Blog Posts For Tag: Playoffs

The baseball playoffs have begun after the Detroit Tigers self destructed and let the Minnesota Twins win the AL Central. If anything, the very fact that the Tigers bombed so badly proves that there is a reason not to discount even the seemingly most ridiculous statistic, like the magic number in this case. The development also proves something else, that any team that has managed to make it to the MLB postseason has a very real shot if winning it all.

I am very excited to watch the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers play in the NBA Finals. I want to watch Kobe and LeBron do battle. I want to see if this is the season James is able to bring home a championship to the much maligned Cleveland sports scene or if Kobe is able to prove that he could win a title in tinsel town without the Big Diesel. The only problem is that I have to wait for two months of meaningless prologue to dispense before I get to see the seven game series.

The NFL tickets for the Divisional Playoffs have been set for a week and Las Vegas has set line for the games. The experts have weighed in and it looks like a clear sweep by the higher seeds. This does not make for much exciting football, but thankfully for all the odds that are set and all the games that are analyzed (and overanalyzed) there are still upsets every year. Anybody remember the Giants last season?

Saturday was awesome. I got to see two great, close games. I was hoping that Sunday could give me at least half the thrill. The story lines were not as great, but it was still postseason football. NFL playoff tickets may not have been near me because the Bears are awful, but I can still enjoy the excitement of playoffs in just about any sport. I did not enjoy Sunday even a fraction as much.

Peyton Manning continued his NFL MVP performance with a 25/42, 310 yard, 1 Touchdown game, but the Indianapolis Colts lost for the second postseason in row to the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers won 23-17 in overtime thanks to the legs of backup running back Darren Sproles and punter Mike Scifres.

The momentum and the history were on the Atlanta Falcons side before the first game of the playoffs started. The Falcons had won five of their last six and the Cardinals had not won a playoff game since 1947. I thought the only way the Falcons could lose this game was if Matt Ryan had a rookie meltdown. Well the Arizona Cardinals beat Falcons 30-24, Ryan had a game full of mistakes, and Arizona dominated the line on both side of the ball.

Who is going to win this first weekend of the NFL Playoffs? I think the Falcons will beat the Cardinals, the Colts will hold out and win over the Chargers, the Ravens will end the magical Dolphins turnaround, and the Eagles will put Vikings fans out of their misery. I have some good reasons too. I think Bill Simmons some pretty good ones too. I really do not feel like boring readers with my obvious reasons why. I do want to pose a question though, if you could create your own football team with parts from these eight teams what would your football Frankenstein look like?

The buzz for the next few weeks is going to be about the NFL Postseason. The pre-postseason, also known as the regular season, is over and the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos can relate. They have maverick quarterbacks (Tony Romo and Jay Cutler), susceptible defenses (Dallas gave up 365 points and Denver gave up 448), both have had problems with healthy running backs, and both played themselves out of the playoffs.

I think the theme for this past weekend in the NFL was momentum. Teams with playoffs on their minds had a lot to gain and to lose this weekend. Some teams cemented their place at the top and others went along playing their way out of the playoffs. In these final weeks I have continued to be surprised by which teams have ended up as the Super Bowl favorites.

This week the NFL front office must be happy. Week 15’s slate of games ended with winners that are going to keep fans watching as two divisions are still far from settled and the wild card competition grew even more desperate.