clearly defined contenders and pretenders for the championship. However, this year the playoffs seem truly wide open. This year the playoffs are centered on three inexperienced quarterbacks: Tony Romo of the Cowboys, Rex Grossman of the Bears, and Philip Rivers of the Chargers. If they can rise to the occasion their teams will make the runs expected of them. If they falter, proven veterans will seize the day.
The NFC is the perfect example of what parity has done to the league. It has made teams competitive which have been awful the year before. With parity, you can go through Hurricane Katrina one year and earn a bye the next. Parity has also made mediocrity a premium. The 8-8 Giants are in the playoffs, and teams like Green Bay were still in it going into the last week of the regular season. The playoff picture in the NFC is murky, with no clear cut choice. With that said, here is how it should play out.
Here we go with the first round of the playoffs. While the matchups on paper don’t look like they’ll be very exciting games, anything can happen in this crazy NFL season. Check out more in depth analysis on our podcast.
You can download the podcast directly (running time 34 mins) or subscribe to the feed.
If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.
by Matt Wells
Dennis Green, not surprisingly, has been axed by the once again woeful Arizona Cardinals. Jim Mora Jr. has been canned by the disappointing Atlanta Falcons. The Dolphins and Steelers need to discuss the futures of Nick Saban and Bill Cowher, respectively.
Perhaps lost among those names are the coaches who have surpassed expectations this past season in the NFL. Whether these coaches unexpectedly led their teams to playoff berths or whether they were simply able to dominate the rest of the league, these coaches will no doubt find their names on the list for NFL Coach of the Year.
Let me tell you a little something about myself that you hopefully already know from my previous articles: I’m a sports fanatic, but I’m mainly a baseball guy. I know my fair share about other sports and watch more than my share of them.
This is just a warning, because I’ve never tried to put my predictions into writing about any sport other than baseball. But, with the NFL playoffs being so intriguing this year, I decided to try my hand at predicting the winners, losers and award-winners.
So here it goes, JDWC’s first attempt at picking who will stay, who will go, and who will bathe in champagne in Miami. Read at your own risk.
I’ve heard a lot of things recently about the NFL defensive MVP.
What kind of message are you sending to kids by giving a steroid user the MVP?
Ahh yes.. but you aren’t sending the wrong message when a guy like Shawne Merriman wins the award. You might even be sending the right one.
Best Storylines Going into the Postseason & Off-season
I know I’ve been gone for a while and I haven’t updated this series of articles as I originally intended to, but that’s what happens when you become a staff writer for a major newspaper. But I haven’t forgotten my roots, so I’m back and ready to roll for the good people of SportsColumn.com.
TV and pro football aren’t always the perfect mix they appear to be.
In its more than 65 years of marriage to television, the backlash of the NFL’s decision to move the Green Bay – Chicago game on New Year’s Eve from day to night is yet another in a long line of slipups and mistakes. Errors in judgement appear to be inevitable at least every few years in this relationship. That it’s happened once again is, if nothing else, a sign of normality given the times.
OK folks, it’s the last week of the season and one last chance to get to the top of your office pool. Here are the final week 17 picks from the Sportscolumn crew. Remember that a lot of games might be rendered meaningless because of playoff positioning so we kept that in mind when making our picks.
If you want to see how we stack up against all the experts, check out a very nifty expert picks compilation spreadsheet by our buddy Tokar.
You can download the podcast directly (running time 41 mins) or subscribe to the feed.
If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.