ENCROTCHMENT, CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK, WITH EDDIE GOBBO OF SOMETHING IS WAITING

Rodger Dodgers

I’ve been thinking: the reason Aaron Rodgers is often labeled by sports media as the greatest of all time is the fact that he is essentially Tom Brady, also working magic without any weapons, but doesn’t have a Belichick.

If they advance to the Superbowl, this Green Bay Packer team will be the least talented team ever to advance to the Superbowl, excluding their QB. Their coaches and his receivers suck. They have no running back whatsoever. And their defense is old, dumb, and coordinated by a lack luster coach, once dubbed a genius. As far as D-Cordinator Dom Capers goes, his career can basically be summed up by the fact that he was the head coach of two expansion teams near their inception, the Carolina Panthers and the Houston Texans, and completely fucked off and lost both jobs in three years. Yet, he’s a coaching genius? It’s true that some coaches work better as coordinators, but I’m pretty sure Capers isn’t one of them at this point in his career. His defense was ranked 28th this year. That’s unacceptable of a playoff team. 

The silver lining in bringing at 28th ranked defense in to a playoff game this Sunday is that you’re playing the 24th ranked defense. So basically neither D is showing up, and it’s going to be a race to 40 for the win.

Although Rodgers is playing the best Football of his career, so is Matt Ryan, who will more likely than not be MVP of the league this year. I’ve never seen this Atlanta team as having any identity other than Ryan, and I think the team collectively realizes that this may be their only shot to make this work. There’s just two many uncertainties for whatever reason with this Falcons team. They were one of the worst teams in football last year, and now are on the verge of the Superbowl, with essentially the same personal? Figure that one out. That’d be like the Jets in the AFC Championship next year. 

Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shannahan has announced this week he will indeed be leaving the team after this season to take over the HC job of the 49ers. I hate when this happens prior to a big game. It’s a distraction, and also gives the team a sense of urgency that otherwise wouldn’t be there. It also subconsciously suggests that next year will be more of an uphill battle for the team, as apposed to a season where they can pick up where they left off upon losing.

We’ve dubbed Rodger’s the golden boy. Even as a Bear fan, I’d want nothing more than to see him play the real Golden Boy, Tom Brady in the Superbowl. I think it would be the stuff of legend. But with this game I’m betting more against the play of Green Bay than I am the play of the Falcons. Other than Rodgers having these amazing games, they’ve showed me nothing as a team. They are also beyond banged up, with several players, including their kicker and hero for last week, Mason Crosby, fighting injury bugs. 

The buck stops here for the Pack, and the Atlanta Falcons get their one, and only shot with Matt Ryan at the helm. 

Pick

It’s the year of the Bird. 

 

Video Doesn’t Necessarily Kill The Football Star

I’m not too stoked with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a team right now. They seem way to undisciplined to have gotten this far in the playoffs. They remind me of the Mighty Ducks in the first movie on their run. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Steelers, like the Ducks, practice by say running through a movie theatre, and clobbering people holding popcorn. 

Antonio Brown, who many rightfully so consider the best receiver in football, was the teams number one bonehead culprit this week, after he released a video of Mike Tomlin’s post game speech in the locker room. In football standards, this is the equivalent of a sex tape leaking. Since it truly was the first of its kind, I guess I’d have to compared it to the Pam Anderson/Tommy Lee video of the 90’s. The shocker of that video was Tommy’s penis size. In this one, all we got was Coach Mike Tomlin calling the Patriots assholes. 

Tomlin is right about one thing: The Pats have almost two days more rest than the Steelers have this week. This really shows a flaw in the playoff system. Either we should have both AFC teams play on the same day, OR we should have it where the top seeded teams plays on Saturday, rewarding them another break for winning during the regular season.

We know Donald Trump is pulling for New England. Owner Robert Kraft is so far up his ass, how can he not. Important thing to note: Donald Trump became the first President to reference specific members of a football organization during his pre-inogruation speech this week. 

Trump’s gonna be pissed if the Patriots lose, guys. I think he see’s the Patriots as the team everyone loves to hate, yet wins. And thus, he relates to them. He also probably levels with the fact that the NFL, or the “Powers that Be” if you will, stacked the deck against them early in the season with the Brady suspension, and they persevered. 

And props to New England for persevering all season, especially through injury and dealing with their best player not being able to grace the field. But I think this is where it ends. 

I’ve noticed that since the Pats lost Gronk, him not being on the field hasn’t played much of a factor. I’ve also noticed that Gronk’s replacement, TE Martelous Bennet, also hasn’t played much of a roll since the Gronk injury. This scares me. How can a team lose hands down their best receiver and not be affected by it. Could it be that they haven’t been challenged much since Gronk went down? Last 8 games they’ve played (all wins): 9ers, Jets, Rams (Three worst teams in Football), Ravens, Broncos (decent, but lacking on one side of the ball), Jets (again), and Dolphins (backup QB, already clinched playoffs, nothing to play for), and Texans (major issues in the playoffs). 

The Steelers are good, have the best QB in the AFC other than Brady, have the best receiver in Football, and have a top three running back. Their defense is decent. Slow, but they have a veteran presence. Their coaching blows next to New England’s, that’s for sure. That’s one thing that I think might carry them to a win. I also LOVE the fact for New England that OC Josh McDanniels assured the team he’d be coming back next season before this game. This will have the adverse affect on his team that Coach Mike Shannahan’s leaving with have on his team. 

It’s baffling to me that Tom Brady and Big Ben have only met once in a playoff game in their lives. They both started around the same time in the league and have been to a total of nine Superbowls collectively in the last fifteen years. How have these two not crossed paths more than once. We are blessed to get them once more, maybe for the last time, this weekend. 

I hate picking against New England, especially at home. I REALLY hate picking against them in a huge game. I also wasn’t impressed with the Steelers that much last week against KC, a game that literally came down to two plays, or for sure the week before against Miami. They’re a disorganized organization (you like that one…?). But I see collective talent winning out here. Minimally, I’m going Steelers plus the points. 

Pick

Pitt plus points for sure. Not straight up. 

Enjoy the games. We’ll see you next week for the Third Annual NF-FELD Awards. 

Let’s rage.