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The biggest drag of having to wait two weeks between the conclusion of the AFC and NFC Championship games and the kickoff to the Super Bowl is that we are forced to endure a fortnight of tired coverage that simply wants us to get to the god damn game already. This year, the first week was largely dedicated to all of the (pun not originally intended, but I won't change it) overblown controversy surrounding balls in the AFC title game being allegedly deflated by the Patriots. Keeping in mind that New England won this game by a final score of 45-7, it is fairly ridiculous for some people to have screamed as loudly as they did about the damage this revelation caused. For most level-headed sports fans, it was another disappointing example of how one team will look for any edge it can find, but it wasn't exactly the 1919 White Sox here.
Our second week of Super Bowl coverage devoted entirely too much time to Marshawn Lynch's antics in dealing with the media. Again, a tired and essentially boring non-story, but some members of the thousands-plus credentialed media members want us to believe that we should be outraged. Sorry. Don't care. Get to the football.
When this game finally does kick off, it looks like we'll be in store for another good one. Much like last year's big game, I really could find myself satisfied with either one of these teams emerging victorious. I'm hoping for one major difference from last year though in that this year's Super Bowl will actually be a much closer game. Seeing as predictions tracked at Pickwatch currently have an even 50/50 split, I think it's a reasonable expectation. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Just as soon as I remove my fingers from my ears.
According to handy Pickwatch chart, I was one of only nine observers to correctly predict all four playoff game outcomes last weekend. Additionally, the two winners and two losers in the AFC matched my pre-season predictions—although in different matchups. So we end up with a championship round in which three of the four teams I had being here are still alive, and the one I didn't pick is probably the team I'm leaning most heavily toward winning the Super Bowl next month.
Once again, the biggest story to come out of last week was another controversial call. And maybe because I'm a Bears fan who remembered that infamous Calvin Johnson catch that wasn't in 2010, I immediately thought back to that terrible call as soon as I saw the Dez Bryant play this past weekend. Thus, it couldn't have been less surprising when referees made the correct call as far as the dumb rule is written. Of course, the outrage in the Lions-Bears opener was nowhere near what it was in the Twitterverse following a critical play late in an NFL playoff game. So maybe this off-season, the league will actually do something about the rule. But I'm not holding my breath.
I will cross my fingers and hope that we can get through these final three games without any more officiating concerns dominating the discussion afterward. That would be nice since there seems to be good reason to believe that we could get some fairly entertaining contests to conclude this season.
I was right on there only being one road team victory last week, but I just picked the wrong road team to pull off an upset. For a good while there last Sunday, it certainly appeared that the Lions were going to make me look good (figuratively speaking, of course), but then a mysterious flag-that-wasn't ended up being the most discussed aspect of the weekend. Nice job, NFL.
So two right, two wrong for me in the first week of the playoffs. A lot of other observers certainly did a lot better. But if I want to feel somewhat better about myself, I'd point out that I had all four of the AFC teams playing this weekend being active in this round in my pre-season predictions. Yes, completely different matchups, but let me enjoy the sunshine where I can find it please.
It once again appears that all the home teams this weekend are overwhelming favorites, but we know that there's bound to be at least one underdog that leaves us stunned. Maybe it won't have to be the result of some very questionable officiating.
Watching the inaugural college football playoff games on New Year's Day, I briefly regretted not posting my predictions here for those contests. Of course, I really haven't dedicated any space on this blog to collegiate athletics. And really, I haven't dedicated much space here to anything in recent months. Babies will do that, I suppose.
Still, with the NFL playoffs beginning this weekend, it's as good a time as any to look back on my predictions from the beginning of the year. As has so often been the story, I was right on a few, and wrong on many more. My pick for Super Bowl winner this year indeed made the playoffs, but my predicted big game loser did not. I had no divisions this season in which I got all four finishes correct. So on, so forth.
I don't really know how much of the playoffs I'll actually be able to watch, but I will say that very early on in the young daughter's life, it has seemed as though she's perhaps more spellbound by football than any other sport I've had on in the bedroom while holding her. Maybe it's the uniforms, the maybe it's the bright colors. Maybe it was just all a matter of timing (I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that hockey ultimately appeals most to her). I'll probably be getting a few more chances to test the football theory over the next month though.
I wasn't right about much this NFL season, and I'm not terribly optimistic about how I'll fare in predicting games over the next few weeks either. I'll flat out admit that I could really pick any of the eight teams playing this weekend to win, and I won't be the least bit surprised if I get all four of the following predictions wrong.
Nonetheless, here's a few guesses just to humor myself. I suppose.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know it's been a while, but yes, the baby's doing fine. And so is the wife. Fatherhood's a total joy, of course. Rest of the family? Well, that's another—
What's that? Football picks? Oh, right.
What with all the time I've dedicated to preparing for fantasy football over these past few months (i.e. mock drafts killing my cell phone battery), I've kind of forgotten how this whole "blogging" thing works. (Rest assured, there won't be any blogging about said fantasy football team this year ... or any fantasy team ... ever again, I assume.)
If I remember correctly, this is the time of year in which I submit my annual supposedly thoughtful stabs at where each team is going to finish and how the postseason will play out. Of course, I've admitted in recent years that I have no idea on occasion and just want to crank out some total guesses. However, I should point out that I did get six of the eight division winners right last year, in addition to correctly identifying the Super Bowl loser.
So, you know, hooray me.
I'm thinking this year will fall somewhere in between those two extremes. I'm guessing that once again, my AFC predictions will be very similar to what's already being commonly predicted, and then I'll take a chance or two in the NFC. Maybe. I don't know yet. I really am just winging it here.
I'm typing this on lunch breaks at work, so this will be anything but expanded thoughts. Probably no more than a couple sentences for each division and maybe one statement at the end for the ultimate predicted big winner (which I honestly have not yet decided).
I would spend more time on this if we had internet access at our current home in lovely Waller, Texas, but alas, we're still waiting for that sort of technology to be established. Trust me, I've brought the issue up multiple times, and the wife, to her credit has been even more vocal than I. The entire problem is, of course, entirely the fault of—oh, right.
I'll stick to the football.
