showtime!

Regardless of the winner, fans of both teams can rejoice in that we have two great teams who had super seasons going head to head.

Enjoy.

Interesting; 2 analysts. 2 QBs and a TE--both QBs
pick NE to win...

Boomer and Dan choose NE, Shannon for Indy.

Even moi would pick indy if I was choosing with my brain and not my heart.

so much for your warm and sunny weather ;)

Pats pk game over Colts --- 6.6 units to win 6 units

Pats pk 1st half over Colts --- 4.4 units to win 4 units

2 team parlay - pats pk game & under 52.5 --- 2 units to win 5.2 units

4 team parlay - Pats pk game & under 52.5 & Philly -4 over atl & over 41.4 --- 1 unit to win 11 units

4 team parlay - pats pk 1st half & under 26.5 & philly -4 & over 41.5 vs atl --- 1 unit to win 11 units

Is it Eli is disguise?

How bout those pats so far !

Colts at their best when they go no huddle, but don't do it much on the road, and it's costing them today, along with the PRAYED UP weather. If New England can't turn those FG's into TD's they ain't gonna win THIS year.

Colts -.5 2cd half over Pats --- 3.3 units to win 3 units

will try for a middle

The 'It's ELI' theory sounds plausible to me!

I guess my Pats just might be "lucky" once again...

Clock's indeed ticking.

Game over. Brilliant game by NE. Gonna be a WAR next week, but how can anybody bet against the Pats, especially as bad as the Steelers looked yesterday against a flawed Jets team? Brady vs. Big Ben is gonna be a mismatch.

I can't wait to hear all the excuses once again....

Better yet, I can't wait to hear how "unbeatable" Peyton is next year.

On the other hand, I'm starting to feel bad for Peyton. He is an awesome player and has a great team around him including the coach. I would like to see him win one time anyway...

Sorry Peyton, not this year )

Peyton's gotta work harder early in the season to make these games be at HOME.

The pats and steelers are very much alike. Unless the steelers pick it up a lot though, it's NE going to the show.

The unstoppable has offically been slapped around like meat.

Good game boys.

Pick it up a lot....that's laughable. A little fine tuning should do it. And remember, this game is not in Foxboro and the Steelers made the Patriots look like a college team last time around. Not sure how much Corey Dillon would have done when you're down 21-0 in the first quarter. Without Ty Law, the Pats defense is ordinary on the road. The one advantage that the Pats have is that their coach can run circles around Cowher when given preparation and Cowher is notorious for learning his Marty-ball ways in the post season under his mentor.

Pittsburgh lucked out to beat the JETS on that vaunted home field. Big Ben better 'fine tune' not throwing it straight to the guys in the white jerseys like he did yesterday.

My pick it up statement was directed at the play of big ben. Interesting that you didn't allude to the pats having a 2 time superbowl MVP QB vs a rookie as an advantage... that combined with coaching are the pats advantage.

How many points u wanna spot me ?

I did say earlier that Pitt was my second choice to win it this year... Big Ben and I are alums-- I've been cheering him on long before the folks in PItt have heard of him.

The MAC has some great ball year in and out.

Porker...so you wouldnt say that the Jets were lucky to be in the game in the first place considering they had no offensive touchdowns and still pushed the game to overtime....Pitt outgained them by 100 yards in the game. Were it not for a fluky punt return and interception return for a touchdown, the Jets arent in to this game at all. So in reality, the Jets were fortunate that the game was even that close.

The punt return was indeed lucky. Big Ben's pick was RETARDED. If he makes mistakes like that again, bye bye season, as it shoulda been yesterday.

THe Jets were not lucky to be in the game.

They missed two field goals both which should have won the game. No luck for the Jets only the Steelers. Steelers should not have won.

By the way Jets covered first half second half and game. 3 of 3 is not luck. It is a game played fairly well. Imagine if the O was on then the Jets would have pummeled Pitt.

Unfortunately a nightmare has occured.

Two of my least favorites teams are playing for the AFC title. Could not have been worse for me.

Peyton played liked Eli especially at the end of first half when he did not use his timeouts. Peyton does not play that dumb. Fooledagain1 cleaned up due to Peyton's mental lapse and that score would have been huge. It was huge for me also when Peyton threw the last second INt as I had the Colts +14 as the last team of a 4 team 13 pt teaser. I was pissed!

I hate Pitt and Ne and unfortunately one of those two teams gets to go to the Superbowl.
Neither team should be going. However of the two teams NE who lucked out with the SNOw
(BTW nice call on the weather Explorer) played well and Pitt did not. But NE cost me money again so all I can say is I'm going NFC even though I do not like Philly either.

Jets punt return was not lucky it was well orchestrated and the result of talent.

According to an expert

Philly had all the bounces go their way.

Funny how all the experts picked Vikes to cover and Colts to cover.

Friggin amazing how the Vikes and Colts sucked.
Peyton and the Colts are just so much better.

If the Colts would have played in poor weather in Pitt...same result. Pitt has blitz packages similar to NE but actually more complex and once Peyton is flushed out of the pocket...he gets happy feet and throws the ball all over the place. He is completely ineffective out of the pocket. Its all about matchups and Indy does not match up with teams that put pressure on the QB, especially on the road. Untill Manning is able to find a way to be a QB outside of the pocket and to throw in poor weather, he is not likely to get a record good enought to place tham as the #1 seed....and that is the only way they will go to the SB because all the playoff games will be in the dome. This game did not surprise me at all. A high powered passing game never does well on the road in the snow.

The Jets were the lucky ones as they had no business being in a game where they score ZERO FUCKING OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS....interceptions and special teams touchdowns take seconds and are fluke plays. Look at time of possession, look at total yards....the only reason the Jets were in the game were turnovers. You want to talk about luck....Jerome Bettis hasnt fumbled the ball in nearly 400 touches yet fumbled on the Jets 20 yard line......Herm Edwards played Marty ball down the stretch and lost. In case you guys didnt know, the longest field goal EVER in Heinz field is 48 yards and no visiting kicker has a field goal over 45 yards EVER there...so do you expect a kicker to kick a 47 and 42 yarder in the playoffs...hell no. You play no to lose instead of to win and you lose.

First of all, a win is a win, when will u all get this thru your head?

The Jets played great down the stretch and would be in the AFC champ game if they had a kicker who could kick...

Pitt deserves the #1 seed as they kicked ass all year. They're balance more than made up for Ben's inexperience.

NE-- ummm, they just win. 14-2 coming in a year where they had numerous injuries... Don't blame the "snow" as why the colts lost. #1 it was a dusting and the field was in excellent condition #2, the pats beat the living shit out of the entire colts team-- period. I agree, for the colts to win they need to play at home... not quite the making of champs...

What did we see yesterday... that you can't extrapolate one week to the next, DM lost his cash by making a large 1st half +1 Colts wager, DM got a few dollars back with his straight up Pats pick, and next week we have the great match ups.

Don't hate me for picking them SB: Patriots VS Eagles.

As a lifelong Steeler fan (I grew up with the Steele Curtain...Bradshaw, Joe Greene, Franco and Rocky), I am tickled to see them a prominent force this year.

I was however, very concerned at their performance yesterday. They are much better than yesterday and I hope the team that has dominated all year will show up against the Pats.

Even though I am a Steeler fan, I have to admit that they got off lucky yesterday. The one good thing I saw was that after a couple of really rookie picks, young Ben kept his head in the game and finished it off well.

I think the long and short of it is that if the Regular Season Steelers show up, they will take the Pats, but unless the Pats are having an off day, the Stellers cannot be off at all or the Pats will win.

I would pick the winner of the Steelers/Pats game to take the Superbowl (against Atlanta IMHO)

Val,

those steller days bring back some memories....

I was a youngster, there was us three amigos all playing on the same football team. DeDe a WR was a skins fan (theisman, mosley, etc). Bob the QB (dad was a kicker for the steelers) was the steelers fan, and I the DB/backup QB-- a die hard Raiders fan. Bob, who was by the way quite the ladies boy, always got the last laugh back then...

Good luck to your Steelers, a franchise that garners much well deserved respect over the years.

As a QB in high school, I wore number 12 as Bradshaw was my idol. I used to wear a Steelers wristband for good luck during games and my coach used to get pissed and tell me to take it off...never. Too bad I didnt have Bradshaw's success.

wow I wore the same # throughout most of my playing days. Not as a tribute to Sir 'Shaw, but to the one and only snake!



Now those were the days of legends and grit.

Ah Don, don't tell me you actually OWN an autographed Kenny "The Snake" Stabler Jersey...I am absolutely green with envy. I always liked Snake, he was one of the best ever.
Val

Don Marco

You have a signed Stabler jersey, profess being a die hard Raider fan and you root for the Friggin Pats who ripped off the Raiders in one of the Raiders best seasons in years?

How the f@ck can you do that?

I have been always been a Jets and Raiders and 49ers fan since I first understood the game around six years old.

As you know I can't stand my arch rivals the Pats and Steelers

You traitor!

Your penalty is to send me that Stabler jersey.

BTW 12 is my favorite QB number due to the best QB ever to wear the number
Joe Willie Namath

I moved to Boston in '81 and Al let me down when he moved the team to LA shortly thereafter. I made the switch to being a Pats fan slowly over the years as part of becoming a Bostonian. During recent history the Pats have been a great team to follow. The only thing that left a bad taste in my mouth was when they cast aside Bledsoe and then L. Milloy just before the season opener.

I love the game and not the business.

FYI, I got the Snake jersey and a ball personally signed by Cliff and Fred, two of the most entertaining receivers ever.

Max, no way the pats could of slowed down the raiders that year without the weather. And then if that wasn't enough, the ref's had to help 'em out. I took notice even though the raiders of today are not even a glimmer of what they once were and stood for.

The only way I would rejoin the Raider faithful is if Madden crawled outa the box to rejoin them on the sidelines and Al let him handpick his team. I can only dream.

Well Maxy and DM...now that you have admitted that you like multiple teams or have bailed out on your original team now everything you write on this board is Blah fucking blah fucking blah......Like one team and stick to em through thick and thin or you are not a true fan. Having multiple teams as your favorite is a bullshit insurance policy in case your team sucks that year.

So what happens when the jets and pats go through a dry spell? Maxy just goes into his closet and gets his Raiders jersery or Niners jersey and DG just dusts off his Dave Casper jersey and the Raiders are back....blah fucking blah

LOL

Blazers
read my post
I have never bailed off any of my thrre teams
Jets #1
Raiders #2
49ers #3
I picked all three as a six year old kid with the Jets my favorite over all these years
so as you often do, you are just rapping
blah blah blah
I have been with all 3 teams through thick and thin
and when Jets played Raiders I rooted hard for the Jets and was upset to see them lose

What do you do when the looser Steelers don't make the playoffs?
I am sure as an ex QB you still watch the games and pick a team to root for

really no difference then what I do aside for the fact that usually one of my three teams if not all can make the playoffs every year and ensure I will enjoy the playoffs more than having to root for someone I hate such as the AFC championship game

or Super bowls like
Dallas vs Buffalo
Dallas vs Pittsburg etc



(Message edited by maximus743 on January 17, 2005)

Btw Blazers
I have only one team in baseball that I picked at 6 years old as well the Yankees.

I have been with them even when they were in 15 th place in the old American league

I am a true fan and I get emotionally involved in every game even when I don't bet which is usually the case. The Yankees have won tons of playoffs and World Series yet I rarely have bet on them. I enjoyed them winning.

I grew up in NJ so to pick the Yankees and Jets over the Mets and Giants or nearby cities was no easy task.

I stand corrected. BTW, when Pitt is not in the Playoffs, I could care less who wins and only go to Super Bowl parties for the girls not the game.

So, the Pats will beat the Steelers, and then the Falcons will beat the Eagles. The Philly team is expecting to lose this weekend, they always do.

LOL

great answer

perhaps you can invite me to the next one since I have no passion about any of the teams left.

Yeah...stick with your favorite team through good times and bad...can't get any worst for the Niners, but I'm going to stick with them!

LOL...

Gents, I would hardly call being a pats fan for the last 20 years flip flopping. Like I said I "switched" after 1) Al moved 'em outa Oak and 2) I moved to Boston. And there were plenty of terrible pats years I sat through in the the cold with losing seasons in case your memory is short.

I love certain players, which is who I route for when "my" team is not in it. For example, this year I would route for Ben (put MU ball on national radar) and Jerome (was left for dead a few years ago-- great attitude) if the pats were not in it.

I stopped rooting for my childhood teams a loooong time ago and now just root for players I like because sports now is about billionaires pinching pennies on their teams and ripping them apart on a whim. I have no loyalty to a jersey, and there are usually specific incidents that caused me to jump off the bandwagon never to return.

In the NFL it was the '87 strike and using scab players, which also happened to coincide with Dan Fouts and Air Coryell just fading away into the sunset. For the CALIFORNIA Angels it was allowing Wally Joyner to walk as a free agent after cunt Jackie Autry took over the team. I was quite a Clippers fan for awhile in the 80's and got VERY excited when they started making the playoffs in the early 90's, but of course ownership ripped the team apart and for the last 10 years I couldn't have cared less.

I like the Colts because I love watching their offense, and it doesn't hurt that Manning is a lifer on my fantasy team. In baseball I kind of liked Seattle when they had the Big Ugly, Arod and Griffey all at the same time. Now they're one of the most boring teams in baseball, even though they had an incredible year with none of those three guys a couple years back, and I couldn't care less.

I think childhood allegiances are great. For CHILDREN! For anyone that has half a BRAIN you realize that it's the players that make the sport, not the uniform and the jackasses that own the teams. And the good news is that you don't sound like a retard talking about 'my' team all the time. They're not YOUR team and the reality is that they DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK about YOU!

Well said Pork. Although I have a little more team loyalty then u, certain players make the game what it is. I could care less what jersey they wear-- I enjoy watching them at their craft.

If you look at the two teams I have been loyal to during my life; the old raiders weren't about individuals , they were about intimidation and playing smash mouth football; each and every one of them. The pats-- not quite ruthless like the raiders were, but still the team concept, which is a rarity in the modern age of sports. Although not touted like the Pats, I sense the boys in Pitt have much the same team philosophy.

Thats what sucks about this game for me....its really hard for me to hate the Patriots. I love everything about that organization. Their QB is the classiest individual around. Their coach is the best in the game. Everyone on that team thinks we before I. They are so fucking focused that none of them wear their rings so as to think they never won a fucking thing. Amazing.

One other thing to point out that I havent before is that the Pats defensive scheme is patterned after Pitt's zone blitz scheme that was invented by Dom Capers and Dick Lebeau. Pitt offense plays against that same defense every day in practice so nothing will suprise them...not even Big Ben. The weakeness' and tendencies become obvious after playing against that defense every day in practice. The Pats throw a slight wrinkle in their defensive scheme but its essentially the same. I thank God I never had to throw against zone blitz schemes in high school, the fucking playbook I had to read was thick as a Bible as it was.

Hey all, will be in Rio Feb. 19 - 25. Are there any really good places to catch all the US sports or am I stuck with just portuguese commentators and Futball?

BTW, does anyone know if there is any good Scuba sites around Rio? I don't take all my gear, just the basics, but it is heavy, so if there is no good diving to be had, I just assume leave it all home and focus on other things.

Val

This is the NFL thread not the futebol thread.
In Feb, I thought NFL was over and no NHL so what is there to watch?
You can watch american sports on espn international available on cable tv.
There is diving in Rio but you will have to search the internet to find out where.

2005 Playoff Results;

Pitt -9 over Jets --- lost 12.6 units
Pitt -4.5 1st half --- lost 7.2 units
Pitt -6 2cd half --- lost 10.5 units
6 parlays, all with Pitt --- lost 6 units

Lost 36.3 units

Rams +7 over Atl --- lost 2.3 units
Rams ml --- lost 1 unit
Rams +4 1st half --- lost 2.2 units
Rams ml 1st half --- lost 1 unit
2-3 team parlays --- lost 2 units

lost 8.5 units

Philly -7 (-130) over Vikes --- won 3 units
Philly -4.5 1st half --- won 3 units

won 6 units

Pats pk over colts --- won 6 units
Pats pk 1st half --- won 4 units
2 team parlay - pats pk & under 52.5 --- won 5.2 units
colts 2cd half --- lost 3.3 units
4 team parlay 1st half - Philly -4.5 & over 24 & pats pk & un der 26.5 --- won 11.5 units
4 team parlay --- lost 1 unit

won 22.4 units

half way home on 2, 4 team parlays
4 team parlay - pats pk over colts & under 52.5 & philly b-4 over atl & over 41.5 --- 1 unit to win 11 units
4 team parlay - pats pk over colts (1st half)& under 26.5 & philly -4 over atl (game) & over 41.5 --- 1 unit to win 11 units

2005 NFL Playoffs to date --- lost 16.4 units
2004 playoffs to date --- won 147.15 units

Damn almost time for the Pats to open up a can of whoop ass again...

I am still not sure who I want to win tommorrow.
It sucks having no teams in the playoffs I remotely like.

I do like Atlanta I guess but can't really get all that excited about rooting for them

I really hate being in this situation. Takes the fun and interest out of watching. I guess after NE beats Pitt I 'll be joining Blazers at the Super bowl parties just to meet chicks.

However I still may at the last minute go for PITT I am so pissed the Jets did not get in.

I just watched the Pats-Steelers 2002 AFC Championship game highlight show on the NFL network and I officially hate the Pats after hearing those fucks talk so much shit after getting terribly lucky. At the end of the game the Patriot players were waiving towels above their heads on the sidelines and were mocking Steeler fans...I thought this was supposed to be a class bunch according to the media. You talk about luck, Pittsburgh had 5 turnovers and still only lost by 7...the Patriots scored 2 touchdowns on fucking special teams...talk about fluke.

Not only that, the refs really fucked Pitt and the announcers made reference to it many times. The first was when Pitt punted early in the game and punted it out of bounds away from Troy Brown. They had to rekick because of the penalty and moved it over to the right hash mark, making it impossible for a left footed kicker to kick it away from Brown and Brown gets the first of two Pats unconventional TD's. The second was Hines Ward catching a 40 yard pass and the completion was overturned on review when it clearly showed it was a catch. Thirdly and most deadly, was the forward lateral made by Troy Brown on the blocked kick return for TD. The referees actually admitted to this mistake but Pitt used up their two challenges(which went in Pitt favor) and couldnt contest the play. Double fuck. Watching the defense stop the Pats two straight times in five minutes at the end of the game and then seeing polesmoker Kordell throw 2 ridiculous picks just kills me.

By the way, I watched this game at 3am in Bangkok and taught my LT girl how to say Kordell sucks before the end of the game. I told her that it was a new cuss word expression in the USA.

Anyone got a violin?

Were those specials teams plays due to Pats "luck" or poor coverage and tackling by the steelers?

Cower had a woody for Slash-- who knows why.

Slash did QB 'em into the AFC champtionship game that year...

If there's any question of superiority this year, the Pats will answer that soon enough.

Enjoy the game!

-DM