NFL Conference Championships

Do the NFL Playoffs make any sort of sense anymore? I mean really. Look at the 4 teams left. There are no Patriots, no Eagles or any Colts. Instead its some Broncos, Panthers, Seahawks, and Steelers. We have 4 teams that at any given point could beat any team remaining. So while there is a large part of me dying inside from the way the Bears gave away their oppurtunity, there is a part thrilled with the possibilities. These games are going to be good. There is no way to get around that fact. There are other things I would like to get to though, so without any further ado let's get to my Conference Championship picks.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos (-3)

Well something tells me the Refs in this game aren't going to be fawning over Jake Plummer, no matter how sexy that beard is. So Joey Porter and his teammates can at least feel more secure this week. This game is really hard to put a finger on. I look at both teams, and see a lot of similarities. Both have very good defensive units, and both have good offenses that start with the run. The Broncos spent last weekend ending the Patriots postseason brilliance, while the Steelers took down the heavily favored Colts.

It also seems that Jake Plummer has fallen into my "Tiki Barber" class of NFL players. For no real reason, I just don't like him. Every part of me says "He sucks." but then it turns out he doesn't. In the first round though I finally gave Tiki his due, and he went right out and had a horrible day against Carolina. Well I have bad news Bronco fans, I'm about to give Jake Plummer his due. He really has changed. I've now seen 4 complete Bronco games this season, and not even ONCE have I seen him do something stupid. I don't know if it's Plummer, Shanahan, or Kubiak making the difference, but whatever the hell it is it better keep going. (Bronco fans better hope it's not Kubiak, cuz he'll be in Houston next season) Jake makes every throw he needs to make and has overall just done a fantastic job running the Broncos offense.

The Denver defense is seldom heard about when analysts talk about the better D's in the NFL. They should be. A fundamentally solid, FAST unit that rarely misses tackles and flies to the ball. Al Wilson and John Lynch are the figure heads behind this style, while Champ Bailey (Even if Portis runs for 1500 yards every season in Washington the Bailey/Portis trade has been great for Denver) shuts down opponents top WR and makes big play after big play. (Also, I'd like to see you sprint 102 yards in the thin Denver air without getting tired before you dog Champ for getting caught at the 1 yard line Saturday night.)

Pittsburgh will be a tough opponent for Denver though. Much is made of the fact that Pittsburgh is the 6 seed, but they weren't 15-1 last season cuz they were a bad team. Take out a 3 week stretch in the regular season and this team is a 3 seed. Pittsburgh can grind you down with the run, and Big Ben can hurt you with his arm. (Steeler fans should feel very happy, I think they have their first real franchise QB since Bradshaw. Big Ben has my attention.) Hines Ward won't have an easy day with Bailey presumably covering him, but Hines Ward doesn't need to make catches to beat you. He can help his RB's with his solid outside blocking.

Pittsburgh's Defense is a Pittsburgh defense. In other words it's big, it's strong, and it will hit you. They consistantly force turnovers thanks to ball hawk Troy Polamalu. In fact this defense is a lot like Denver's in that they both blitz a lot and cause a lot of havoc for offenses.

I think the key in determining who is going to win this game will depend on each QB. Both Plummer and Roethlisberger will have to deal with constant blitzes. Whichever one can maintain enough poise to move the ball downfield is going to be the winner. I think this will be easier for Plummer, seeing how he is at home so he won't also have to deal with the deafening noise. (That sound in the background is Steeler fans cheering.)

Denver Broncos 27 Pittsburgh Steelers 23


Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks(-3.5)

I just wanted to start this portion of the column off by thanking Shaun Alexander for proving me right. Last week when he left the game early due to a concussion the Seahawks didn't seem to have any trouble winning without him. (Though they tried repeatedly to get the Redskins to the NFC Championship with fumble after fumble) This just further proved my theory that Alexander wasn't the Most VALUABLE Player in the NFL. The best season, yes, most valuable, no. Of course Steve Smith showed me that Tom Brady wasn't the most valuable either, but Steve Smith doesn't write this column, he only haunts the dreams of the man who does. (Seriously I had a dream the other night straight out of Planet of the Apes. It was the final scene of the movie and I was Charlton Heston on the beach. But instead of the Statue of Liberty it was a big statue of Steve Smith. I threw rocks at it while screaming "You maniac!! You blew us up!!!! Damn you Steve Smith! God damn you to hell!!" but he kept catching every rock I threw at him and turning them into 6 points. I am seriously traumatized by this man.)

This game is another tough call, but realistically I have to go with the Seahawks. Matt Hasselbeck showed last week that he isn't a "Game Manager" QB as much as he's just a good QB. A lot of people around the country didn't realize that cuz all they ever see is Shaun Alexander crossing the goal line. Darrell Jackson is also probably the best WR that you have never heard of. Steve Smith wasn't the only NFC WR to have a huge day last weekend.

The Seahawks lone "weakness" is their defense. That's not a true weakness though. They're vulnerable, but not weak. Fortunately for them though they have an offense that scores 30 points a game at home. They do have one major problem though....

Steve Smith is still alive. I'm thinking Mike Holmgren has instructed all his players to keep their mouths shut. Unlike the Bears secondary, who learned the hard way, the Seattle secondary will not be talking smack to Steve Smith in warmups. You can't talk trash to Steve Smith. I'm pretty sure that's in the Bible. It says something like "And on the Seventh Day God called Steve Smith a punk. Smith then burned him for an 85 yard touchdown and God never worked a Sunday again." I'm pretty sure its John 3:16.

Let's not forget Jake Delhomme and his 5-1 playoff record, best of all the remaining QB's. Delhomme has that Favre like intangible in that he's just a good ole boy lookin to have some fun out there. Pressure doesn't really get to him, and in the postseason that's huge. Losing DeShaun Foster (I don't think I'm the only person in Chicago that screamed "Wrong ankle jackass!!" after Bears LB Hunter Hillenmeyer rolled over Foster's last Sunday) to the broken leg hurts, but Nick Goings did fine in his absence Sunday, and last season. For the Seahawks sake, it's important they don't look past Goings and the Panthers running game to focus solely on Smith, or they are going to get burned.

Carolina has a great defense. They do have problems though in that Dan Morgan got hurt against the Bears, and is still being bothered by his shoulder, and Julius Peppers hasn't practiced yet this week after being hurt in Sunday's game. Morgan should play, but Peppers is listed as Questionable. I'm guessing that unless his arm falls off he will play. It's the most important game of the season, but the question is if he does play will he play well? So even with a solid unit, with all the injuries I don't think the Panther D can contain all of the Seahawks weapons on offense. With solid vets like Mike Minter, Brentson Buckner, and Mike Rucker back there though, I can't rule them out.

Seattle Seahawks 28 Carolina Panthers 24



No matter what happens this weekend though, with coaches named Shanahan, Cowher, Holmgren, and Fox we can be damn sure we won't be seeing badly coached games. (Hello Lovie Smith and Ron Rivera)

Speaking of Lovie Smith, and Ron Rivera, I'm not throwing you guys under the bus or anything, but what happened? You both did a great job this season, and I won't try to take that away, but what the hell happened on Sunday? Was Rivera too busy interviewing for head coaching jobs, that he didn't have proper time to prepare? I think that is the case, then throw in the fact that Smith sat all his key players at the end of the season, and you get what you got. (Indianapolis rested it's starters too, and it looks like Vanderjagt needed all the practice he could get.)

Ok, well now it's onto everybody's favorite part of the show.

Random Thoughts

• Does Matt Millen just not get it? First it was hiring Morningwheg right away, then Mariucci without interviewing anybody and now Rod Marinelli. Millen had visits scheduled with both Marinelli and Jim Haslett on Tuesday. Well his first was Marinelli and Millen decided that hiring him was good enough, and that he didn't need to bother calling Jim Haslett, or anybody for that matter. Meanwhile Haslett sat around the airport waiting for a call from Millen that just never came. Also he's a good coach, but Marinelli has never been anything but a DLine coach. Is he really ready to go straight to Head Coach? I mean the last thing they need in Detroit is another project.
• 5 games is too long a suspension for the Knicks Antonio Davis. When he went into the crowd Tuesday night at the United Center it was for completely different reasons than Artest. He was protecting his family. Plus once he got there he did nothing but protect them until security came. He didn't swing at or even touch anybody. I know Stern had to do something, but I think 2 or 3 games would have been enough.
• I know I picked Michigan State to go to the Final Four, but Indiana will win the Big Ten. That team is good and they don't even have their "Best" player in DJ White. Marco Killingsworth is a beast.
• Shaq and Kobe are friends again? That's bad news for the NBA cuz they no longer have any completely unwarranted made up rivalries to hype. (Anytime teams only play twice a year ie Lakers/Heat Cavs/Nuggets it's not a rivalry. Pistons/Spurs maybe cuz of Finals history.) I'm trying to enjoy the NBA like I used to, but dammit, I just can't. Give me the College game any day of the week.
• Panger wants me to mention that the Olympics start in 2 weeks.
• Cubs GM Jim Hendry and Manager Dusty Baker got the hell booed out of them at last week's Cubs Convention. This restores hope for Cub fans in my book as it seems they are starting to wake up. My favorite moment was when a fan asked Dusty Baker "Have you ever even heard of a suicide squeeze or a sacrifice?"
• I'm still trying to figure out how Hockey qualifies as Outdoor Life
• If this column seems subpar to my usual performance, well, I don't want to throw anybody under the bus here, but let's just say we had some protection issues.