January 23, 2012

The Power Of The Kibosh

We screamed at the TV, we called Brady stupid, we criticized the three and outs, we knew at half time that it should have been a seven point lead, and we held our collective breath when Gronk went down. But when it came down to the end and it was a game tying field goal on the way, we turned to Eli and the power of the Kibosh.

You need to understand that the Kibosh’s power goes back over a decade now. It’s not the type of thing you want to use every time your opponent is kicking a field goal, it will lose its power. But when you really need it to work, you summon the power.

So when the Ravens – having driven all the way from their 21 with less than two minutes to play – set up for a game tying field goal, Eli immediately went to the Kibosh. This of course was on the heals of Sterling Moore stripping the go ahead touchdown catch in the end zone. That play, I guarantee, will be underplayed because of what followed.

So there’s Eli, prone in the Kibosh (head down, not looking at the TV, forefinger, pinkie, and thumb all willing the football wide) and Cundiff lines up for a 32 yard chip shot. The kick is up, and it sails left. Some claim it was Myra Kraft sending a gust of wind from above, but I believe in the power of the Kibosh having seen it work so many times in the past.

Cundiff misses and is the loneliest man in Baltimore today.

We erupted in celebration as Da Guy leaped onto me and Eli and we just held him up. We were that excited.

See in 2008 (following the eff you 2007 regular season) we were cocky and knew the Super Bowl was a forgone conclusion. This year, we (at least I wasn’t) weren’t that confident. Yet somehow the team with “the worst defense ever” is heading to the Super Bowl.

We had to stay up pretty late to see against who (at least it felt that way after drinking during the Pats all afternoon) the Pats would face in the Super Bowl. Turns out it’s the Giants. Again. For all the David Tyree jokes we’ll hear for the next two weeks, I hope Belichick has the team focused on one thing. Revenge.

I like the old trophy better.

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January 19, 2012

Championship Weekend Picks

Wow…did you think when the season began that this would be happening?

I certainly didn’t. You guys know it. You saw my columns ripping the Patriots. So let’s get to it.

@New England (-7) vs Baltimore
Lots of folks are riding very high off last week’s crushing of the Broncos. I mean Brady throws six touchdowns the tight ends look unstoppable (till Hernandez got hit pretty hard) and the defense was able to hold the opponent to ten points.

OK, let’s get over that really quick. Baltimore is a much better team.

Personally I would coach this game like their first Super Bowl. You key on Ray Rice and take him out of the game completely. If they try to throw out of the backfield you pop him. If they try to rush (are you listening Brandon Spikes?) you stuff the holes and don’t let him in. You make Flacco beat you. Which means you’re putting a ton of pressure on your secondary, but everything I’ve seen says he’ll key on his target. That should help the secondary, right?

On the flip side you have the Patriots offense against a very good Ravens defense. Which has the same folks from last week that watched the Pats kill the Broncos saying, yeah the Ravens are good but they’re old. Well, like Ty Law said today, the Ravens defense knows that their window is closing. That means that they’re hungry for one more title. But I really think they’re going to have a hard time stopping the Pats offense. There are just too many weapons and they can’t double everyone. Personally I think a couple draw plays will really confuse the Ravens defense. Just saying.

So with a seven point favorite, how do I go? I’m taking the Ravens with that spread. Don’t get me wrong, I think the Patriots are totally going to win, but I think it’s going to be much closer than people think. I say the Pats are going to win by a field goal. 24-21. Here’s hoping I’m wrong and the Pats CRUSH them.

@San Francisco (-2.5) vs Giants

I can’t give you as much details on this one. The Giants are hitting their stride at the right time. Their playoffs really started in the last week of the regular season. So they knocked off the Cowboys, beat the Falcons, knocked off the Packers and now are heading to San Fran.

Sorry Giants but I really like the 49ers this week. Taking the Niners with the spread.

You have the possibility of a Super Bowl with the Pats against the Giants, revenge for the last Super Bowl they faced off. Ravens and Niners, brothers Harbaugh face off. Pats against Niners, Brady against his childhood team. So many possibilities. But I’m sticking with my Brady against his childhood team.

Back Monday to see if I’m right.

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January 19, 2012

Gronking

My friend Cheryl sent me this yesterday and I thought it was pretty funny so I had to share. Gronking at it’s finest.

Remember back to Daniel Graham, Ben Watson, and the countless cast offs from various teams that we had to suffer through before finally getting this guy and Hernandez? I do too.

Here’s hoping we see some more of these celebrations Sunday. I’ll be back tomorrow with my preview.

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January 18, 2012

The Demise Of A Franchise?

Tons of hype this week about the Pats AFC Championship game on Sunday against the Ravens. But there’s other news going on that I’d like to address.

By the headline you’re likely thinking this is a Celtics column. I mean they’ve lost five straight, Garnett can’t jump anymore, and now teams are inquiring on the availability of Paul Pierce. Of course if you saw the picture in your Facebook preview, you know it’s not.

Nope I want to take a moment and talk about the demise of our friends in Indianapolis.

Ah Peyton face.

A lot of people want to point to the Pats and say that if Brady went down the same thing would happen. Well the thing is, Brady did go down. When Brady went down the Pats still finished 11=5 (sure they missed the playoffs) and did it with a quarterback that hadn’t played competitive football since high school.

Meanwhile in Indy, they just capped off a 2-14 season. A record many didn’t think they’d be able to pull off as many predicted 0-16 when they were mired in their losing ways.

The day after the season ended the team fired vice chairman Bill Polian. Polian who basically built the Colts. With Polian being the vice chairman, his son Chris was the GM. Also fired after the season ended. Then yesterday the team finally fired head coach Jim Caldwell.

Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket. It was apparent that they were going to ride the Peyton train till it hit its last stop. Why else would they have a backup QB in Curtis Painter that sucked as bad as he did? Or is it a more likely case of Peyton being an egotistical asshole and not showing Painter anything. Peyton taking all the reps in practice and not helping at all? I’m more prone to the latter.

The team wasn’t this bad since Peyton’s rookie season when they finished 3-13. The worst they’d finished after that was a 6-10 season highlighted with one of the greatest coaching blowups ever. You remember.

For all that I said I won’t drink the Kool Aid from Foxboro, they’ve proved that one player isn’t the team. Here’s hoping that this effects the Colts for a long time.

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January 17, 2012

Four for Four, Almost

So I had a gig on Saturday night so I wasn’t glued to the home TV for the playoff games. I caught the beginning of the 49ers game but had to get up to my gig.

The gig had plenty of TVs so I was able to see the amazing finish to the 49ers game. I predicted it. I didn’t predict an amazing one handed catch that would be the difference maker. Although amazing, I thought Alex Smith’s naked bootleg was even more impressive. Niners win and I’m 1 for 1.

The venue was pretty smart about what time we went on. In fact I got most of the first half before we even played a note. I do have to say I’m getting sick of CBS not showing me the Gronk spikes. He’s a Pro Bowler, an All Pro, and arguably the best tight end playing the game right now, show him spiking the ball.

The Pats defense went on to hold the Broncos to 10 points which I think was the most impressive part of the game. With the Broncos going down early they were forced to try and pass. Having a QB that can’t can’t pass really hurt them. But even when they tried to rush it the Pats locked it down. Hopefully a good sign that they can slow down Ray Rice this coming weekend.

Ray Rice?

Yeah, I had another gig Sunday afternoon. So I caught the beginning of the game at home, listened a bit in the car, but missed most of the second half. However we did hit the stage as Houston was trying to tie the game. I caught the Ed Reed interception with about two minutes left as well as him preventing a pass as time expired. I also saw Reed limping off the field and having to be carried by teammates. Here’s hoping for the Pats sake, that the injury is serious and the ball hawking safety is out for the AFC Championship game.

Since Baltimore didn’t cover, this was my only miss. Sure I picked the winner, but the extra half point screwed my perfect weekend.

Then I watched as the Giants dominated the Packers. It was a pleasure to watch. Not that I actively root for a NY team, but they kept their previous match-up very close. Just like they did in the season finally against the Pats a few years ago. So close that when they met again we know what happened. Well, the same thing happened Sunday night. It was a pleasure to watch the Packers and the 15-1 cockiness go home one and done.

Finished the weekend three of four. Not too bad. You’ll have to wait till Friday to get my picks for next weekend.

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