Taking Sides
Last weekend, my football teams went three for four, much to my surprise, thanks to a little ineptitude by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and the New York Giants defense, which was unable to stop the Philadelphia Eagles from marching down the field to set up the game-winning field goal by David Akers. Unfortunately Bill Belichick and Tom Brady were too much for the NY Jets to handle. So I’m back this week to once again share who I’ll be rooting for in this weekend’s NFL playoff games.
Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens
I rooted for the Colts last week mainly because I’m tired of hearing that the Colts’ head coach Tony Dungy and quarterback Peyton Manning have never won the big game. I still feel a little bad for Tony Dungy that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl the year after they dumped Dungy and hired Jon Gruden. So I’m sticking with the Colts this weekend even though I don’t have anything against the Baltimore Ravens. In fact I really like Raven’s quarterback Steve McNair. He’s obviously been one of the league’s best QBs during his career but what has really set him apart in my mind is his willing to play through injury to help his team. I was really shocked that the Titans let him go in the off-season but was happy to see him experience success with the Ravens. Nevertheless, I’m sticking with the Colts even though I think the Ravens actually have a better shot of winning.
Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints
I have similar dilemma in this game. Last week I went with the Eagles and I feel compelled to root for them again even though I actually like the Saints team. Drew Brees, like Steve McNair, was cast off by his old team in the off-season, in this case the San Diego Chargers, but has been able to find unexpected success with his old team and I definitely respect that. In addition, the Saints have Reggie Bush. I’m not a big fan of USC football even though I’m from the LA area and I didn’t go to UCLA. But I had to appreciate how good Bush was at USC. Some of those highlights that I saw of him were simply amazing. I really want to see him duplicate that success in the NFL so I can see more of those breathtaking plays. Plus you have the whole post-Katrina sympathy for New Orleans. But I still want to see the Eagles win the Super Bowl without Donovan McNabb for the sake of the Sports Guy Ewing theory so I’m sticking with the Eagles.
Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears
Now we’re getting to the easy ones. I rooted for the Seahawks last week because of Shaun Alexander and Mike Holmgren and I really don’t have any reason to root for the Bears. I don’t know why, but I don’t really like Rex Grossman. Finally, the Bears defense helped kill any shot I had to make the playoffs in my fantasy league. I was up by 25 points or so in my match-up going into the Monday night game between the Chicago Bears and the St. Louis Rams. My opponent had the Rams’ running back Steven Jackson. I hoped that the vaunted Bears defense would keep Jackson to about 20 fantasy points. Jackson ended up with 2 touchdowns, 80 rushing yards, 58 passing yards, and 10 receptions for a grand total of 30.90. Obviously I blamed the Bears for my defeat rather than my own management skills and I swore that from that day on I would hate both teams. So I’ll be cheering as loud as I can for the Seahawks when these two teams take the field.
New England at San Diego Chargers
I’m not sure how I feel about the Chargers. Since the Rams and Raiders left, they’re the closest thing that Los Angeles has to a National Football League team. But they’re still a San Diego team so I can’t really embrace them. I do like LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates. Plus I really do feel that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick must be stopped for the sake of football. I love the parity in the NFL and we don’t need one team to threaten that. So I’ll be rooting for the Chargers, but I still wish my friend Johnny Ringo, a longtime New England fan, good luck with the Pats.
Regardless of the outcome of these games I’ll be back next week with my picks for the conference championship games.
Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens
I rooted for the Colts last week mainly because I’m tired of hearing that the Colts’ head coach Tony Dungy and quarterback Peyton Manning have never won the big game. I still feel a little bad for Tony Dungy that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl the year after they dumped Dungy and hired Jon Gruden. So I’m sticking with the Colts this weekend even though I don’t have anything against the Baltimore Ravens. In fact I really like Raven’s quarterback Steve McNair. He’s obviously been one of the league’s best QBs during his career but what has really set him apart in my mind is his willing to play through injury to help his team. I was really shocked that the Titans let him go in the off-season but was happy to see him experience success with the Ravens. Nevertheless, I’m sticking with the Colts even though I think the Ravens actually have a better shot of winning.
Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints
I have similar dilemma in this game. Last week I went with the Eagles and I feel compelled to root for them again even though I actually like the Saints team. Drew Brees, like Steve McNair, was cast off by his old team in the off-season, in this case the San Diego Chargers, but has been able to find unexpected success with his old team and I definitely respect that. In addition, the Saints have Reggie Bush. I’m not a big fan of USC football even though I’m from the LA area and I didn’t go to UCLA. But I had to appreciate how good Bush was at USC. Some of those highlights that I saw of him were simply amazing. I really want to see him duplicate that success in the NFL so I can see more of those breathtaking plays. Plus you have the whole post-Katrina sympathy for New Orleans. But I still want to see the Eagles win the Super Bowl without Donovan McNabb for the sake of the Sports Guy Ewing theory so I’m sticking with the Eagles.
Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears
Now we’re getting to the easy ones. I rooted for the Seahawks last week because of Shaun Alexander and Mike Holmgren and I really don’t have any reason to root for the Bears. I don’t know why, but I don’t really like Rex Grossman. Finally, the Bears defense helped kill any shot I had to make the playoffs in my fantasy league. I was up by 25 points or so in my match-up going into the Monday night game between the Chicago Bears and the St. Louis Rams. My opponent had the Rams’ running back Steven Jackson. I hoped that the vaunted Bears defense would keep Jackson to about 20 fantasy points. Jackson ended up with 2 touchdowns, 80 rushing yards, 58 passing yards, and 10 receptions for a grand total of 30.90. Obviously I blamed the Bears for my defeat rather than my own management skills and I swore that from that day on I would hate both teams. So I’ll be cheering as loud as I can for the Seahawks when these two teams take the field.
New England at San Diego Chargers
I’m not sure how I feel about the Chargers. Since the Rams and Raiders left, they’re the closest thing that Los Angeles has to a National Football League team. But they’re still a San Diego team so I can’t really embrace them. I do like LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates. Plus I really do feel that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick must be stopped for the sake of football. I love the parity in the NFL and we don’t need one team to threaten that. So I’ll be rooting for the Chargers, but I still wish my friend Johnny Ringo, a longtime New England fan, good luck with the Pats.
Regardless of the outcome of these games I’ll be back next week with my picks for the conference championship games.
posted by The Pocho at 11:14 AM
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