Football withdrawals? There's much else to watch

Did anybody else go through football withdrawals over the weekend?

We get so used to college football (beginning the last weekend of August) to the NFL (beginning the Sunday after Labor Day.) Then when the Super Bowl is over and everyone goes home, it’s hard to believe that the games which are now on nearly every day or night of the week are over.

No more Drew Brees and the miracle New Orleans Saints. No more Peyton Manning and the can’t-do-more-than-come-close Indianapolis Colts.

Heck, there are even withdrawals for Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Tony Romo … and maybe Brett Favre (except for the endless “will he come back? stories.)

At least there was plenty to settle for over the weekend if you like:

An NBA All-Star game before nearly 109,000 fans in the Jerry Jones/Dallas Cowboys palace. And how about Dwayne Wade with 28 points and 11 assists?

A Daytona 500 race that would never end with more than two hours of pothole delays … and more than a few wrecks at the end that made the race last forever. At least Jamie McMurray could celebrate victory and Dale Earnhardt Jr. a strong second-place finish.

The 2010 Winter Olympics with endless TV coverage and American Johnny Spillane becoming the first American ever to win a medal in Nordic combined. Now we can focus on the extensive coverage of the likes of Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn.

And don’t forget Dustin Johnson becoming the first golfer to win the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in consecutive years.

As it continues to freeze in many parts of the country, here’s something that will make many warm. Spring training begins this week for MLB teams!

Outdoors Super Bowl on East Coast? Forget it!

You’ve seen the weather on television … or experienced it if you live in many parts of the country.

Snow storms all across the East Coast last weekend cancelled numerous sporting events. More snow has continued to pile up.

So, do you really think the 2014 Super Bowl should be played outdoors in the conditions at the new football stadium of the New York Giants and New York Jets in New Jersey?

Just think if last weekend’s Super Bowl game had been scheduled for the metropolitan New York area.

Do you think Drew Brees would have been able to complete 32 passes? Do you think Brees and Peyton Manning would’ve had such a great passing showdown?

How about Tracy Porter returning an interception in the piling snow?

Had the game been played in New Jersey, both teams would have been primarily forced to abandon the pass and go with the run.

This is not to mention what would have happened with tens of thousands of visitors in town for the Super Bowl. It’s bad enough that locals could hardly get around last weekend; what if the Super Bowl and its throngs had been in town?

The next three Super Bowls are scheduled indoors: The Jerry Jones/Dallas Cowboys palace in 2011; Indianapolis in 2012 and New Orleans in 2013.

As for an outdoor/East Coast Super Bowl in 2014: Forget it. Just take a look at the conditions of when the Super Bowl was played last weekend.

Drew Brees: Good guy to pull for

There are many reasons to hope that Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl over Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.

You can start with the fact that Brees was discarded like yesterday’s bread by the San Diego Chargers after he suffered a severe shoulder injury during the final game of 2005.

Then you can consider how he has overcome that injury to rebuild the Saints … and help in the rebuilding of New Orleans.

And the latter is what counts most. Brees signed with the Saints shortly after Hurricane Katrina and has followed up on his pledge to do all he can to help rebuild the city of New Orleans.

Above all, you must cheer for Brees because of his Brees Dream Foundation and how it has positively affected thousands of people.

The foundation was founded in 2003 with a mission to advance research in the fight against cancer and provide care, education and opportunities for children in need.

Since its inception, the Brees Dream Foundation has committed more than $4.5 million to charitable causes in the New Orleans, San Diego and West Lafayette/Purdue communities (the locales where his football career have taken him.)

http://www.drewbrees.com/foundation

Yes, you must cheer for Brees because he is a good guy. You must also pull for him because of the way he rebounded after San Diego tossed him aside.

That being said:

Super Bowl prediction:
Indianapolis 28, New Orleans 25

Pro Bowl is fine before the Super Bowl

You won’t see Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Philip Rivers playing for the AFC “all stars” in this Sunday’s Pro Bowl at Miami.

Ditto for Drew Brees and Brett Favre for the NFC.

The Pro Bowl – being played for the first time before the Super Bowl – seems like a good idea for some and a bad idea for others.

It’s a bad idea in that you won’t see any Super Bowl players from the New Orleans Saints or Indianapolis Colts. But some like me believe it’s a good idea since football season should end with the Super Bowl.

No matter when you play it, the Pro Bowl is anticlimactic.

The argument against this week’s game certainly is based on Super Bowl participants being excluded. But when you think about it, a high percentage of Super Bowl players in the past decided to skip the game for various reasons. (Why play in a meaningless game after being involved in the ultimate championship game?)

Even this year, players are skipping the Pro Bowl. Ones such as Brady and Favre are healing from injuries; Rivers’ wife is due to have their fifth child near game time.

So the AFC is left with the likes of Matt Schaub, Vince Young and David Garrard at QB. The NFC will go with a more formidable group of Aaron Rodgers, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo.

It may seem too bad that you won’t see any 2010 Super Bowl players in this game. But would you really have wanted to watch them anyhow if the Pro Bowl was played after the Super Bowl?

Prediction:
NFC 31, AFC 27

Jets ready to stun the world in AFC title game

Joe Namath won’t quite say so; so we’ll do it for him.

The Jets are going to shock the world and beat the Colts in the AFC Championship game Sunday.

It won’t quite have the impact as when Namath and the New York Jets surprised the NFL world by beating the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, 16-7 … but it will be close.

The Indianapolis Colts will know how their Baltimore predecessors felt after the Jets come in and turn the football world upside-down again this weekend.

Hey, it won’t be news to Jets coach Rex Ryan. He’s been predicting a Super Bowl victory/parade for the past couple of weeks.

If anybody can stop Indy’s potent offense, it’s the Jets.

As the San Diego Chargers discovered last week, you basically can’t/don’t throw to the side where Jets’ CB Darrelle Revis is in coverage. That leaves one side to throw to … and Peyton Manning will find that very disruptive this week.

Oh, sure, people will recall how the Colts were beating the Jets before Manning and his mates were pulled four weeks ago (and saw their undefeated season go up in smoke.) But the Colts were only winning by five points in the third quarter at the time.

Ask the Chargers. The more they let the Jets stay close last Sunday; the more New York had a chance to win.

The Jets rely heavily on three “rookies:” head coach Ryan, QB Mark Sanchez and RB Shonn Greene.

Can they stun the NFL again this week? We say “yes.”

Predictions:
Jets 16, Colts 14
Saints 27, Vikings 23

Ravens, Jets could upset AFC Championship picture

The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers have both opened as at least one-touchdown favorites in this weekend’s NFL Divisional playoffs, but they better be careful.

The Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets each demonstrated over the past weekend that they are teams to be reckoned with. In fact, they could become the first No. 5 and No. 6 seeds ever to meet for a conference championship … which would set up yet one more game at the old Meadowlands home of the Jets.

How about those Ravens? With their 33-14 win Sunday at New England (the Patriots’ first-ever playoff loss at Gillette Stadium), they even caused the hometown fans to boo Tom Brady and his teammates.

Baltimore will be a formidable foe for Peyton Manning and the Colts led by its strong running game with Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. And the Ray Lewis-led defense, which caused Brady to tie a career playoff high with three interceptions, is always a force in the postseason.

As for the Jets – coming off a 24-14 playoff win at Cincinnati – they pose an interesting strength vs. strength against the potent Chargers offense led by Philip Rivers and pass catchers Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd. New York has the league's No. 1 defense and will match up against that San Diego offense with a defensive roster including cornerback Darrelle Revis, probably the best cover back in the NFL.

Not only that, the Jets can control the ball with a running game including the likes of Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene. They will be facing a San Diego defense that has been hard-pressed to stop the run all season.

Yes, Indianapolis and San Diego should each win this weekend and advance to the AFC Championship Game. But don’t be surprised if at least one of them is missing come the conference title game.

Chargers: Only AFC division winner favored this week

It’s interesting to see how three of the four AFC division winners are decided underdogs this weekend.

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts are a 7-point underdog at Buffalo (no wonder if you saw the Colts forfeit to the New York Jets last week.)

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are 8-point dogs at Houston.

Carson Palmer and the Cincinnati Bengals are 10-point underdogs at the New York Jets.

No wonder each of these teams are touchdown-or-more underdogs since they will be resting key players for the playoffs.

The exception this weekend?

Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers are a 4-point favorite at home vs. the Washington Redskins, even though the Chargers will have key players such as Shawne Merriman sit out the entire game.

How could this be?

Simple. It shows how good the Chargers are ... and how bad the Redskins have become.

This certainly will be Jim Zorn’s last game as head coach. Who knows if new GM Bruce Allen will keep Jason Campbell as his QB.

All in all, it looks like the Chargers will have another weekend to remember with their 11th straight win.

Prediction:
Chargers 24, Redskins 13

New York Jets receiving two byes into the playoffs?

Have you ever heard of an NFL team getting two byes in the regular season before making the playoffs?

Welcome to the 2009 edition of the New York Jets.

It’s well-documented how the Jets were handed a win last week when the (then) undefeated Indianapolis Colts rested the likes of Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney and Gary Brackett after taking a 15-10 lead on the Jets in the third quarter.

Now the Jets get to conclude their regular season against a playoff-bound Cincinnati Bengals team probably resting such stars as Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco for much of the game.

There you have it: Two straight division-winning opponents facing the Jets, two consecutive teams that will likely hand New York a victory.

And who said you can’t make the playoffs the easy way?

The sad part is that the likes of the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and (maybe) the Pittsburgh Steelers could all be denied playoff berths due to teams lying down for the Jets.

Coach Rex Ryan, QB Mark Sanchez, DB Darrelle Revis and the entire New York squad can thank the schedule makers for saving the best teams for last ... when they already had playoff berths in hand.

Chargers: Team the Indianapolis Colts fear most

As a head coach last season, Tony Dungy could never say he feared one team more than another because of coaching decorum.

But now that Dungy is an analyst for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, he can be a straight-talker.

When asked recently which team the undefeated Indianapolis Colts fear most in the AFC, Dungy’s answer was straight to the point: the San Diego Chargers.

After all, these are the same Chargers who snapped Dungy and the Colts’ nine-game winning streak in the wild card round of last year’s playoffs in San Diego.

The previous season, the Chargers knocked the Colts out of the AFC semifinals at Indianapolis in a game-winning drive led by second-stringers such as Billy Volek, Michael Turner and Legedu Naanee.

Going further back, the Chargers snapped the Colts 13-0 record (sound familiar?) with a 2005 win at Indianapolis led by the likes of blitzing linebackers Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips.

Certainly, Peyton Manning of the Colts and former San Diego QB Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints are the talk of the NFL this season by leading their respective teams to 13-0 records.

But Manning and his Colts know that Philip Rivers and the Chargers could very well be lurking in their playoff picture.

Ask Tony Dungy: He’ll tell you that is not a comforting thought for Indianapolis.

History says Chargers are in trouble

Before the Chargers and Indianapolis Colts meet in the wild card playoffs Saturday night, let’s take a little history lesson.

The Chargers started out the 1995 season with a 4-7 record, only to win their last five games and make the playoffs.

(Sound similar to making this year’s playoffs after starting 4-8 and winning four straight?)

Back on New Year’s Eve 1995, the Chargers and Colts met in the wild card round of the playoffs in San Diego.

Led by a quarterback named Jim Harbaugh, the Colts easily disposed of the Chargers, 35-20.

Now that the task is to beat Colts QB and three-time MVP Peyton Manning, the Chargers probably won’t have it any easier than in 1995.

But this time, at least they should make it closer.

Prediction:
Colts 27, Chargers 23

Pittsburgh Steelers: Clubhouse leader in the AFC?

Let’s see now:

You can stick a fork in the New England Patriots without Tom Brady.

The Indianapolis Colts looked horrible against the Chicago Bears, even with Peyton Manning.

The San Diego Chargers will miss greatly Shawne Merriman on an already beleaguered defense.

The Jacksonville Jaguars couldn’t even beat the Tennessee Titans in Week 1.

So who does that leave as the early frontrunner in the AFC?

How about the Pittsburgh Steelers …

Few people are talking about the Ben Roethlisberger-led Steelers; this less than three seasons after their Super Bowl victory.

But with all the “powerhouses” in the AFC falling around them, Pittsburgh could once again figure in the hunt at the end.

One week does not a season make … but it makes the once-dominating AFC seem like a weakened bunch in 2008.

Weekend Predictions:
Chargers 24, Denver 13
San Jose State 31, San Diego State 23

Chargers' win is a kick

Adam Vinatieri won two Super Bowls for New England with last-second field goals.

He made a long field goal in a driving snow storm to beat Oakland in a memorable playoff game.

But he couldn’t even make a 29-yard attempt with the game on the line Sunday night as the Chargers scored an improbable 23-21 win over Vinatieri and the Indianapolis Colts.

"I should make that kick every time," Vinatieri said. "There are no good excuses. I just missed it."

There were no good excuses for the way the Chargers’ offense played, either. Quarterback Philip Rivers had arguably his worst game as a pro and the offense could muster only 50 yards in the second half after San Diego raced to a 23-0 lead by midway in the second quarter.

But who would have thought that Peyton Manning would throw a career-high six interceptions, and Vinatieri would miss a 42-yard field goal attempt as the first half expired to match his second half futility?

This game belonged to San Diego’s special teams and two special players.

Darren Sproles returned two kicks – a punt and kickoff – for touchdowns.

Antonio Cromartie, the man many thought should be returning kicks instead of Sproles, intercepted three passes in his first career start.

The Chargers have a lot to feel good about. They just beat the defending Super Bowl champs, and they lead the weak AFC West by one game over Denver and Kansas City.

Even so, the win left many with an empty feeling. They know that unless the offense starts to really pick it up, the Chargers once again won’t be playing deep into the playoffs.

Chargers facing another lost weekend?

You think the Chargers’ loss was bad enough last week at Minnesota?

Just wait until the Indianapolis Colts come to town for Sunday night’s match-up on NBC-TV.

Peyton Manning has spent a lot of time on his back in his last two games against the Chargers, but he’ll probably be spending much more time in the end zone this week.

As if San Diego’s defense wasn’t horrible enough last Sunday, it will spend this week’s entire game without injured defensive end Luis Castillo and (most likely) cornerback Quentin Jammer.

Ouch.

Can you smell 400-plus yards for Manning?

Offensively, the Chargers couldn’t run or pass against Minnesota (does that mean they didn’t do anything right?)

Indianapolis? It has a better defense than the Vikings.

Yes, these are the same Chargers who two years ago went into Indianapolis and spoiled the Colts’ bid for a perfect season when they were 13-0.

But there was a major difference: Motivator Marty Schottenheimer coached them in 2005; motivation-less Norv Turner is the current coach.

If San Diego State wins this weekend at Nevada Las Vegas, the Aztecs will be 4-5 on the season. The Chargers will have the same record if (when?) they lose to the Colts.

Who would’ve thought?

Predictions:

Colts 31, Chargers 20

SDSU 24, UNLV 21