A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
Two weeks between the NFC and AFC Championship games and the Super Bowl seems like way too long.
I’m a Packers fan, so I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum. Last season, I could not wait for the Super Bowl to come, the anticipation building each and every day.
This season? I can’t wait for it to be over.
This past weekend featured two highly anticipated quarterback matchups – Brady v Tebow and Manning v Rodgers – and a third that unexpectedly ended up being the most thrilling of the weekend – Brees v Smith. And as quarterbacks are wont to do after competing on the field of football battle, these duos all met at midfield after the game for quick makeout sessions in front of the leering press.
Wait…what?
It doesn’t get any better than what we just witnessed from the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints.
How could it?
In an absolute instant classic thriller, the 49ers defeated the favored Saints 36-32, dealing the deciding blow on a 14-yard, 3rd down touchdown pass from Alex Smith to Vernon Davis with 0:09 left on the clock.
It was the perfect way for the perfect football game to end.
Defense versus Offense is the quintessential argument in sports. Saturday, another chapter will be written on this polarizing subject as the second-ranked 49ers defense will be faced with the task of shutting down the high-powered offense that may seem to be on the heels of another dominant victory.
Despite Tebow 3:16, this is, without question, the most interesting playoff game for me this weekend. So let’s set the stage…
The NFC playoffs begin in New Orleans as the Saints will host the Lions tonight. The two teams have already met up once this season, which came in Week 13. The Saints won 31-17, in a game that saw Drew Brees dominate the Lions’ defense. Matthew Stafford threw for 408 yards, but Drew Brees just outmatched the Lions.
It should be a shootout this time around, as both quarterbacks threw for over 5,000 yards this season.
If you paid any attention to professional football in December you know that 2011 was a historic year for quarterback productivity.
Here is a list of the many passing and receiving records that were broken or tied during the 2011 NFL season:
The holidays are over, and the 2011 NFL regular season has concluded along with them.
Before we as sports fans switch our focus to other items like March Madness or the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight that I will keep assuming will happen, we get 11 more games that make up the annual NFL playoffs. These 660 minutes will re-write, or at very least alter, the season’s script to which many think they already know the ending.
As a born and raised Indiana Hoosier who bleeds Cream and Crimson, I hate liking anything from Purdue, but Drew Brees just makes it so damn impossible to dislike him.
Last night, Brees broke the single-season passing yardage record that was held by favorite football player of all-time, Dan Marino, yet I found myself happy for him – hell, I was pretty much rooting for him.
Then I watched Brees’ postgame speech after the game, and I was reminded, yet again, why Brees is impossible to dislike.
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Postpone taking down that Christmas tree and cleaning up the mess left behind by relatives and enjoy your weekly dose of Monday Night Football.
Watch the New Orleans Saints (11-3) host the Atlanta Falcons (9-5) to wrap up the last of the Christmas weekend games, and hopefully the holiday lights will not surge all the electrical power from the Superdome like last week at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
With one final game remaining, the Indianapolis Colts still control their own destiny in the Andrew Luck Derby.
Problem is, this team is peaking at absolutely the wrong time.
All of my teams lost this weekend, so I’m really in no mood to think about sports, let alone write about them. But perhaps this little exercise in which I review what we learned this weekend in sports will be therapeutic and help me prepare for the months of heartache that surely lie ahead.
Maybe by taking a look at all the wonderful and curious things that are happening in the world of sports, I can learn to become a passive observer who can relax as I enjoy watching feats of athleticism, competition, gamesmanship, and sportsmanship, instead of a fan whose weekend is wrecked when Evansville loses a close game to Tennessee Tech (at home).
I’ll give it a try. Here’s what we learned this weekend.
Nick Saban is an amazing college football coach.
Nick Saban is not a nice person.
These two things are givens. There is no reasonable argument to make against either.
The New York Giants travel to New Orleans tonight to take on the Saints at the Superdome.
The Saints lead the NFC South with a record of 7-3, while the Giants trail the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East with a record of 6-4.
Since their bye week in week 7, the Giants have lost two of the four games and need to win this one to keep the pressure on the Cowboys. With the Saints coming off a bye week and playing at home, they are going to be tough to beat.
Well, that was fast.
As soon as I opened up my big mouth and proclaimed that 2011 was going to be the most prolific fantasy year ever, scoring around the league plummets. No worries.
At least I had a great week on the predictions front, as I was right on nearly 80% of my picks.
As always, here is a quick look back at last week before we move on to week 7.
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Injuries!
Andre Johnson is gone. Ben Roethlisberger is banged up. Miles Austin is on the mend. Marques Colston is back, but when will he get on track?
With the bye weeks now here, the time has come when fantasy leagues are truly won and lost. If you drafted well, and got a little lucky, you should be near the top of the standings. But nobody can ever completely escape the injury bug. Managing your lineup properly when byes and injuries attack is what separates the good owners from the great ones.
So let’s look at the Week Five games and decide who to start and who to sit this week.
