AFC-Pittsburgh at Tennessee, Saturday 4:30 pm ET
AFC-N.Y. Jets at Oakland, Sunday 4:00 pm ET

NFC-Atlanta at Philadelphia, Saturday 8:00 pm ET
NFC-San Francisco at Tampa Bay, Sunday 12:30 pm ET

The AFC divisional playoffs panned out just like I wanted them to. I think the Jets have the best chance of any other AFC play off team to knock out the Raiders. They hung in there a few weeks ago in Oakland, only to go down 26-20.

Pittsburgh and Tennessee was a rivalry I was beginning to enjoy prior to divisional re-alignment. These 2 familiar foes should provide an entertaining game.

At a glance, one would easily favor the Eagles and the Bucs but who knows how healthy McNabb will be, and if the 49er no huddle can wear down the Bucs like it did the Giants, next week might be full of surprises.

[ January 06, 2003: Message edited by: Theo ]

Who do ya'll think would have had the best chance of beating the Eagles at home?? Giants, 49ers or Falcons. . . . . I was hoping for a Giants/Eagles game cause I think the Giants were confident enough with their recent victory over the hated Eagles and the Giants familiarity with that shit-hole stadium and their obnoxious "fans."
Unfortunately, I don't see Vick having that strong a game against such a fast defense. . . but one never knows. McNabb may really be limited since he's been out so long. . . will be interesting to see. GO Falcons. . . . .WIN so you can come to TAMPA for the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP!!

Even if McNabb is "limited" he might be better off. He has had a tendency to hold the ball too long trying to make a play, and was taking too many sacks as a result. In the Arizona game he got hurt and played the entire game without being able to run, and picked the Cardinal defense apart. Then he sat and watched Detmer and Feeley get rid of the ball quicker, and hit the tight ends with more passes.

Raiders over Jets
Tenn over Pitt
Phil over Atl
TB over SF

Blatino, you need to submit these picks to George Vikingfan and assign confidence points to them to see how "confident" you are in your picks.

I am chomping at the bit to see NY Jets @ Oakland. I doubt if the Jets can anihilate the Raiders but I sure hope they come out victors. NY Jets @ TEN would be a lovely AFC championship game.

If McNabb's not 100%, an ATL upset of Philly wouldn't be that big of a surprise. If ATL did win, I'd be cheering for the SF 2-minute drill to wear down the TB Buc DEF so we could see ATL vs SF and 2 explosive, scrambling QB's. Otherwise, just give me TB @ PHI and I'll see if TB can break the jinx.

My hopes:

Tennessee over Pittsburgh
Atlanta over Philadelphia
Tampa Bay over San Francisco
New York over Oakland

Most likely outcome:

Pittsburgh over Tennessee
Philly over ATL
Tampa Bay over SF
....
(I can't jinx my Jets!)

Hey Joe -- I hear that some Eagles fans will attempt to bring in jimmie bars, screwdrivers, hammers into the Vet in case this is the last game -- and they can bring home souvenirs. This is probably no different than folks did at Milw. County Stadium or Cinergy ... but the thought of angry Philly fans with heavy tools is a cause for alarm !

Of course, chances are there'll be another home game, and if they win that one, which will be the Vet's last, there'll be lots of happy Super Bowl-bound Philly fans!

[quote]Originally posted by DCBucky:
Hey Joe -- I hear that some Eagles fans will attempt to bring in jimmie bars, screwdrivers, hammers into the Vet in case this is the last game -- and they can bring home souvenirs. This is probably no different than folks did at Milw. County Stadium or Cinergy ... but the thought of angry Philly fans with heavy tools is a cause for alarm !

---

They said the same thing before the last regular season game.

So far, Tennessee looks good...big day for the home teams today?

GO EAGLES!

Well this is a pretty exciting start to the weekend, eh! Pretty poor clock management by the Titans on their last drive of regulation, but we get OT!!!

Man that was a wild ride! Titans 34, Steelers 31 in OT. I love playoff football!!!

Nice win (barely) for the Titans, but they might be in tough for next week's game, since after this gamee it's not only their uniforms that are black and blue. Jeff Fisher looks woofilicious, and Bill Cowher should seriously consider switching to decaf. And somebody should fire the premature fireworks guy.

You're right on all counts Seph (especially re: Jeff Fisher being woofalicious )! And the Titans will have to play MUCH better than they did today to have a chance against the Raiders or the Jets. Cowher obviously had to complain, but he had no case. He may have felt he called TO, but they didn't in time. As for the fireworks guy, talk about premature...oh never mind, I won't go there!

Well, Seph and GVF beat me to the point on everything I wanted to say. It's hard to see the Titans being competitive against either the Raiders or the Jets if they play as sloppily as they did this week. And Jeff Fisher is one hunkahunkaburninglove. I'm in London, and found a bar with a late license that shows American football. It was packed! 90% of the crowd were Americans, including a couple from Pittsburgh, but there were also a few Brits watching who really got into the game. Even with the late license, the Eagles-Falcons game was too late for us.......

You guys like that beard Fisher is sporting? OMIGOSH, I think he needs to lose it quick!

It was a great game indeed, as advertised. I was cheering for the Titans but found myself feeling bad that the Steelers are done. Tommy Maddox had a great year and I love the play of their WRs Ward, Burress, and Randle El.

It looks like we might be in for another close one in game 2. With it being 13-6 midway through the 3rd Q, this has got to be a big boost to the Falcons pysche.

Good point Theo....Dan Reeves and the Falcons deserve big kudos for keeping this game as close as it is after it looked early on like they would be blown out....to be within 7 points into the 4th quarter with their team seemingly gaining more confidence every minute may not bode well for the boys from the "city of brotherly love"....I also thought Michael Vick was seriously injured after that ferocious (but absolutely legal, I might add) hit he took near the goal line -- the fact that he only missed one play has got to have earned Vick a ton of respect from his teammates (as if he didn't have it already) for his sheer toughness.

At this point, I'm just glad I didn't bet any money on the Eagles laying 7 1/2 points because I'd be mighty worried now if I had....heck, Philly may be lucky to even escape with a victory tonight.

Based upon the excitement generated from today's two games, this is a helluva start for the weekend playoff action -- I only hope Sunday's games live up to their potential (although I wouldn't exactly be upset if the Jets and Niners had big, blowout victories over their favored opponents )

Well, the Eagles pulled out the victory (and covered the spread too -- congrats Joe in Philly for confidently saying your Eagles would win by 10 or more) but the Falcons still deserve credit for playing them much tougher than most "experts" thought -- especially after the way things looked early in the game.

One more game and then the Vet is history (at least as far as football is concerned) -- do you know any true sports fans who will actually shed a tear at the demise of that concrete monstrosity?....it's time as a useful sports facility has LONG AGO passed.

[ January 11, 2003: Message edited by: gamecock ]

[quote]Originally posted by gamecock:
At this point, I'm just glad I didn't bet any money on the Eagles laying 7 1/2 points because I'd be mighty worried now if I had....

---

And if you just followed my advice on this game in my spread thread, you could have bet lots of money and have no worries at all!

The Falcons never gave up. They were seemingly overmatched in the first quarter but kept working. They were helped by the one thing that is a MAJOR weakness of Andy Reid: inconsistent play-calling. If you noticed, the Eagles had some big plays on screen passes to Staley and Levens near the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. That's been one of their most productive plays all year, and they hardly (if at all) used it through nearly three quarters of the game! Maybe if they had, that would've helped get the running game going. And with the injuries to the Atlanta secondary, the Eagles should have challenged the remaining defensive backs more.

The Falcons were able to run the ball some, got some good yardage from Vick's arm, converted a decent amount of third downs (including some third-and-looooong situations), shut down the Eagles' running game and slowed their passing game (again, thanks in part to play-calling), shut down Brian Mitchell on kick returns....and for all of that they only managed 6 points and trailed throughout the game.

Donovan McNabb: never a doubt. Something like a 103 QB rating, no turnovers.

The Eagles have focused all season on their goal: San Diego. Now it's within sight. Early prediction for next week: Eagles 30, Whoever 13.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Joe in Philly:
And if you just followed my advice on this game in my spread thread, you could have bet lots of money and have no worries at all!

Maybe I should remember that for next year's pick em contest -- congrats again to your Eagles (at least for this week anyway), although I still DON'T think they'll make it to San Diego.

Getting back to the earlier game, did anyone else see the comments made by Tennessee kicker Joe Nedney (aired on ESPN's NFL Primetime highlight show with Berman and Jackson) when in reference to the Steelers Dwayne Washington's "running into the kicker" penalty, Nedney said "HE GOT A PRETTY GOOD HIT ON ME BUT I THINK I MIGHT TRY ACTING AFTER MY CAREER IS OVER"....WOW!!....and after viewing the highlight again (even BEFORE hearing the kicker's press conference mea culpa), Nedney's pirouette, spin and subsequent fall looked MIGHTY SUSPICIOUS to me....I now think Cowher had a valid point when he openly criticized the refs for that call -- it will certainly be interesting to see if the league fines Cowher (which he directly dared them to do in one of his postgame comments) in light of Nedney's confession.

Do you think Paul Tagliabue and the head of NFL officials will sleep well now after the ending of last weekend's SF-NYG game only to be followed by another EQUALLY strong controversy today that tarnished an otherwise terrific 2nd half? ....this represents another example of why the NFL needs to spend a few more of the millions of dollars they are making and hire full-time officials instead of having all these insurance salesmen/golfers (which apparently is the TRUE occupation of the referee in the PITT-TENN game, btw), et al have the outcome of the game in their part-time hands -- the time has come for Tagliague and the league brass in NYC to take their heads out of the sand and correct this egregious problem before any more great postseason games are irreparably tarnished.

[ January 11, 2003: Message edited by: gamecock ]

game, perhaps this article in Friday's Chicago Tribune might interest you...


When New York cries, Tagliabue fetches tissues

Rick Morrissey
Published January 10, 2003

For those of us who somehow manage to eke out a pathetic existence in this vast wasteland known as "not New York," it was hardly surprising that NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue had his emotional breakdown Wednesday.

OK, perhaps "emotional breakdown" is overstating it. But we non-New Yorkers saw Tagliabue blubbering on about a poor officiating decision and knew instinctively that one of two things had occurred: Either the commissioner had just come from a private showing of "The Bridges of Madison County" or a New York team had been jobbed.

Poor officiating decisions are nothing new here in the hinterlands (from the German hinter, meaning behind or rear. Example: "Helga, you're a pain in the hinter. Now get me another stein of Beck's."). We could point to the Oakland Raiders' playoff loss to the New England Patriots last season, when replay reversed what looked like a Tom Brady fumble. We could point to Tennessee's playoff victory over Buffalo in the playoffs after the 1999 season, when the Titans took advantage of a lateral that many Bills fans insist to this day was an illegal forward pass on a kickoff return.

But the fact that this poor decision affected the New York Giants . . . well, only three things get the highbrowed Tagliabue this excited: anything involving the Big Apple, anything remotely smelling of money and any party that calls for a smoking jacket, an ascot and a captain's hat.

On the final play of the San Francisco 49ers' 39-38 victory Sunday, offsetting penalties should have been called after a botched field-goal attempt by New York--one on the Giants for having an illegal receiver downfield and one on the 49ers for pass interference. Instead, only the Giants were penalized, and the game ended. If offsetting penalties had been called, the Giants would have had another chance to attempt a field goal.

Ever since, New York newspapers have had their undergarments in a bunch about the blown call. They haven't been this outraged since probably 10 days ago. Tagliabue reads the papers, and he was pretty sure that if he didn't solve this officiating problem, he was going to be dealing with something like another War of 1812 (which included Jerry Rice, by the way).

So in a matter of days, Tagliabue and his minions came up with new rules for the way referees handle field-goal attempts. Changes in NFL officiating normally take about as long as your average mummification. For the New York Football Giants, three days. Tops.

This sort of thing only plays into the suspicion in backwater towns like Houston, Miami and Chicago that something is important only when it involves New York. The 49ers-Giants mistake was no more egregious than your typical goof-up by an NFL officiating crew.

The Giants blew a 24-point lead, which would seem to give weight to the idea that the officiating error wasn't the only thing that ruined New York on Sunday.

Tagliabue said it was the most disappointing officiating decision he has witnessed in his 13 years as commissioner. Maybe it was. It is one of sports' great truths that playoffs are better when they include New York teams because of higher TV ratings. So if you injected Tagliabue with truth serum and asked him what a Giants loss meant, he would say, "I love the whole idea of debutante balls." And then he would say, correctly, "Millions of dollars."

The wish here is that Tagliabue would take some of his concern about bad officiating and apply it to players involved in criminal behavior. Maybe it will take a carjacking New York Jet to get his attention.

Oh, well. There might not be a more insular big place in the world than New York. Last year I was sitting near several New York writers at a news conference. Former Giants coach Bill Parcells had just failed to get elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The writers were besides themselves. The injustice!

I raised the point that perhaps Parcells didn't deserve to be in the Hall. He had won two Super Bowls, but there was no indication he was finished coaching, even though he was working in television at the time. An active coach shouldn't have his bust in the Hall.

I'm fairly sure the writers wanted to kneecap me. You would have thought I had said former Yankees second baseman Tony Lazzeri didn't belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame.


Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune

All in a days work for McNabb which is what would be expected from the QB of the self-proclaimed "blue collar" city.

Didn't hurt to have nine penalties for 95 yards on the struggling Falcons (including a critical one that called back a touchdown) and the almost inevitable leg injury on another Falcon due to that notorious Vet playing field.

After picking Atlanta to win, I'm eating crow while the Eagle dines on Falcon.

One pleasure to fall back on: visions of that "georgia-eous" Falcon safety Kevin McCadam will give me pleasant dreams for nights. Wonder if he needs consoling.

McNabb looked like he hasn't missed a beat. Many of his incompletions were dropped passes. I agree that the Eagles got some breaks on Falcons penalties, but the Eagles were more physical and that can lead an opposing team into taking more penalties. I hope the Eagles get to invite the Bucs to their frigid house of pain.

Buccanneers 7-0. I think they're going to coast today with the defense. San Fran doesn't even belong here. Giants would have made this game more exciting.

RE: last night's game, Tennessee almost didn't deserve the win with their unfocused play in the 4th quarter. I don't watch football until this time of year, but what I saw last night looked like a lucky loser who was suddenly overwhelmed by the moment, instead of a seasoned professional who had some presence of mind. I'm glad they won, but it wasn't pretty. And that overtime way of play, first to score hardly seems fair. It should be the whole 15 minutes.

I would have thought the 49ers would have used the momentum from last week's win to spur them on, but instead it seemed like they shot their last bullet in the Giants game. And when they had 45 seconds and 2 timeouts in the first half and didn't try to drive down the field, it was over. They threw in the towel.

Here come the Bucs. Heh. Heh. Heh.

I don't like to toot my own horn...oh well I guess I will anyway. But last season I called the Eagles vs the Rams in the NFC Championship prior to this season I called them to go to the Super Bowl. And with the Bucs heading into Philly next week, well let me put it this way playing the game will just be a formality. The Eagles have been smelling this for a long time and they are ready for the big step. They are the classic "progression team".

Oh BTW I am a Giants fan.

The Buccaneers with Brad Johnson and the Buccaneers with Rob Johnson are two totally different teams. Brad gives the team a shot with accurate pocket passing. And the only thing Rob has going for him is his good looks. He can be god awful.

Rob Johnson's performance in Tampa Bay makes me wonder why he was chosen over Doug Flutie. For me it was no contest.

Jets get their butts handed to them. In this game Gannon was the teacher and Pennington was the student. Pennington was 21-47. Yikes!

The Jets played so tentative and scared. The receivers dropped passes left and right and half the time, I didn't know who Pennington was supposedly throwing to.

Sometimes even Penington didn't look like he knew who he was throwing to.

The games with the big point differences have all been when the quarterback looks flustered from the start - I'm thinking particularly of the Jets and 49ers. Garcia looked unusually hesitant and didn't dance around as much against the Bucs, not theat they gave him much room to - and Pennington threw more interceptions against the Raiders than he has in the past fourgames. He was obviously nervous.

Maybe the problem with both is that their almost too intelligent. They may have been reading the press or were too aware of the history to relax and play their game.

BTW could you imagine if the finals is all pirates: Bucs v Raiders. A superbowl between seafaring villains at the same time we have a flotilla of swashbuckling stealth fighters about to raid Iraq for oil treasure. It's almost cosmic.

[ January 13, 2003: Message edited by: sportinlife ]

I did hear today that because of Pennington's play this season, he is in for an $11mm payday. Not a bad consolation prize.

What an embarrassment for the Niners. The game seemed to be over in the first 3 minutes, when SF picked off a pass and couldn't put any points up on the board, then TB came right back with an impressive drive.

And I guess home field does have its advantages! Only one out of eight play-off games has been won by the visiting team (Atl @ GB). I suspect that Philly and Oakland might continue this trend next weekend, resulting in a Super Bowl that many pundits had predicted from Week One. Quite a change from last year's Cinderella Pats!

Just got back from the game... ohh what a game... drunker'n hell, saw a jet fan get his _ _ _ kicked, and the whiners lost. Couldn't get much better than this. All week long been hearing jets this and jets that. Well... let's see... ohh yeah 30-10!!! Eat it Raider haters!!!!
j-e-t-s losers, losers, losers!!!

Yeah that's the way I like to cap off my evening...watching a good ass kicking!

Raiders played a great game and the Jets looked totally befuddled. Jets made a great run this season. Hopefully tonight's performance won't scar Pennington. Sorry the Jets lost, but I am happy we get to see Rich Gannon for another week!

I'm with you on that, George_vikingfan. I can NEVER see enough of Rich Gannon! What a stud.

One step closer to my Super Bowl dream...Bucs vs Raiders!

At least the four remaining teams come from distinct regions of the US. At the beginning of the playoffs, there were several potential Super Bowl match-ups which I'm sure many fans, and the league itself, were hoping would not materialize: Jets/Giants (outside New York City and New Jersey, who'd be watching? ), Raiders/49ers and Steelers/Eagles.

Re: overtime. I agree with Shore that this sudden-death format really sucks. Obviously the team who gets first possession in OT has a distinct advantage. Let each team go on offence once...if the score is still tied, then go to sudden-death. Does anyone know if the NFL has ever considered changing the OT rules, at least for playoff games?

Letterman: U.N. weapons inspectors have not found any offensive weapons in Iraq. Nor did they find any on the New York Jets.

Top 10 Jets' Excuses
10. Bad idea to have pre-game meal of pancakes and beer.
9. If you're playing in the Super Bowl, you miss all the great commercials.
8. Exhausted from round-the-clock North Korean peace talks.
7. Did you see those guys? They were huge!
6. Spent entire game showing off for "The Bachelorette."
5. How do they expect us to concentrate when there's a new "Lord of the Rings" film out?!
4. Bus ride to Oakland took a lot out of the team.
3. Wanted to save financially-strapped New York City expense of victory parade.
2. Hey -- it's an honor just to be nominated.
1. Wanted to do something nice for Oakland fans. After all, they have to live in Oakland (CBS, 1/13).

Regarding letterman's #1.
First of all, I was born, raised, and will live here forever and am damn proud of it!!! letterman, I believe, was raised in Indiana where the highlight of life is the Sunday hayride.
There is also this thing I think is called... snow. We haven't seen snow here since 1976. We have to drive 4 hours to see the stuff. There is also this thing called... humidity. Humidity here is found in a steam room. Temps. rarely below 40 at night and higher than 85. Sounds ok to me.
Every city has their level of crime, especially if drugs and low life people are involved. Granted there are drugs and low life people here, but the majority are your everyday hardworking joes and janes.
Where else can one go in less than one hour driving and experience: crazy Berkeley, Silicon valley, wine country, miles of beach, mountains, views, views, views, spectacular sunsets, S.F.(capital of fagdom), and most of all Oakland, the diversity capital where 30% black, 30% white, 25% latino, and 15% asian proudly call home!! I like that!! My partner was raised in Pennsylvania and says people of different races don't intermingle there. I can't understand that?
After all that, people shouldn't judge or believe ANYTHING until they go and experience for themselves.
Sorry for being wordy and not talkin sports, but it pisses me off to read that shit from letterman. Of course I'm going to defend and represent.
Ohh.. predicted game time temp for Sunday's game...65. How about that letterman.
Raiders 28 titans 10.
Repeat of Superbowl XV. Same score too!!

Dude its called a joke! Letterman rags on every city at some time or another, especially New York and his hometown in Indiana.

[ January 14, 2003: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

Yeah, your right Leif, it is just a joke. Mind telling me where's home for you so I can think of some negative stereotypical "jokes" of that area and have reasons to stay away.
You know... on second thought... I don't want to know where home is because I want to believe your home is a wonderful place.
Enough of this, now back to sports.

John Lynch is such a hottie, what a smile. Just saw him on PTI and he just makes you stop and enjoy. But go Eagles.

I agree with Mac's post on the Bucs - Raiders matchup. That would be a dream game. Count on Oakland winning, though. This is their year!

ps My pick for the game MVP is Charlie Garner.

Welcome to the board, ruggedfun! It's nice to have another voice from western Canada besides yours truly.

Our dream of a Bucs-Raiders Super Bowl will now be a reality, except it's hard for me to choose since I like both teams. But I'll cheer for the Bucs since they've never been to the big game (plus I adore Mike Alstott!)

Although nobody responded to my comment and question about overtime (see Jan 12 in this thread), it looks like Paul Tagliabue was listening...

http://www.superbowl.com/insider/story/6147480