Stop the crying; the matchups are fine
01/18/2008
Stalter Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
Despite all of the nail-biting, heart-thumping action that last Sunday’s NFL games provided, it was still a bleak day for football fans, wasn’t it?
First, those punk San Diego Chargers defeated Peyton Manning and the Colts, and then Jessica Simpson’s new boy toy Tony Romo was intercepted late in the fourth quarter to clinch a victory for the New York Giants.
No Cowboys-Packers clash? No Patriots-Colts rematch? Oh, the horror!
Count me as someone who was disappointed following Sunday’s action. However, I’m not whining about how the NFL Championship matchups are less than ideal. Sorry for the clichéd phrase, but it is what it is.
The beauty of the NFL playoffs is that at the end of the day, things are settled on the field. High-tech computers don’t determine the matchups. There are no rankings, polls or pie charts to help fans determine which teams are better than others. Win or go home, it’s that easy.
The Colts had their opportunities and blew it. The same thing can be said for the Cowboys. Had someone besides Reggie Wayne shown up in the Colts’ receiving corps, maybe we’d be watching that Patriots-Colts grudge match this weekend. Had Jason Garrett’s prolific offense not stiffened up in the second half (Patrick Crayton holding onto the ball would have helped too), maybe we would have seen a battle of the two best teams in the NFC.
There has been a lot of grumbling about how bad the championship matchups are and how exciting it would have been to see the Colts take on the Patriots and the Packers seek their revenge on the Cowboys. Yeah, it would have been nice, but the current matchups are just as exciting – you just have to look deeper.
While it’s unfortunate that Antonio Gates, LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers will all be limited, the Chargers still bring an element of unpredictability to their game with the Patriots. This term is often overused, but San Diego is playing with house money, which makes them even more dangerous than people think.
This might sound a bit absurd, but New England would probably rather face the Colts than the Chargers. At least they know what they’re getting with Indianapolis: Manning changing plays at the line of scrimmage, multiple receiver sets, dump-offs to Joseph Addai, Bob Sanders being a force against the run, etc. The devil you know is always better than the devil you don’t.
While the Patriots did spank the Chargers in Week 2 of the regular season, San Diego was also in the midst of an identity crisis under new head coach Norv Turner. Not anymore. They know who they are now – a trash talking, high-energy, mixed bag of emotions. Sure, they’re psyche could crumble at any moment, but it also makes them impossible to intimidate. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to have the best player in football in your backfield, even if he is a bit gimpy.
Without getting too deep into the X’s and O’s, another thing to remember is that when a team can get pressure on Tom Brady, the Pats’ offense doesn’t look quite so invincible. The Ravens, Eagles and Giants all found success getting to Brady and every one of those games were close. San Diego finished second in the AFC in sacks and has one of the best pass-rushers in the league in linebacker Shawne Merriman. As long as he doesn’t forget to take his juice this week, he should be good to go. (I’m kidding.)
As for the Giants-Packers matchup, no, it isn’t that appealing to the casual fan. Even though Eli Manning has been solid over the past couple of weeks, you still get the impression that the wheels will eventually fall off. Even though the G-Men are better equipped for the weather than Seattle was because they can run the ball, they have major injury issues in the secondary, which must have Brett Favre and the rest of the Packers’ offense licking their chops.
That said, how great was it watching it snow at Lambeau Field last week? That’s something you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to witness again had the Cowboys prevailed over the Giants. So as far as a game matchup goes, Giants-Packers probably won’t be as thrilling as Cowboys-Packers, but you just can’t beat playoff football at Lambeau.
Enjoy these matchups, football fans – they’re not as bad as some might think. In fact, championship games are usually better than the actual Super Bowl. There could be a surprise or two, and remember, at least a computer didn’t pick these matchups. And we can all be grateful for that.
More playoff chatter
- I have one of those friends. You know the type I’m talking about – the guy who hates certain teams for no logical reason and who thinks that A) they cheat and B) the refs fix the games in their favor. So I’m watching the Colts-Chargers game with this friend (we’ll call him Bob) as well as a couple of other buddies, and Antonio Cromartie intercepts Peyton Manning and returns it for an apparent touchdown. While Cromartie is running the interception back, Bob (who hates the Chargers) is shouting out, “There’s a hold! There’s a hold! There’s a block in the back! There’s another one!” Lo and behold, the refs did call a foul, but I foolishly asked Bob where he saw the other nine holds and the mythical block in the back. As they showed the replays, Bob called for holding every time a player with a Chargers jersey was in the television frame. Again, I foolishly accused him of not being objective and he proceeds to tell me that I’m “a blind idiot and a Charger lover.” The whole situation escalates into a shouting match and right before we drop the gloves, our other two friends jumped in to put out the fire. Of course, for the rest of the game, I would randomly provoke him by saying, “Was that a hold Bob? The Chargers scored a touchdown, where’s the block in the back? San Diego always cheats, don’t they?” Ah the playoffs – where true friendships are put to the test.
The best line from Terrell Owens’ tear-soaked post game speech following the Cowboys’ loss to the Giants: ”I have always had good relationships with quarterbacks. I have always had my quarterback’s back regardless of whatever situation you may think.” What I think T.O. meant to say was: ”I have always had good relationships with quarterbacks, other than Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Drew Bledsoe. I have always had my quarterback’s back regardless of whatever situation you may think, unless of course you count the times when I called Garcia gay, McNabb a liar, and screamed at Bledsoe for not getting me the ball. All the other times, I’ve had my quarterbacks’ backs, though.” - Speaking of Romo, people need to lay off him. The Cowboys didn’t lose because he took a trip to Mexico with Jessica Simpson. They lost because the entire offense was shut down by the Giants in the second half, Wade Phillips obviously has some playoff inferiority complex and it’s extremely hard to beat another team three times in one season.
- How bad was that drop by Dennis Northcutt in the second half of the Jags-Patriots game? David Garrard absolutely threaded the needle and Northcutt let it go off his hands because he was worried about the defenders closing in for a big hit. He catches that ball and maybe Jacksonville pulls off the upset.
The Packers robbed the Giants blind for Ryan Grant. A sixth-round pick? Holy smokes. Although, it’s unfair to criticize the Giants too much, because Grant was coming off an arm injury and wasn’t going to see the field much in New York anyway. Most teams would have accepted a sixth-round pick for a player who went undrafted and was coming off arm surgery. But still, how good does that kid look? He has given the Packers a dynamic, well-balanced offense.
Questions or comments? Send them to astalter@bullz-eye.com.