Superbowl XLVI Preview

This Sunday sees 'the biggest show on earth' take place in Indianapolis for the first time.  Yes, it's the Superbowl, and it sees two of the NFL's oldest and most prestigious teams slog it out for the Vince Lombardi trophy.

As has happened a few times this postseason, the Superbowl sees one of the best defences in the league up against one of the very best quarterbacks the league has ever seen.  So far, the defences have come out on top, so can Brady & Co stop the Giants to claim a 4th Superbowl since 2001?

I defy anyone to claim that they saw this match-up coming, even deep into the regular season.  After week 12, neither team could be regarded as Superbowl material, especially the Giants.

Head coach Tom Coughlin had been coming under fire after the Giants went 6-6 after week 12 in a very tight NFC East division.  Fast forward to now and the Giants are one of the most rounded and balanced teams in the NFL on a 5 game streak coming into the game in Indianapolis.  That streak started after narrowly losing to the Packers in week 16 at Meadowlands 38-35.  That game did two things: It showed the defensive vulnerabilities of the Packers, but also signs from the Giants that they could mix it with the best.

In Eli Manning, they have one of the best quarterbacks outside of the 'top 4' (Brady, Rodgers, Brees & brother Peyton Manning) and certainly the best of the remaining bunch that have stayed fit all year.  The irony isn't lost on NFL fans that Eli will be leading his team out for the first Superbowl to be hosted in Indianapolis, the home of his elder brother and rival QB Peyton and the Colts.

It's generally recognised that Peyton is the superior quarterback, and certainly the more consistent, but to many, quarterbacks are ultimately judged on how many Superbowl rings they get.  So far, both Eli and Peyton have one apiece.  If Eli wins on February 5th, in many peoples eyes, that will promote him to being the top Manning quarterback.

I've had this very debate a couple of times over the last week that rings reflect the overall quality of a quarterback.  If Eli does get a second, can he really be considered a better QB than Dan Marino, Brett Favre and Ben Roethlisberger who each have one?  I'm not so sure.

Tom Brady doesn't need any such justification.  Already the owner of 3 Superbowl rings, Brady is looking to win a record equalling fourth to sit in the rarefied atmosphere alongside Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw.  Let us not forget that Brady will be motivated to exact the misery he suffered at the hands of the Giants at Superbowl XLII.  He claims he still hasn't watched that game back.

Tom Brady is going for his 4th Superbowl ring

Many would argue that the New England Patriots team going into this years Superbowl aren't the force they were in 2008.  They don't have the wide receivers they had then to provide the options for Brady that allows his game management to flourish.  In Rob Gronkowski, they do have a tight end that has broken the mould this season, scoring more TD's than any other tight end in NFL history.  If the Giants can close him down, the Patriots' attacking options suddenly look sparse.

For the Giants, Manning has a little more to aim at. In Victor Cruz, Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks, Eli has 3 guys that have improved immeasurably over the course of the season.  The Nicks/Cruz combination has really started to click and has given headaches to the best defences in the post season.  On the other side of the ball, they also have Jason Pierre-Paul, the one-man offensive play wrecking ball who always rises to the occasion.

In many ways, Superbowl XLVI is too close to call.  As has happened a few times already in the postseason, both sides may have to depend on their special teams to get an edge on the other.  Whatever happens, it promises to be an epic battle.  It was a close contest when they met earlier in the regular season, and I expect nothing less this time around.

Ultimately, I fancy the Patriots just because of the impetus they will have following the defeat in '08 which saw the Giants put an end to the perfect season.  Brady is too wise and too good for that kind of thing to happen to him twice.

Historic Playoff Weekend One To Remember

This weekends round of divisional playoffs will go down in histroy as one of the most exciting.  Each of the 4 games threw up something different and represented every kind of contest in the NFL.

For the three quarterbacks that have generated the most column inches between them, Rodgers, Brees and Tebow, the campaign for Superbowl glory has come to an end.  Instead, it has been the year of the defence, with 2 top defensive displays knocking off prolific offensive teams, and two watertight defenses coming together in a slugfest in Baltimore.

The one result that went to the form book was in New England, where the Patriots led by Tom Brady, who has found some dominating form in the latter part of the season and into the postseason, tore apart Tim Tebow and the Broncos.

For reaction on the outstanding 49ers victory, see my prevoius blog here.

But let's start at Green Bay, where the Superbowl favourites and NFC #1 seeds the Packers were looking to overcome a resurgent New York Giants team led by Eli Manning.

In essence, Green Bay lost to the better team, and lost by a convincing scoreline.  The majority of the credit should go to the Giants defence who forced Rodgers and his receivers into some uncharcteristic mistakes.  The fact that Rodgers, as he was in the 38-35 contest against the Giants in the regular season, was the top rusher in the Packers team with 66 yards, tells you how much the Giants closed down the options for the top QB in the league, forcing him to make the plays himself.

There were fumbles from Greg Jennings (one of which was not spotted by the referee and was judged he was down prior to the ball being released, leading to a scoring play), John Kuhn and Ryan Grant.

Many questions will get asked about whether the Packers were ready.  Rodgers himself hadn't played for 3 weeks after sitting out the final game of the regular season for Matt Flynn to step in and produce one of the finest QB displays of the season.  Greg Jennings was returning from injury after 5 weeks out as well.  Compare this to the Giants, whose momentum relied on the fact they have played every week, building on some solid defensive displays since losing to the Packers on December 4th.

That defence combined with the offensive form of receivers Cruz, Manningham and Nicks each giving Eli Manning a variety of good options across the field, the Giants have proved to be a well-oiled match winning team in the last few weeks.  No team will want to play them at the moment, but that's exactly what the San Francisco 49ers have to do next week at Candlestick Park.

A bad day at the office for the Packers, and the Giants roll on.  The last time the Giants won at Lambeau Field in the postseason, they went on to lift the Lombardi trophy against the New England Patriots.  There will now be a lot of people reckoning that that will be the likely match-up this time around.

So how about the Patriots?

Tom Brady and co produced a first half against the Broncos that dispelled any illusions that Tim Tebow could mix it with the elite QB's in the game.  Brady taught Tebow a lesson, and that puts it mildly.

With 5 TD passes in the first half, Brady then went on to complete 1 more to tie the postseason record for 6 TD passes in a game.  In doing so, he also racked up his 36th TD pass in postseasons, going third in the all-time list.  With Rodgers and Brees now out, Brady is now the one truly elite QB left in the reckoning, although Manning may have something to say about it.

Brady provided a masterclass in QB play against the Broncos

Tebow and the Broncos managed only one TD in the match, early in the 2nd quarter to make the score 7-14, only for Brady to respond with 3 more.  Tight end Rob Gronkowski continued his amazing form scoring 3 TD's, claiming 145 of the total 509 yards of Patriots offensive gains.

The Patriots look to be in ominous form and will now face the AFC #2 seeds Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game next week, at Foxboro.

The Ravens overcame the Houston Texans in a game that saw two of the best defences in the league square up in Baltimore.

Many people picked the Texans in this one, simply becasue of the outstanding defence, particularly from key players like Brian Cushing and the outstanding JJ Watt.  Both those players had stand out games in a contest that was all about stopping the other guys and see what we could get in offence.  Both teams have inconsistent QB's.  In Joe Flacco, the Ravens have yet to see the potential that their QB has shown only glimmers of this season.  But in the first quarter, it was Flacco who stepped up, throwing short touchdown passes to tight end Kris Wilson and wide receiver Anquan Boldin to give the Ravens a 17-3 lead after 15 minutes.

It was the veteran  Ray Lewis who led the Baltimore defence to force rookie Texans QB TJ Yates into throwing 3 interceptions.  But the Ravens defence couldn't stop Texans running back Arian Foster.  Having not given up more than 100 yards to any player this season, the Ravens couldn't stop Foster rushing for 132 yards in an outstanding display in an otherwise pretty toothless offence.

It was the mistakes that ultimately let this one go the way of the Ravens.  But if they have aspirations of reaching the Superbowl next week, they'll have pick up their game offensively and score more than the 227 yards they achieved yesterday.

With the possible exception of Baltimore, all the remaining teams in the postseason have the potential to go on to Superbowl glory.  The Patriots must now be considered the favourites, but the way the form book has gone so far this postseason, nobody will be holding their breath.

Home Field Advantage Proves Crucial In Playoffs

What a wild weekdend.  Wildcard weekend that is.
All four NFL wildcard playoff games produced some thrilling football and even the odd upset.  Ultimately, however, it was the home team that triumphed on each occasion.

What needs to be understood about the NFL is that there is very little support for the away team in any game.  There is no such thing as an 'away end' as there is in football here, and so travelling to another ground across the country can be intimidating and often be the difference between winning and losing. 

Take the Atlanta Falcons.  They had a perfect 8-0 record at the Georgia Dome this season, but couldn't produce the goods away from home, winning only 2 on the road.  It was enough to secure them a trip to the Metlife stadium yesterday to face the NFC #4 seeds the New York Giants.  But after a sluggish start, Eli Manning and the Giants produced a solid display that saw them run out 24-2 winners, the scoreline merely reflecting the Falcons season away from the Dome.  The Giants now go on to meet the Superbowl favourites Green Bay at Lambeau Field.

In Houston, the Texans were looking to use their home field advantage to win their first ever game in the playoffs.  With the number 2 defence in the NFL, the Texans defence dominated over a struggling Cincinnati Bengals team who couldn't produce the goods beyond the first quarter, ultimately losing out to Houston 31-10.  A special mention has to go to  defenseman JJ Watt, who produced a massive performance including an intercept and run in for a touchdown.  The Texans will now take their unbeaten playoff record to Baltimore to face the AFC #2 seeded Ravens.

The two best games of the weekend happened in New Orleans where the Saints took on the Detroit Lions and in Denver where the Broncos hosted the fancied Pittsburgh Steelers.

The encounter at the Superdome in New Orleans was billed as the 'shootout'.  Never before had two 5,000+ yard QB's faced each other in a playoff game.  Drew Brees of the Saints smashed Dan Marino's all time passing yard record for a season, while Matt Stafford came up only 46 yards short of achieving the same feat.

From the first drive, it looked ominous that this would be a high scoring game, with Stafford leading his Lions up the field in 8 downs for 80 yards to open the scoring.  Straight from the kick off, Brees and the Saints looked to to prove that anything Stafford can do, Brees can do better.  It certainly looked that way until a fumble in each of their opening two drives handed possession of the football back to the Lions. 

It looked like it might not be Brees' day in the Superdome with the Lions up 14-0 in the first quarter.  But it wasn't long before the record breaking Brees started to show why he is the top QB in the NFL at the moment, throwing for 466 yards completing 33 of 43 passes.  The Saints ran out eventual comfortable winners 45-28, earning themselves a trip to Candlestick Park to meet the San Francisco 49ers.  A special mention also to Pierre Thomas who was phenomenal running the ball for 66 yards, making plays he had no right in making.  The Saints' running game, something they sorely lacked last season, is firing on all cylinders at the moment.

The story of the weekend though has to come from the Mile High Stadium where Tim Tebow was inspired to earn the Broncos an overtime win over the fancied Pittsburgh Steelers.  It would be fair to say that the Steelers, even with Ben Roethlisberger not at 100% and no Mendenhall to run the ball were favourites coming into a game where the Denver Broncos were looking to reverse their fortunes after 3 straight losses at the end of the regular season.

Tim Tebow - defying the odds

But it was the Broncos that got off to the better start against the number 1 seeded defence in the league, taking a 20-6 lead into halftime.  Roethlisberger then inspired the Steelers after the break, to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter 23-23.  A good game so far, but not worth the column inches compared to what happened next.

The two teams played the first non-sudden death playoff game in history.  This basically means that after the rule changes, both teams need to get the ball in the extra period providing there wasn't a touchdown by either the offense or defense.

So, up steps Tim Tebow.

The Broncos elected to receive the kick and in doing so started from their own 20 yard line.  What would the first play be?  Play it safe, get the ball down the field and look for a red zone touchdown? Nope.  Tebow hurls the ball long to Demaryius Thomas who runs it in for an 80 yard touchdown.  1 down, 1 pass, 11 seconds, making it the shortest period of overtime in NFL history.  That's how you finish a game.

Through the adversity of losing the previous 3 games and the one way traffic in the second half in this one, Tebow produced the goods when it mattered.

Can he take this on when the Broncos go to New England to meet the Patriots and Tom Brady next week?  The Pats will be fancied by the majority, but as with all of the highest scoring teams this year, they leak points.  After yesterday's efforts, anything can happen.

Brees and the Saints will be most likely to upset a home crowd.