It's the best time of year and, for those who lose, the worst time of year. For fans lucky enough to have a bye this weekend it will be one of the most enjoyable, relaxing weekends of the football season. No pressure. Just sit back and watch to see who you'll be playing. My personal recommendation is make something in the crock pot (like Jambalaya). It will simmer all day and be ready just about the time the games are starting. Some random thoughts on the games and my Pats-biased picks..

Washington Redskins @ Seattle Seahawks

Yawn. The kind of game that you put on in the background. Making the playoffs was this seasons major accomplishment for the Skins after the tragic loss of Sean Taylor. Seattle's the loudest stadium in the league. Seahawk fans are true football fans - you've got to love their 12th Man flag raising and how they keep track of false start penalties. I think that's the difference here. Todd Collins... come on. Seattle 24, Washington 13.

Continue reading "The Yoffs Are Here!"

Last Saturday night after the New England Patriots had just beaten the New York Giants to complete a perfect 16-0 season my wife decided to take a pregnancy test. She had trouble peeing so she put it off until the morning. In bed we joked, imagining what it would've been like to find out we were gonna have a kid the same night as my favorite team in the world made history. The next morning she woke up and three pregnancy tests later it was confirmed: she was, in fact, knocked up.
This past week has been such a whirlwind of emotion. From feeling completely overwhelmed to feeling completely elated and everything in between. Now is the first moment I could just sit down and process how amazing it really is that I am going to be a father. And that the Pats just went 16-0. Of course the first thing I looked for on eBay was "Patriots Onesie". What a year it's going to be!

Continue reading "A Perfect Cap to the Season"

(I'm writing this blog under the full assumption that San Diego will win today. If they somehow manage to get upset I will both A) celebrate because I find the Chargers so dislikeable, and B) hate them even more because it will make what I'm about to post pointless.)
It looked like it could get ugly early in last nights Jaguars - Steelers game. I was actually starting to believe the endless hype that the Jaguars are the team that no one wants to play in the playoffs. Clearly after last night the Jags aren't quite that perfect and will have to play alot better if they want to upset New England. Not saying they aren't capable of it, but Garrard really only made one big play all game, a fourth-down keeper that he took for a first down. The Jags running attack was good, not unstoppable. Their defense looked like a beast in the first half, not so much in the second. It takes 60 minutes to beat the Patriots. The Jags did not put up 60 last night.

Continue reading "C'Mon San Diego"

Thank you to San Diego for bouncing back from the turd they laid in the first half of Sundays Wild Card match-up versus the Titans and thus keeping my previous post relevant. The Colts look like they just got a late Christmas present in the form of an Antonio Gates badly sprained toe. The chances of Philip Rivers winning at Indianapolis without his favorite target just got (in the words of Ben Stiller's stunt double Tom Crooze) a little but more impossibler. If the Colts shut down Ladanian Tomlinson (who I refuse to call LT since that nickname is already owned by one of the greatest linebackers of all time) it's hard to imagine the Chargers being able to pull off the upset with Rivers lobbing his weak ducks to Chris Chambers. Even if Gates somehow manages to play he's not going to be 100% and the Chargers won't be able to count on Peyton Manning giving them six interceptions this time around. All signs this early in the week point to the Colts exacting revenge for one of their three losses with relative ease. Still, San Diego's defense has been solid, it's just that the Indy D is going to eat Philip Rivers alive. No way Rivers can keep up with Manning, especially if Marvin Harrison is back.

Continue reading "Jaguars Up Next for Pats"

The media is pretty much in agreement as to how the Jacksonville Jaguars can beat the New England Patriots this weekend. Star running backs Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor must control the game, something that seems possible against New England's aging middle linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Junior Seau who have at times appeared susceptible to the run this year. If the Jags can run the ball consistently, they will keep the Pats vaunted offense off the field and give themselves a solid chance to win. However history is not on their side.

Since the Patriots first Super Bowl run in 2001 New England has only given up an average of 93 rushing yards per playoff game. Only three times in fourteen games have they given up over 100 yards, against Pittsburgh in the 2004 AFC Championship (163), against San Diego in last years AFC Divisional game (156) and against Indianapolis in last years AFC Championship (125). Yet the Pats still won two of those three and probably should've won all three of them if not for the meltdown at Indy.

Continue reading "Patriots/Jaguars Comes Down to This"

One of my favorite parts of watching football is cooking for the game and inviting friends over for free food and a chance to make fun of me and my obsession. My most valuable device for New England Patriots games is my crock pot. Below is my favorite recipe to make, it's easy and scrumptious. 
Cut up and throw the following into the Crock Pot:1 1/2 Pounds of Chicken - cut into small inch cubes for best results. The chicken is the best part so sometimes I put a little extra in.12 Ounces of sausage - I've experimented with lots of diffent kinds of sausage, different flavors add diferent kicks to the recipe. Chicken Sausage works too.1/2 Cup of Onion - I usually put a whole onion, chopped of course.1 Green Bell Pepper1 Lg Can (28 Ounces) of Crushed Tomatoes - don't need to be chopped, obvs.1 Cup Chicken Broth1/2 Cup of White Wine - I usually throw in whatever we have, but the original recipe said "dry" white wine so if your pallatt is that refined go for that.2 Teaspoons dried leaf oregano2 teaspoons dried parsley2 teaspoons Cajun Seasoning1 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper - or more if you like it caliente.

Continue reading "Playoff Jambalaya"

It was one year ago that I had my greatest experience as a New England Patriots fan. I thought I would share an essay I wrote below about it.

When the Patriots defeated the New York Jets in the Wild Card game it meant that they would travel to San Diego for the next round - two short hours from my house. I told myself I would be willing to spend three hundred dollars on a ticket.  Sunday night I did a preliminary search of eBay and the brokers. If I had to pay $175 for a regular season nosebleed what would it be for a playoff game? I found a ticket for $240 in the very last row of Charger Stadium. If nothing else, I would get that one. But then I heard that the San Diego Chargers were releasing a bunch of single tickets to California residents only on Ticketmaster at noon the next day. Fans from Boston were outraged, but for me it was a chance to actually get a ticket that wouldn't put me into negative checking. 

Continue reading "A Look Back: New England Patriots vs. San Diego Chargers 2006 AFC Playoffs"

The Jaguars were supposed to be the ones to do it. They had a team that was "built for the cold", with big, physical players and a two-headed dragon running attack. They were supposed to have the blueprint to beat the unbeaten New England Patriots. Guess what folks, they lost and rather predictably I would say. The Patriots held the unstoppable running backs to under 100 yards (see post below) and put the game in the hands of David Garrard. And David Garrard played well, but not as well as Tom Brady. 
The game was close for a while. That's usually how Patriot games go. The blowouts of early in the season have been the anomaly for New England. Yet again the Patriots half time adjustments shut down the Jaguars. The Jags didn't shut down Tom Brady. They did everything the "Blueprint" said they'd need to do. Long drives. Score Touchdowns. Keep Tom Brady off the field. At the end of the day they just didn't have the horses to keep up.

Continue reading "Where's Your Blueprint Now?"

There are probably many New England Patriot fans out there that were happy to see the Colts go down in flames this past weekend. I was not one of them. I'm actually rather upset that Indy laid such a stink bomb against the depleted San Diego Chargers. If you want to be the best you've got to beat the best. Nothing against the Chargers, they absolutely deserved to win the game despite missing most of their offensive stars, but the Colts-Pats rematch was the game the entire sporting world wanted.

What went wrong for Indy? Marvin Harrison finally returned to action like Indy had been saying he would for weeks, he had one catch and a costly fumble. They seemed to move down the field at will, only to stall or turn the ball over in the red zone. It must've been frustrating for Colts fans to watch. It seemed like only a matter of time before the Colts pulled away, especially after Anthony Gonzalez' long TD, but they just couldn't get that one more touchdown they needed. Were they already looking ahead to a rematch with the Pats? We'll never know.

Continue reading "Chargers Upset Colts... WTF!?"

Philip Rivers somehow managed to injure his right knee without being touched after throwing a touchdown screen pass to Darren Sproules last weekend against the Colts. He was escorted to the locker room with a huge stupid grin on his face, proclaiming to the Colts fans that he would be back. He didn't return to the game, leaving his backup Billy Volek to bring the Chargers back to win a huge game. After the game Rivers said he could've re-entered the game. So my question is, why didn't he?

The Chargers were down in the fourth quarter. The season was on the line. What was the reason to save Rivers? If he could go, why not put him back in. He was having a hell of a game. Instead him and Ladanian Tomlinson just sat on the sideline with stupid grins on their faces. And of course after the Chargers pulled out the improbable victory there was Rivers talking trash to a group of Colts fans in the front row behind the San Diego bench. Stay classy, San Diego! This from the same guy who complained last year about the New England Patriots post-playoff upset celebration. I don't condone what the Pats did last year, but Rivers takes smack talk to a new level. Like he's won a big game before last weekend. Guess what, Billy Volek won that game, Rivers just kept them in it early.

Continue reading "If Philip Rivers Could've Played Why Didn't He?"

Much is being said this week that the San Diego Chargers are a different team than when they lost to the New England Patriots 38-17 in week 2. There's no question they were playing below their capabilities early in the season. They were still adjusting to a entirely new coaching staff and had to play a difficult schedule at the start (they had to go to Green Bay the week after they lost to New England and were beat 31-24). But now the Chargers have won six in a row, none more impressive than last weeks upset of the Colts in Indy. However up until that win they really hadn't been all that impressive.

Accoring to ColdHardFootballFacts.com San Diego was 2-3 this season against "Quality Opponents". Yes, they beat the Colts twice but anyone who saw the first game in San Diego will tell you they were basically handed the game by Peyton Manning's six interceptions, an unbelievable missed FG by Adam Vinatieri and two special teams touchdowns. Philip Rivers was dreadful. Tomlinson was invisible.Who else have they beaten since November? Well they lost to Jacksonville the week after the Indy win before reeling off victories over the following: Baltimore, Tennesee, Detroit, Denver and finally Oakland to close out the regular season. Those teams had a combined record of 33-47. Not exactly the cream of the crop. Despite last weeks win it's still hard to truly say the Chargers were an elite NFL team during the 2007 season.

Continue reading "How Good Are the 2007 San Diego Chargers?"

I had trouble deciding where to watch the games this weekend, finally decided on staying home, cooking good food, and having total control over the TV. There are advantages and disadvantages to being a displaced fan, especially when you're on the West Coast. The best part is that games start much earlier out here. I've grown to love 10am start times during the regular season. Back east if you want to get anything done on a Sunday you have to do it before the games. In the PST you can watch your game and still have the rest of the day for typical food shopping, laundry, etc. This weekends noon start time for the New England Patriots game provides an interesting challenge for me. It's too early for some Crock Pot cookery so I think I'm gonna make it a brunch. Here's my own recipe for killer breakfast burritos that I will be making for the AFC Championship:

Continue reading "Mike D's NFL Conference Championship Breakfast Burritos"

It seems like there hasn't been a single week this season for the New England Patriots where they haven't had to face some kind of controversy. Rodney Harrison HGH suspension gate (New York Jets). Handshake gate (Indianapolis Colts). Spygate (entire NFL). Run up the score gate (Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, Miami Dolphins, etc.). Vince Wilfork fell into me on purpose gate (Buffalo Bills). It's been a never ending stream of media hype every week, with Skip Bayless on ESPN always vehemently arguing the asinine side every argument. So this week some girl in Florida files a restraining order against Randy Moss. At first people weren't sure if it was Patriots Star receiver Randy Moss. It might've been another Randy Moss. But no, it was in fact the wide receiver who holds the NFL record for TD grabs in a season, #81 in your program but #2 (to Tom Brady) in your heart, Randall Gene Moss.

Continue reading "Call me a homer, I believe Randy Moss"

Welp this is it, the last football weekend before the endless hype of the Super Bowl. Personally I find the conference championships to be much more enjoyable to watch than the actually Super Bowl. They are played at a team's homefield, in front of their fans, often in difficult weather conditions. The Super Bowl on the other hand is more like an exhibition game. It's a neutral site, usually in a dome and the real fans of the teams playing are most often stuck up in the 300s. Sure, the Super Bowl gets all the glory, but the conference championships are for the real fans. And, as it's been for most of this decade, the AFC Championship has been the real Super Bowl anyway. On to my picks...

New York Giants at Green Bay Packers

A couple of great story lines for this game. First and foremost is Brett Favre. I have to admit prior to this season I was in the crowd who just wanted him to retire. But watching him play this season has been an absolute joy. He's surrounded with a young team that has rallyed around him. They showed the poise of a veteran team by bouncing back last week after getting down 14-0 to the Seattle Seahawks. Ryan Grant looks like a legit keeper for fantasy football players and the Packers passing attack might even be able to stick with the Pats should they both advance.

Continue reading "NFL Conference Championship Picks"

It wasn't pretty. It wasn't a blowout. But in the end the New England Patriots got key contributions from some of their biggest question marks this season and defeated the San Diego Chargers to advance to the Super Bowl. Let's start with the Defense. All year the pundits said the Patriots were vulnerable on D and for much of the season they ranked near the bottom of the league in red zone defense. However yesterday the Pats D, led by an ageless Junior Seau, held the Chargers to just four field goals on the day, stopping them three times inside the 20-yard line. Yet again they held the oppositions running game in check which should finally put to rest any argument that the Pats can be run on. The last time they let someone rush for 100-yards was against the Steelers on December 9th. Yet again the Defense has stepped it up late in the season and is playing championship football. They are by no means the weak link on this team.

Continue reading "Patriots Get It Done Against the Chargers"

Looks like I Am Legend wasn't just a so-so action movie with fake looking monsters and a bad ending, it also predicted what the result of the New England Patriots - New York Giants Super Bowl would be....
http://bigsteez.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/i-am-legend-predicts-super-b

Continue reading "I Am Legend Predicts Pats - Giants Super Bowl Result"

Late breaking news on Monday, New England Patriot star QB Tom Brady was seen outside his girlfriend super hot Gisele's apartment in New York Giants City today with a walking cast on his right foot. Patriots fans hit the panic button in 3...2...1...
http://www.pagesix.com

Continue reading "Does Tom Brady Have a Broken Foot?"

Sorry New York Giants fans, it doesn't look like you're going to be seeing Matt Cassell in Super Bowl 42. Despite being spotted in a walking cast New England Patriots QB Tom Brady said in his weekly appearance on WEEI in Boston: "There are always kind of bumps and bruises. I'll be ready for the Super Bowl. I'm not missing this one. I'd have to be on a  stretcher to miss this one. There will just be some treatment this week and like I said, games like this you get a little nicked up but it's nothing serious."
Brady did not look like himself on Sunday afternoon and many are questioning if the foot was the reason why. Many of his passes sailed on him... that could've been the wind, the Chargers or a combination of them both. Having two weeks to allo

Continue reading "Brady says foot is "nothing serious"..."

Lucky for New England Patriots fans it looks like Tom Brady's foot is okay. He was spotted out again last night going to dinner with his lady and he was now wearing cowboy boots. I don't know what exactly the issue is with Brady's foot or ankle or whatever but couldn't he find some shoes that would offer a little more support than cowboy boots? It's almost like Brady was so ticked off by the media frenzy that he purposely wore the least supportive shoes he could find just to prove he was okay. The only thing that would've been less helpful would've been flip-flops, but those are kind of impractical in NYC in January. And you can't get into clubs like Butter in flip flops, even if you're the NFL MVP. Plus I'm sure Gisele finds cowboy boots really sexy. Who doesn't? Afterall Brady is the Stetson man. I think he should've come out in a wheelchair just to throw some gasoline on the media firestorm and actually give New York Giants fans a prayer that they could win.

Continue reading "Brady's Broken Foot Gate - another week, another controversy"

I have to admit that I find it kind of funny how the San Diego Chargers fans and talk show hosts have turned against their star running back and saying he should've pushed it to play in this past weekends season ending loss to the New England Patriots. Perhaps even more ironic is how Philip Rivers, the scapegoat for much of the season, is now being praised as a warrior for having knee surgery on Monday yet still managing to play, albeit somewhat ineffectively, against the Pats. Who can forget the footage from earlier in the season, I believe it was against the Tennensee Titans, where Rivers sits down next to LDT, prompting LDT to get up and walk off in disgust. And now the fact that Rivers played throws LDT under the bus.  The funny thing is that Rivers probably should've done th

Continue reading "Leave Ladanian Alone!"

This is only the second time that two teams that met in the regular season finale will meet again in the Super Bowl. The first time was in 1977 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Denver Broncos 14-6 in the finale, then 27-10 in the Super Bowl. What can we learn from looking back at the first time the New England Patriots and New York Giants met back in late December? 
First off, everyone is well aware what was at stake. The Patriots were going for 16-0 and the NFL made the great decision to allow the game to air on both NBC and CBS instead of just the cable-deadlocked NFL Network. This game ended up being the most watched broadcast in U.S. television history with an estimated 107.3 million viewers. The Giants were up 28-16 in the third quarter but just couldn't get that one more score they needed to lock it up. The Pats responded with three straight touchdowns and held on for the 38-35 win.

Continue reading "A Look Back: Patriots vs. Giants Round 1"

Yes the excitement for the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and New York Giants is already beginning to escalate but I can't help but feel a tad depressed that there will be no football on this weekend. This also serves as a reminder that after next weekend it will be five long months before training camps open up for the 2008 season. At least there's the draft to look forward to in April. And Free Agency in March. I guess football season never really ends, does it?

The Patriots got back to practice and, gasp, there was no sign of Tom Brady in the locker room this morning. Was this because he just wanted to avoid two trillion questions about his ankle? (Which, by the way, I had wrongly dubbed "Broken-Foot-Gate", Wendi Nix on ESPN corrected me this morning, it is "Bootgate". Sorry, I hate when I get my "gate" naming incorrect. It's my own personal Gate-gate now I guess.) Of course there's always the other possibility for Brady - that his ankle is still tender and he's going to take a couple days off to let it heal up completely. The Pats were going full pads today so that could be the case. We'll see when the practice report comes out later to see if Brady participated. An injury report is not required by the NFL until next Wednesday so there won't be any definitive word on it by then. And I'm pretty sure by then we'll have some other "gate" to be dealing with.

Continue reading "Tom Brady Not Seen This Morning in Patriots Locker Room"

New England Patriots Tom Brady and Rodney Harrison were both missing from the media portion of practice today. In the words of Bill Belichick... "It is what it is".... New York Giants fans must be smiling...

Continue reading "Tom Brady Not At Patriots Practice"

I don't know what I'm going to do with myself this weekend because...
a) No NFL games and no NFL news other than discussion on Tom Brady's high ankle sprain. Let's get to the real hype next week! I'm sick of talking about injuries that everyone on the team is just laughing off. At least ESPN is starting to run old Super Bowl Highlights. In fact, the Pats v. Carolina Panthers Super Bowl 38 is on right now.
b) I'm not into basketball. It was always the one sport I was no good at. Soccer. Baseball. Hockey. I could play just about all of them and do a respectable job. When it came to basketball I was like a '72 Dolphin stepping onto the NFL gridiron of today. Completely lost. And now that's all that's gonna be on television until Boston Red Sox Baseball starts up.

Continue reading "Going insane on a weekend without NFL football..."

Tom Jackson appeared almost upset today on ESPN's NFL Countdown. He was convinced that New England Patriots QB Tom Brady is not injured and the Pats are playing games with the media and trying to use  the leaked photos from last week to their advantage. I happen to agree with him. All year the Pats have been victims of weekly controversies. Rightly so on some weeks (Spygate - San Diego Chargers, Rodney Harrison HGH - New York Jets), not so much on others (Run Up the Score Gate - Washington Redskins , Randy Moss Hurt-My-Finger Gate - Jacksonville Jaguars). 
The point is that this week the Patriots are CONTROLLING the controversy, instead of playing the victim.  They kept Tom Brady completely isolated from the Press. We know for sure he didn't practice at all on Thursday and missed at least the first portion of practice on Friday. Brady's street clothes and white sneakers were laid out in front of his locker in an almost theatrical way. Then today, just as the controversy was starting to die down another report in the Boston Herald comes out saying Brady was seen "limping" around Boston earlier in the weekend. The fires are relit. Is it true? Maybe is Brady actually really injured? Every player seems 100% confident and completely unconcerned about Brady's chances of playing in the Super Bowl. But this is the controversy that won't die, and it's almost conveniently taken any kind of spotlight off of Randy Moss, (whose lawyer will be in Florida tomorrow for the hearing on "H-M-F Gate").

Continue reading "Tom Brady's High Ankle Sprain-Gate: The Perfect Non-Story to Keep Distractions Limited"

I just don't get it, folks. Why can't people just not talk and make stupid predictions? This can only serve as fuel to the New England Patriots fire, just like the Philadelphia Eagles prematurely planning their Super Bowl parade did. Current Patriots still remember that part of Bill Belichick's pregame speech and this little news item might be used in a similar fashion...
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/giants/Beware_of_underdog.html

Continue reading "New York Giants Chairman Predicts Victory"

First off let me say that I hate the way the word "blueprint" was thrown around this year. Some team would stick with the New England Patriots for four quarters, lose, and then suddenly everyone thought that team discovered a way to beat the unbeaten. I guess you could say they had a blueprint to ALMOST beat the Patriots because obviously no one has beaten them yet. What was that blueprint? Throughout the season the pundits suggested that the Patriots two biggest weak spots were A) a defense that could be scored on and b) lack of a running game. Clearly in the last two playoff games these myths were dispelled. So now what are the New York Giants to do? The blueprint has been burned. Here's what I would do:

 (I should also point out that my actual footbal experience is limited to one year of freshman football and one year on a one-win varsity high school team as a 190-pound tackle who, though horrible, never left the field. That should tell you how bad we were and that I am completely unqualified to make any kind of plan of attack against what could be the greatest team in history)

Continue reading "A Patriots Fan's Blueprint to Beating the Patriots"

Media Day at the Super Bowl is an absolute circus. Rich Eisen goes into great detail in his new book about exactly what goes down there. NFL.com is streaming the whole shebang live and it looks exactly like Eisen describes it. Some things that have stood out to me so far today...
- File this one in the "Just Happy to Be Here" files... the New York Giants getting off the plane with a majority of them holding video cameras recording it all for posterity. "This was the highlight of the Super Bowl for us, kids, getting off the plane". Most of them took Antonio Pierce's advice and wore all black suits. Did it not occur to them that it looked like they were arriving at their own funeral? I will point out many of the Patriots had cameras at Media Day, just not getting off of the plane. Still, I think it says something about the Giants.

Continue reading "Patriots Media Day Thoughts, News and Observations"

23-17 is what Plax thinks the final score of Super Bowl 42 will be with the New York Giants beating the New England Patriots. First off, as I've said many times I don't understand why people feel the need to make predictions (including stupid bloggers like myself). I understand that Plaxative is confident in his team, and rightly so I think that the Giants need to go into this game EXPECTING to win if they are to have any chance at all. My problem is with the score he picked.

First of all the Patriots have not been held under 20 points all season long. Yes they've been close a couple times (a 20-10 win over the New York Jets and the 21-12 win over the San Diego Chargers) but both of those games were in inclimate weather. Given normal game conditions (not to mention PERFECT game conditions that the Pats will have in Arizona) the Pats are almost a shoe-in to put up over 30. If the Giants could hold Brady, Moss and the most explosive offense in NFL history to two touchdowns and a field goal they would absolutely deserve to win. If Plax is predicting only 23 for the Giants they are going to have a really hard time winning this game. That's two touchdowns and three field goals. As a Pats fan I'd take that right now. When you play the Patriots you can't bring knives (Field Goals) to a Gun (touchdowns) fight. They will need at least 28 and probably closer to 35 to even make this thing competitive.

Continue reading "Plaxico Burress Predicts 23-17 Victory For Giants"

 

As I mentioned yesterday a significant number of the Giants were dressed in black suits as they got off of their chartered flight upon arriving in Arizona and I cracked that it was like they were dressed for their own funeral. Apparently I wasn't that far off. John Tomase of the Boston Herald ( http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/patriots/index.php/2008/01/29/funeral-plans/)reported that the real meaning behind the all-black garb was to signify the death of the New England Patriots undefeated season. On the surface the team claimed the suits represented that they were on a business trip. Of course, as we've learned this week, the New York Giants can't seem to keep their mouths shut and word leaked out about what it really meant.

Continue reading "Giants in Black... for the Death of the Patriots Dynasty"

It really looks like Plax is concentrating on the game.  New England Patriots vs. New York Giants.

Continue reading "This is what happens when you make a stupid comment during Super Bowl week..."

As I've said before I don't know why every person with access to the internet feels the need to make predictions as to how games will go. Ultimately no one is keeping track of who predicts what. Would you still read someone's blog or article if you knew for a fact they were horrendous at predicting the outcomes of games? Probably not. But there's no prediction watch dog on the internet and if you write about sports you've got to make your picks so here's mine for what it's worth (which is nothing).
The first thing that I'm looking for on Sunday is how much time Tom Brady has in the pocket. I think that over everything else will be the ultimate predictor of how the game will go. If Brady has time he's going to find the open receiver and the New England Patriots will score more than Eli Manning even if he plays the game of his career. If the New York Giants are able to get to Brady, force him into bad throws, make him move outside the pocket, this could be a game. 

Continue reading "Super Bowl 42: Mike D's Pointless Prediction"