Going out on a limb with the Patriots

Pick the Patriots, my buddy Jason begged.

Jason is a coworker. He noticed I picked the Giants to lose all three of their playoff games.

Jason is also a Giants fan.

Jason wants me to pick the Patriots to win the Super Bowl and hopes the trend of my being wrong continues.

OK, I’ll pick the Patriots, but not because of some covert plan to give the Giants the title.

I’m picking the Patriots because I just don’t see any way they can lose.

Yes, I know the Giants almost beat them during the regular season finale in a game in which the Giants had nothing to lose. Well, now they have something to lose: the Super Bowl.

Yes, the Giants have the pass rush to rattle Tom Brady, and the running game to smack the heart of the Patriots defense.

Yes, the Giants have confidence in quarterback Eli Manning, who during the last month strung together the three best games of his career.

But …

It’s tough to pick against a team that has won 18 straight; a team that was outplayed by an injury-riddled Chargers team in the AFC title game and still won.
This Patriots team knows how to finish games.

They’ve blown teams away. They’ve kept games close and waited for the other team to make a mistake.

They’ve gotten lucky, too. Witness the incredibly stupid timeout called by the Baltimore coaching staff on a 4th-and-1 play the Ravens actually stopped, except they didn’t, because, unbeknownst to the players, the play was whistled dead before the ball was snapped.

No timeout, and New England is 17-1 today.

But with that timeout, and some late Brady magic, the Patriots sit on the doorstep of history.

This is the game they’ve been waiting for since early in the season when they realized no one in the AFC would stop them.

Forget “Spygate” and all revenge theories that people seem to think motivate the Patriots. The Patriots are motivated by two things: They want to win the Super Bowl. They haven’t won one since Feb. 6, 2005.

In their minds, they are long overdue.

All those other games in which they struggled yet somehow won, those were just the necessary paperwork leading up to the Super Bowl.

And now it is here.

Yes, the Giants are on a roll. But the Bucs and Cowboys and Packers are like nothing they will face in Glendale, Ariz.

Can the Giants win? Sure. In boxing lexicon, they have a puncher’s chance.

And if they do, it will go down as one of the greatest upsets in pro football history.

If the Patriots win, we will witness the conclusion to the greatest season in pro football history.

I think it will be a close game. I think the Giants might even hold a second-half lead. But the Patriots will find a way to finish, whether the defense forces a late turnover or it is Brady to Randy Moss or both.

So, here you go, Jason.

Patriots 31, Giants 27.

Can't go to England if you can't find the end zone

No need to book those flights to England. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren't going.
That's how it looks now, even though the NFL has yet to announce the two teams who will play in England next season.

Word out of San Diego is it will be the Chargers and New Orleans Saints, with the Saints giving up the home game. That New Orleans will play only seven times inside the Superdome next season is good news for fans of the other NFC South teams.

The NFL picked the Saints and Chargers because of their ability to score. San Diego was ranked fifth in the NFL in 2007 with 25.8 points a game. New Orleans was 12th with 23.7.

The Bucs were 18th with 20.9.

If you are trying to promote the NFL overseas, you'd want to do it with a high-scoring game, not the 13-10 snooze-fest the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins played this past season in London.

Considering how a trip to England can knock a team off its game for a couple weeks, all those trips inside the red zone that resulted in field goals for the Bucs in 2007 might prove to be a good thing.

Playing in Tampa a no-brainer for Irish

Coach Jim Leavitt and his USF Bulls have never been shy about accepting a challenge, and nothing says “challenge” like brining your team into South Bend, Ind., to play Notre Dame, no matter how much “fight” is in the Fighting Irish that fall.

The Bulls will do just that in 2011 and will get $925,000 for their efforts.

The game could pay off in bigger ways for USF if the Bulls come away with a victory.

Who knows what the state of either team will be in three years?

Regardless, this is a great game for USF. Think of the exposure they’ll get from playing Notre Dame on network TV. Plus, getting nearly $1 million won’t hurt, either.

But the thing I’m kind of stuck on is how come the Bulls couldn’t make this into a home-and-home series? Notre Dame is expected to sign home-and-home agreements with three other Big East teams. Why not USF?

I’m not blaming USF here.

It could be the Irish project the Bulls to be among the top teams in the country by then and would rather not risk playing the Bulls at Raymond James Stadium.

But Notre Dame is a national program with a national fan base.

There are certainly Irish in Tampa Bay. I can name four off the top of my head.
And the Irish recruit in all corners of the country.

So, why not bring the team south to sunny Tampa so your Florida boosters and, more importantly, Florida recruits can see the mystique of the Irish up close?

You think Notre Dame would see the logic in that.

Tom! Tom! Tom! How's your ankle?

Stop the presses! Tom Brady has a high right ankle sprain.

That’s according to one Associated Press source.

No, another source told the AP it’s only a mild sprain.

Sprain? What sprain?

The New England Patriots quarterback was spotted Monday in New York’s East Village dinning with girlfriend Gisele Bundchen wearing what one observer reported as “cowboy boots.” But a photographer snapped a shot of Brady wearing something out of coach Bill Belichick’s closet and sporting an open-toed foot brace as he carried a few things from Bundchen’s apartment.

This is why I hate the extra week between the conference title games and the Super Bowl. Non-stories grab the headlines.

Brady’s ankle, injured or not, will drive the bus until the teams arrive in Glendale on Jan. 29 for media day, when Brady will be grilled like this:

“How is your ankle?”

“It’s fine.”

“Can you play Sunday?”

“Yes.”

“How is your ankle?”

“It’s fine.”

“Can you play Sunday?”

“Yes.”
“How is your ankle?”

“It’s fine.”

“Can you play Sunday?”

“Yes.”

And on and on …

Kind of makes you long for Tonicca. That’s the Tony Romo-Jessica Simpson affair.

Brady said Tuesday he will play against the New York Giants. That the injury is nothing he ever had before, and the brace is just a precaution.

Hey, if you can slip your dogs into cowboy boots, how bad can the ankle really be?

By the way, did you hear San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers actually had knee surgery the week before the AFC Championship Game? Talk about gut check.

Anyway, back to Brady.

The last time he entered a Super Bowl with an ankle injury was after the 2001 season. Remember? He was injured in the first half against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC title game. Drew Bledsoe came in and saved the day.

Brady was just fine during the Super Bowl as the Pats beat the St. Louis Rams.

In fact, he was the MVP.

Eli came of age in Tampa

Let’s go back to the final play of the third quarter in the playoff opener between the Giants and the Buccaneers, because that’s when I think the Giants became a championship team.

It was third-and-7 from the Giants own 11. The Bucs trailed by 10, sure, but they thrived on making plays in those situations all season – an interception, a sack and a fumble – something that would swing the momentum in their favor. After that it would be the Jeff Garcia Show.

Instead Eli Manning completed an 11-yard pass to Amani Toomer and drove the Giants downfield for the clinching touchdown.

I felt it then and I especially feel it now, that play was a turning point for Manning, who until recently, had this habit of throwing interceptions in situations such as that.

I knew he played well the previous week against New England, but that was a game the Giants weren’t supposed to win. They played loose, because they had absolutely nothing to lose.

But against the Bucs, the entire season hung in the balance.

And Manning rolled to his right, stepped away from the pass rush and delivered a dart to Toomer.

The Giants won 24-14.

They won the next week at Dallas and then again Sunday at Green Bay.

Along the way Manning outplayed Tony Romo and Brett Favre.

This is the same Manning who is booed at home and ripped in the New York media. His former teammate Tiki Barber wasn’t shy about ripping Eli, either, and, well, look who’s going to the Super Bowl?

Sometimes it takes the smallest of plays for things to turn in your favor. Manning completed that pass and, just like that, the field position wasn’t all that bad.

His receivers, who dropped 42 passes this season (a stat that would make Tom Brady look like a bad quarterback) began holding on to passes.

Manning hasn’t thrown the ball deep in the postseason, just deep enough to keep the offense moving toward the end zone.

In turn, during the last three weeks, the Giants have looked like the second-best team in football.

Now they get to play the best – New England, which outscored the Giants 38-35 during the regular season finale.

Some will say Manning turned the corner that night.

Not me. I think it came a week later against the Bucs.

The Giants were playing for pride against the Patriots. They were playing for keeps against the Bucs.

And now, with Manning playing as you would expect a No. 1 overall pick to play, the Giants have a chance to take down the Patriots on Feb. 3 in the Super Bowl.

Who knew an 11-yard pass could go that far?

I like the Pats and the Pack

Who is going to the Super Bowl?

Here’s my humble opinion, but keep in mind, Jimmy the Greek I’m not. I’m 4-4 over the first two weekends of what some, including Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, have been calling the “tournament.” I prefer “playoffs,” but what do I know?

Here we go …

San Diego at New England
I didn’t think the Chargers would get past Indianapolis, but they somehow managed to limp out of the RCA Dome with a stunning upset behind a back-up quarterback and a back-up tailback.

The Chargers beat the Colts because they didn’t make the crucial turnovers, something the Patriots never seem to do.

Also, the Patriots proved in their win in the divisional playoffs against Jacksonville that they will take what the defense gives them. Tom Brady is patient almost to perfection. Take away Randy Moss and Brady finds other ways to beat you.

At this point of the season, you see teams lose more than you see teams win. Teams, like the Cowboys did against the Giants, play their way out of the postseason by dropping touchdown passes, committing drive-killing penalties and throwing interceptions.

To beat this Patriots team you need help from the Patriots, and that’s the problem. The Patriots never beat themselves.

Patriots 31, Chargers 13.

New York Giants at Green Bay
It will be Brett Favre weather since the Packers quarterback is 43-5 in games played when the temperature is 34 degrees or below.

It could be below zero at kickoff with a wind chill pushing 30 below.

I’m not sure that is anybody’s weather, but those conditions always seem to favor the home team.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning does not play well on cold, nasty days. But the Giants have the running game to help him out.

Problem is the Packers have a running game, too, and Favre is adept at passing in the cold.

The Giants have won nine straight games on the road, including playoff wins at Tampa Bay and Dallas, so home field hasn’t been an advantage for either of their “tournament” opponents.

It will be today, though. Favre and the cold will be too much for Eli and the G-Men.

Packers 23, Giants 17.

What if Eli is a Lombardi fan?

Did you see where the FOX affiliate in Green Bay is pulling Saturday’s scheduled “Seinfeld” rerun because New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is a fan of the show?

“Eli, no ‘Seinfeld’ for you,” Jay Zollar, the station’s general manager shouted in a video on the station’s Web site.

That might be taking it a little too far, but Zollar is doing his best as a loyal Packers fan to not make Manning’s stay in Green Bay this weekend a pleasant one.

The station conducted an online vote to see which show Packers fans want to watch instead of Jerry and his whacky crew.

The choices were a Vince Lombardi special, a local show with Packers receiver Donald Driver and infomercial for The Good Feat Story featuring Emmitt Smith and a M*A*S*H rerun.

No surprise that Lombardi was running away with the vote. Though, personally, I would like to see which M*A*S*H episode they had in mind before casting my vote.

I might be inclined to vote for Hawkeye if it was an early episode with Trapper and Henry.

Maybe the one where Hotlips and Frank try to have Henry court-martialed. You know? The one with “Bouncing Betty bouncing along.” That was a good one.

In Volek we trust

Did you notice the exchange between LaDainian Tomlinson and Philip Rivers during the second half of Sundays’ AFC Divisional playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and the Indianapolis Colts?

Rivers had just returned to the sideline after having his injured knee examined, and Tomlinson, also sidelined with a knee injury, must have asked Rivers if he would return to the game. When the quarterback said no, Tomlinson’s head jerked to his left, and he wore a pained expression as he disappeared among his teammates.

Calm down, LaDainian.

No Rivers, no problem.

The most stunning story of the weekend was Billy Volek, the Chargers' seldom-used backup quarterback, who replaced Rivers and eventually led the Chargers on an eight-play, 78-yard touchdown drive, covering the final yard himself to compete the Chargers' 28-24 upset over the defending Super Bowl champions.

You can understand Tomlinson’s reaction. Chargers were limping off the field in bunches, and what chance did they really have of knocking off the Colts without their No. 1 quarterback, right?

Sure.

We all saw it coming, right?

Sure.

Volek completed 3 of 6 passes during the regular season for 10 yards and zero touchdowns.

Tomlinson completed one pass during the regular season that went for a 17-yard touchdown.

So the No. 1 running back had more passing yards and passing touchdowns than the backup quarterback.
And, still, the Chargers won.

Volek moved the Chargers all the way to the AFC title game.

Even the great Peyton Manning couldn’t produce that kind of magic.

Rivers, with a sprained MCL, is listed as questionable for this Sunday’s AFC Championship Game at New England.

The Chargers are going to need an awful lot of Tomlinson, or they will all be wearing the same expression Tomlinson flashed to Rivers last week.

I like Colts and Cowboys

Two more Division playoff games, two more predictions.

Saturday I was 2-0 making me 4-2 overall this postseason.

Here we go:

San Diego at Indianapolis

Speculation is Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy will retire after this season, which means he could be coaching his last game today. He won’t, though … coach his last game today.

Forget Peyton Manning’s six interceptions when these teams met in San Diego during the regular season. The Colts offense was beat up and Manning was still beating himself up for blowing a 10-point fourth quarter lead to New England the week before.

The Colts are rested and playing at home.

San Diego was unimpressive in a win against Tennessee in the Wild Card round.

It’s hard to believe this Chargers team can steal one on the road in the playoffs.

Indianapolis 34, San Diego 10

New York at Dallas

It seems odd that in the long history of the New York Giants, they’ve never played the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs. Well, they never played Tampa Bay, either, until last week.

The Cowboys are charged with beating a team for the third time in one season, which is hard but not impossible. The Giants are nearly unbeatable on the road, having won their last eight after opening the season with a loss, where? In Dallas.

Why? Because the Cowboys were able to stop the Giants pass rush, and Tony Romo has been able to make big plays.

Eli Manning has played big in each of the past two games. Is he really improved enough to play big three straight weeks? Not when Week 3 is against the Cowboys in Dallas.

Dallas 23, New York 13

More playoff games, more playoff guesses

Since 2000, home teams have held a decided advantage over their visitors during the Divisional Playoff games, winning 20 of the 28 games with sweeps in 2002 and 2004.

Both AFC teams won on the road last season, but those teams were New England (at San Diego) and Indianapolis (at Baltimore).

There are two games Saturday. Here’s a look at each. (Last week: 2-2)

Seattle at Green Bay

Seattle looked strong beating Washington in the Wild Card round, but the Packers and the Wisconsin winter pose another set of problems.

Brett Favre has been tough to stop this season.

This Seattle team is much better than the one that lost there in overtime during the 2003 Wild Card weekend. The Seahawks will try to attack Favre just like they did last week against Redskins quarterback Todd Collins.

The difference is Collins is not Favre, who has seen everything a team can possibly throw at him.

Favre should have enough magic to advance the Packers to their first NFC title game since 1998.

Green Bay 31, Seattle 20

Jacksonville at New England

Jacksonville has the running game to control the clock and keep the ball away from Tom Brady and the defense to pressure Brady. Problem is the Patriots can score in a hurry, so time of possession is not necessarily the Jaguars friend.

The Patriots are rested and focused. It’s no longer about going undefeated. It’s about winning the Super Bowl, and the Patriots have some experience with that.

Jacksonville had a great regular season and an emotional win at Pittsburgh in the Wild Card round. That they are even thought of as having a slight chance to pull the upset speaks of how good this team can be. And they can be that good, just not on Saturday in New England.

The Jaguars will keep it close early. The Patriots will dominate late.

New England 41, Jacksonville 17.

Keyshawn? In Tampa? Really?

He said it on ESPN on Sunday morning before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Giants kicked off in the NFC Wild Card game, but did anyone believe Keyshawn Johnson when he said the Bucs contacted him about joining the roster for the postseason?

No, not with the history between Johnson and Bucs coach Jon Gruden, right?
But call the Bucs did.

Bucs general manager Bruce Allen confirmed that Thursday during his season-ending press conference.

“Yes we did,” Allen said. “It was after Maurice Stovall got injured and it was to put (Johnson) on an emergency list, see if he was in shape. His legs. We saw that he was still talking well and stuff. But Keyshawn and I have a long-term relationship before he even played in the NFL and it was something that if, we needed, we just wanted to make sure. We do that at every position. He’s probably the only sportscaster we contacted.”

And Gruden was OK with this?

“Yeah,” Allen said. “And so was Keyshawn.”

Kind of makes sense.

Johnson should be in good enough shape to run a few patterns, which is all the Bucs would have asked from him, and the Bucs certainly could have used another pair of hands in the loss to the Giants.

But Gruden did have a little sideline spat with Joey Galloway, so maybe the Bucs didn’t need Johnson after all.

Remember the Colts?

Has a potential back-to-back Super Bowl champion ever flown under the radar quite like the Indianapolis Colts?

No reason to see why they can’t repeat except for, well, You Know Who.

New England’s run to a perfect season has cast such a shadow over the NFL that even the Colts and Peyton Manning are afterthoughts.

Blowing a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead at home to the Patriots during the regular season and showing up flat the following week at San Diego is not exactly the way to enhance your status as a possible repeat champion. But the Colts were without a few starters in those games, and Manning’s awful night in San Diego could be attributed to a post-Patriots hangover.

That no one is giving any team a chance to beat New England in the postseason may be the best thing to happen to a defending Super Bowl champ. The pressure is all on Tom Brady & Co.

The Colts can go about their business without having to defend their status as defending champs.
What championship team wouldn’t want that kind of non-pressure?

Bucs loss not a matter of R&R

It is time to put to rest talk of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers being too rested for last Sunday’s NFC Wild-Card Game against the New York Giants, a game in which they looked out of sync and lost 24-14.

The Bucs were banged up near the end of the season, and resting as many starters as he could was not the worst idea Bucs coach Jon Gruden ever had.

I can’t see how feeling refreshed during the first playoff game is a handicap.
Besides, if the Bucs were rusty, how do you explain their dominance in the first quarter?
The players still practiced during the weeks leading up to the game against the Giants. They just avoided the pounding on the two previous Sundays.

What ended the Bucs' season more than anything else was the play calling in the second quarter that seemed to forget a successful running game, the play of Giants quarterback Eli Manning and the Giants pass rush that pressured Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia into a bad day.

Throw in a substandard core of receivers and you have the makings of an early playoff exit for the Bucs.

It wasn’t a case of the Bucs being too rested on Sunday. It was a case of the Giants being too good.

Two more playoff games, two more predictions

Day 2 of the NFL playoffs.

Two more games, two more predictions.

New York Giants at Tampa Bay

It’s easy to pick the Bucs because of the Eli Manning factor, but the Giants quarterback played well in the loss to New England during the regular season finale. Was that enough to awaken the potential everyone once saw in the former No. 1 pick? I’m not sold, especially when he will face the Bucs' defense.

The Giants pass rush will be a factor, as will 6-foot-4, 264-pound running back Brandon Jacobs. If the Bucs have any weaknesses, it’s stopping the rush and stopping big, powerful running backs.

That said, Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia was brought to town for one reason, and that is to win playoff games.

A rested Bucs team with Garcia at quarterback should be enough to move the team to the second round.

I see Garcia making a few plays late to clinch the victory.

Bucs 19, Giants 13.

Tennessee at San Diego

The Titans just made the playoffs with the help of an Indianapolis squad that basically took the night off.

The Chargers have won their past nine and are playing at home. That ought to be too much for the Titans, who might not have starting quarterback Vince Young for long if Young’s injured quad is a problem.

Expect San Diego cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who led the NFL with 10 interceptions, to get another one today.

Chargers 34, Titans 10.

Record: 1-1.

Playoffs: Two games, two predictions

Two playoff games Saturday, two playoff predictions.

OK, here we go …

I like Washington at Seattle because Cinderella teams do win in the first week of the playoffs. The Redskins (9-7) come under that category. Quarterback Todd Collins has been unbelievable after going 10 years between starts, and the team is playing for the memory of Sean Taylor.

That alone might be enough for a road victory, but consider this: The Redskins needed wins in their past two games to reach the playoffs and they did just that. So, while this is the playoff opener for Seattle (10-6), it is basically the third week of the playoffs for the Redskins.

Redskins 23, Seahawks 17.


I like Jacksonville at Pittsburgh, but I’m not sure why, other than the fact Jacksonville won there in the snow a few weeks ago, and Pittsburgh is playing without leading rusher Willie Parker.

Ben Roethlisberger will have to beat the Jaguars with his arm, and he might not get the chance if the Jaguars running tandem of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew controls the clock.

It will be a night for defense, but the Jaguars will have just enough offense to advance.

Jaguars 17, Pittsburgh 16.

Nice job, FAU

Florida played an exciting game against Michigan on New Year’s Day in the Capital One Bowl. The Gators lost, sure, but it was still one of the better bowl games played this season.

Florida State hung in there with Kentucky better than anyone expected given the Seminoles were without 36 players, who missed the Music City Bowl because of injuries or suspensions for their involvement in cheating on the final of an online music course.

South Florida bombed against Oregon, losing by five touchdowns.

UCF played a sleeper against Mississippi State.

Did anyone notice the only Florida college football team to win a bowl game?

That would be the Owls of Florida Atlantic, who rolled past Memphis by 17 points in the New Orleans Bowl.

It was the first bowl victory in the first bowl trip for Howard Schnellenberger’s crew.

Nice job, coach.

At least someone upheld the lofty tradition of football in this state.

Hail to the Citrus Bowl

Normally I’m not a big fan of the Florida Citrus Bowl.

It’s not a very attractive stadium. Traffic is usually a problem. And it always seems way too hot, even by central Florida standards.

But fill the place with 69,748 fans, including two marching bands, and bring in a pair of top programs like Florida and Michigan and have them play in a New Year’s Day bowl game. I have to admit, the dump has some charm, especially when Florida and Michigan are going up and down the field to the tune of a 41-35 victory for the Michigan Wolverines as they did Tuesday in the Capital One Bowl.

Besides, can the surroundings really be that bad when the Michigan band is playing, “Hail to the Victors Valiant?”

The answer: Nope.