Pro-Bowl is embarrasing

The NFL Pro-Bowl is a joke now. With everyone dropping out due to "injuries", second and third choices are now going to the Pro Bowl. Players that aren't the best at their positions or even in the top five at their position ex.) McNabb from Philadelphia and DT Smith from San Francisco. Bottom line, you know your "all-star game" is messed up when Peyton Manning, the best player currently in the game, the current league MVP, and maybe the best quarterback of all time, is not involved in this "all-star" get together.

Down to the Final Four

Jets-Colts. Vikings-Saints. Everyone knows the story lines. No need for me to rehash the same babble you have heard on ESPN all week. Lets get right in to my predictions, which are worthless in the playoffs, but hey why not try?

New Orleans 31, Minnesota 24

To the city of New Orleans: Say hello to the city of Miami

The impressive run by the Minnesota Favres is over. Drew Brees and the amped up Louisiana Superdome crowd take down the purple people. Playing on the road in the dome is like a snow man in a sauna - it's very torturous and usually not fun.

Adrian Peterson has been having a pretty quiet season, although he is still a game changer and arguably the best running back in the NFL. Brett Favre has had an incredibly successful season at the age of 40. It truly is something we may never see again. someone at his age playing the game with as much energy and enthusiasm and playing as well as he is. However, I think the run ends here for the Vikings.

Assuming the Saints O-Line, which has two pro-bowlers on the right side in Evans and Stinchcomb, can protect Brees and allow him the time he needs to make plays, the Saints win this one. Believe me, I went back and forth with this game deciding who I thought would win. Drew Brees said that when he came to New Orleans, it was a "life defining moment". Maybe I believe in destiny too much. Maybe I'm a sucker for fairy tale endings. Either way I believe that the Saints take this one, and lead this very deserving city to their first Superbowl appearance ever. Home field advantage doesn't hurt either.

Indianapolis 24, New York 20

Sorry Rex, but this is where it comes to an end. A rookie head coach, a rookie quarterback, and an appearance in the AFC championship game isn't so bad though.

Either way, a rookie head coach will represent the AFC in the Superbowl, be it Caldwell or Ryan. The difference?

Peyton Manning is the best player in the game right now, bar none. Revis vs. Wayne is going to be an interesting match-up. Joey Galloway said on Sportsnation earlier this week that Wayne would score twice. I don't see that happening with Revis on him. Dallas Clark is going to be hard to cover though. Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie have become legitimate factors as well. Don't worry Colts fans, Peyton is going to get his. He will find his receivers and make the plays necessary. Telling stat? Peyton has been sacked ten times all year. This O-Line protects him no matter what. Rex will have some crafty defensive schemes I'm sure, but if one players in the NFL can figure out a defense, who better than Peyton?

The Jets can run the ball though, and they do it very well. The key for the Colts is shutting down the Jets running game and putting the game on Sanchez' shoulders. The Colts have the ultimate "bend but don't break" defense. I expect the Jets to have their fair share of big plays and runs, but when it matters, the Colts defense has consistently come through.

I think Trey Wingo put it best when he tweeted "it never ceases to amaze me how many people give the colts no respect. they've tried to win 15 games this season...and won.....15"

That's it for me, folks. I'm about to hit up my XBOX. No work tomorrow, thankfully. I get to watch both championship games and both should be great games. But with the way the playoffs and my predictions are going, who knows!

Gonna miss you Conan! (I had to get him a shout-out)

Hasta la vista, world.

And I thought I had a clue..

After going 1-3 last week in my Wild Card predictions, I have to redeem myself this week. A very strange weekend of NFL action though. A 51-45 shootout ends on a defensive play. The New England Tom Bradys lose at home in the first round of the playoffs. The Cowboys smack the Eagles for the second time in six days, and along the way win their first playoff game in 14 years. Coach of the Year Marvin Lewis and the Bengals lose at home to the New York Jets, who as of two weeks ago, were 'done' according to Rex Ryan. I'll try to counter all of the unexpected and wacky story lines this week, so here we go..

Arizona 38, New Orleans 28

The Cardinals are soaring after an exciting overtime win against the Packers last week. The Saints aren't exactly marching as they ended the regular season losing three straight, and they looked completely out of sync on offense. Both offenses cancel each other out as nearly both can score at will. On defense, safeties Adrian Wilson for Arizona and Darren Sharper for New Orleans cancel each other out as they will start along side each other in the 2010 Pro Bowl. So what decides this game? The X factor to me is the running game. Whichever team can get the running game going first is going to have the upper hand. Its hard enough to stop Kurt Warner or Drew Brees. Now imagine is Beanie Wells or Pierre Thomas get hot. Then you have to stack that extra defender in the box rather than in the secondary, opening up the skies for either QB. This Arizona team is reminding me of last years team. They were always the underdogs, never got the respect they deserved and you know what? They took care of business each week in the playoffs and were two minutes and thirty seconds away from defeating Pittsburgh in the Superbowl. Don't count this determined Cardinals team out.

Indianapolis 23, Baltimore 19

Anytime you have # 18 on your side, you are in a position to win. Four time MVP award winning Manning and the Colts have had some time off to rest and prepare for this week, and my guess would be that they used it to their advantage. Manning studies film almost religously, so he will be more than prepared for this stingy Ravens D who I underestimated last week. Ray Rice is proving each week how talented he is, but I don't think he alone is enough for the Ravens to walk in to Indinapolis and upset the Colts. If Joe Flacco plays anything like he played last week (4-10, 34 yards, 1 INT) this game is going to be over early. The Colts are the definition of a "bend but don't break" defense and have come up big time and time again when the game was on the line. Peyton and the passing attack are going to be hard to stop. It would be impressive to see the Ravens defeat Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in back to back weeks on the road in the playoffs though.

More predictions to come tomorrow. Today is a busy day for me. I'm going to go play Madden 10 and try to turn around an awful team in franchise mode and most likely fail. Aloha, world.

Alabama vs. Texas will be closer than you think

Nick Saban was right when he accused the media of always trying to create a David vs. Goliath match-up for any big game in sports. If you watch ESPN or pay attention to any other news source, 90% of "experts" are taking Alabama in this game and are not giving the Texas Longhorns much of a shot.

Alabama is a great team. Alabama has a great defense. Alabama has Julio Jones, one of the best wide recievers in the country. Alabama has Nick Saban, who has already won a national championship at LSU. Alabama also has the 2009 Heisman winner in Mark Ingram. You have heard this all before, and any average fool could tell you how great Alabama is.

Did we forget about Texas though? Texas has Colt McCoy, who is tied for the most wins as a starting QB in college football history with 45 wins. At receiver, Jordan Shipley is one of the most explosive players in the country. On defense, Earl Thomas could be the best safety in the nation not named Eric Berry.

A big reason people are down on Texas is because this was considered a 'down year' for the Big 12 conference as Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech all had less success than they did a year ago, and somehow Texas gets faulted for playing 'weaker' competition. The fact that the Longhorns needed a last second field goal against Nebraska in the Big 12 championship has people wondering if they really are as good as their 13-0 record indicates.

13-0 is 13-0, I don't care what you say. Especially when its against solid competition.

Alabama played their best game of the year against Florida, no doubt. Texas didn't win nearly as convincingly against Nebraska, but when Ndomakung Suh has 4.5 sacks against you, you aren't exactly going to blow the other team out.

On ESPNs online polls, 49 out of 50 states favored Alabama in this game. The lone state that chose the Longhorns? Texas. No surprise their, but I was surprised at the 49-1 ratio.

My point? Don't write Texas off so soon. Mack Brown knows what hes doing, and this team is going to be motivated. Remember what happened last time Texas was the underdog in the National Championship? Let me just say: Vince Young.

I'm gong with the upset, Texas wins 27-23.

No clear cut favorite for the Superbowl

Each year in the NFL playoffs, it seems like there is a clear cut favorite in both conferences to make an appearance in the Superbowl. This year? Not so much.

Seedings are..

AFC
1. Indianapolis 14-2
2. San Diego Chargers 13-3
3. New England 10-6
4. Cincinnati 10-6
5. New York 9-7
6. Baltimore 9-7

NFC
1. New Orleans 13-3
2. Minnesota 12-4
3. Green Bay 11-5
4. Dallas 11-5
5. Philadelphia 11-5
6. Arizona 10-6

Three of the four wild card matchups this weekend are repeats of last weeks games, with two of those three repeats being at the same venue. As always with wild-card weekend, most games can go either way. Then again, games can go either way any weekend..

Anyways, here are my predictions for this weekends games..

Cincinnati 19, New York 13

If you asked anyone (including Rex Ryan) just two weeks ago if the Jets would be in the playoffs, the answer would be no.

Its been a great first year for Rex Ryan in New York as he has turned the Jets defense in to one of the NFLs best, but it ends in Cincy today. Usually the formula for winning in the NFL is running the ball and stopping the run, but not today. Cincy will get back on track despite being smashed by the Jets six days ago in New York by a score of 37-0. Chad OchoCinco will produce better than most expect and Cincy will win their first playoff game since the Big Bang (at least it feels that way)

Dallas 27, Philadelphia 24

Is it possible that Dallas finishes the season with back to back defensive shutouts and loses in the first round again? Oh its possible, but I think this Dallas team is different from recent years past. Tony Romo has really become an effective leader on that Dallas team and I think McNabb is past his prime. If Dallas doesn't win this though, Wade Philips is as good as gone come Monday.

New England 31, Baltimore 14

Losing Wes Welker is going to hurt this New England offense more than people think. Tom Brady always comes up big in January and will keep the chains moving for the Pats. Randy Moss needs to step up for New England. Get ready to watch Wes Welkers apprecntice in the slot: Julian Edelman.

Baltimore has a great running game behind Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and Leron McClain, but the passing game is mediocre at best. That defensive unit still has great leaders in Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Haloti Ngata, but the loss of Rex Ryan has showed as that defense just isn't as intimidating. Baltimore for some reason isn't the same team that was one game away from the Superbowl a year ago and will be headed back to Maryland after this game.

Green Bay 24, Arizona 23

Arizona got completely whacked by the Packers last week, but this week will be much closer.

Kurt Warner is one of the best passers in the league still and Aaron Rodgers is quickly becoming one of the leagues best QB's. If I was a Pack fan, I wouldn't be complaining about losing Favre to start Rodgers. Heres irony for you: Which two starting QB's have thrown the least amount of interceptions this season? Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre both with 7.