NFL Roundtable with The Sports Cartel – Part 2
Each week, Sports Collision is teaming up with TheSportsCartel.com for a roundtable discussion on current events in the world of sports. This weeks topic: NFL Playoff Divisional Round Matchups
If you missed Part 1, click here.
“NEXT QUESTION,” said Drew Rosenhaus, as stale popcorn rested at the feet of a lonely Terrell Owens
Prediction time…. Write a newspaper headline for each of your winning picks and your score prediction.
Tony Bosma, The Sports Cartel:
“HOLY FAIL: Playoff woes continue for Patriots – Broncos 24, Patriots-21″
“1-2-3! Belt changes hands – NYG 31, GB 27″
“HOUSTON: NO PROBLEM, Ravens dismiss Texans 23-7″
“SAINTS STRIKE GOLD, PICK APART 49ers 34-10″
Caleb Eubanks, Sports Collision:
“SAINT BREES CRUCIFIES NINERS 38-17″
“RAVENS SOAR, blow out Houston 27-10″
“PACKING IT IN. Giants defeat Packers 38-37″
“TEBONED. Pats fall for 4th straight playoff game 23-21″
Wes French, The Sports Cartel:
“DIVINE INTERVENTION: Brady, Pats stop Tebow, God 41-10″
“FAIL-CO: Ravens stunned at home by Foster, Texans 23-7″
“BREES ON BY: Saints ride big 2nd half over lackluster Smith, 49ers 27-13″
“LAMBEAU HEAP: Rodgers piles up TDs, Belts Giants 45-24″
Andy Barry, The Sports Cartel:
STIFF BREES: Smith and the 49ers slow the Saints 24-17
TURNED CHEERS INTO WHINE, Tebow stuns Patriots 28-27
RAVENS RUN OVER TEXANS 24-7
BELTED HOME: Packers roll Giants 31-17
“NEXT QUESTION,” said Drew Rosenhaus, as Terrell Owens slept quietly in his hyperbaric chamber.
Which coach will have the biggest screw up and what will it be?
WF: Biggest screw up will be John Harbaugh not respecting the HOU passing game, and it’ll beat him deep at least twice.
AB: Good question as I feel we have a lot of good coaches left in the playoffs so I do not see a lot of coaching blunders coming. I am going to say it will be Gary Kubiak abandoning the run too early because of the Ravens’ tough run defense then letting Wes’ boyfriend get too involved with the offense. TJ Yates is a rookie QB going up against one of the toughest defenses in the league and that will spell doom for the Texans. The Texans are going to need to be patient with the run if they have a chance to win and I just do not see it happening.
CE: Well since Jason Garrett, Pete Carroll and Rex Ryan didn’t make the playoffs we’re only left with a decent group of coaches to pick from. I don’t doubt there will be some bad calls but the biggest screw up will have to be Tom Coughlin throwing his hands up looking like he’s getting his prostate checked on every other play. Eli pouts just as much.
TB: know that Jim Harbaugh has been a great coach this season, well deserving of Coach of the Year honors, but the playoffs are a different kind of beast than the regular season. You could actually discredit his entire first season since he lost to my lowly Dallas Cowboys, but I won’t go that far. I don’t think Harbaugh will have some kind of in-game blunder, but you have to question any coach that is willing to start Alex Smith in a playoff game. Don’t throw stats or records or anything of that nature in my face about Alex Smith. He is who he is and I don’t think being a playoff winning quarterback is in his blood. I don’t care what he’s done this year, I wouldn’t be comfortable having him under center for my team in this game. Even if he doesn’t have any other options, I fault any coach willing to start Alex Smith in an important football game.
AB: No! Jim has no option than to start Alex “Tiny Hands” Smith but Jim has figured out how to hide him and limit mistakes. If the 49ers try to make the game a shootout with the Saints then that is a mistake but Harbaugh has been very level headed this season and sticks to the game plan. Starting Tiny Hands is not a mistake of the coach, that is the GM’s fault. Jim has played up his team’s strengths and rode them to where they are now and I do not see him changing philosophies now.
TB: Does he have a choice? No. But he’s still doing it and it feels wrong in every way no matter how you try to spin it. Never defend Tiny Hands. Ever.
“NEXT QUESTION,” said Drew Rosenhaus, as Terrell Owens sat quietly in his makeup chair before filming “The TO Show”
Finish the sentence: If Tim Tebow beats the Patriots on Saturday night……
WF: …the media wins.
TB: …I will go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life.
CE: …it will be more of the same. Though the media hype machine will continue to spin even FURTHER out of control. The reality is that the Patriots aren’t very good. Look at the Colts without Peyton Manning. Imagine the Patriots without Tom Brady, they’re probably worse. The Pats have 13 wins this season and didn’t beat a single team with a winning record. Add on top of that they’ve lost their last 3 playoff games. Look, the Seattle Seahawks have more playoff victories since the Giants/Pats Superbowl than the Patriots do. Denver would’ve beat the Patriots this year had they not found a way to cough up the ball 4 times in defeat. Of course I wouldn’t be surprised if Brady beats the Broncos. The broncos weren’t a good team either and Brady has been stewing with all the Tebow hype. He was stewing last time too, and only by luck found a way to win.
AB: So many ways to complete that sentence: … I will sport a massive erection…. Bill Bilichick will finally be banished to hell…. every sports commentator’s head will explode…. world peace will finally happen.
I don’t know where to stop on this one but I am praying this happens, it would be my favorite moment of the football season.
“FINAL QUESTION,” said Drew Rosenhaus while Terrell Owens conducted an open workout with no one in attendance – again.
Final random thoughts/predictions/analysis on the games this weekend…
CE: So after 6 beers one night last week I made a prediction that both the #1 seeds would lose this weekend. Then Tim Tebow screwed my plans up and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now the fate of that prediction rests in the hands of Tim Tebow. I also want to send a big congrats out to the Houston Texans for winning your first playoff game in history. I had no faith in you and thought for sure the Andy Dalton’s Red Rocket (wait… what?) would lead the Bengals deeper into the playoffs. But not you’re going up against a real team. Baltimore has running game, decent passing game and a stout defense. Your time has come to an end. I even put shaving an Arian Foster like Texans logo in my head on it. That all may blow up in my face but I’ve said my 10 Hail-Tebows and am waiting to cash in.
WF: TJ Yates WILL be playing for an AFC crown. He survived Butch Davis, he can handle the Baltimore Ravens. Tom Brady is going to do what Tom Brady does and remind everyone what a real NFL QB looks like compared to Tebow. The only action shots we’ll see of John Elway this week are his mouth moving as he spits his grizzly into a coffee cup. The Packers will shock everyone by not getting upset and throttling the Giants, whose Vaseline-faced coach will commit murder on his punter when he mistakenly kicks it to Randle Cobb and it’s returned for a score. The Saints will make my opinion of the SF/NO game being the most intriguing look like an awful pick as Brees bends over the highly touted 49ers defense over and over. Yates will be talked about with the likes of Rodgers, Brees and Brady for at least a week. I’ll have a boner all week.
AB: These playoffs have been setup to give us some great matchups which began last week then every game but DEN/PIT ended up being a fun game to watch. This weekend looks the same way with great pairings and great story lines in every game. I am hoping we get great games top to bottom but I don’t think it will happen. I will be pulling hard for the Tebows, Giants, 49ers, and the Ravens. Yes these are three dogs that I am hoping win but when I don’t have a favorite team in the playoffs I will be rooting first against teams I hate (Packers and Patriots) and second for players/coaches I like (Tebow and the Harbaughs). The greatest thing ever will be if and when Tim Tebow shocks the world and defeats the evil empire on Saturday. I have been on the Tebow train for a while and I think he’s great for the NFL, love him or hate him, he’s been a fun watercooler topic of conversation at work. I hate the Packers with every part of my being so I will probably feel even more joy if they are knocked off now, I want anything to happen than the fucking Packers to win another Super Bowl. Living among cheeseheads on a daily basis is driving me insane and I just want Aaron Rodgers and Matt Flynn to go the fuck away for a while. I am also sick of the Saints, they won a Super Bowl two years ago so fuck them. I don’t need to hear about them anymore, in fact fuck the Packers, Patriots, and Giants too. If you have won a Super Bowl within the past decade I will root against you. Yes, I am a bitter Bears fan but I will mostly be rooting against teams rather than for any particular team. I keep getting interrupted in the middle of my train of thought so this all sounds disjointed and I am just rambling but whatever I don’t give a shit. In summary, I just want to be Tebowing this weekend and putting the discount double check to rest for the season and I’ll be a happy man. TEEEEE-
[...] That’s it for Part 1. Check out Part 2 here. [...]
January 14th, 2012 at 3:46 pm[...] Sports Collision : Taking Sports Head On. » Blog Archive » NFL … Write a newspaper headline for each of your winning picks and your score prediction. Tony Bosma … I don't doubt there will be some bad calls but the biggest screw up will have to be Tom Coughlin throwing his hands up looking like he's getting his prostate checked on every other play. Eli pouts … Add on top of that they've lost their last 3 playoff games. Look, the … Tom Brady is going to do what Tom Brady does and remind everyone what a real NFL QB looks like compared to Tebow. … http://tmp.sportscollision.com/ — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:44:40 -0800 [...]
January 14th, 2012 at 5:05 pm