NFL Playoffs: Divisional Round Crap

Ofer. A word to describe the fact that  I was 0/4 with the teams I wanted to win this weekend in the NFL playoffs.   Dammit. Teams that shouldn't be in the next round are there due to some silly plays and even screwier decision making. Seattle goes stupid in the first half and then can't defend the field in the last 30 seconds. Unless you're a Falcon fan can you honestly say that Atlanta is better than Seattle? I don't believe so. The Broncos could and should have done the same thing the Falcons did but instead chose the chicken route and take a knee with 30 seconds left. I know Manning had not been at his best and the conditions were icy cold. Still, show some balls and try to win the game! How do you know you even get the ball back in overtime? That's at least as risky as trying to win it with less than a minute left.

    And can we agree that Payton Manning might be one of the greatest QBs of all time but that he's one of the worst big game QBs in playoff history?  His game wasn't the worst I've seen out of him but I've watched a lot of Payton Manning playoff games, and the same pattern crops up: He's hurried by a well prepared defense and he never gets into a groove, usually leading to him throwing interceptions or fumbling. It's like a broken record. Why did I become such a fan of his?  I should have gone to the dark side and become a Tom Brady fan.   ooh. Slap my face for saying that. That reminds me, the Patriots win was the most predictable of all. They'll be in the Super Bowl again even though you should give the Ravens a puncher's chance since they probably should have beaten them last year in the playoffs.  Still, ...do you trust Joe Flacco? Not me.

   Hopefully the Pats will end up against a team that can beat them. Maybe that's the 49ers. They've done it before. I would rather have seen the Packers have the chance to destroy Atlanta and then play New England but to be honest the Pack probably would have lost to the Patriots. The 49ers may lose as well but we'd at least have hope going into the big game. You won't get that if it's Atlanta in the Super Bowl.

    So a crappy weekend ends and I'm hoping for better results next week.  My hope: San Fran over Atlanta and Baltimore over New England. My prediction: The Pats and 49ers in the Super Bowl. That will give us a couple of weeks to discuss who is smarter, Bellichick or Harbough. Awesome.