Talha, home field advantage is not over rated. NOt in NFL. It may be over rated in other sports....
For example, Championship games record for the home teams is 16-2. That is astounding.
Denver will win the game, because they can match Pittsburgh's smash mourth football and their defense is better than Indy's defense.
I really dont care who comes out of the NFC, they will lose SB anyway. AFC is a strnger league, has been for the last ten years. 7 of the last 10 SBs have been won by AFC.
Finally, Peyton Manning is the Dan Marino of this era, he will break all the records, but he will never get a chance to win the big one.
What's terrible for the Colts as a franchise is that they're going to have to lose a bunch of players from this roster in the offseason. They aren't able to keep everyone. It hurts when a lot of their free agents had big seasons, so look for that defense to lose some key players (i.e. Cato June, possible Robert Mathis).
Reggie Wayne is probably gone as well, and what happens with Edgerrin James? If the press doesn't bring up the heat on Peyton Manning now, they never will. Talking about the Manning family, their Dad never made the playoffs.. Eli was hideous last week, Peyton chokes this week, and this is considered the NFL's royalty.
I know some will think it's unfair, but I think if McNabb gets the criticism some has to go to the "golden child".
Donovan McNabb got the flak for not being able to take his team to Superbowl in 3 tries and last year when he did take them, T.O of all people criticized him for getting tired in 4th quarter. Philly fans are very demanding. He has been criticized by everyone from ESPN analysts to Philly press and Rush Limbaugh (of all people) who called him "an over-rated black quarterback" (although he got sacked later for making this comment). Its sad what happened to him, he had to play thru the pains of the sports hernia and whatnot and then you had the T.O drama (almost felt like you were watching TNT). He will be back next year. He is tough competitor and one of the classiest players in NFL. He will be the first to take the blame if he doesnt perform well in a game. Any news on when he is getting that surgery?
Now to Peyton. Ive always said, he is just over-rated and like Kaleem said, he will prolly break all passing/TD records but will not be able to win a Superbowl. Then after the loss to Steelers he had the audacity to blame his offensive line for not protecting him. Here is something to munch on, in the 7 years that he has played, he has made the pro-bowl appearance 6 times but made 0 superbowl appearances. He just cant get it done in the playoffs, when it matters the most. I was surprised to see a smile on his face in the waning moment of the game after the kicker Vanderjagt missed the 46 yarder.
But Colts wouldnt have come this far if the refs had made the right call. How on eaarth can u overturn the interception by Troy Polamalu after repeatedly seeing it in replays? There has to be an overwhelming evidence to over-turn a call on the field. Didnt make sense. But yesterday the VP of officating crew did acknowledge that they had indeed fcuked up on that play and it shouldnt have been over-turned.
Im not sure if Panthers can win the NFC championship game vs Seahawks. Their running game is hugely impacted now, they have lost Deshaun Foster (broken ankle in win over the Bears) and Steven Davis is already on IR. They are now down to their 3rd (and 4t?) RB. Steve Smith is one the best WR in the league but Im not sure if thats going to be enough to win the NFC or SB.
Man’s heart stopped after Jerome Bettis fumbled the ball at the 2-yard line.
“Jerome is my hero,” O’Neill, 50, said Monday from his bed at UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Oakland, where he was in stable condition.
“I wasn’t upset that the Steelers might lose,” he said. “I was upset because I didn’t want to see him end his career like that. A guy like that deserves better. I guess it was a little too much for me to handle.”
i m sure there were many more who couldn’t believe what they saw there… wheww… it was a dreadful sight
I am just glad they won … it would’ve been sad to see him end his career on that note.
Guys, I wish you are right. I hope Steelers lose. I have never liked that team because of certain personnels but have always respected them. However, you can't deny the fact that both Steelers and Panthers have won both playoffs game on the road - and truth be told - they've kind of swager that you need in the playoffs.
I wish for Denver to win but at the moment, it's Steelers.
As for Panthers, does anyone know the record of Jake Delhomme in the playoffs? 5-1 - all on the road - only one loss in the Superbowl against Patriots in which he himself brought Panthers back into the game. Panthers are short-handed on RB position but Nick Goings have had good rushing yard games - It was Goings who had about 6 games over 100 yards last year when both Davis and Foster were out, almost brought Panthers in wild card contention. So, it's not like this is will be his first time running the ball. As for Shaun Alexander - he would have to put his MVP like numbers because his performance in the playoffs ain't worth mentioning. As long as Peppers is playing on the defensive end, Panthers will be good enough to hold on Seahawks.
Steelers are the first 6th seed ever to reach Superbowl in history. They have beaten the top 3 seeds in the conference. If its anybody that deserves to win the Superbowl, its the Steelers!