I guess i shouldnt be surpised the way this weekend turned out, i mean with all the what i call meaningless stats against the Saints, what do you mean by meaningless stats you ask well the two i kept hearing were that they have never won a road playoff game (not saying that being on the road had nothing to do with the loss but still) and the other one was that no defending champs since the Pats have gotten out of the first round the year after they won the superbowl honestly i knew we were in for an upset only cause thats the way this season has been. No weekend has pasted without a pretty big uspet taking place, the only reason i didnt have an underdog pick for the wild card weekend was i thought that now that the playoffs were here every team that should win would do what they had to do win,, i must say though if i was forced last week to pick an upset that was gunna happen this weekend i would have picked the Seahawks, and i would have been a perfect 4-0 for the post season, BUT i really thought that the Saints were gunna be a dangerous team for anybody not just the Seahawks, but everytime the Saints scored (not including the first 17 points) the Seahawks came right back maybe not a touchdown right away but a big play right away to keeping the momentum on their side pretty much from the start of the 2nd quarter on. But all those big plays and touchdowns were made possible because the Saints defense really seemed to not play up to their potential, everytime i saw Hasselbeck go deep his receiver was wide open or had at least a step on who ever was covering him, not to mention the poor job tackling maybe it wasnt that bad all game but it was the worst when it counted the most, and we all know what play im talking about, thats right the "I'm a man" run that Lynch broke off in the 4th quarter that really put the seal on the Seahawks victory. Really the Saints defense had a chance to put the game in number 9's hands with roughly 3 minutes (maybe a little less or more who knows) and as i sat there and watched the game that is exactly what i thought would go down, i thought the Seahawks would get the ball the Saints would force em to punt and then Drew would get the ball back and do what he does best and lead his team down the field use all the clock and come home with the W...but we all know thats not what happened, the Saints defense forgot how to tackle and gave up what is one of the biggest runs in post season history, I'm not trying to take anything away from the Seahawks but the Saints defense really missed a lot of assignments which is why they ended up allowing 415 yards of total offense, 109 more then their season average and when that happens its hard to win ball games.
Now on to the AFC wildcard match up which went almost exactly how i thought it would go, Manning and the Colts just were not the same team this year as they have been in the past and it showed this year in the regular season as well as in the post season, like i said in my post before this the Jets just have to much talent on BOTH sides of the ball. Dont get me wrong im not sayin the Colts arent talented but like i said the Jets are much better on the defensive side of the ball and on the other side they run the ball well, and i feel like those are 2 huge reason why they came away with the W, another one would be that the Sanchize didnt have to do to much, as long as they have the ball and they control the clock and keep Manning off the field then they have a great shot at winning and i think Mark realized that, also i think Rex knew that he could stick to the run with the team they were playing and that they wouldnt have to rely on the Sanchize to play perfect for a win, it worked in this round only because the Colts have a poor run defense and they didnt force the Sanchize to win the game. I dont expect the Jets to be able to do this all post season which ill get to later.
Since i didnt see the Ravens game i dont have much to say other then i had a feeling their defense would show up big today i just didnt know that the Chiefs would not show up at all, seriously less than 200 yards of total offense, and it woulda been WAY less if not for Charles and that huge run that gave the Chiefs their only score of the game, Flacco had a great game 265 yards and 2 TD's Ray Rice had 99 yards of total offense and a TD, Heap showed up huge today for them no TD but 108 yards which was huge, and their defense showed up hufe like it always does, today even more so creating 5 turnovers and just shutting the Chiefs down.
That brings us to the last wild card game of the weekend, which was the Packers at Phily, i cant speak for anyone else and this might be a one sided view of things but once the game got underway i really felt like the Packers were in the drivers seat the whole game, they never had a huge lead which is scary against a team like Phily who can score in a heart beat, and i know Eagles fan is probably sitting there thinking if they would have made their field goals then they would have won this game BUT if your playing the IF game then what IF James Jones makes that catch what IF they dont fumble 4 times and lose it 2 of them, really you cant say what if in any football game cause either team has at least 2 or 3 what if's every game on either side of the ball. So with that out of the way, i really thought ever since i heard the Pack was playing the Eagles i really thought that our defense was a perfect match for Vick and i knew we would be able to contain Vick on the ground i was just scared that they might tourch our secondary for a few big touchdowns, but we did a nice job of coverage down field and a good job at stopping their big plays and keeping them at just big gains and not a touchdown, and did a good job keeping Vick from getting any big plays with his feet, kept the pressure on him which seemed to be his recipe for disaster all season. That as well as a huge game on the ground for James Starks which was huge for us, if im not mistaken i said look for a huge game on the ground for the Packers granted i thought Jackson would be the one starting. I knew they had Starks and i heard so many good things about him but they didnt start him the last couple games so i thought maybe he was injured but im glad they went with him obviously its great we have a run game i think it is really something that scares everyone else because A-rog is murderous without a run game now that he has some what a run game watch out NFC here come the PACK!!
So thats my recap on the wild card weeeknd i know that i covered a lot here as far as NFL goes but thats all i have been posting about lately so i am gunna go ahead and go with some NCAA hoops for a little bit. Tonight was the first time i got a chance to watch Duke without Kyrie Irving and if you read my earlier post you know how much i like Duke especially cause Kyrie obviously not only because of him but he really brings alot to the table for them, but like i said he is injured so tonight i got home in time to catch the second half of the Duke game and it just reminded me of why i like them so much, they play really smart basketball they are always making the hustle plays or the heads up plays they fight for every loose ball they crash the boards well, i know they are without Irving but they had a huge night from Singler who had a double double with 25 points 10 rebounds and 1 dime, Nolan Smith continued to step up in Irvings absence with 18 points 7 rebounds and 8 dimes, also Seth Curry had a great game off the bench with 12 points 1 rebound and steal, all that helped Duke to defeat Maryland in a good game, but i think Duke was just to much for them the terps played great defense all game on Smith but that ended up leavin Singler and Curry open, and Duke is the kind of team that doesnt panic if your shutting their leading scorer down they just move to there other optition they know if your all over one guy the other guy who your leaving open will gladly make his shots. I havent really been able to watch as much NCAA hoops as i would like but that is gunna change this week i will be all over every NCAA and NBA game i can get my eyes on so be ready for it to be like it was when i first started posting and that means lots and lots of posts and info from me to you!
Last but not least i wanted to weigh in on the NBA a lot has changed since i last really wrote a whole post on the NBA so i figured i get a few words in tonight and make a few more picks. Well where do i start there is so much going on in the NBA right now, Obivously you got the Magic and Heat both riding 9 game win streaks, i'll start with the Magic...I really like the trade they made it gave them a lot of offensive power, yeah they do lack another big down low they got Dwight Howard obviously a great defensive presence and also contributes on the other end, but if you ask me the trade made them better on one side of the ball i think it kinda made them a little worse on the other and while everything is going good now come the post season i think their lack of another big will really hurt them if they had some great defenders other then Dwight then maybe this wouldnt be such a big concern for me, i like what they are doing now but i dont think it will come this easy for them in the post season. As far as the Heat go thats a different story, yes i know they really lack a big at all i know they have big Z and Chris Bosh who has done a little better on the rebound side now that they are comfortable with eachother and know eachother a little better he understands he needs to play a little more of a big man roll when it comes to rebounding the ball, but im not as worried about the Heat because they have good on the ball defenders in James and Wade and the rest of the guys play a mean defense and i know earlier this season i said they wouldnt win a championship this year and i think i am gunna have to still stick with that statement even though they have won 21 of their last 22 games one of them againts the Lakers i still think they lack the size to compete with the Celtics to make it out of the East, now this isnt set in stone or anything but i think it will be the Heat and Celtics in the Eastern conference finals and i think the Celtics take it in 7. Speaking of the Lakers they have really turned it around as of late winning 6 of their last 7 and 2 of them are over quality teams, i look for the Lakers to continue to win and that brings me to my picks for the first 2 days of the week...MONDAY: I got Memphis over the Bobcats for the first game of the night, Boston over Houston, the Celtics have struggled as of late without KG obviously it was great they got Rondo back but KG is the heart and soul of that team they are good without him but they are GREAT with him, once he comes back i look for Boston to go on a huge run. As for the final game of the day i got the Bulls over the Pistons, another team i look to go on a huge run when they get back Noah from injury have him and Boozer down low and Rose i think they might be a sleeper come playoff time maybe its the Heat and the Bulls in the eastern finals. Now on to TUESDAY: I'll take the Hawks over the Bucks the Hawks ahve been playing good all year now that Joe's back especially, i'll take the Pacers over the Sixers in a close one, the Bulls over the Bobcats and i think the Bulls might start to put a nice little winning streak together themselves. I am gunna take the Celtics over the Kings to win 2 in a row and really start to get back into a groove and start to rip off those W's. Ill take the Pistons over Memphis as much as my hearts telling me to pick the Grizzlies i just have a feeling the Pistons are gunna take this one, I look for the Magic to extend there winning streak to 10 games with a win over the Hornets, the Spurs will get back on track with another win over the bucks, the only reason i say back on track is cause they havent been as consitant with the W's as of late but i think that will change i look for them to get hot again. I'll take the Thunder over the Rockets, without Yao the rockets just arent they good he really was a huge part of what they do and rightfully so he was great when he was on the court and i really hope he heals well and comes back and kills it next year. I'll take the Suns over the Nets, that is of course as long as the Nets dont get Carmelo between now and then. I am gunna take the Knicks to beat the Jazz only cause the Knicks have been falling a little short when they play talented teams but i look for Amare to have a huge game as well as Chandler and i think they edge out the Jazz on the road for a quality win. I am taking the Lakers over Golden State and last but not least i am taking the Heat over the Clippers, and those are my picks so far this year i have only made 23 picks total and have a records of 14-9 which isnt that bad but we will see how i am doing come wednesday.
Thats all i got for today i was gunna write about the BCS National Championship game but i think that i wrote enough for one night tomorrow i will get on in the morning or afternoon and post about the national championship game, but just so you know i am taking the Ducks to come up HUGE and upset Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers.
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