Conference Championship wrap-ups

Wow, what a day yesterday.  Two good games, although the first game was overshadowed by the NFC Championship, which was quite simply epic in terms of the game itself.  On to the wrap-up!

NFC Championship

First off, I’d like to state that I sort of actually picked the Giants, even though I picked the Packers.  Reference my quote from my preview:

I would like to point out, that I have picked against the Giants in every single one of their playoff games, despite the fact that I like Eli Manning and that Giants RBs carried all three of my fantasy teams this season; I keep expecting them to implode.  But I actually want them to win, so I’m going to pick the Packers.

Since I had picked against the Giants, and they kept winning, I didn’t want to throw a jinx on them by picking them in the NFC Championship.  So Giants nation, you owe me one.  Beyond that, the NFC Championship was a fantastic game.  Any time a playoff game goes into overtime it makes me happy, and the fact that it ended with Tynes redeeming himself by making the longest field goal in Lambeau playoff history only solidified this as one of the best NFC Championship games in history.

Brett Favre displayed his class and poise as usual, in being the first person to congratulate Eli Manning on the win, he literally ran across the field to shake Eli’s hand.  I’ve never consumed the Eli Hateraede, so I hope that the young Manning takes Favre’s display of sportsmanship and class to heart.

Despite the fact that I’m a Red Sox fan, I’ve organically developed a soft spot for the Giants; which probably has a lot to do with the fact that I’ve had at least two Giants on every fantasy football team I’ve owned since 2004.  That’s a lot of Giants, so because I like my FF teams to win, I would end up rooting for the Giants.  I can’t bring myself to hate them like I hate the Yankees.

But don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to be cheering for them against the Patriots.  Soft spot or no, it’s certainly not something would get me to root against the Pats.

AFC Championship

Early on in this game, I thought the Chargers had a chance, I really did.  Then the 2nd half started, and the Patriots clamped down.  Actually, they looked like the Patriots from 2 or 3 seasons ago (in the second half) just smashing the Chargers defense in the face and destroying them with the run.  Fun stat – in the 4th quarter the Pats held the ball for 12 of the 15 minutes.

I think the Patriots’ O-line enjoyed getting down in the mucky-muck and playing a smashmouth football; near the end of the game they really seemed to be enjoying themselves, laughing in the huddle, and just having a good time knocking the Chargers around.

Also, did anyone else see Philip Rivers talking smack to the Patriots’ fans?  What the hell is wrong with that kid?  Did he miss the day of school where everyone else learned “sticks and stones and 250 linebackers may break my bones, but words from a drunk fan really shouldn’t get under my skin because I’m a damn professional athlete” (ed – I think the rhyme is a little different from that)?

I liked the game plan the Patriots had; they knew that they weren’t going to get anything downfield, so they just played dink-and-dunk for 4, 5, 6 yards and then ran the ball.  It was great.

Super Bowl

I will of course do a full Super Bowl post before the actual game, but I did want to comment on one thing – I don’t believe that the Patriots should be the 14 point favorites that they are.  The Giants played them tough, and should provide them with a lot better game than Vegas seems to be thinking.  I don’t think the Giants would win, but 14 points is a lot of points.  Pats win, 30-24.

1 Comment

  1. “I don’t believe that the Patriots should be the 14 point favorites that they are. The Giants played them tough, and should provide them with a lot better game than Vegas seems to be thinking.”

    Totally agree with you. The Giants DID play them tough in the Meadowlands (that’s the Giants’ home for those who don’t know it) and almost pulled out the upset there and then. Add the way the Giants play on the road–they’ve been great this year–and the fact that it’s the Super Bowl (almost always go with the underdog as things seem to be pretty conservative in this venue) plus the Giants defense will have two weeks to prepare…well, Big Blue could actually pull this one out.

    (I root for the Giants but actually thought the Lord Favre would bully his way through the Green Bay weather…go figure.)

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