The Final Four

The AFC and NFC championships will be tomorrow and the day after. The Patriots are going to Denver and the Cardinals are traveling to Carolina. I want an upset weekend. Even though a lot of people think that the Patriots are going to win, they are the #2 seed while the Broncos are the #1. I feel like the Patriots will win. They aren’t going up against any injuries at the moment that I’m aware of and earlier in the year when the Patriots lost, they were. I think this will be a kind of good game with the Broncos having Home field advantage, but the Patriots, in my opinion, have the better roster. Sure the Broncos defense is outstanding and the Broncos offense is full of threats, but I feel like the Patriots will win.

 

Then in Carolina, I want the Cardinals to win and I think they will, too. The Panthers have a monstrous offense and defense. But I like the defense and offense for the Cardinals better. The Cardinals just seem like the team that least people think will win. I think the Cardinals defense will just have enough players to stop Cam, Olsen, and Stewart. Then on the other side of the ball, the Panthers defense is amazing, especially when Josh Norman and Luke Kuechly are playing at their best. But the Arizona Cardinals want to do it all this season. And that includes going and trying to win the Super Bowl.

Mayhem in the NFL

I’m sad that the season is about to end just as fat as it started but this year there were some crazy things that happened. First, the Panthers were 15-1! That is a very good record. I am surprised that they had such good games. The Panthers were one of the teams I never mentioned at the beginning of the season that I thought would have a chance at the super bowl. My list was Seahawks, Packers, or 49ers for the NFC and the Broncos, Patriots, or the Colts for the AFC. The Panthers have never really had a season in the past 5 years that was really recognizable but for being one of the ‘underdogs’ they had a heck of a season.

The Panthers after one of their 15 regular season wins. (Photo courtesy of givemesport.com.)

 

Another thing I was surprised about was the 49ers season. They had a horrible season. They only had five wins which means that they lost 11 games, more than double the amount they won. Colin Kaepernick had a bad season. For heck sake, he got BENCHED! That was another thing I would never have guessed would happen.

So, I Was Right.

In the first game yesterday, the Patriots hosted the Chiefs. The Chiefs had started off with a bad start but they got it together soon enough. The Patriots had a hard time stopping Alex Smith when he got out of the pocket and ran. Davis and West both had a decent game but when the Patriots were on offense, they couldn’t be stopped. Before the Patriots started stopping the run game, I thought the Chiefs would be the victors. I mean if a team in the NFL found a place that they could excel at against the other team, they usually abuse it. And that is what they did in till the Patriots started to stop the runs. The the Chiefs went to the passing game. The Chiefs did a lot of shorter passes. Every time Avant got one of those crazy fourth down conversion catches, my jaw just dropped. He had some crazy clutch catches.  But then the defense began to hold up and that means that Brady and the offense got more playing time. Brady got 2 passing touchdowns to Gronkowski, he ran for another and Gostkowski put two field goals of 40 and 32 yards through the uprights.

Then there was the Packers@Cardinals game. The cardinals ended up winning but the Green Bay Packers didn’t go down without a fight. At halftime, the score was 7-6 with the Cardinals up at the top. Then in the third quarter the Packers scored a touchdown when the Cardinals only got a field goal so the Packers were winning for the first time in this game. But the Cardinals came back and scored 10 points in the 4th quarter. They were up by 7 points and the Packers had 5 seconds in regulation and the ball was spotted at the fifty. Their only chance was to complete a hail mary pass. When the ball was snapped, the Cardinals brought a small blitz. They forced Rodgers out of the pocket and right before Rodgers was about to be sacked, he let the ball fly. The pass to Janis was COMPLETE! Then Mason Crosby had all the pressure. He had to make the PAT. And he did, so the game went to OT. The Cardinals got the ball first so they made use of it. On the first play in overtime, Carson Palmer passed short to Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald had green grass ahead of him so he just ran. Before anyone knew it, he was at the Green Bay 5 yard line. I just had to watch that play about 20 more times so I could count how many times he got nearly tackled. Then I watched it another 10 times to see the monster stiff arm he gave to Burnett. The Packers did all they could to stop the Cardinals. They stopped the pass to Fitzgerald on first down, but they didn’t expect a pass on either down, first or second. On second down, Larry got an inside shuffle pass from Palmer and Larry did the rest. Larry won the game for the Cardinals, 20-26.

Fish Out of Water

Since I’m a Patriots fan, I’m a little nervous for the game this weekend. The Chiefs have been 11-0 since their 1-5 start this season. I still think the Patriots will win because I want them to and I think they can win a clutch game like this.

It’s kind of ratty by now.

In the meantime, today at my school, it is “Bronco Day.” I, obviously, will be in team spirit, but just not for the team. I will be wearing my Pats sweatshirt with a Brady jersey on underneath. This year, I have worn my sweatshirt 4 times a week, the 5^th day is when I wash it. I have been given so much trouble about it everywhere I go. About every time a see a new person, they always say something like “I can’t look at that sweatshirt” or “How much trouble do you get for wearing that around in Bronco Country?” I also have a Rob Gronkowski doll that I love. I even have a Patriots light rain jacket, a Patriots bed spread, a Patriots decal on my wall, a Tom Brady football jersey (wearing it today, as I said), and, of course, a Patriots helmet. So I hope that Patriots win or I’m in for a lot of annoying people mocking me at school next week. Monday’s a holiday so let’s hope they’ll forget about it by Tuesday.

But that’s only if the Patriots lose. And I have a lot of faith in them, so I don’t think that will happen.

(If I had a Steelers jersey, I would wear a Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Markus Wheaton, or Martavis Bryant jersey so I can do the opposite to the Broncos fans at school.)

So, I Was Wrong…

I got it all wrong. The Redskins didn’t beat the Packers and the Vikings didn’t beat the Seahawks. In the Vikings game, I don’t blame Blair Walsh. He missed that field goal but he was under a lot of pressure and it was a live-or-die situation. If he made it, they would have won 12-10, but since he didn’t, the Seahawks won 10-9.

In the next game in the nation’s capital, I predicted that the Washington Redskins  would win, but I wanted the Packers to win, and I got what I wanted, even though I wasn’t right. The game ended up being 35-18 with the Packers on top. At the beginning of the game it started out 5-0 with a safety and a field goal. That’s pretty rare for the first points of the game. But then the Packers came back with five touchdowns, 35 points, with the Redskins only scoring two more field goals and a touchdown. I’m kind of mad that the Redskins blew their lead and their defense didn’t hold up against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. It was a big game for them and they just couldn’t keep it together. But still, I wanted the Packers to win.

So that means that my whole NFC divisional round is going to be messed up. So, when the Seahawks play the Panthers, I think the Seahawks defense will disrupt the Panthers’ offensive tempo. But I also think that Josh Norman and the Panthers will do the same to the Seahawks. I feel like since the Seahawks had so much trouble with the Vikings, the Panthers will win and advance to the NFC championship. Then there is the Arizona-Green Bay game. The Packers have a good defense but their defense won’t be able to stop Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald, David Johnson, and the rest of the Cardinals. Then with the Cardinals defense and the Green Bay offense, I feel like it will be the same thing but the Cardinals defense will play a bit better. I still believe what I thought from NFC championship will come true, as for the Super Bowl.

Upsets All Around

Wild Card Games

The wild card has just started and the AFC has went exactly how I predicted. The Chiefs won and are taking the Patriots on in Foxboro. The Steelers also won so they are flying to Mile High to take on the Broncos. Later today, the Seahawks are going to Minnesota to take on the number three seed Vikings. Shortly after that game is over, the number five Green Bay Packers are going to the US capitol in hope of defeating Kirk Cousins and the four seeded Redskins.

I predict that the Vikings defense will hold the Seahawks back just enough to let the Vikings win. Then comes the Packer-Redskin game. I want the Packers to win but with DeShawn Jackson, Alfred Morris, Pierre Garcon, and Kirk Cousins will make enough things happen on offense that they can win.

Steelers’ Antonio Brown Gets Concussion

The video above shows the illegal hit by Vontaze Burfict giving Antonio Brown a concussion.

Divisional Round

Starting with the AFC, I think the Patriots-Chiefs game will be close but Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, and Danny Amendola can get past the Horrendous Chiefs Defense. Then the Steelers are traveling to Denver hoping to defeat the Broncos. In my opinion, the Steelers don’t need Antonio to win. They have Toussaint, Wheaton, and Bryant to lead the team along with Ben Roethlisberger. I feel like the Steelers will go to the AFC Championship. The NFC is a crazy bracket it look at. In the divisional round I think it will be The Panthers and the Redskins and the Cardinals and the Vikings. Starting with the Panther game, I think the Panther offense and defense has played amazing and will pull out an easy win against the Redskins. Then the Cardinals play the Vikings and I have a feeling the Cardinals will win. They also just have an amazing roster.

AFC and NFC Championship Games

The AFC Championship game will come down to the Patriots and the Steelers. I feel like the Patriots will have enough weapons on offense and defense to win the game and make it to the Super Bowl two years in a row. The NFC will be the Cardinals and the Panthers. I feel like an upset in the NFC so I feel like the Cardinals will win.

Then there is Super Bowl 50. The Patriots and the Cardinals. Both teams have very good offenses and defenses but I think the Patriots will win. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are known for making clutch things happen. Tom Brady will get another ring. And probably another MVP award.