One Sexy Conference Championship Round

3:00 PM

     Vs.    

   Green Bay Packers               Chicago Bears          

There's been a bunch of talk regarding the condition of soldier field, and how the weather will affect the game.  Here's some news, the Green Bay Packers are playing on the same field as the Bears are on Sunday, not only that but Aaron Rodgers thrives in cold weather situations. 

In cold weather situations, Aaron Rodgers has a 101.5 passer rating in 8 cold-weather situation games, that's before the Wall Street Journal ran an article with 2 weeks remaining in the regular season.  Facing a Giants defense? No problem.  Rodgers was 25-37 for 404 yards and 4 touchdowns.  In his previous game against the Bears, Rodgers threw 19-28 for 229 yards, one touchdown, and one pick, still an 89.7 QB rating.  Next comes the Wild Card game, Rodgers rises to the occasion. 

Jay Cutler on the other hand is Jay Cutler.  One game he'll look like a starting Pro Bowl quarterback, the next he looks like Rob Johnson, cannon arm making terrible decisions.  In his last game facing the Packers in Chicago, week 17, Cutler threw nearly 50%, and 2 interceptions.  Cutler is to risky to rely upon.

Both defenses are amazing, negate each other, so who has the best offense?  The Green Bay Packers.  Who's quarterback consistently rises to the occasion?  The Green Bay Packers.  The Cheeseheads will win this game and cover the spread, but not by much.  The Pack advance to the Super Bowl while covering the spread, 24-17.

Green Bay Packers -3.5

6:30 PM

     Vs.    

     New York Jets               Pittsburgh Steelers

At the beginning of the season, and throughout the season until now, I didn't think the Jets had it in them to get this far, particularly Mark Sanchez.  There weren't really any questions about the defense which had almost all returners from last year, it was all about the offense.  With an extra year under his belt, Mark's play is noticeably different.  Regrettably, almost all Jet fans are still douchebags.

The past two years, Thomas Jones carried the Jet offense proving to be dangerous as a back on the ground, and out of the backfield as a receiver.  That same offense is not long gone, but it's deep in a transition period.  Instead of it being just Thomas Jones, the load is now split between LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene.  Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is finally beginning to allow quarterback Mark Sanchez more room to grow.  This is the biggest difference in this Jets team compared to last year's team.  If the Jets make it past the Steelers, it will be because of Mark Sanchez. 

Each defense is on the top of their game right now, you know Rex Ryan is going to get his guys fired up.  As fired up as last weekend at New Enlgand?  I think not.  Although I do still think Rapelisberger has the upper hand on Sanchez overall as a quarterback, I'm going to say the Sanchise rises to the occasion like he has all year.  The Jets also have Santonio Holmes returning to Pittsburgh this week look for a big win against his former team.  He has already become Sanchez's go-to target.  Look for this connection to be the deciding factor in the game.  However, if the game comes down to a field goal by Nick Folk from 40 or more yards, the Jets will lose.  He deserves to be a NFL kicker and much as Matt Dodge deserves to be a NFL punter.  I pick the Jets to win this game 24-21 (hopefully me picking them to win for once will mean they lose). 

New York Jets -4

Attention Jets Fans: Free Foot Fucks for Everyone!

The New York Jets win.  Obviously I've shared that I'm not a fan of these assholes, especially this fat fuck named Rex Ryan, but as much as it pains me to say this, you have to give credit where credit is due.  The Jets simply deserved to win that game.

First of all, another great year by the New England Patriots, not even the most pompus Jets fan can deny the 14-2 season a a good one.  But in the end when it matter, the Pats faltered.  Ii honestly don't think that the different defensive schemes confused Brady, I just think that he didn't come to play, and if anyone was confused, the receivers were.  For most of the game, the quarterback's throw to his receivers made it look like they were all out of sync.  The only excuse that I can think of is that the 2 week break from live football affected New England's play.  Who knows.

Everyone knew the Patriots defense was terrible going into this game, but I among other people thought they would step up.  To make matters worse for the Patriots, the Jets offense was superb.  Dirty Sanchez did everything that could be asked of him and more by not forcing throws, and locating passes where only his receiver's could catch them.  His 127.3 passer rating trumped Tom Brady's by 28.3 points, in 20 less throws than Brady.  The Jets Offense exposed all the defensive holes that the Patriots have to fill in the offseason as not only the passing game excelled, but also the 1-2 punch of LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene also added balance, totaling an average of 4.4 yards per carry between the two backs.

What won the Jets the though, was the defense.  After a let down regular season following last year's dominance on D, the Jets seem to have finally caught their stride when it counts.  In the last 2 games, the Jets defense has confused and disrupted the two best quarterbacks in the NFL.  If the two best quarterbacks in the league can't beat the Jets, who can?

The saying is "Defense wins Championships", maybe, just maybe the Jets can march through New York with the Super Bowl trophy.  Moving forward, the Jets face the Steelers next week, who they already beat earlier this year.  Though it is said that games are different in the postseason and anything can happen, the path does go through a very good Pittsburgh team.  Not to mention that of all 4 remaining teams, the Jets defense ranks behind the 3 others.  The Jets haven't won shit yet.  To think that all of this started at SUNY Cortland...

Blame Jim "Cleveland" Caldwell

Obviously I'm pretty fuckin' disgusted right now, and I'm not even a Colts fan.  I'm not sure which situation is better, the Colts defeating the cocky Rex Ryan led Jets in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, or waiting until the Jets travel to New England to watch Tom Brady absolutely tear their defense apart AGAIN.  The decision has been made for me by default, the Jets are headed to Foxboro to face their elimination.

As for Jim Caldwell, fire his ass. Quite simply put, he's a fucking idiot.  Can anyone tell me what the logic was behind the last timeout?  I'm trying to figure out what exactly it is that Caldwell brings to the table and how he compares to Tony Dungy besides the fact that they're both black Head Coaches in the NFL.  The first time I've actually seen him talk was tonight when he politely asked the ref to "throw the flag."

1) The Colts defense is horrid, ugly.  You can say the D played well tonight, but they really didn't, it helps when you're facing a sub-par offense.  The Jets offense had two things tonight, a rushing attack and a wheel route ran by Braylon Edwards. 
2) The Colts offense doesn't need but the slightest bit of coaching, Peyton Manning is the coach, and in the end, each play is determined by Peyton Manning at the line of scrimmage.
3) Caldwell is clearly a poor situational coach.  This counts as the second loss fot the Colts this season that comes because Jim Caldwell called a terrible timeout.  The first happened versus Jacksonville in week 4 when Josh Scobee hit a field goal as time expired.

In case you didn't watch the game, here's the situation...

There is 30 seconds left in the game, Colts are winning by 1, the Jets runs the ball to drain the clock, and to attempt the 49 yard field goal.  It wasn't 4th down so they most likely would run the ball at least once more probably making the kick a 45-50 yarder.  Instead of letting the clock drain and allowing the shaky field goal kicker Nick Folk (who was nearly cut earlier this season) to attempt the long kick from the Indianapolis 32, the Colts called a timeout, stopped the clock and allowing the young Mark Sanchez to get guidance from his coaches on the sideline.

Now, before the next play even happens, I'm sure anyone who knows anything about football is questioning this asshole on the Colts sideline.  Whats with the timeout?  You could even rewind and take a look at Peyton Manning's reaction as he asks out loud, "what? why?"  Under no circumstance whatsoever should that timeout have been called.  You've got to ask, WWTDD?  What would Tony Dungy do?  Nothing, the same thing every other Head Coach would do in the same situation, besides Caldwell. 

Maybe, MAYBE, Folk still makes the field goal if the timeout isn't called.  But as someone that used to kick footballs, i can tell you that 15-20 more yards in the length of the kick is an enormous difference.  If me just saying that doesn't convince you, numbers don't lie.  This season Nick Folk was 14-16, 87.5% for field goals between 30 and 39 yards longs.  He was also 3-6, 50% for field goals between 40 and 49 yards long.  Folks overall kicking percentage (76.9%) ranks 27th in the league among starting kickers.  Plus, if the timeout wasn't burned, he would've had the option to try to "freeze" Nick Folk.  Jim Caldwell helped the Jets take this one away from the Colts.

Rex Ryan, you're still a fat, loudmouth, arrogant asshole, which is why I hate everything you represent.  Go eat a goddamn snack, or maybe your wife's foot.  You'll have major foot-time after your loss to Tom Brady's Patriots next week, the same legend you've been taking personal shots at all week.  Someone let me know when you reach his status and win three Super Bowls, let alone one.  I'm waiting...



NFL Playoffs Begin

So the Saints vs. Seahawks game just got underway. The saints come in with a 12-4 record where the Seahawks come in with a controversial 7-9 record. As a Giants fan don't get me started about that. This should be an easy victory for the defending champion New Orleans Saints. This game is being overlooked however due to the high expectations and all the buzz around Rex Ryan's New York Jets.

The Jets face the Colt's in Indianapolis at 8:00 ET on NBC. I used to cheer for both New York football teams, but ever since Rex Ryan started opening his big mouth I've started to root against the green machine. There is no jealousy involved, I'm just someone who doesn't like arrogant bastards.

Tonight's game will be a good one. The Jets have a good shot at winning as long as Sanchez can keep his turnovers to a minimum against a sub-par defense. It would be nice to see a New York team go the distance, however I think that even if the Jets advance, the Patriots are far too strong for there to be a parade in NYC.

I hope you enjoy the games tonight and let us here know which game you are most looking forward to on The BroCave's Poll of the Week located on the side bar.