Super Bowl XLVI takes place tomorrow from Indianapolis, as the New York Giants play the New England Patriots in a rematch of the Super Bowl from 2007 when the Giants beat the Patriots 17-14 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Currently the Patriots are a 2.5 point favourite.
With all the talk that the Giants have the better defense than the Patriots, I simply don’t buy it. The Patriots allowed 58 fewer points than the Giants this season.
Offensively, there has been some concern regarding who Tom Brady will be able to throw to at the tight end position with Rob Gronkowski hurt. People must remember that Aaron Hernandez is the best backup tight end in the NFL.
I’m picking the Patriots to win their fourth Super Bowl 34-16. For more information on Super Bowl XLVI please go to my blog earlier in the week.
Is it me, or does anyone disagree with the notion that there still should be two weeks between the NFL Conference Championships and the Super Bowl?
For those that just might have forgotten, the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 in the AFC Championship and the New York Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in overtime for the NFC Championship to set up Sunday’s big game from Indianapolis.
If you watched the Pro Bowl in Hawaii this past weekend, and apparently saw Brandon Marshall of the Miami Dolphins record four touchdown receptions, shame on you. How can you have an All-Star Game when the two best teams in the league aren’t represented?
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame, we give a passing grade to the NHL’s All-Star Weekend, touch on Tim Thomas’ decision to skip his team’s White House visit and discuss the biggest surprises in the league at the All-Star break. As well: we give out our Super Bowl predictions and comment on a couple of massive MLB contracts!
In the GABBYs: The Canadian women’s soccer team, US Senator John Kerry, Jay Cutler, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Kyle Williams and Scott Gomez. The Punchline this week is Minnesota Vikings kicker Chris Kluwe!
One of the best defensive players in the Canadian Football League is going to see how things emerge in the National Football League.
On Thursday, Solomon Elimimian of the British Columbia Lions, one of the top linebackers in football over the last two years, signed a contract with the Minnesota Vikings.
Elimimian was second in the CFL last year with 98 tackles, seven behind Jerrell Freeman of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. But Elimimian was more impressive than Freeman, as the Lions defense gave up 97 fewer points than the last place Roughriders this past season.
If Elimimian makes the Vikings, he will be the latest CFL product under the tutelage of the great Wally Buono to have NFL success. He’ll join defensive specialist Cameron Wake of the Miami Dolphins, and quarterbacks Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia.
Elimimian will also join former Lions wide receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux, who joined Minnesota last summer. Elimimian was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie in 2010 and then won a Grey Cup with the Lions in 2011. The University of Hawaii product was also a CFL all-star this past season.
In other NFL news, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have named Greg Schiano head coach. Schiano most recently coached the University of Rutgers.
The Indianapolis Colts and Oakland Raiders have made a decision on who their next head coaches will be for the 2012 NFL season.
The Colts, who fired Jim Caldwell last Tuesday after an abysmal 2-14 season, have named Chuck Pagano as his replacement. Pagano was the Baltimore Ravens defensive co-ordinator, and with a group of high quality veterans including Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs, the Ravens gave up the third fewest points in the NFL this season.
The Raiders meanwhile have also hired a defensive specialist to take the helm, choosing Denver Broncos defensive co-ordinator Dennis Allen.
What Allen was able to do this season was remarkable and was a key reason (not Tim Tebow) why Denver won the AFC West. The Broncos might have given up 390 points, but would have given up less if the offense would have made smarter decisions on the football field this past season. It was the Broncos defense, not their offense, that won many games for them.
In Indianapolis, the future of Peyton Manning as a Colt just got significantly cloudier. The question not only now rises how Manning will adjust to the team drafting quarterback Andrew Luck, but how will he respond to a defensive specialist in charge?
This week on the show we talk about the latest on Sidney Crosby’s concussion issues and some other injury notes from around the NHL, including another bad break for Washington’s Mike Green and a close call for Edmonton’s Taylor Hall. As well, we discuss a couple of high profile deaths from around the world of sports.
In the GABBYs: Alex Ovechkin, Terrell Owens, Shaueel van Persie, Manny Ramirez, Trinity College and the Baltimore Ravens. The Punchline this week is Rob Lowe!
This week on the show we break down the Mike Cammalleri trade, we discuss the Jordan Eberle All-Star “snub” and we try to figure out what is wrong with the Edmonton Oilers. Also: Will we ever see a fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao?
In the GABBYs: Leo Messi, Tim Tebow, Thierry Henry, Rick DiPietro, Josh Blanchard and the Jacksonville Jaguars. This week’s Punchline is Dustin Penner!
The New York Giants are headed to the NFC Championship against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick.
On Sunday, the Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers 37-20 at Lambeau Field. Eli Manning threw for three touchdowns and 330 yards passing in the victory.
It was also a huge day for Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, who caught Manning’s first two touchdown passes, and ended the day with 165 yards receiving. A major turning point in the game was a 37 yard touchdown pass from Manning to Nicks at the end of the second quarter. The pass put the Giants up 20-10.
Another major reason for the Giants victory was turnovers and the pressure the team put on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The Packers turned the ball over four times, with safety Deon Grant recording an interception and a fumble.
The Packers also tackled very poorly, as shown by Brandon Jacobs’ ability to waltz into the end zone with complete ease late in the fourth quarter that put the Giants up by 17 points.
The Baltimore Ravens are headed to the AFC Championship. But they’ll need to be play significantly better next weekend in Foxboro Stadium if they have any intention on heading to Indianapolis for the Super Bowl.
On Sunday, the Ravens beat a walking and wounded Texans team by only a touchdown– 20-13 in the AFC Divisional Playoff. The Ravens will now play the New England Patriots next weekend.
The major reason why the Ravens won on Sunday was the play of Texans’ quarterback T.J. Yates, who threw three interceptions after a clean performance against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Wildcard.
Once again, the Ravens defense came up big for their team when it mattered most. They may not have been all that stylish, but at the end of the day, they got the job done. Ray Lewis led the team with seven tackles, Ladarius Webb had two interceptions and Ed Reed had six tackles and an interception.
The Texans had their chances, and actually had an incomplete pass in the end zone on the final play of the fourth quarter that would have forced overtime.
Many people felt Saturday night’s game could end up a little bit ugly in terms of the score. They were right.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw five touchdown passes in the first half alone, and six in the game, in a complete 45-10 romp of the Broncos.
Saturday also told us the year of the tight end is continuing. After San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis caught seven passes for 180 yards, and two touchdowns earlier in the day in San Francisco’s 36-32 win over New Orleans, the Patriot tight end duo of Rob Gronkowski and Adrian Hernandez had excellent performances themselves. Gronkowski had ten catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns, while Hernandez had four catches for 55 yards and one touchdown, plus an additional 61 yards rushing. Trust Bill Belichick to come up with a game plan where he gives five rushing carries to his backup tight end.
This game was over at halftime before the Patriots put everything on cruise control. They will either host the Baltimore Ravens or Houston Texans in the AFC Championship next week.
Vernon Davis (John Martinez Pavliga, Wikimedia Commons)
The San Francisco 49ers have advanced to the NFC Championship. Now they’ll have to wait one day if they are travelling to Green Bay next Sunday or hosting the New York Giants at Candlestick.
In a fantastic football game, the 49ers defeated the New Orleans Saints 36-32. 49ers tight end Vernon Davis had a monster performance as he caught seven passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
In a game where both teams traded leads back and forth in the fourth quarter, 49ers quarterback Alex Smith found Davis for a 14 yard touchdown with nine seconds remaining to give San Francisco the win. Smith and Davis hooked up for a 49 yard touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter as well.
A major reason why the Saints lost were due to turnovers. The Saints turned the ball over five times. There were three fumbles and two interceptions.
Just how crazy was the finish? There were four touchdowns in the last five minutes of the game. You could say each team scored too quickly in the dying minutes. Drew Brees had 63 pass attempts, as the Saints relied on the pass more with running back Pierre Thomas being forced to leave the game due to a first quarter injury. Thomas fumbled at the 2 yard line on the Saints opening drive, which led to a San Francisco major score.
We are down to eight teams left now in the National Football League.
In the AFC, the New England Patriots (13-3) will host the Denver Broncos (8-8) this evening (CBS, 6pm) in the most anticipated game of the weekend.
Tebownmania is larger now than it ever has, and possibly ever will be. But the bottom line is how many championships in the NFL has Tim Tebow won? The answer is zero and he will be up against a quarterback that has won three Super Bowls, is a two-time MVP and is a seven-time Pro Bowler in Tom Brady. And oh yes, the Patriots hammered the Broncos 41-23 in Denver on December 18, as Brady threw for 320 yards, including 129 yards to underrated tight end Aaron Hernandez. I’m picking New England in a rout.
The St. Louis Rams have hired a very familiar name in NFL circles as their next head coach.
On Friday, the Rams hired Jeff Fisher, who didn’t coach this year, but did coach the Tennessee Titans the last 17 seasons.
Fisher will try to help turn around a team that beat him in the Super Bowl in the year 2000. The Super Bowl that season was the best Super Bowl game I ever saw, where the Titans came within a yard of forcing overtime before losing 23-16 to the Rams.
The Rams have struggled mightily in recent seasons however as they have not made the playoffs since 2004. Just how bad have things been going in St. Louis? Well the Rams have only won 15 games in the last five years combined. The Green Bay Packers won 15 games in 2011.
Fisher has a career record of 142-120 since joining the Houston Oilers as a head coach in 1994. Three times in his career he won 13 games in a season.
When it comes to sports and the internet, sometimes the only thing better than an amazing [insert sport here] highlight is a goofy video!
It’s not always pro athletes trying to be funny either – sometimes it’s a terrible blooper or an ugly fall, occasionally a team mascot might be involved and other times, a popular “trend” may pop up where you least expect it.
Take the act of “Tebowing,” for example.
Ever since quarterback Tim Tebow took over in Denver, “Tebowing” has become an incredibly popular thing to do. The Broncos pivot is deeply religious, you see, and he routinely takes a knee to throw up a prayer, unmoved by anything that is happening around him.
When I say it’s become a popular thing to do, I’m not kidding! The internet is now full of “Tebowers,” and that trend has even made it to semi-pro and pro hockey. My pal Adam Chorneyko threw down a “Tebow” after potting a goal for the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles back in November, and it happened again this week in the NHL:
I mentioned earlier that sometimes mascots get in on the action – check out this video featuring Rocky the Mountain Lion of the Denver Nuggets. (VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP!) (more…)
Super Bowl XLVI takes place tomorrow from Indianapolis, as the New York Giants play the New England Patriots in a rematch of the Super Bowl from 2007 when the Giants beat the Patriots 17-14 in Phoenix, Arizona.
When it comes to sports and the internet, sometimes the only thing better than an amazing [insert sport here] highlight is a goofy video!
Loading ...
