You have future Hall of Famer QB Drew Brees practically giving you the game scoring TD after TD late in the game.  However, the 49'ers answered back.  They won 36-32 thanks to a Saints defense that played terrible in the last 3:00 of the game.  Despite 5 to's the Saints were in this thing, ready to face the winner of Giants/Green Bay game.  But hold it, Alex Smith throws a couple of passes, and the offense burst a couple of long plays, a stout defense wouldn't have allowed. 

It's almost as if the Saint's Defense knew that Brees could score at anytime so it played soft, the time they could least afford to.

Honestly, the Saints were the better team but they were outplayed by a courageous, tough San Francisco team coached by a firece head coach in Jim Harbaurgh.  If Harbaugh played for the Bears they way he coaches, they would have made the playoffs with him.  He really had his team fired up and playing on every play.  The Saints took some plays off and it backfired on them and so, in the end, they were beaten. Quite simply, you can't allow a team to drive down, no, walk down the field in the late 1:30 to score a TD and win the game.  I never saw anything like that.  It seemed as if New Orleans had their bag packed for another game.  Now, they will pack for the end of the season.  I was not as impressed with the 49'ers as I saw the ineptitude of the New Orleans' defense.  You wasted a great effort by Drew Brees.

Continue reading "Saints Defense Cakes It"

Hey, here is a way to make Tim Tebow irrevelant.  Score so many points, that you take away his strength, the running game, and force him to pass, which is iffy at best.  Watching Tim Tebow pass is watching a dentist pull a tooth.  It's painful.  Sometimes he throws a nice pass, other times, it looks like a bird falling to earth.  Today, most of his passes were futile.  Tom Brady of the Pats made sure of that as New England routed the upstart Broncos, 45-10.  There was no 4th quarter heroics for Tebow.  There was hardly any thing significant Denver did, because they were trailing 21-7, and all off a sudden, its 35-7 before the half, and game over. 

Tebow can throw a pass or two in the clutch, like last week's OT thriller against Pittsburgh.  But Joe Namath, he is not.  Leave it to coach Bill Bellichick to implement a game plan that rendered Tebow-time, sooo-long goodbye.  Denver's defense, which has played well of late, was completely ineffective in stopping the Pats onslaught.  Passes were flying all over the place.  There was no pass rush.  Finally, New England looked like a team to reckon with.  Tom Brady was masterful.  His passes were precise, on target, on the money.  It was like watching a wily craftsman take apart a swiss clock.

Continue reading "Tebowed Out"

I'll tell ya, after seeing Eli Manning throw a prayer to the end zone, and Hakeem Nicks grabbing the ball deep for a TD, the Pack has no defense.  Where is the rush, where are the bruising hits?  Manning has all the time in the world.  He can sort his laundry back there.  No wonder he has over 245 yards passing in the first half.  And, that's a guesstimate.  it could be more.  The Giants lead at the half, 20-10, and a game that Packer fans thought was theirs is suddenly up in the air.

Of course, Aaron Rodgers can throw too.  It may be come down to dueling Qb's.  Like the other NFC game.  In this age, of instant offense, anything can happen.  If New York has a semblance of a pass rush, the Packers could be in for a tough 2nd half.  As it stands, they have no defense, in fact, it appears that is worse than New Orleans' which is saying something.  Manning is carving up the secondary like Swiss Cheese.  We could have an upset brewing.

Continue reading "Giants Play Like Giants in 1st Half"

NY Giants beat Green Bay on the road, 37-20 in a playoff upset on Sunday.   The Packers looked shaky, out of sync, and confused.  Aaron Rodgers didn't play like he usually does.   I couldn't believe the amount of dropped balls the Packers had.  Wide open passes at times, just dropped.  They never got into their fast paced mode and their defense was "matator D".  The Pack looked ordinary tonight, and the Giants played with precision, heart, and intensity.  The Giants won the game.  This game was the upset of the playoffs so far.

This may not be talked about much, but apparently, the mourning of the death of one of the coach's young son, may have taken a toll. Commentators noted the players were somber before the game, and it appeared that Green Bay came out with energy.  But when the Giants didn't roll over like other opponents, Green Bay got a bit flustered.  Eli Manning looked and played like a top NFL QB, and Rodgers had perhaps his worst game of the season.  Manning had 330 yards and 3 TD's for the game.  The Hail Mary pass caught by Nicks in toward end of first half put Giants up 20-10, and that set the tone, that this would be an uphill battle.  Hats off to the Giants.

Continue reading "Giants Win in Lambeau"

The Chicago Bulls are 12-3 in the young season, just started about 3 weeks ago.  It seems like they have a game every other night, the schedule is so packed.  9 game in 12 days.  A back to back ending tomorrow.  The Bulls were 8-1 in that 9 game stretch.  And climbed into the top echelon of the NBA. 

Chicago has great depth.  Some of the players on their bench could be starters.  Taj Gibson is emerging into one of the top bench players in the league.  It is possible he could take the 6th man award this season.  He scores, defends, rebounds, blocks out, and plays with all out hustle.  Omer Asik, another Chicago big does a great job in the low post, rebounding and defending.  He is good with his feet, and positions himself well down low.  But it comes down to a another 1-2 punch in Derrick Rose and Luol Deng.  Rose and Deng make a great pair.  Rose is so quick, he can score almost at will.  When he wants to, he can take over a game.  Not many players in the NBA can do what he does.  He is fun to watch because you never know what he will do, and what he does, he does it with style and panache.  Well, that's redundant, but watching Rose play isn't. 

Continue reading "Bulls Are Boppin'"