nfl-general
After one of the closest fought playoff weekends in living memory, the road to Super Bowl XL has come down to two games. One sees the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos match up in the AFC Championship game, while the other will pit the Carolina Panthers against the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship game. Expect fireworks.
Think fast: Who do you think is the favorite to be this year’s Super bowl champion? Unless you’re a fan of one of the four remaining teams, it’s highly unlikely that you were able to answer this question in less than 10 seconds. I myself have been mulling over this question for the last 2 days, and the more I think, the more confused I get. I’ll be lucky just to pick the winner of one of this Sunday’s conference championship games, let alone pick the team who is going to win Superbowl XL.
By: Rob LaBrie
The two conference championship games include two very intriguing match-ups. On the AFC side you have the red-hot Pittsburgh Steelers going to Mile High to face the Denver Broncos. Pittsburgh is coming off a confidence-building win over the choke-artist Colts. However, Denver hasn’t lost at home all year and last week they handled the Patriots behind a solid defensive effort and a plethora of mistakes on the part of New England. In the NFC, you have the Seattle Seahawks, a trendy Super Bowl pick coming into the playoffs, at home against the Carolina Steve Smith’s… I mean… Panthers. Seattle also went undefeated at home this season including a win against the Redskins in the Divisional round. The Panthers managed to get to this game through great defense and clutch performances by Steve Smith over the last two weeks.
Reggie Bush had an amazing collegiate career. He was a walking highlight reel for his 3 year stay at USC. He helped the Trojans in getting their first two national titles, one of which was a split. He won the Heisman, joining a highly exclusive group of the best college players of all time. So naturally, who was standing on the sidelines when the game was on the line in the Rose Bowl against Vince Young’s Texas Longhorns? Reggie Bush. Who was out single-handedly tearing down the legend that was the USC Trojans while Bush was taking a break? Vince Young.
There were a lot of reasons to be glued to your television on Sunday afternoon. This year’s feel good, team to root for was finally playing it’s first meaningful game in a month, and it’s first such game since meaningful took on a whole new meaning for it’s head coach. As they do every once awhile however, the sports gods reminded us that the game isn’t played on paper, or even in the movie theater. The Pittsburgh Steelers, who were written off by just about everyone in the football world three weeks ago, steam rolled the Indianapolis Colts early, and as if we were the audience during a fall-laden figure skating routine, we watched in shock, unable to turn away.
All this week, we’ll be bringing you our awards for the 2005 NFL season:
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Offensive Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
MVP
Disappointment of the Year
Here are our picks for Disappointment of the Year.
With the conclusion of the Rose Bowl and the crowning of a national champion for college football, the top selections for the upcoming NFL draft look to be getting clearer. Players from USC and Texas (to mention the two top teams) have declared themselves eligible. The Houston Texans have the #1 pick, with the New Orleans Saints and the Tennessee Titans follow up at #2 and #3. But, will this order be the same? Who will be chosen? Why do I think that Reggie Bush will NOT be a Texan?
Last week, everyone went 4-0 except Vegas Vinny. So for 3 out of the 4 prognosticators, the dream of a perfect 11-0 playoff season is still alive. This week we look at the best playoff round in football.
You can listen to in depth analysis of this week’s picks as well as a discussion on the coaching carousel on our podcast or subscribe via this feed.
As football junkies, we plead ignorance to the tribulations of the NFL. Unfairly though, we do not lend such leniency to other sports, especially the NBA.
Thanks to a drive in the NFL to leave no stone unturned in its search for qualified head coaching candidates, minority coaches are becoming increasingly prevalent. Specifically the Rooney Rule, which mandates diversity in the pool of candidates for a head coaching vacancy, has led to a record number of African-American head coaches in the league. With Chicago Bear headman Lovie Smith winning NFL Coach of the Year, minority coaches are showing they are as deserving and can be as successful as any other qualified coach. In fact, Smith and Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy remain in the hunt for a Super Bowl ring.
The scope of the NFL’s search for competent coaches can be seen in the Tennessee Titans hire of offensive coordinator Norm Chow. Chow, a career college coach, moved up from collegiate offensive coordinator, becoming the league’s first Asian-American coordinator. All of that said, the Kansas City Chiefs courtship of Herman Edwards was particularly bad for minority coaches. Though in this case, the term minority more accurately represents those who do not have a personal relationship with Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson.