Life and Stuff

Apparently Peyton Manning had just one year at the top. I'll admit that Manning and company were hosed on a couple of terrible calls by the officials, but the truth is they just could put the Chargers away. When you allow a team to hang with you for the balance of the game, you're asking for trouble. Especially if it's a team that has already beaten you once before during the regular season. The bottom line is that the Colts lacked the ability to put the game away. Manning misfired, Addai didn't have the breakaway run that could have put the Colts way out in front, and the Colts defense backed down even when Rivers and Tomlinson left the game due to injury. In the end, the bolts were able to sneak out of Indianapolis with a victory that practically no one thought they could get, with a ticket punched to Foxborough and a date with the perfect Patriots next Sunday afternoon. With the loss by the Colts, the question now becomes what will happen to America's model NFL franchise now that they are no longer the NFL champions? Will Peyton Manning still be welcomed into that family's house to watch the big game on their Sony HD TV? Will the NFL finally realize that they made a huge mistake in giving the NFL defensive player of the year award to Bob Sanders after he was burned on a couple touchdowns? And most importantly, will Tony Dungy walk? Needless to say, it's going to be a very interesting offseason for the Colts. In other news, the Pats are still perfect, and Jessica Simpson is officially the most hated woman in Dallas. Onto the bullet points!

• I'm going to talk about the Patriots Jaguars game first, but let me first say this. You've got to give Packers running back Ryan Grant credit. If you fumble once, okay, if you fumble twice, God help you. In what looked like a surefire long day for Green Bay, the Pack was able to make the adjustment and overcome the Seahawks. Oh yes, Ryan Grant played a big part in it too.

• ESPN's Mike Ditka made a great point this past week in saying that 16-0 is a lot different that 19-0, and for the Patriots to truly be considered perfect, you've got to run the table. Another brilliant observation from da coach.

• The moment I realized that the Jaguars came to play was when on the first drive of the game, David Garrard hit Mercedes Lewis for a long pass on 4 and 1. The gutsy call later led to a touchdown. Why settle for less when you can get more?

• Credit the Jaguars for staying true to their identity. They ran the ball at will through the front of the Patriots defense and were able to exploit the weakness of the Patriots to stop the run.
  

• Lost in the shuffle of things, is the fact that Stephen Gotskowski missed a FG at the end of the half that could have potentially been a disaster for the Pats. Oh if they only paid an extra million for Vinatieri.

• Give Tom Brady an award for that fake to Wes Welker on the touchdown pass to Ben Watson. I'm a firm believer in the notion that you only have to fool one guy on the defense to get what you want out of a play, and that's what Tom Brady did.

• Imagine if Jaguars WR Dennis Northcutt actually caught that pass that slipped through his fingers near the Pats end zone in the third quarter. It would have tied the game and given the Jaguars a legitimate shot to pull off the upset.

• Instead, Tom Brady led the Patriots down the field for a touchdown after Jacksonville had to settle for a field goal. It just seems that every time you make a costly mistake, Tom Brady makes you pay for it. It's kind of like the government when you commit a crime.

• Another thing to admire about Brady is that he always finds a way to win like his idol Joe Montana. So what if the Jaguars took away his deep passing game by putting tight coverage on Randy Moss, Brady exercised the short game with Welker, and Lawrence Maroney was able to run right through the Jaguars front seven.

• What's amazing to me about Ryan Grant is he fumbled more times in the first 69 seconds of Saturday's game than he had all season. I guess he forgot to put on his fumble proof gloves.

• If you can only credit the Seahawks for one thing its that they were able to take advantage of the early turnovers and build a 14 point lead within the first few minutes of the game. However, I think the weather got to them and they were unable to stop the Packers after that.

• I'm almost certain that I wasn't the only one who initially thought the Packers were in for a long day. I can almost guarantee you that my Uncle Bob used a barrage of expletives directed towards Ryan Grant once he fumbled for the second time.

• Brett Favre never ceases to amaze me. How a man his age can be that quick and agile boggles the mind. The little shovel pass to Greg Jennings was Houdini-esque, don't you think?

• I feel bad for the Seahawks, it's not easy to find the green jerseys in a sea of white snow. Although it may not have helped that the Seahawks jerseys are white in color as well.

• The Pack had 235 rushing yards all together in this game, to the Seahawks 28. Sounds to me like one team is used to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.

• The Giants were able to set the tone early by scoring an early touchdown on a great couple of moves by the always quick Amani Toomer. Toomer has now passed Mr. Toughnes Mark Bavaro in post-season catches by a Giant.

• Oops of the week unfortunately goes to the Giants Tom Coughlin who challenged an obvious TD catch by Crybaby Owens and lost a time out in the process. As much as I hate TO, he's a great receiver and had the presence of mind to stay in bounds. It just wasn't a smart move by the coach.

• When the Cowboys control the clock and are able to get first downs, they usually win the game. Their scoring drive in the second quarter was a good example of that. However, their inability to control the clock in the second half cost them big time.

• If the Cowboys coaches honestly believe that Patrick Crayton has the best hands of any of the Cowboy receivers, then how come he dropped a pass over the middle that would have led to a sure touchdown if he would have just held on to it? Saying Patrick Crayton has the best hands is like saying new Coke was a good idea.

• Answer me this, was their a bigger f you statement this year than when my man Brandon Jacobs slammed the football into the play clock after he scored the go-ahead touchdown? That really showed the Cowboys and their fans.

• Oh boo hoo TO. You say that this loss hurts because your team was dedicated to winning that game? That's the biggest load of crap I've heard since that other genius Bill Simmons predicted that the Pats would murder the Jaguars 38-14 just because they've never lost at home in the post-season under Belichick. If the Cowboys were so dedicated to winning that game, then why did Tony Romo take a vacation to Mexico with his ditzy girlfriend the week before the most important game of the season? Some dedicated player he is, huh?

• Although I don't agree with 90%of what he says, I've got to give major props to Fox Sports Radio's JT the Brick, who last night compared Jessica Simpson to Yoko Ono. That hits the nail on the head, bravo JT! She already ruined Nick Lachey and she's ruining Tony Romo. Can someone please set her up with Ryan Seacrest so she can ruin him too?

• I guess both Marvin Harrison and the phony LT forgot to wear their fumble proof gloves too.

• What a model defensive player of the year Bob Sanders is for taunting Charger kicker Nate Kaeding after missing a field goal in the second quarter. Granted, Kaeding is one of the worst kickers in the league, but how stupid can you be? In case you were wondering, Sanders is this week's winner of the moron of the week award.

• The Colts should also be lucky that Antonio Cromartie's interception return for a touchdown was called back because the Chargers could have opened up a big lead.

• Billy Volek may not be the smartest QB in the NFL, but his touchdown plunge in the 4th quarter proved to be the difference and a gutsy call.

• What about that Nane kid? He caught less than 10 passes all season long but yet he rumbled for a big gain setting up the Volek score. I take it he was the first to crank up the Steam records in the locker room after the game if you know what I mean (They were the group that did that Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye song.)

• It's unlike Peyton Manning to blow two golden scoring opportunities within the last two minutes of the game. It's unfortunate that it had to happen, but Manning was the Manning of old.

• What a bad day for Dallas and people named Dallas. The Cowboys lose and Dallas Clark has a Manning pass go through his hands that would have prolonged the season for the Colts.

• Memo to Phillip Rivers, if you even think about taunting the Patriots fans the way you taunted the Colts fans, you're going to spend all next week in a body cast at Mass. General Hospital. I'd zip it if I were you.

• To be honest, if the Chargers beat the Patriots next week it will be just as big an upset as the Miracle on Ice. Especially if Tomlinson and Rivers can't go. A coaching matchup of Belichick and Turner is like a war battle matchup against General MacArthur and Colonel Klink. My point being, as long as the Pats avoid mental mistakes, they should punch their ticket to Glendale.

• The NFC Championship game should be a good one. Both teams are good in cold weather and will fight to the finish. In the end, I think the Packers home field advantage will win out and we'll have a rematch of Super Bowl 31.

• Will the Patriots continue their path to perfection? Will the Chargers pull off a major upset? Will Eli Manning prove that he is one heck of a road quarterback? Or will Brett Favre get another shot at football's biggest stage? For the answers, come back next week, same bat day, same bat blog.