Everybody asks that of their friends and most people have a ready answer. The Patriots have alot of newly minted fans (the same sort of people who suddenly discovered they were Duke fans when Coach K came to town). Giants fans have been there all along, but mostly quiet since Bill Parcells left town.
The rest of us?
Cowboys fans (and I've been one for years) have been too busy trying to find enough tabasco sauce to cover the taste of crow to worry about picking a Super Bowl favorite. There doesn't seem to be the kind of bad feeling against the Giants we reserve for the Redskins and Eagles. As for the Patriots, I doubt most of us felt a rivalry with the Belicheckians since nobody in the league is really in New England's league.
Do you have to pull for a team to enjoy watching the game?
A resounding yes. We all say we like football, but without a team to pull for the air goes out of the balloon. The game goes from grand passion to lab experiment. If you're like me you always find a team to pull for, even if it's Detroit versus Arizona. If we're going to throw away three perfectly good hours of our lives, it needs to be for an event we are emotionally invested in.
New England or New York? Do I have to choose?
Which coach do I like better? Mussolini or Stalin, I mean Coughlin or Belichick? That is a true draw. One is an arrogant so and so, the other just down right mean. Call it even.
Quarterback. This should be easy. Eli Manning, all-American boy versus Tom Brady, the guy we all hated in high school for dating all the girls who were out of our league. But Manning had to go and grow that junior league porn star mustache. What is he hiding? I look at Eli Manning's future and see poor Payton giving him a priceless pep talk in a Mexican jail. A draw.
The Randy Moss factor. This tips in favor of the team that doesn't have Randy Moss on their roster. I'm sure it's been said before, but why don't the Giants just issue a sideline pass to the woman who has the restraining order against him and have her stand in the end zone? Of course, all that would do is ensure that Welker gets four TD catches. Edge-Giants.
Brandon Jacobs. I am so sick of seeing him throwing footballs in the end zone after he scores. What I want to see is the Patriots stop Jacobs at the one and throw him head first into the Giants logo on the end zone wall. Advantage New England.
Jeff Feagles. When he was young and Ben Franklin was shagging punts for him after school, Feagles never thought he'd be in the Super Bowl. Most likely he didn't think he'd live to be 250 years old and play every year since the inception of the NFL. OK, I may have one or two of the details wrong, but Feagles is old. Really, really old. I can relate to that. Score one for the Giants.
Cheating. The Patriots are the KGB of football, and Belichick their Vladimir Putin. Look at the Patriots roster. People keep disappearing. People who crossed Belichick. I have to admire and respect that. Seriously, I have to admire and respect that. Now maybe that van with Massachusetts plates that's been parked across the street the last three days will go away. Points go to the Patriots.
Helmets. The New York Giants logo is old school but very cool. The Patriots logo looks like the emblem of some sort of cult. (Ever wonder why Belichick wears that hood)? Advantage NYG.
Cities. They filmed parts of "Sex and the City" in New York. Tom Brady is doing the sequel in Boston. Score-Patriots.
Perfection. The Dolphins are the only team to run the table in the NFL. Undefeated and Super Bowl champions. And they did it with Earl Morral, whose crew cut was way cooler than the Tom Brady sheep dog look. If the Pats lose, the Dolphins win. Put a check by the Giants.
Heart Warming Human Interest Story. Rodney Harrison of the Patriots, who overcame a four game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs to make it to the big game. Think of it as a pharmacological version of "Rudy". Edge-New England.
Let's tally this up. Four for the Giants, four for New England, two draws. Right back where we started from.
You'll have to trust me on this. It was the greatest blog entry in the history of bloggery. What Brittany Spears is to bad parenting, this blog would have been to sports writing.
And now it's gone.
An account of the Cowboys Giants game that made Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade" read like an excerpt from "Clifford the Big Red Dog". Vanished. Consumed by cruel fate and technical difficulties on the FOX Sports website.
It wasn't just that the greatest masterpiece since Da Vinci was laying around wondering what to do with that empty space in the basilica was gone. It was the callous, even flip way they broke it to me when I clicked on "post to blog".
"Whoops. We are experiencing technical difficulties. Please check back."
OK, who says "Whoops"? We don't say whoops in blogging. We might say "bleep" or "blankety blank." Or "worthless no good blanker". But not "whoops". There's no whoops in blogging.
FOX. Put the helmet back on and get in the game. There are people working here. Crafting out little slices of life that future generations will gaze at in awe and wonderment (as in "aw bleep, I wonder why did anyone put that blankety blank on the web.") Call Terry Bradshaw in on overtime if you have to. Tell Howie Long you'll explain to him later how they make the robot dance. There are bigger things at stake.
The glitch must be stopped. The gremlins must not triumph.
It's bad enough that my entry vanished. What if it had been Lisa from USC? No Straight Talk From the Left Coast? I shudder to think of it. What if it had been Half Baked? (Well, it was sort of half baked). Or Carolyn T? What if this had been a blog essay of pictures of Brazilian supermodels? What if you had somehow managed to take out the entire Gerbil Sports Network?
Good grief, what if the FOX Funhouse had crashed?
Meanwhile, I leave you with this. My blog entry tonight would have made you laugh, would have made you cry, become a part of you. Reviewers would have written, "If you read only one blog entry this year, let it be this one." There was a description of Owens catching that 50 yard touchdown that people would be talking about for generations.
Now they'll never know.
Excuse me while I wipe away the tears, push "post to blog", and hope in the name of all that is bloggy that this uploads.
New Orleans Saints Reggie Bush: "Yeah, yeah, tell coach I'll be right there." (on cell) "Man, why can't we park the Hummer in front of the Subway in the ad? It's called cross promotion. You guys are supposed to be pros. Focus, man, focus."
Tampa Bay Bucaneers Coach Jon Gruden: "Boys, it's like I've always said, chicks dig a man with a visor."
New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick: "You've got to hold it steady or the image will blur."
New England Patriots Cheerleader (beginning to cry): "But I have to shake them, they're pom poms."
Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck: "Come on guys, yeah we're down 10. To ARIZONA. Just don't turn over the ball and we'll be fine."
Dallas WR Terrell Owens "Just get me the ball. I've got this bit where I wind a handle on a camera in the end zone. It's going to be great."
Dallas QB Tony Romo: "But won't they call a penalty on that?"
Dallas WR Terrell Owens "You're not listening. I'm in the end zone. I'm cranking a camera. What is it you don't understand. Three years watching and holding that clip board and you still don't know what this game is about, do you?"
Giants Coach Tom Coughlin: "Ah, but the strawberries! That's, that's where I had them. Barber laughed
at me and made jokes, but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, and with,
with geometric logic, that, that a duplicate key to the locker room icebox
did exist."
Atlanta Falcons QB Joey Harrington: "Oh yeah, well maybe you should have thought about that before your pal ended up headed for prison. And just for the record, I get timed with a stop watch like everyone else. I have never, never been timed with a sun dial."
Indianapolis QB Payton Manning: "Marvin, does it ever seem to you that the sun is shining on us and the crowds aren't even there. And it's so quiet that all you hear is the wind moving over the laces of the football as it perfectly spirals into your hands. It's like it's all in slow motion and no matter what they do you just look over at Coach Dungy and have this feeling of contentment like nothing bad is ever going to happen."
New York Giants QB Eli Manning: "And I kept telling him, I don't even eat strawberries. And he's got this glazed look in his eyes. Then he leaves and I finally get to sleep and have this dream where Brett Favre is pointing at me and laughing. And my dad is telling Favre that he has a son who plays QB named Payton. But he doesn't mention me. What do you think that means?"
Oakland Coach Monte Kiffin: "It's just lightining. There is not a thing to worry about. Now everybody hit the field. (team files out) JaMarcus. Over here. Look, you'd better stay in here until after the game."
Steelers RB Willie Parker: "So I tell him. Look, I'll be running for 120 yards a game in the pros long after they've forgotten the name John Bunting."
Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis: "Now let's get out there and play some defense."
One of our great national pastimes is second guessing quarterbacks. Good isn't good enough, and there is no approved learning curve. Which is why we spent the off season wondering if Tony Romo was for real and debating what sort of leader Eli Manning is.
Let's start with Manning. With no apologies to Tiki Barber (note-Tabasco Sauce is good for masking the taste of shoe leather) there should be no question after last night's 45-35 shootout loss to Dallas as to the content of Manning's on field character.
The bottom line-4 touchdowns, 1 interception, 312 yards on 28 of 41.
Time and again Manning rallied the Giants against a defense which knew he had to pass. With running back Brandon Jacobs on the sidelines, Manning burned the name of Plexico Burress into the memory of the Dallas secondary with strike after strike. If Sam Hurd hadn't turned a routine play into a 51 yard touchdown he might have brought the Giants back.
Against a Wade Phillips defense which was supposed to strike fear in NFC East hearts Manning looked as calm as a man reading the paper waiting for a bus to show up. No happy feet in the pocket, no locking in on a single receiver, no forced throws. Even granting that the Cowboy defense didn't show up it was impressive.
Romo came into the game with questions as to whether he was the All-Pro from early last season, or the quarterback who consistently misfired down the stretch.
4 touchdowns, 1 interception, 345 yards on 15 of 24.
More importantly, if you discard the last clock killing drive, Romo lead Dallas to points on the board in seven of the ten times Dallas took the field, including six touchdowns. To Cowboy fans with memories of the Drew Bledsoe era, Romo's performance was a veritable feast.
Is Romo too small or too uncontrolled to lead an NFL offense? He didn't look to have any problem seeing the passing lanes last night. There was one interception, but you can mark that down to going to the well once too often over the middle after hitting Jason Witten repeatedly there. And on two occasions, one a touchdown run, he held the ball in situations where he might have thrown it a year ago.
What will be the reaction of doubters of Romo and Manning to last night's game?
There was no defense. There was no tackling. Let's see how they do against the Redskins defense.
Valid points. The Giants and Cowboys defenses seldom got pressure on the passer. The secondaries played the game of fox and hound all night, scurrying off to catch receivers who always seemed a step faster.
But these were NFL defenses, not the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Touchdowns are touchdowns, and if they hadn't converted scoring opportunities we would be writing blogs this morning about how the two young quarterbacks were over rated. The nature of the game.
Manning ended the night with a bruised shoulder after Cowboy rookie Anthony Spencer grabbed his jersey on an attempted sack. He should be OK and spare Giant fans any more appearances by Jared Lorenzen. And Season 4 should be a positive one for Manning.
As for Romo, the great expectations game is played with intensity in Dallas. What will linger with Cowboy fans is the offensive explosion and not the possibly season ending injury to nose tackle Jason Ferguson, the continued foot woes of Terence Newman, or the lack of a pass rush. If the Cowboy defense doesn't come together, more performances like last night's won't be just desirable but a necessity.
For this one day, however, none of it matters. Tony Romo and Eli Manning are now proven NFL starting quarterbacks and certified gun slingers.
This is why America loves the NFL. Unique among pro sports there are individual regular season games that have the urgency and intensity of playoff games. Today's 23-20 Cowboy win over the Giants was one of those great in season bouts.
Proof positive in the Meadowlands today that psychoanalysis of football teams is usually wrong. The New York media buried Manning, wrote off Plexico Burress, and consigned Tom Coughlin to the scrap heap all on the basis of alot of loose talk by Giant players. The Giants looked neither tentative nor beaten today. Don't write New York out of the wild card picture yet.
Parcells timing in cutting Vanderjagt made alot more sense after seeing Martin Gramatica nail the game winner. What Dallas now has is a reliable playoff level kicker, and the confidence to move the ball into position for field goals instead of having to press every drive to the end zone. Had Vanderjagt been the kicker Dallas likely would have been down 3 at the end instead of going for the win.
Eli Manning gave the Giants the game they needed from him. You can also argue that Tiki Barber's criticism of Plexico Burress resulted in a sharper performance than the ex-Steeler has given lately. But understand that if Eli Manning ever makes the Super Bowl he will still appear as distant emotionally from the game as he does now.
Dallas has mastered the art of the quick response. With a minute to go in the half Demarcus Ware stuffed Jacobs on 4th and 1 (and what were the Giants thinking running a slow developing play in that situation)? Marion Barber quickly broke into the Giants secondary and Gramatica sent Dallas into halftime with the lead in what was likely a 10 point turnaround. Then, after Manning drove New York to the tie, Tony Romo found Jason Whitten uncovered deep in Giants territory to set up the winning field goal. Call it luck, call it character, call it what you like. It is the stuff Super Bowl contenders are made of.
Tony Romo looks better at the end games than in the opening. That's good, but has Dallas scored first in any game Romo has started? Romo is not fast, but he is quick on his feet in the pocket. Watch the replay of the pass to Whitten and you'll see a play Drew Bledsoe would have been sacked on.
Kiwaunuka is going to be OK for the Giants, although you figure the logical progression after this week's fumble after an interception and last week's non-sack is to recover a fumble and run it the wrong way into the Giants own end zone. Don't lose sight of the fact that in both cases he was making a play. Not a bad quality for a defensive end.
Terrell Owens is catching more passes but still doesn't look right. He appears to be shying away from contact both before and after the catch. Right now he isn't even the most effective weapon the Cowboys possess. That title likely belongs to Marion Barber or Jason Whitten.
Finally, it was good to see the Giants bring in an older, wiser head to settle down young Jeff Feagles. At 40 he doesn't have the experience that Sean Landetta (44) has acquired and may be able to settle down the youngster.
OK, I wasn't around on the original "black Friday". Stock brokers in the NYC jumping out windows, scribbed suicide notes on the back of worthless bonds, abject dispair. But New York has put on a similar display this weekend involving the New York Giants. Fans jumping ship, talk radio guys saying the end is at hand, players criticizing Coach Tom Coughlin.
Now I grant you that the 24-21 fall the New York Football Giants, as they were once called, took against the Tennessee Titans was fast enough to cause nosebleeds and compressed vertebrae. Losing a three touchdown lead in the fourth quarter may have side affects that include listlessness, loss of interest in normal activities (like playing football), and depression. But, here is the worst part. All these symptoms were present before the Giants touched down in 10-O-C.
To a southerner, at a distance, New Yorkers can seem an exciteable lot. Consider this article that appeared in Saturday's New York Times "An Erratic Manning Puts Giants on Blue Alert":
Is the third year pro a has been already? Is this as good as it gets for Manning? Is a change at QB needed (oh yes, please bring on Jared Lorenzen, that will fix everything)? How big an impact crater will there be after the crash? New York wants to know.
Manning went into the game with 16 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. His completion percentage is up from 48% his rookie year to 58% this season, despite significant injuries to his receivers and to standout tackle Luke Petitgout. Just to repeat this for emphasis, Manning is just over half way through his third season. Tony Romo of the Cowboys has clipboards older than that.
Then there is Tiki Barber. When your name sounds like a rum drink the odds are you are neither philosopher or strategist. But there was Barber sounding off to the New York media about play calling after a 12 run/42 pass misfire against Jacksonville. Barber and tight end Jeremy Shockey have both taken time from their busy schedules this season to advise Coughlin through the media on the proper way to run an offense. All that was missing was Fred McMurray whisphering into Barber's ear that it wasn't really mutiny at all and that Captain Queeg Coughlin was going to sink the Giants ship.
Underpining it all is a fatalistic sense in Giants land that a lengthening shadow is forming in Texas and will soon darken the skys in Gotham. Darth Parcells has donned his helmet and the empire will soon be enslaved by the star boys. Tony Romo is Staubach with a quicker relase. The end is at hand. Doom, doom, doom!
In the middle of this madness you step back, unless you are the New
York media or apparently the Giants players themselves, and look at the
standings. If the Giants beat Dallas on Sunday (and they have once
already this season) they will be in a 7-5 tie with the Cowboys with
the tiebreaker advantage and 4 games to go. Three straight losses are not a positive sign, but the season is not over by a long shot. That is, unless the panic is so complete it causes a complete collapse.
This is where we find out alot about Coughlin, the coach, and Manning the quarterback. Coughlin has brooked minor mutiny throughout the season without resorting to the iron fist he was well known for earlier in his career. Now is not the time for kinder, gentler Coughlin. As for Manning, he will become a leader only by becoming a leader. It is time for him to make the Giants his team and to make sure Barber and Shockey are aware of his presence. No more Mr. Nice Manning.
As for the rest of us, the media included, it's time to sit back and watch. Don't predict the fall of Rome until at least the first fires by the Coliseum. Ceasar is not dead yet, but young Barber and Shockey have a lean and hungry look. This challenge had best be met soon, or the empire will have fallen before Manning the boy king can be crowned.
I've never played organized football. I don't know from first hand experience what motivates players. But I do have a finely tuned nonsense detector, and it went off when Michael Irvin said Giants running back Tiki Barber's plans to retire would make him a less effective leader.
Irvin, and most in the sports media, subscribe to the myth that football players are sheep. They walk upright, appear to speak and reason at a level similar to the rest of us, and make amazing split second decisions. But, sheep they must be if they require so many "leaders" from the coaching staff to veteran players just to get through a single game.
Irvin, whose reasoning ability didn't prevent him from showing up in court wearing a mink coat when on trial for cocaine possession, sees it like this. "If I am in the line of battle and Tiki comes to me and says, 'Come on,
give me what you have!' I'm going to look at him and say, 'Aww, shut
up. What are you talking about? You are quitting on us.' This stuff
will come out on the sideline."
Barber is not quitting on his team in mid-season. He isn't even taking plays off, as some star players have done. Set that aside. What makes Irvin think what players say to each other during games really makes a difference?
Imagine you are the center for the Giants. You're up against a nose tackle who has 40 pounds on you. He isn't just big, he's quick, he's mean, and he may be nuts. Between plays he keeps carrying on these conversations that sound like Hanibal Letchter on steroids. All night he's driven your neck back into your spinal column and moved around you like a Panzer division in 1939 going around French infantry. In the middle of the pain and panic, Tiki looks at you and says 'Come on, give me what you have!"
My immediate reaction would be, "Bleep you, make some plays and get us off the field before this maniac kills me." More likely, I'd just tune it out. It's part of the background noise of the game. Something your focus doesn't allow you to waste time on. Like crowd noise, screaming coaches, or how the cheerleaders look. Start paying attention to any of that and you're going to be tasting the turf on a regular basis.
Players yell stuff all the time. Listen to any NFL films production and you'll hear every cliche in the book. Usually the players yelling the most are not the sharpest tools in the shed. I'm sure some of it sinks in, some of it sets a mood, but if it's non-stop for 3 hours (and it appears to be) what effect does any of it have?
Tiki Barber is a leader because of what he does on the field. He is a leader because he can take an offense that is in a hole and get it out. Barber can change attitudes and effort by results and by overcoming his opponents. None of which has anything to do with Michael Irvin's understanding of leadership, and none of which is affected by his team knowing he plans to retire at the end of the season.
Football is a game of emotion and attitudes. Coaches put alot of time and effort into communicating with players. But I'm guessing the communication that deals with basic needs, like the need to remain employed, or the need to feel good about how you're playing, trumps the inspirational speeches hands down. That's the communication that goes on in practice, not on the field.
Even Michael Irvin was a leader. Not when he was running his mouth like an outboard motor, but when he was making catches in traffic and changing momentum. Take away that ability to make catches, take away the game changing plays, and nobody would have listened. Just like nobody should be listening to him now.
Yesterday Redskins coach Joe Gibbs criticized linebacker LaVar Arrington for discussing his status with the team, saying "Right now, for anybody in this organization - I would hope in the
entire town - to be focused on anything other than Philly would be
ridiculous." Today Gibbs continued on that theme, accusing President George Bush of Texas of being a Dallas Cowboys sympathizer and demanding that the full resources of the Federal government be placed at the team's disposal.
In response, Bush denied any loyalty to the Cowboys and ordered attacks on three key locations in Philadelphia. Before dawn this morning, four F-15 Strike Eagles operating out of Langley Air Force Base dropped laser guided munitions on key targets in Philadelphia and nearby Camden, New Jersey. As explosions lit the night sky and shook the City of Brotherly Love awake, reports began to filter in of damage to Eagles practice facilities, a ticket office, and "Shaky Pete's Screaming Eagle Tavern" on Walnut Street. There are unconfirmed reports of periscopes in the Delaware River and reportedly the USS Olympia, a historic vessel located at Penn's Landing, is badly damaged and down by the bow in what appears to be a senseless attempt by the Navy to join in the action.
Around Washington, the National Institutes of Health announced that they have suspended all research on the avian flu virus and will, instead, focus on finding a cure for turf toe. The Veteran's administration has ordered it's doctors to concentrate on developing a knee brace to enable Mark Brunell to play in this weekend's game. All Federal government activities have been suspended to allow for a million government workers march and pep rally at the Lincoln Memorial. And, the National Council of Churches has announced an inter-faith "Redskins Victory" prayer vigil at the National Cathedral. Congress is in emergency session, working on a bi-partisan bill that would result in the deportation of Eagles middle linebacker Jerimiah Trotter and an extension to the amount of time that punter Sean Landetta can be held under the Alien Sedition Act.
Eagles coach Andy Reid today filed a protest with the NFL over "intimidation" by Black Hawk helicopters which followed the team bus to it's alternate practice field. One chopper, commanded by Lt. Colonel Sonny Kilmer of the District Air National Guard, reportedly disrupted filming of the Eagles Cheerleaders DVD Lingerie Calendar by firing 16 "Hellfire" missles above their heads. "Our rules of engagement are clear", Kilmer said, "we closed to as low as 15 feet off the ground but we couldn't be sure they weren't concealing weapons so we dispersed them."
CIA analysts believe the Eagles may be installing gadget plays for the critical matchup with the Redskins. SR-71 spy planes, flying out of bases in the Pacific, have photographed activity that analysts believe may suggest Philadelphia is engaged in clandestine preparations. This cannot be confirmed until satellites pass over Philadelphia again sometime later tonight.
Vice-President #### Cheney is returning to Washington from an undisclosed location somewhere near a Residence Inn in Billings, Montana and President Bush has asked for Washington DC citizens to remain calm during this crisis. Coach Gibbs said today he is, "mildly pleased" at the government's early first steps.
This year's playoff teams are alot like the big Kentucky Derby fields at Churchill Downs. There are a few picks that will get alot of attention, some solid entrees worth looking at, a couple of longshots, and alot of horses with no business in the race. After careful review of the NFL team stats, here's how I handicap the field of 14 (allowing for all teams still in contention for a playoff spot):
CLASS OF THE FIELD
Denver Broncos Conventional wisdom says the Colts, but in an environment that magnifies mistakes the Broncos don't make them. Key stat lines- +18 giveaway/takeaway margin, only 28 sacks and interceptions combined (tied with Indianapolis), and 17 pass plays of 40 or more yards.
Seatlle Seahawks Other than a lack of playoff experience it's hard to find a flaw in the Seahawks. Key stat line-28 rushing touchdowns. Cause for concern-only 17 field goals and a 70.8% average.
Indianapolis Colts Not a horse to bet on, despite being the early favorite. Hasn't been stretched out by competition. Key stat line-surprisingly only 13 plays from scrimmage longer than 20 yards. Gives up 300 yards per game on defense and a 66.8% pass completion percentage.
SOLID STARTERS
Pittsburgh Steelers Why not? Solid defense and field goal kicking can go far in the playoffs. I worry that they are too predictable on offense. Key stat lines-Runs the ball 58.8% of the time. Eighty-four yards per game rushing defense.
Cincinnati Bengals A ball hawking defense and potentially explosive offense. Gives up more yards and pass completions than I'd like to see, but the offensive line gives Palmer all kinds of time. Key stat line-31 interceptions. Reason to worry-61.4% pass completion percentage given up on defense. Can they get a Payton Manning off the field?
Carolina Panthers A one good receiver team in a league that demands two. I hesitate to place them this high, but their defense is this good and Jake Delhomme makes alot from a little. Key stat lines-Only 677 yards in penalties on offense, 23 passing TD's, and 12 receptions for 40 yards or more. Why worry? Only 3.2 yards a rush.
Overrated
New England Patriots Johnny Damon left town and so has the Pats mystique. Lots of weaknesses showing up all at once. Key stat- Minus 5 giveaway/takeaway. No team wins the Super Bowl with a negative in this category. More bad news-231.5 yards per game passing by their opponents. The Pats pass 57% of the time, which is a bad stat in the playoffs where most teams got there by putting strong pressure on the QB.
New York Giants Eli Manning will be a fine playoff quarterback, but not yet. Key stat-327.7 yards per game given up by the defense. The Giants won't get Manning on the field and with 17 interceptions a 4 interception day against a tough defense isn't out of the question.
Save Some Money For
Jacksonville Jaquars My insane long shot. Rock solid defense gets opponents off the field. Key stat line-65.6 average kickoff distance. It's an arcane stat, but when the playoffs come around field position is king. At no extra charge-Did you know the Jags only give up 31.9% of 3rd down conversions?
Dallas Cowboys Win one for the Tuna has a nice ring to it. A team with line play this bad shouldn't last past the first round (if they make the playoffs). But remember this key stat-The Cowboys ran 126 more plays from scrimmage than their opponents. A team with an uncanny knack for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
Sucker Bets
Kansas City Chiefs An offense that is hitting on all cylinders and a defense that couldn't drive a moped. The only stat you need to know-339.2 yards per game yielded on defense.
Washington Redskins With much respect due to Joe Gibbs, this isn't the Redskins year. Key stat lines- Gave up over 20 yards on 18 plays from scrimmage. Minus 4 giveaway/takeaway. Brunell will not give games away, but he also isn't who you want to see on the field down by more than a touchdown in the 3rd quarter.
Tampa Bay Bucaneers What do they do well? Not much. What do they do badly? Not much. Key stat line-Only 275.9 yards per game by opponents.
Chicago Bears An old fashioned Bears defense, and unfortunately an offense that recalls the glory days of Jack Concannon. Key stats-Opponents have run 38 more plays from scrimmage, 127 yards passing, 28 giveaways.
Summary-Look for the Broncos to take the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Forget about the Colts, look out for the Jags, and keep an eye on the Steelers and Bengals. The rest are pretenders.
