Who will advance to the Championship Games

Steelers, Pats, Rams, Eagles.

[ January 09, 2005, 05:38 PM: Message edited by: Jim at Outsports ]

Steelers, Colts, Vikings, Falcons

I'm going with all the home teams but c'mon - who knows? It'll be fun to watch, that's for sure.

Imagine if the two 8-8 teams advanced to the NFC title game. Sure doesn't seem likely but not as farfetched as it would have seemed 2 months ago.

Steelers, Patriots (in a defensive game...sorry Peyton--now known as the Joe in Philly of the NFL) Eagles, and Falcons.

~Adam

WHat he said...

Jets 13 @ Steelers 17

Rams 17 @ Falcons 31

Vikings 24 @ Eagles 17

Colts 27 @ Patriots 24

Pitt 23, Jets 7

St. Louis 27, Atlanta 24

Philly 26, Minnesota 16

NE 31, Indy 24

So far the only game on which we're fairly split is the Patriots/Colts affair. Heard Joe Theisman say he the "upset" that would least suprise him is the Jets taking out the Steelers.

~Adam

Steelers 20 J - E - T - S 10 (I hope I'm wrong again)
Colts 41 Patriots 38

Eagles 24 Vikings 17
Rams 24 Falcons 13

Steelers 17, Jets 10
Pats 30, Colts 28
Falcons 28, Rams 17
Eagles 30, Vikings 13

Steelers 20, Jets 14
Colts 35, Pats 27
Falcons 24, Rams 20
Eagles 27, Vikings 17

Call me crazy, but........

J-E-T-S 20, Steelers 16
Indy 31, NE 23
St. Louis 27, Falcons 21
Vikings 24, Eagles 20

The Colts were the only non wild-card team to win last week, and also the only team I was happy to see win. I'm pleased to note that the Colts are not far behind the Patriots in the poll. With all the great receivers Peyton has (Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and my cutie Brandon Stokley...all plus-1000 yards this season, as well as Dallas Clark) and of course Edgerrin James, I don't see how they can lose! Well, there is that minor matter of the defense, I suppose. But even though Indy's defense was near the bottom of the league in terms of yards allowed, they were in the middle of the pack in terms of points allowed, and in fact had the best takeaway/giveaway differential (+20) of any team.

My picks are: Colts over Patriots, Steelers over Jets, Eagles over Vikings (good riddance Randy Moss), Rams over Falcons.

OK you are CRAZY

Steelers, Vikings, Patriots, Falcons

Steelers, Pats, Falcons, Eages!!

Wild game so far. Steelers take 10-point lead in the first quarter then give it up in the second quarter? Big Ben is 3-for-10 right now.

My picks from a week ago:

NY Jets
Atlanta
Minnesota (though I'd prob. pick Philly now)
Patriots

Oh, really?

10-10 at the half. Very interesting.

Are the Jets heading towards a THIRD consecutive OT game .... Pittsburgh is driving to tie

all tied up at 17.

Unlike last week, the Jets let Pitt get momentum, but have answered back. I still think they need one major play to pull it out.

[ January 15, 2005, 04:12 PM: Message edited by: Breesboy ]

Such a disappointment for the Jets. I expected the Steelers to win, but given the game I thought the Jets were going to pull it off. And then my sentimental feelings for the Jets started kicking in and I wanted them to win, especially given their answers to the Steelers power. But those missed field goals--of man, that hurts.

Jets played one hell of an opportunistic type football game. It looks like all the overtime games they have played caught up with them in the overtime, where the Steelers, just wore them down. Pitssburgh was very, very lucky today. Not a great game at all from their Q.B. But they found a way to win.

puckman, I think they found a way not to lose, rather than a way to win.

Well, I watched this game at a bar in Fort Lauderdale, where the special of the day was Roethlis Burgers. If I remember correctly, it was ground beef, sausage, ham, scrambled eggs and cheese on a hoagie. Yuck. The game really had highs and lows. The Jets deserved to win. They also deserve a new kicker. frown

What a mockery of a playoff team the Rams are. They could do nothing right against the Falcons and it was not because of Mike Vick, who had more rushing(119) than passing yards (82). The Rams just had no answer for Alan Rossum and turnovers killed them.

It's a shame the Jets lost thanks to those missed field goals. Their offense did almost nothing but their defense did a good job against the Steelers. I still am convinced that Pittsburgh won't make it to the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, let's say goodbye and good riddance to the St. Louis Shams. The Falcons should get down on their knees and thank the Eagles for clinching the conference so early, and thank T.O. for getting hurt, both of which combined to cause Andy Reid to give the last two games away to keep everyone else healthy, thus giving the Shams a win they needed to get into the playoffs.

lol @ use of Shams .... it was VERY nice to see them get their beeyotches smacked up. Cause earlier this week all I heard was how the Shams were gonna win, Minnesota was gonna take out Philly and the NFC title game was gonna be here next week. And now unfortunately SNL is getting interrupted for Shams Puss, er, Rams Plus. Can't we just let the dead animal lay in peace?

I borrowed it from a master.

So, all you Eagle doubters.......any questions?

Well, I'm 4-for-4 this weekend, barring a Colts miracle...but that ain't happening. wink And I believe I came closest of everyone to predicting the Eagles-Vikings score.

The Colts just can't beat the Patriots, can they? Manning's receivers are dropping so many passes. He's gotten no help outside of Edgerrin James. And the Pats offense just took over in the second half. Not explosive, just effective.

Dear Jim at Outsports,

Obviously the Colts defense lost this game. Peyton played another perfect game. Obviously he's the best ever.



Love,

Bill Belichick

Yes, a few. Congrats on getting every call but one and winning.

Love,

Michael Vick

PS. I assume you have booked your room in Jacksonville?

So what are your questions, exactly? The Eagles' only relatively weak area was on kick returns. They'll tighten that up this week for sure. If it weren't for Culpepper the Vikes would've been shut out.

Are you going to be like that idiot Sean Salisbury, whose head is now way up the Falcons' butts instead of his beloved Vikings?

Dear America,

We hope you remember who we are now.

Best wishes,
Super Bowl XXXVI and XXXVIII Champion New England Patriots

Philly Phans can't really be rassured by what they saw today. They possibly will beat Atlanta, but things don't look good beyond that.

Oh well Peyton and the Colts came up lame again. They obviously can't catch or score outdoors in cold/snowy weather. The only thing to say is if they couldn't beat the PATS this year when they were tearing up the record books then never.

On the post game show they said Peyton may go down as the Dan Marino of the playoffs except that Dan actually played in a Super Bowl.

Ok, shouldn't really quote oneself, but it's so rare I get them all....

~Adam

I'm thinking this may now be an insult to Joe!

Wrong....

The Birds did what they wanted to do... make them drive down the field.. not give up the big play.. then make them score TD's.. which they did not.

They put the pressure on the pepper and took away the deep pass (except one).

The Eagles just took what they were given on O and then tried to hit a few deep ones...

Except for the coverage, the Eagles played a solid well rounded game. Something everyone knew the Vikes could not do.....

Bring on the Carpetbagger from ATL...

Really. I win championships. Outsports Convention trivia, tied for first in Pro Football Pick 'Em...still, I wouldn't mind walking into a store and seeing Peyton in person yelling, \"Cut that meat! Cut that meat!\"

No one has thought that the Eagles without T.O. would be favored over the AFC winner, but they'll make a game of it after they beat Atlanta. Don't be fooled by the Falcons' win last night or their season record. They're not that great.

[ January 16, 2005, 07:43 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Joe, you have performed better under pressure (10,000 posts!) than my favorite QB.

I know the trendy picks next week will be Atlanta and NE, but I like both Pa. teams. I think the Eagles match up quite well against the Falcs.

The Steelers will win the AFC Championship. I have foreseen it.

From Cyd's weekly recap:

With all due respect, Cyd, you suck.

i'm with cyd on this one.

Funny, but I thought the Eagles were pretty exciting to watch this week (not always the case). The game certainly had more action than Pats-Colts, a snoozerama unless you were a NE fan (as Cyd is). Cyd is just bummed because his hero Randy Moss was defeated.

[ January 17, 2005, 09:09 AM: Message edited by: Jim at Outsports ]

I personally think it was extremely classy of Peyton, Tony Dungy and the entire Colts organization to roll over like dogs out of respect for the defending champions. wink (Sorry Jim!)

When did the Colts trade for the Seahawks receivers? They dropped so many catchable balls. And Tedy Bruschi is a god!!! Also the Patriots had their two longest drives of the entire season yesterday. Everybody on the Pats stepped up big time while the Peyton and the Colts pulled up lame yet again.

As for the other game, while I was obviously rooting for the Vikes, I knew deep inside they had no shot. The Eagles defense looked 10 times better than when they met earlier in the year. And the Vikes just looked confused and befuddled by all the different schemes the Eagles D was giving them.

Some things the Vikes should do this offseason:

1. Fire the entire coaching staff. They were so ill-prepared for the game yesterday. All those penalties!

2. Trade Randy Moss. It'll be tough with the contract he has and the baggage he brings, but somebody would take him for a defensive stud. Burleson, Robinson and Campbell will be fine. Draft another WR in the draft and groom him.

3. Trade one of their running backs. They have 3 pretty good backs in Michael Bennett, Onterrio Smith and Mewelde Moore. There are a number of teams who could use a RB. Get more defensive help in exchange.

4. Draft defense.

5. Sign and/or draft a kicker.

The Eagles/Vikings game was sloppy and not terribly exciting.

Agreed. I was thrilled they failed to score a TD to show their respect. I'll nominate the lot for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Even though this Colts fan was more interested in their game with the Patriots (but ultimately disappointed with the outcome; it just isn't fair that Indy always loses to New England ), I thought the Eagles-Vikings game was the more entertaining of the two matches. I especially liked that second TD by Freddie Mitchell on a fumble recovery. Congrats to the Eagles; better them than the Vikings. Maybe we will see an all- Pennsylvania Super Bowl in a few weeks, which would be a first. Personally I prefer Super Bowl games involving teams from distinctly different regions as I think they generate wider interest, but unlike the CFL and NHL championships, it often doesn't work out that way in the NFL (nor in MLB, for that matter).

PS, congrats are in order to Adam, Puckman and Joe for correctly picking all four winners this weekend. All of them hockey fans who have demonstrated their knowledge of football too!

[ January 17, 2005, 11:36 AM: Message edited by: Marc ]