- Nothing is Inevitable
If you read the papers a few months back, it was said to be ?inevitable? that Hillary Clinton would be the next President of the United States.
Reading those same papers over this past weekend, coming off his lopsided win in Iowa it was going to be ?inevitable? that Barack Obama was to be the President.
However, by Wednesday morning, with Hillary?s comeback-kid win in New Hampshire, nothing apparently is as it was supposed to be.
?Inevitable? was nowhere to be found.
Bearing that in mind, are you, as so many others already have, ready to declare the New England Patriots as the ?inevitable? Super Bowl Champions this year?
When they still have three games to play?
Especially when they might not even get out of their first one?
What can you say about the Jacksonville Jaguars that hasn?t been said before?
How about, they appear to be pudgy.
Their quarterback, David Garrard is 6-foot nothing and weighs 250 lbs. To put that into perspective, so am I. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew, is even shorter. And fatter.
What is it with this team that they can have such a good season, and even this late in the going, still be fat? That takes some dedication, and you have to respect that.
But how can they compete against a 6-foot-4, 225 lb QB of chiseled perfection like Tom Brady?
Well, they don?t have to. They get to go up against a highly overrated Patriot?s defense. Sure, they were ranked 4th overall in the NFL, but the numbers that earned them that spot are deceiving. Against the run, they were only ranked 10th, and even that is too high ? especially when faced with a run-first ball-control team like the Jaguars.
Over the entirety of the season, the Patriots look great without the ball because on average, they were killing their opponents. Behind early all season long, teams were forced to go to the air and forget about the ground game. Teams that did successfully run the ball against them, Indianapolis, Baltimore and the New York Giants, all managed to keep it close.
Fred Taylor and Jones-Drew are a potent one-two (and a half) punch that should keep the Jaguars in possession of the ball more than the Patriots.
Now, can they actually win, especially considering their greatest weakness is defending against the pass?
They can if they can keep Brady and Randy Moss on the sidelines. If they can run, and run, and run some more, and if Garrard plays like he did in the regular season, 18 touchdowns passes and just three interceptions, sure they can.
They won?t, but at least it will be close.
Patriots by 3.
As for the other games?
Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers
Let?s see? Brett Favre is well rested and his banged up offensive line has had time to mend. Matt Hasselbeck will be forced to go to the air because Shaun Alexander has little or no running game left. The Packers pass defense is great. The game is being played at Lambeau Field. The Seahawks have just one postseason win outside of Seattle ? and that was in 1983.
Green Bay wins and covers
San Diego Chargers at Indianapolis Colts
Despite the Chargers kinda pathetic wildcard performance, that relatively low 8-point spread must be due to the fact that San Diego beat the Colts earlier this season, picking off Peyton Manning six times. Due to a plague of injuries, that was a different Colts team altogether. They are almost completely healthy this time but the same cannot be said for the Chargers. San Diego will have little to answer back considering their offensive attack was essentially halved with the loss of Antonio Gates and it will all be left to LaDainian Tomlinson. Who, when put in the same position last weekend, was pretty much handled by the Titans. The Colts are better than the Titans. The Colts are better than the Chargers as well.
Indianapolis wins and covers
New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
How many times are you going to hear this from talking heads over the next few days? ?Can the third time be the charm for the Giants?? The Cowboys won both meetings earlier this season. But it sure looks like these aren?t the same Cowboys and Giants that played back then. While the Giants are now at their best, the Cowboys are at their worst. Then there is the road thing. The Giants will be playing their second consecutive road game in the playoffs. Coach Tom Coughlin knows what it takes as he has done it before winning two road playoff games in 1996 when he was with the Jaguars. Overall, the Giants are 8-0 on the road since they lost to Dallas back in September. In Dallas questions abound: Is Wade Phillips up to the task? Is Terrell Owens still bothered by that sore ankle? Will Jessica Simpson show up? But most importantly, can the Cowboys win their first playoff game in 11 years?
Nope.
The Giants pull off the only upset of the weekend.
What a final four that will make. The Giants take on the Packers and the Colts go up against the Patriots.
It?s almost inevitable.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald ? AKA Couch
Bet NFL Odds now!
If you read the papers a few months back, it was said to be ?inevitable? that Hillary Clinton would be the next President of the United States.
Reading those same papers over this past weekend, coming off his lopsided win in Iowa it was going to be ?inevitable? that Barack Obama was to be the President.
However, by Wednesday morning, with Hillary?s comeback-kid win in New Hampshire, nothing apparently is as it was supposed to be.
?Inevitable? was nowhere to be found.
Bearing that in mind, are you, as so many others already have, ready to declare the New England Patriots as the ?inevitable? Super Bowl Champions this year?
When they still have three games to play?
Especially when they might not even get out of their first one?
What can you say about the Jacksonville Jaguars that hasn?t been said before?
How about, they appear to be pudgy.
Their quarterback, David Garrard is 6-foot nothing and weighs 250 lbs. To put that into perspective, so am I. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew, is even shorter. And fatter.
What is it with this team that they can have such a good season, and even this late in the going, still be fat? That takes some dedication, and you have to respect that.
But how can they compete against a 6-foot-4, 225 lb QB of chiseled perfection like Tom Brady?
Well, they don?t have to. They get to go up against a highly overrated Patriot?s defense. Sure, they were ranked 4th overall in the NFL, but the numbers that earned them that spot are deceiving. Against the run, they were only ranked 10th, and even that is too high ? especially when faced with a run-first ball-control team like the Jaguars.
Over the entirety of the season, the Patriots look great without the ball because on average, they were killing their opponents. Behind early all season long, teams were forced to go to the air and forget about the ground game. Teams that did successfully run the ball against them, Indianapolis, Baltimore and the New York Giants, all managed to keep it close.
Fred Taylor and Jones-Drew are a potent one-two (and a half) punch that should keep the Jaguars in possession of the ball more than the Patriots.
Now, can they actually win, especially considering their greatest weakness is defending against the pass?
They can if they can keep Brady and Randy Moss on the sidelines. If they can run, and run, and run some more, and if Garrard plays like he did in the regular season, 18 touchdowns passes and just three interceptions, sure they can.
They won?t, but at least it will be close.
Patriots by 3.
As for the other games?
Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers
Let?s see? Brett Favre is well rested and his banged up offensive line has had time to mend. Matt Hasselbeck will be forced to go to the air because Shaun Alexander has little or no running game left. The Packers pass defense is great. The game is being played at Lambeau Field. The Seahawks have just one postseason win outside of Seattle ? and that was in 1983.
Green Bay wins and covers
San Diego Chargers at Indianapolis Colts
Despite the Chargers kinda pathetic wildcard performance, that relatively low 8-point spread must be due to the fact that San Diego beat the Colts earlier this season, picking off Peyton Manning six times. Due to a plague of injuries, that was a different Colts team altogether. They are almost completely healthy this time but the same cannot be said for the Chargers. San Diego will have little to answer back considering their offensive attack was essentially halved with the loss of Antonio Gates and it will all be left to LaDainian Tomlinson. Who, when put in the same position last weekend, was pretty much handled by the Titans. The Colts are better than the Titans. The Colts are better than the Chargers as well.
Indianapolis wins and covers
New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
How many times are you going to hear this from talking heads over the next few days? ?Can the third time be the charm for the Giants?? The Cowboys won both meetings earlier this season. But it sure looks like these aren?t the same Cowboys and Giants that played back then. While the Giants are now at their best, the Cowboys are at their worst. Then there is the road thing. The Giants will be playing their second consecutive road game in the playoffs. Coach Tom Coughlin knows what it takes as he has done it before winning two road playoff games in 1996 when he was with the Jaguars. Overall, the Giants are 8-0 on the road since they lost to Dallas back in September. In Dallas questions abound: Is Wade Phillips up to the task? Is Terrell Owens still bothered by that sore ankle? Will Jessica Simpson show up? But most importantly, can the Cowboys win their first playoff game in 11 years?
Nope.
The Giants pull off the only upset of the weekend.
What a final four that will make. The Giants take on the Packers and the Colts go up against the Patriots.
It?s almost inevitable.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald ? AKA Couch
Bet NFL Odds now!
