Crazy Football and Even Crazier Bastards Who Would Be President
So it's Carolina vs. New England, and a four-way toss-up in Iowa. Around and around we go.
I think it was Hunter S. Thompson who warned of mixing politics and football, but once every four years the stars align and it's hard to ignore if you're like me and you're obsessed about both. Their official seasons only cross over by a few weeks - the Super Bowl, while not technically the end of the season as the Pro Bowl is played afterwards, is indeed the only game left that anyone cares about. The Iowa caucuses, however, is the first in a long line of political battles that - as we learned in 2000 - doesn't necessarily end on election night.
THE SUPER SHOWDOWN
Unlike politics, we at least know the table's not slanted in the NFL - or not if you're looking at things from CBS Sports' perspective. Unless you've followed the NFL very closely this season, the only two people involved with the Super Bowl who are even close to household names are Patriots Coach Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady. That's it - you can't even argue that there are others. Try me. This has all the makings of a ratings nightmare.
But there's a strange wind blowing, my friends, and it smells too much like Mighty Duck and Marlin. I'll reserve judgment about the Super Bowl for now - after an impressive 7-0 start, I have now dropped 3 games in a row (including this past week's horrendous performance). I must end things on a positive note, and since the NFL gives us 14 entire days to stew about this impending punt-fest, I figure I'll hold off until a few days before the game when there's more hype.
I know one thing, though - I'm taking the under.
AFC: THE INVISIBLE MANNING
Patriots 24, Colts 14
Turns out Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning just waited a couple of rounds for their usual playoff selves to show up.
In Dungy's case, it was his defense in a manifestation of his own, laid-back-no-matter-what personality. The front line was never able to put effective pressure on Tom Brady, and the linebackers didn't show up to stop the run until the fourth quarter when it was basically too late. With 6:17 left in the third quarter and trailing by less than two touchdowns, the Colts let Antowaine Smith scurry for consecutive rushes of 35 and 14 yards. The Colts kept the Pats out of the end zone, but the drive ate up a ton of time and Adam Vinatieri resulting FG put them up by two TDs.
And but for his 4 interceptions, Peyton Manning was nowhere to be found.
The guy who was supposed to step out of Johnny U's shadow yesterday was a shadow of himself - or at least the self that strutted into Arrowhead Stadium last weekend with his MVP in his trophy case and gunslinged his team to a shootout victory over the league's supposed best offense. Talk about Ty Law all you want - all but one of those picks were served up. Archie's kid looked confused. Scared.
That's all a Belichick defense needs - the smell of fear. The Pats have been there before and they know what it takes. For the time being, Manning can only continue to guess.
NFC: THESE RECEIVERS ARE FOR THE BIRDS
Panthers 14, Eagles 3
Donovan McNabb followed Manning today in failing to realize the Super Bowl berth so expected of his young-stud-recent-MVP pedigree. But it's not his fault. He suffered a rib injury after a non-call late hit early on in the game, and the Eagles were never the same. Their unpredictable QB's mobility was clearly effected on every snap he took the rest of the game, and backup Koy Detmer's snaps during the regular season were limited to single digits, rendering him rusty as hell when he was inserted late in the game in an attempt to spark an Eagles rally.
Once again, McNabb has no supporting cast. While Buckhalter and Staley are both decent backs, neither one of them is reliable enough to be a go-to when it matters most. But that wouldn't be as much of a consideration if McNabb had anyone to throw to. Last night, the Eagles receivers had a hard time getting open - and when they did, they had an even harder time catching the ball. The Eagles owe it to McNabb to get him a receiver in the off-season.
IO-WA-NNA BE SEDATED
It's down to a four-way race in the ultra-hyped Iowa Caucuses - Howard Dean, John Kerry, John Edwards and Dick Gephardt.
In a squeaker, here's how I'm picking them...
1. Kerry - will manage to squeak anti-war votes away from Dean and union votes away from Gephardt.
2. Dean - his supreme infrastructure can't prevent departure of middle-aged voters with cold feet.
3. Edwards - his optimism, energy and charisma seem to be a breath of fresh air for a lot of people. Might be able to quietly split the difference between the Big Three if they stay busy taking shots at each other.
4. Gephardt - relying too heavily on the union vote, anything but a #2 finish boots this dinosaur out of the race - and not a moment too soon. I for one am tired of his act of scaring the elderly into believing that their medicare will be taken away and scaring the unions into believing that their jobs will be taken away.
I think it was Hunter S. Thompson who warned of mixing politics and football, but once every four years the stars align and it's hard to ignore if you're like me and you're obsessed about both. Their official seasons only cross over by a few weeks - the Super Bowl, while not technically the end of the season as the Pro Bowl is played afterwards, is indeed the only game left that anyone cares about. The Iowa caucuses, however, is the first in a long line of political battles that - as we learned in 2000 - doesn't necessarily end on election night.
THE SUPER SHOWDOWN
Unlike politics, we at least know the table's not slanted in the NFL - or not if you're looking at things from CBS Sports' perspective. Unless you've followed the NFL very closely this season, the only two people involved with the Super Bowl who are even close to household names are Patriots Coach Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady. That's it - you can't even argue that there are others. Try me. This has all the makings of a ratings nightmare.
But there's a strange wind blowing, my friends, and it smells too much like Mighty Duck and Marlin. I'll reserve judgment about the Super Bowl for now - after an impressive 7-0 start, I have now dropped 3 games in a row (including this past week's horrendous performance). I must end things on a positive note, and since the NFL gives us 14 entire days to stew about this impending punt-fest, I figure I'll hold off until a few days before the game when there's more hype.
I know one thing, though - I'm taking the under.
AFC: THE INVISIBLE MANNING
Patriots 24, Colts 14
Turns out Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning just waited a couple of rounds for their usual playoff selves to show up.
In Dungy's case, it was his defense in a manifestation of his own, laid-back-no-matter-what personality. The front line was never able to put effective pressure on Tom Brady, and the linebackers didn't show up to stop the run until the fourth quarter when it was basically too late. With 6:17 left in the third quarter and trailing by less than two touchdowns, the Colts let Antowaine Smith scurry for consecutive rushes of 35 and 14 yards. The Colts kept the Pats out of the end zone, but the drive ate up a ton of time and Adam Vinatieri resulting FG put them up by two TDs.
And but for his 4 interceptions, Peyton Manning was nowhere to be found.
The guy who was supposed to step out of Johnny U's shadow yesterday was a shadow of himself - or at least the self that strutted into Arrowhead Stadium last weekend with his MVP in his trophy case and gunslinged his team to a shootout victory over the league's supposed best offense. Talk about Ty Law all you want - all but one of those picks were served up. Archie's kid looked confused. Scared.
That's all a Belichick defense needs - the smell of fear. The Pats have been there before and they know what it takes. For the time being, Manning can only continue to guess.
NFC: THESE RECEIVERS ARE FOR THE BIRDS
Panthers 14, Eagles 3
Donovan McNabb followed Manning today in failing to realize the Super Bowl berth so expected of his young-stud-recent-MVP pedigree. But it's not his fault. He suffered a rib injury after a non-call late hit early on in the game, and the Eagles were never the same. Their unpredictable QB's mobility was clearly effected on every snap he took the rest of the game, and backup Koy Detmer's snaps during the regular season were limited to single digits, rendering him rusty as hell when he was inserted late in the game in an attempt to spark an Eagles rally.
Once again, McNabb has no supporting cast. While Buckhalter and Staley are both decent backs, neither one of them is reliable enough to be a go-to when it matters most. But that wouldn't be as much of a consideration if McNabb had anyone to throw to. Last night, the Eagles receivers had a hard time getting open - and when they did, they had an even harder time catching the ball. The Eagles owe it to McNabb to get him a receiver in the off-season.
IO-WA-NNA BE SEDATED
It's down to a four-way race in the ultra-hyped Iowa Caucuses - Howard Dean, John Kerry, John Edwards and Dick Gephardt.
In a squeaker, here's how I'm picking them...
1. Kerry - will manage to squeak anti-war votes away from Dean and union votes away from Gephardt.
2. Dean - his supreme infrastructure can't prevent departure of middle-aged voters with cold feet.
3. Edwards - his optimism, energy and charisma seem to be a breath of fresh air for a lot of people. Might be able to quietly split the difference between the Big Three if they stay busy taking shots at each other.
4. Gephardt - relying too heavily on the union vote, anything but a #2 finish boots this dinosaur out of the race - and not a moment too soon. I for one am tired of his act of scaring the elderly into believing that their medicare will be taken away and scaring the unions into believing that their jobs will be taken away.
