AFC/NFC Championship Sunday

There are many words that can be used to describe the emotions that ran through the 4 teams in the AFC/NFC Championships and their fans: excitement, heartbreak, defeat, anxiousness, anger, nervousness, joy, frustration. God knows what else. At the end of the day only two teams could prevail. For the NFC Championship it would either be the Chicago Bears or the Green Bay Packers, the oldest rivalry in the NFL. And for the AFC Championship the Pittsburgh Steelers or the New York Jets, a newly formed rivalry.

Sunday started off with the Packers at the Bears. A game that I think even some Steelers and Jets fans were more excited about. The oldest rivalry in football. Haven't played each other in the playoffs since 1941 (where the Bears won) so we were long overdue for a rematch. The hype leading up to the game didn't disappoint. Active players, retired Hall of Famers, and fans alike took sides. Even former pro wrestler Triple H endorsed the Packers and praised Aaron Rodgers for his "title belt" TD celebration. Both teams had played great games the week before, the Packers more-so than the Bears with their stomping of the Falcons, 48-21. For the 2 p.m. kick-off, the temperature in the teens with a wind-chill in the single digits, it's this generations "Ice Bowl". From the beginning the Packers seemed to be in control of it all. On their first drive, Rodgers was perfect closing with his own 1-yd TD run. 7-0 Packers. Jay Cutler and the Bears just couldn't get their offense going relying heavily on their defense. The next thing they know, they're down 14-0 after a Starks TD run. Halftime. Going into the lockerroom GB is more than pumped up, but the Bears needed to figure something out. Rodgers had cooled off after the opening drive and the game wasn't going exactly as many thought it would after the first quarter. Coming back onto the field for the start of the 3rd quarter, Cutler didn't last. With an injured knee he was benched, back-up QB Collins was put in but brought out almost as fast after 2 near INTs. Now things relied on 3rd string QB Hanie and to everyone's surprise, he played extremely well. The Bears made things interesting with two TDs in the 4th quarter, but the 2nd one just too late. Like many people said beforehand, it was going to be a defensive game, and that's exactly what it was. The Packers sealed their ticket to Dallas on two defensive plays. First, BJ Raji, 338 lb D-Lineman, intercepted Hanie and ran it 19 yds for the TD. Second, Sam Shields, an undrafted player, closed the door on the Bears with his interception during one of the Bears last plays with 1:00 left in the game. That was it, the Green Bay Packers are going to the Superbowl.

After the game, speculation started to come out about Cutler leaving the game. People were questioning whether he just quit on the team or was truly injured (Turns out he tore his MCL). In the Packers lockerroom, Terry Bradshaw asked Clay Matthews if he was surprised that Cutler left the game. His response: "well yeah, you expect 4 quarters out of him. We hit him pretty hard, I guess hard enough to knock him out". Its hard as a fan and a player not to question when your starting QB, or anyone for that matter, leaves the game seemingly hurt, but appears to be okay on the sidelines. Especially when he's not playing well and your team is losing in the final game before the Super Bowl. Brian Urlacher defended him like any teammate should saying that if he could have played he would have, no questions, but clearly he wasn't 100% so he had to sit.

Moving on to the evening game, NY Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers. While it may not have been hyped up like the Packers/Bears game, it still had a lot of nervous fans biting their nails through the whole game. Like the NFC championship, the Steelers seemed in control of the game from the start. They took the lead 10-0, far from being over but then things took a turn for the worse for the Jets. In :47 seconds they were suddenly down 24-0. Big Ben's 2-yd TD run then a fumble recovery for a TD surged the Steelers into the lead. Going into the half the Jets were at least on the board, 24-3. Halftime. Something kickstarted the Jets, and 3 minutes into the 3rd quarter they were only down 14, 24-10 with a lot of football left to play. 4th quarter starts and many fans on both sides thought the game was over, but we've seen crazier things happen. A safety and a TD brought the Jets within in striking distance, 24-19. Was the unthinkable about to happen? Were the Steelers going to crumble like the Ravens did the week before? Were we going to see two 6 seeded teams in the Superbowl? As much as Jets fans would have liked, no, it didn't happen. Steeler Nation prevailed. Time ran out on the Jets hopeful comeback and their season was over.

So now we have it. Superbowl XLV (45 for those of you who don't pay attention). Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers. The two nations going head to head. There may not be bigger fan bases in the NFL, and not to mention, fan bases that travel extremely well. All Cowboys fans in the greater Dallas/Ft. Worth area should probably refrain from leaving their houses and wearing any Cowboys gear is pretty much asking for it. 2 weeks from today one team will be returning back to their respective city with the Lombardi Trophy in hand. Who will you root for? We all know my allegiance.

NFL Playoffs

It's to no one's surprise that I'm a huge sports fan. It's hard for me to determine what sport I enjoy the most because there are different parts of each one that suck me in. It's hard to top March Madness or the Final Round at the Masters, but right now all I can think about is the Green Bay Packers and their march to Superbowl XLV (45).

The past two weekends of wildcard and playoff games have been a rollercoaster to say the least. Some predictable others not so much, actually wait, I don't think there is one game that has gone as predicted. After the first 2 rounds, the number one seeds (Falcons and Patriots) are both gone and the defending Super Bowl Champions, New Orleans Saints, were knocked off as well. I think majority of sports fans didn't see this coming. Everyone wants their team to win, but often times we find ourselves rooting for other teams with hopes that we'll play the team that may not be as good, however are surprised when the expected winner loses.

Wildcard Weekend:
Jets over Colts (17-16). Ravens over Kansas City (30-7). Packers over Eagles (21-16). Seahawks over Saints (41-36). Fans alike expected the Ravens to win, that was a given, but the other games caused a few more heart attacks. Starting with the Jets/Colts game. It was truly up for grabs really. The injured Colts were struggling to hold on, but no one ever overlooks P. Manning, however Sanchez and the Jets stayed on top, barely, to pull out the victory. The Packers/Eagles game was going to be close, everyone knew that. Michael Vick is a phenomenal QB but the Packers D has been near impossible to break this year and their offense has been exceptional with Rodgers as their leader. With the final minutes winding down, Philly was making a run to win the game, but all thanks to Tremon Williams' phenomenal INT in the endzone, that drive was halted faster than Vick's dog fighting trial. The biggest surprise of the weekend however, the Seahawks defeat of the Saints. The defending Super Bowl champs weren't as good as they were the previous season, however going up against the 7-9 Seahawks no one thought this upset would happen. Down at the half, the Seahawks never gave up. With the "Return that Shocked Seattle" the Seahawks came out victorious. New Orleans came into the game with the mindset that it would be an easy victory and advance to the next round. Now they're back in their homes kicking themselves.

Divisional Round:
Jets over Patriots (28-21). Pittsburgh over Baltimore (31-24). Packers over Falcons (48-21). Bears over Seahawks (35-24). Who would have thought the two #1 seeds would both be gone in the divisional round? Well Packer Nation and Jets fans probably knew it, and a few other serious football fans, but not many others. With the Jets going to Gilette stadium to play the Patriots, not many people thought Sanchez would prevail over multi-MVP Tom Brady and his all-stars, but they did. Same thing with the Saints the week before, the Patriots didn't show up to play. They thought it was going to be an easy win, but it wasn't. The Bears/Seahawks game went as expected, the Bears won and Seattle faltered, nothing else. The Ravens/Steelers game was one that was up for grabs. Both teams had potential to win, it was just a matter of who could play for an hour with the least mistakes. Ravens took the early lead and seemed as if they had control of the game, until they crumbled like the Berlin Wall in the 80's. Mistake after mistake, the Steelers capitalized and prevailed. Now the #1 seeded Falcons had a lot of expectations to live up to, a lot of people thought the inexperienced Matt Ryan could take them to the SuperBowl, but the Packers had other plans. In their first meeting, yes the Falcons won, but barely. The Packers have been on the radar for the SuperBowl this entire season. They were never blown out of a game (all loses were by 3 or fewer points) and when they were playing well, it was dangerous. This game there was no stopping the Packers on either side of the ball. Aaron Rodgers was close to perfection (31/36, 366 yds, 3 TDs, 1 rushing TD) the Falcons defense couldn't stop him. In reality, the Falcons offense only score 1 TD (kickoff return and an INT return were the other 2). But the most interesting fact... the Packers did not punt once in the game, not once. That game could have easily been 50 or more to 7.

And now we wait for the AFC and NFC championships this Sunday. The NY Jets @ Pittsburgh Steeler, a game that could go either way. The Jets have already beaten Pittsburgh at home this year, but after the Baltimore game the Steelers are in full steam and ready to get to the SuperBowl for another Lombardi trophy. This year however, the game to watch is the NFC Championship game: Packers vs. Bears, the coveted rivalry. They haven't played each other in the playoffs since 1941. This year they split the games each winning at home, but now it's different. This game is for all the marbles. Win or go home. It's hard to believe that any team could beat the Packers right now with the way they've been playing, but especially this year, anything can happen.

As a life long Packer fan, we obviously know who I'm rooting for. I'm considering going down to Chicago to watch the game with some Bears fans but as superstitious as I am I'm not sure I can leave the comforts of my home after watching the game there last week. Either way, I will be sporting the Acme Packers shirt I received for my birthday (Jan 4th) for it has been worn for the Eagles and Falcons game therefore it obviously will be worn until they lose. 4 teams remain, only 2 can move on. Root for whoever you want but now it comes down to which team can step up to the pressure.

Go Packers.