Well...I went 3 for 4 last weekend with my only loss being San Fran/Tampa. I don't think Tampa Bay will be able to contain McNabb, especially if he heats up in the first quarter. Philly's defense is a lot better than San Francisco's, so I don't expect Tampa Bay to drop 30 points on them. As for Oakland/Tennessee...moestavern will like this...I don't think Tennessee stands a chance. I'm pulling for the Raiders, but if I weren't I'd still think they'd win. Oakland (28 - 13) Philadelphia (24 - 16) (my early Superbowl line....Raiders by 4)
Philly (even though George W. Gruden calls the Bucs past playoff success in Philly "irrelative") Raiders God, if it's a Bucs/Titans Super Bowl, is there any way we can just cancel it this year?
I went 4/4 with my picks this weekend. Raiders vs. Titans (I type this with sadness in my heart.) Eagles vs. Bucs
Now that the edit feature is working, I will come back and put my scores in later in the week. Oakland over Titans Philly over Tampa
BTw...Mr Scary...that Tory James is unreal. He made some plays yesterday that were Deion-like. On the other hand...Charles Woodson is greatly overrated...he cant cover a guy without absolutely mugging him. Kudos to your boys...they played tough!
drapg, you are weak I too think the Raiders are the better team, but when you are talking about the titans, that doesn't matter. We always find a way to win. Titans 27 Raiders 24 Tampa Bay 16 Philadelphia 14 See ya in San Diego. side notes: On FG: 2 things 1)Nedney did what every other kicker in the league would have done. He should have shut up about it, but they are all taught to do that. You have to bring attention to the foul because it can easily be missed with the naked eye. I've got no problem with that at all. On the timeout thing. Every team tries that also. I have no problem with Pittsburgh trying to psych the kicker out. It obviously worked. Nedney also hit a big FG early. But why oh why did he want that last kick on the right hash mark! Scary. 2) Neil O'Donnell has looked rusty all season. He came in cold, but that was one ugly throw. He needs to warm up a little this week. I suspect this may be his last season with throws like that being the norm all year.
He did the right thing...however, I agree with Cowher that you cannot make a call like that when it decides a playoff game unless its a blatant foul. The refs should have taken an NHL-like approach to that call and used the no blood-no foul mentality. Overall, I think the better team won, (and whose to say they woudnt have if the game continued) but the refs did a bad job with that call IMO.
You could tell the refs were intimidated by the events that occured last weekend (the "I don't know, but I'll check" quote about the knee down red flagged review). Obviously they thought if they didn't make the call, they'd be chastised all week. I guess they didn't realize the same would happen for doing the opposite as well. They were in a no-win situation. Having said that, I don't think "running into the kicker" is as subjective as pass interferece or any other call. If you hit the kicker, you've run into him. As for Joe Nedney, what a fool. He should have kept his big mouth shut. Rubbing his "acting skills" into the referee's faces will not bode well for the rest of the playoffs. Does Nedney think he'll continue to get calls and the benefit of the doubt after his stupid postgame comment? Me thinks not.
Pole, What game did you see? Did you not see the head to head call that went Pittsburgh way in the clsoing minutes? Did you not see interference on both pass plays when the titans were down inside their own 10 with minutes remaining? Did you not see Mason's knee never touch? Did you not see the T.O. a milisecond before Nedney kicks? Pittsburgh was given every chance to win by the refs. They couldn't do it. The refs made the right call.
Thanks NJR. James had a great game. If he and CW stay healthy it makes Oakland so much harder to beat. Woodson isnt in form yet but he will get there. He also had the not so fun task of covering Chrebet who is extremely hard to stay with and a very crafty player. I look for Woodson to be back to his Pro Bowl self soon. There were a few times he looked rusty I will admit but I dont think he was any worse at "mugging" than the treatment Rice and Brown got from the Jets CB's. Regardless, I think you have yourself a excellent QB for the future in Chad and I think we have a star in the making at the WR position in Porter. To have 10 TD's as the 3rd wideout is pretty amazing. Congratulations on a great season. NY showed alot of guts to lose so many at the beginning of the year and finish so strong.
Actually, i was talking about Superbowl XIV in Pasadena. The Bucs lost to the Rams in a monsoon in the NFC championship game, and the Oilers lost to the Steelers in the AFC championship game that had possibly the worst call in NFL history
