Sizing up the NFL Final Four

Well how about that for a football weekend? Some good games and great stories. Although I was openly campaigning for Dallas, Green Bay, Indy and New England to be the last four teams so that we'd be guaranteed a good Super Bowl for once, there's still plenty of intrigue left. When Peyton Manning threw the incompletion on fourth and 7 to seal a Charger win, I was at first bummed because we wouldn't get to see a Colts/Pats AFC Championship game. Having given it some thought, with the way they played today it's hard to imagine Indy giving the Pats much of a game even if they had survived the Chargers. The Colts didn't play well enough to win, and if they couldn't beat San Diego, they sure as hell weren't going to give New England a game.

I'm now sure of two things: the Pats win by 3 touchdowns next week, and the Jaguars were the second best team in the AFC this year, and possibly the league. The game Saturday night was the real AFC Championship, and Sunday's match in Foxboro will be nothing more than a tuneup for New England. Not to disrespect the Chargers, but I don't trust Norv Turner or Phil Rivers in a game of this magnitude. Rivers was good at times, but at no time was I blown away by what he was doing. Vincent Jackson on the other hand was impressive, but I don't see him doing that against Asante Samuel next week. What's more, Antonio Gates is nowhere near 100% with his dislocated big toe (which makes me queezy just thinking about that injury), and LaDanian Tomlinson may not be 100% either with a bruised knee. While I hope for a great game on Sunday, I'm not expecting one.

In the NFC, well the Cowboys just weren't good enough. If you want to blame Tony Romo for his relations and vacations with Jessica Simpson fine, but that was a team loss today. The Giants were just flat better and more prepared. The Dallas team that was setting the league afire at midseason would have been a great opponent for the Packers and perhaps the Pats, but that team hasn't shown up in Dallas for two months. Should be another very interesting off-season in Big D.

And then there's the Pack. Ah yes my arch nemesis. I was pulling for them to beat Seattle because a) the Seahawks are boring (We had to suffer through having them in the Super Bowl two years ago, and I wanted no part of a second time) and b) as much as I loathe the lovemaking the media does with Brett Farve, it would make for a helluva story to have him in the Super Bowl again. Secretly, and don't tell anyone this, but I really enjoyed the Packer win on Saturday. Enjoyed the snow, the comeback, and even Farve's ridiculous underhand completion as he was falling down.

I also loved the Ryan Grant story. A guy who came from quite literally nowhere to be one of the best backs in the league this year, Grant had about the worst start possible for a running back. Two carries, two fumbles, two Seahawks touchdowns. It was 14-0 before the Lambeau fans had finished their first six-pack of Miller Lite (ok maybe their second six pack, but you get the idea- it was quick). Two costly fumbles like that would have crushed a lot of people. Nick Anderson missing those free throws years ago in the NBA Finals comes to mind. He was a really good player before that and was a shell of himself afterwards. But good for the Packers for sticking with Grant (although let's be honest; once it started snowing, what choice did they really have? They certainly weren't throwing, and none of the other Packer backs were any better) and giving him a chance to redeem himself. And boy did he: 27 carries for an NFL playoff record 207 yards and 3 TD's. Isn't that what sports is all about? A guy failing, and failing miserably, but has the resolve and the opportunity to pull himself up and make amends? Pretty freaking awesome if you ask me.

Anyway, that was a quite a "Show in the Snow" if you will (and I will). I believed, as probably many of you also did, that the Hawks were in trouble coming into that game because they just couldn't run the ball. Shaun Alexander had a nice career, but boy, he looks D-O-N-E. Thanks for coming Shaun. And Maurice Morris is a nice change of pace, but he's not carrying the load. So unless they got some big special teams plays or forced turnovers, they were in for a long day. Well they couldn't have asked for a better start, and still got creamed. That might have been the most impressive thing to me: Seattle's defense, which is really, really good, got steamrolled. Shows the Pack could make a real run at this thing.

Having said that, the Giants are a tough matchup because they have Bradshaw (speaking of guys coming out of nowhere- who? huh? what? Who the hell is this Ahmad Bradshaw guy? Marshall? I didn't see Ahmad anywhere in that Matthew McConahey movie. The Metric Musings is also taking this opportunity to officially change our stance on taking running backs early in the first round. What's the point? Darren McFadden? Nice player, but not worth huge money when you can take a guy who's almost as good and could be just as productive for next to nothing. Glad we had this little chat) and big Brandon Jacobs to plow through the snow, and a pretty gritty defense. Eli Manning? I have no idea what's happening there. I wonder if he does. He did only attempt 18 passes, throwing for only 163 yards, but he played smart, and he's played good football for the better part of a month. This is why sports is awesome, because no matter how smart you are or how much of an expert, sometimes things happen that you can't predict. Like Eli Manning being functional, or Ahmad Bradshaw and Ryan Grant being the two starting running backs in the NFC Championship game. Nobody saw this coming.

At first glance, I really want the Pack to win Sunday, but then I remembered that the game of the year so far was the Giants and Pats in week 17. That wouldn't be a bad Super Bowl either...just as long as the Pats win of course. With all the craziness we've seen, I suppose anything's possible. I look forward to finding out.