NFL Playoffs Running Thread

If Aikman had the chutzpah that Simms have and tell Buck to go have a Coke and smile and STFU, I would tolerate the Fox broadcast a lot more.

 

And said afternoon talk show host will be kissing Mr. T(annenbaum)'s rear end all day long about how he (host) had faith that Gang Green was going to smack New England in the mouth.

 

I honestly don't know who's worse, Buck or Nantz.

 

Excellent idea. Now I'm wondering if getting what I wished for could turn into a bad thing, but I still think this is the better matchup. Hopefully having Troy Polamalu and Heath Miller on the field makes the difference this time.

 

Pretty damn funny.

 

And don't forget, you still have the rapist to carry your hopes.

 

Buck is crotchety, but he doesn't seem to have a team that makes him respond like Nantz does with the Pats.

 

Great stuff. Do they put in James Harrison smacking him with a cell phone now?

Damn. Even better when Dungy shows up.

 

In the latest salvos to our ongoing "who is the best QB right now" back-and-forth (which I am enjoying)...

Today's Jets-Pats game sends Brady to a 14-5 record. I look at trends (which is why I thought Favre was a detriment to the Packers after 2003).

Is Brady at this point? He has now lost two straight home playoff games and his last three playoff games (including the Super Bowl).

Of course, he is 2-3 (with that 2008 injury) since dumping Bridget Moynahan for Gisele while Bridget was carrying his baby. Maybe there *is* a voo-doo doll?

For the larger picture of Playoff QB Performance, here is what I now wonder:

How much does AGE play a role?

I come as a guy who covered the Packers for years. Favre was a battler in the Lambeau cold but, at 33, he lost in the playoffs to Vick's Falcons. Vick was 23 or 24 at the time and not a "cold weather guy". Favre had NEVER lost in cold weather. Vick beat the crap out of Favre that day. The Packers lost home playoff games with a QB who was 33, 35 and 38. In ALL of those games, Favre looked, by halftime, that he wanted no piece of being there.

I also think this played a major role in drafting Aaron Rodgers in 2005. Ted Thompson saw the decline of Favre in three seasons of humiliating playoff losses (02 ATL, 03 PHL, 04 MIN), all in cold weather. Over the last 10 years, to get to the Super Bowl, you, for the most part, have to win in cold weather somewhere along the way. AFC (New England, Pittsburgh, Baltimore). NFC (Green Bay, New York, Philadelphia).

By contrast, Kurt Warner spent his mid-to-late 30's playing his playoff games in Arizona, for the most part. As much as I would trust Warner in nearly any playoff situation (7-0 at home), I can't say I'd like his chances in the weather we saw today in New England or Chicago -- regardless of the talent around him. A 29-year-old Warner? I'd trust that version a lot more.

Brady is 33 now. I wonder now if the constant hits (5 sacks) from the pressuring Jets defense is the "blueprint" for defending an elite QB in cold weather.

The older ALL of us get, the more we all hate cold weather, right? When I was 26, I could stay outside for an hour shoveling snow. Now at 36, I hate walking out to get the mail. And I'm in FAR better physical shape at 36 than I was at 26. Does this hatred of cold translate to NFL athletes?

So a question to throw out for anyone here. We see running backs over 30 as "over the hill". Is Age 30-32 a benchmark for QBs who just are not going to be as effective in cold January football?

 

Wow. A Ben Roethlisberger rape comment. I haven't read one of those around here. You must be so proud. What's next? A Bill Clinton intern joke?

 

Nantz should not be allowed to do Patriots games.

The NFC's Pro Bowl quarterbacks are the three playoff QBs no longer in the tournament.