Octavian knows more (football) than you - update!

One thing I am glad about is that we don't have to hear about how great the Cowboys are from Joe Suck and Troooy......they're so great that they choked pretty bad.

mikoyan wrote:

Octavian wrote:

"the champs"...pfffft. Please. They were lucky to be in the playoffs last year and lucky to win that Superbowl. That earns them no respect for this year. Earning the 1 seed this year is worthy of some respect, but Plaxico shooting himself really hurts their chances.

I did overlook Philly though. They can do some damage.

-MMM

The Champs won the Super Bowl against the team that everyone had annointed to walk away with it all. In fact, the pundits were pretty much of the opinion that the Champs had no business being on the same field with the Annointed Ones.

And they were right. Giants got lucky to win the game. It happens in regular season games all the time. Last year it happened in the Superbowl. Good on them for taking advantage of the lucky breaks, but they don't win without the breaks.

How you can say they are flying under the radar as the number one seed and defending champs is beyond me. You must be a fan...or else something is blinding you.

If Philly meets the Giants, the Eagles will have their way with em.

-MMM

They made quite a few of those breaks in the Super Bowl though. Same with the playoff games they won to get to the Super Bowl. If they run their normal running game, they'll be tough to beat.

mikoyan wrote:

They made quite a few of those breaks in the Super Bowl though. Same with the playoff games they won to get to the Super Bowl.

That's exactly what I said...they made it through the playoffs and won the Superbowl because of lucky breaks that went their way. Thanks for agreeing with me.

So which AFC team do people think will win the big one?

-MMM

I think that the Colts have a serious shot of fuckng things up for the favorites in this post season. They'cve found ways to win games thye shouldhave lost all season long, and have a history of overachieving in the playoffs.

just going with my gut-- but yeah, the Colts.


How DARE you mock my Dolphins! I hope they win ugly all the way to the big show!


I thought that the Steelers were ringers-- until Big Ben got his bell rung.

Dolphins had the year they did by virtue of a crazy weak schedule and some luck of their own (one of the least injured teams in the league, for example). Neither are things one should expect to be consistent from year to year so enjoy the Fish while you can.

Steelers are too flawed to go to the Superbowl, IMO. No serious running game and the O-Line has Ben running for his life (when he's healthy enough to be in the game at all).

I've got concerns about the Colts as well, and they have a tough fight against the Chargers ahead of them. All the teams in the playoffs have some question marks, to be honest, but I can see any of the non Fish AFC teams winning the Superbowl.

-MMM

Octavian wrote:

mikoyan wrote:

They made quite a few of those breaks in the Super Bowl though. Same with the playoff games they won to get to the Super Bowl.

That's exactly what I said...they made it through the playoffs and won the Superbowl because of lucky breaks that went their way. Thanks for agreeing with me.

So which AFC team do people think will win the big one?

-MMM

YOu make it sound like the just bumbled their way through the playoffs and the Super Bowl. You sound like one of those whiny Boston fans...

Octavian wrote:

And they were right. Giants got lucky to win the game. It happens in regular season games all the time. Last year it happened in the Superbowl. Good on them for taking advantage of the lucky breaks, but they don't win without the breaks.



-MMM

Lucky breaks?

What lucky breaks would they be, Matt?

The lucky break of outgaining New England 338 yards to 274?

Of throwing for 247 yards while holding Brady to 229 yards and a yards-per-attempt of 4.8 as compared to Manning's 7.3?

Or was it stuffing the Patriot running game? (45 yards, 2.8 per attempt)

Maybe it was sacking Brady five times?

Was it driving to the Patriot 14 and throwing an interception? (Oops, sounds like a break for the Patriots)

How about when New England challenged one of its own punts, saying the Giants had too many men on the field, and it was upheld? Wait, that was also a break for the Patriots.

Well, there was that sack after New England reached the Giant 25, pushing the Patriots back to where Belichick decided not to try a field goal? Some people would call that just a good play by the Giants.

Oh -- you must mean the Giants driving 80 yards in six plays for the touchdown to go ahead 10-7. Good point; no team drives on the Patriots without being lucky, right?

Wait -- this must be it. The 32-yard pass to Tyree. Seems to me, anyone who can hold onto a football while being mauled by Rodney Harrison earned that catch. When the Giants had a chance to sack Brady, they took advantage. No whining about "lucky" when the Patriot defensive line can't bring down Manning. Besides, that drive started at the Giant 17. New York also converted a 4th and 1 and a 3rd and 11 during the drive.

The Giants held the Patriots to 14 points, while only getting one turnover. Wasn't anything "lucky" about that.

You wanna talk "lucky breaks"? Let's talk about the Patriots "win" over the Ravens that season. Or the breaks New England received during its three Super Bowl wins.

As for which AFC team will win the big one -- I'm going with my hometown team and picking the Ravens, as long as someone else knocks off the Colts. The Ravens can beat every other team in the AFC playoffs, but the Colts seem to have our defense figured out. That, plus our lingering hatred over the Colts leaving 25 years ago seems to be giving us negative karma.

Oh -- and congratulations on winning the pic-em league, Matt. You talked the talk, and you backed it up. Good job.

milgate, if I could give you a thumb, I would.

New England had a number of lucky breaks to go undefeated. No doubt.

But in the Superbowl the balls were bouncing the Giants' way. Giants fumbled twice but recovered both of them. You mentioned the interception but neglect to mention the several should-have-been interceptions that were dropped on the Giants' final drive. And of course there's famous the catch-with-the-helmet play which had several different flavors of good fortune in it.

For the record I'm a Bills fan, so this isn't some blind devotion to a team talking. I am also a fan of football in general. The Giants did what they needed to do to put themselves in a position to win the game if the breaks went their way. But unless the Pats were just going to implode the Giants needed that luck. They got it. And they took advantage of it. I commend them for taking advantage of it. But without the luck they don't win that game.

-MMM

Well, darn, I was only reviewing the play-by-play. Didn't have time to pop in my DVD of the game and watch the whole thing.

But, things like missed interceptions -- ever hear the old joke that if DB's could catch, they would be wide receivers? Remember, the Bengals dropped a potential interception a play or two before Joe Montana completed his famous Super Bowl comeback drive with the 49er's. And it can be argued the Patriots got away with a personal foul on Kurt Warner during the play on which they ran an interception back for a TD in the Super Bowl against the Rams.

Tyree's helmet catch was unusual, yes. But, as I said, to hang onto the ball while Harrison tried to rip it away from him shows some skill from the receiver. And recovering your own fumbles ... well, the fumble itself can be considered a bad break. Recovering your own evens it out.

Every winning team has some bounces go their way (unless you physically pound a team into submission, like the Ravens did to the Giants. Then, you don't need luck ). I'm just saying, don't completely discount the Giants' Super Bowl win as luck. Again -- 14 points!!! For that alone, the Giants earned that win.

And I'm far from a Giants fan. As a lifelong Baltimorean, New York is third on my hate list behind D.C. and Pittsburgh (1971 World series, 1975 AFC playoffs, 1976 AFC playoffs, 1979 World Series ...). Yankees suck! Teixeira can eat shit! And don't get me started on the Jets and that bastard Namath ....

But ... a Bills' fan? damn. Hey, I was there with you on those first two Super Bowls (see earlier comment about hating Giants and Redskins). But, uh, I was sorta a Cowboys fan back then .... sorry (Roger Staubach is one of my all-time favorite players)

Yeah...despite having moved to Pittsburgh, where championships are viewed as a birthright, I'll likely remain a Bills fan until they leave Buffalo.

I wish they'd hurry up on that.

-MMM

Octavian wrote:

If Philly meets the Giants, the Eagles will have their way with em.

-MMM

See what happens when Eli's bad throws actually get picked off. Worst #1 seed ever

I'm smelling an all 6 seed SuperBowl...

Octavian wrote:

Octavian wrote:

If Philly meets the Giants, the Eagles will have their way with em.

-MMM

See what happens when Eli's bad throws actually get picked off. Worst #1 seed ever

I'm smelling an all 6 seed SuperBowl...

I hope you're right (about the all-sixth-seed Super Bowl ... although I wouldn't mind seeing the Cardinals make it). Pittsburgh's got to have used up all of their breaks against the Ravens, right?

Best line I've seen in reference to the non-call on the Ravens' delay-of-game: "This is the NFL playoffs. Sometimes you get extra time to snap the ball, and sometimes you're allowed to make an illegal forward pass on a kickoff return."