Colts -3 vs Patriots
Can you believe all the people out there w/ such short memories? Even my favorite talking head (Sterling Sharpe) likes the Colts today. Unbelievaable. I'm going to assume you've heard all the talk about the fact that no team has ever given up as many rushing yards as the Colts and made it to the Super Bowl let alone win the Big One. It's not going to happen for the Colts this year either. Remember when these teams squared off during the regular season? The Pats were the more popular pick due to the way they had been playing in their previous couple of games. Now, the Colts are the pick based on thier performance from their last 2 games. Strange, just when you count out the Pats is when they become the most dangerous. These guys love the underdog role. My thinking is the Colts D is still the same shitty defense. Sure, they played well vs the Chiefs and Ravens but neither of those teams has the personnel or know how to expose the Colts weaknesses. The Colts D is not so terrible that you can line up in a high school formation and run the ball down their throats. The teams that have shredded the Colts D for the most part have been balanced enough to keep the Colts guessing just enough to keep them on their heels or are very familiar w/ the Colts (Jags, Titans, and even fellow division rival Houston ran all over them).
I think the Colts have no chance of holding the Pats under 28 points in today's game. Why? In the last 2 games these teams have played the Pats have tried to slow the game down and run the ball and play keep away. Bellichick knows his D isn't what it has been and knows the Pats have to score a ton of points to win. It is very possible the Pats may go for the jugular very early in this game much like they did vs the Steelers 2 yrs ago in the AFC Champ Game.
The over looks very good to me.
My brother played for the Pats for 8 seasons. I've seem these teams squareoff counteless times over the years. I can't remember how many times Peyton Manning and Co have been favored over the Pats only to get their asses fed to them by the Pats. Nobodys getting blown out today. This will be a close game much like the one during the regular season 2 yrs ago that the Pats won w/ a critical goal line stand at the end of the game.
The Colts may pull out a close one but the Pats +3 are almost locks. Reasons why:
1. Golden Boy Peyton has never won a significant championship.
2. No Team that gives up 180 yards rushing a game has made it to the Super Bowl.
3. Manning is something like 4 - 14, 4-16 lifetime vs the Pats.
4. The Colts have a monkey on thier back and he's getting 3 points.
5. Tom Brady's playoff record.
Even if the Colts win it won't be by much, the Colts are fighting history as well as the most proven team in the NFL today.
The Pats proved just how wily and mentally tough they are by winning a game they had no business winning last week. The hardest thing for NFL teams to do is travel cross country. it is almost impossible for teams to be up to snuff. The Pats went out west and pulled out the W. Forget the part about how they won and focus on the fact that they won. They will play a much more stylish looking brand of football today in the familiar confines of the RCA Dome in Indy.
Only an idiot would go against the history of these teams here. The Pats will spread out the Colts D and nobody can spread the ball around better than Tom Brady. I'm guessing Maroney and Ben Watson will have huge games. Oh yeah, so will Peyton Manning, take the over in what possible could be one of the greatest games ever.
Pats +3
The Colts D will once again throw a shoe.
NFC CHUMPIONSHIP
Bears -2 vs Saints I can't get it right with the NFC this year so why try. Try waiting for the feast in the superbowl, neither team can hang with the Colts or Pats. History has a way of repeating itself so one of my guesstamits is the Bears will win this game so we'll all see a rematch of the Bears/Pats Superbowl of twenty years ago. A game Pats fans would love to forget and most of us can't remember, the game was so ugly that my high school buddies and I thrashed a hotel room in less than 4 hours because the game wasn't worth watching 5 minutes into the first quarter.
This time around the Pats will be the team to throw a beatin' on the Bears. THAT IS A GUESS based on experience. An example of this logic is how did the Bengals face the Niners in the Superbowl, twice but 7 years apart. Nobody could possibly answer these types of things but thats the way things go sometimes.
Don't wager on the Bears, a few years ago the league gave us the tuck rule so the Patriots could win the Superbowl following the tragic events that started the beginning of the end of life as we knew it. This year we could see a call that will be named after a certain storm, the Saints are a feel good story the league would love to see keep going. The winds of Katrina might finally reach Lake Michigan today tearing the ass out of Chicago as well.