Talking Football in December

So this is my first blog on the NFL as a whole since May. I made my Predictions of the Patriots then, little did I know they would accomplish this in conjunction with THE PERFECT SEASON!

Let me begin with some notes on the Pats.
1) Every great team in history has some near misses, "shoulda losses" never matter, it is the "coulda wons" that kill ya.
2) People took the close games, and started to think that there is a formula that teams can follow to beat the Pats. Problem with that is: a) you need the personnel to employ the same formula, and 2) you have to consider that Billichek isn't winning Super Bowls allowing teams to shut his team down with the same strategy week after week. If you need an illustration of this see the 34-13 victory over the Steelers in Week 14.
3) This week the Giants have no chance to slow down the Pats. I will give you 1 reason 'Eli Manning.' The Giants defense may play relatively well, but Eli will be putting forth his best effort to give the game away every chance he gets (for the record I believe Eli is salvageable as a QB, but his weaknesses will be exploited in this game). All the talk about the team resting their starters will be put to rest by halftime as the Pats will have opened up 20+ point lead. All of the starters for both teams will be able to sit...
4) For some reason, I feel like the Pats are going to get tripped up during the Playoffs. There really is only 1 team that can do it and that is the Colts. The Colts are Custer's last stand against another feather in the cap for Bill and the Brady Bunch.
5) As all indications are the Jags will play and beat the Steelers, I am not sold on their ability to beat the Pats when they show up there in Round 2 of the Playoffs. They have the right formula, they play good defense, control time of possession, and don't make many turnovers on offense, but I just don't think they are good enough to close the Pats out... Look for this one to be a thriller.

For the rest..... Watching the Packers implode in cold weather, I think the Bears may have done them a favor. They may fare much better in a much warmer Texas climate if both the Cowboys and Packers make the NFC Championship. They will both have their hands full as I predict the Redskins, who will win this week against the Cowboys and go up to Seattle and pull the upset, will be a good match in the "anything can happen" series between the Cowboys and Redskins.

Wade Phillips may be smart to go up to DC and close the door on their playoff hopes so it doesn't come back to bite him (remember what happened to Avery and the Mavs against Golden State). Of course that means the Vikings or Saints would get in and go up to Seattle and most likely get rolled and send the Giants to Big D for Round 2. So pick your poison, there is no easy roads to the Super Bowl.....

So to sprinkle in a little homer in this blog post, I have to pick the Cowboys to slide there way in to the Super Bowl. Both playoff games are going to be unbelievable brutal for them, but if this team can come back healthy they are going to be hard to knock off at home (ironically both losses this season were at home). As for the Super Bowl winner, as I stated earlier there is only one team in the NFL that can beat the Pats, so if they make the Super Bowl they are going to win. If the Colts can squeeze by them by going up to Boston and winning (does that possibility sound as crazy to you as it does to me)? The Cowboys vs. Colts Super Bowl would be one for the ages. As I recall their meeting at Texas Stadium November 2006 in which the fans stood on their feet the entire game (Aggie style) because the game was just that exciting!!