Since I am in a great mood today because my Saints rolled the Cowgirls last night, I thought I would start a casual thread about the upcoming Super Bowl contenders.



Who do you think will be in the big game this year?

Also what is with the sports media infatuation with Tony Romo... Well at least before the game last night.

Gotta say right now it looks like Saints vs the Bolts and I gotta go wid Da Saints.
REALLY enjoyed watching them roll the Girls last night.
I think they can take the Bears as EZ as their name

Whats the saying
Who Dat

Hehe... I was saying Who Dat when I was 12 years old so I know it well...

Except for last night, Romo has done well since taking over in mid-season. He's young and will only get better barring injury.

Even the great quarterbacks - Montana, Unitas, Staubach, Tarkington, Starr, Farve and others - had bad games.

Put me down for the Bears vs. the Bolts...Chargers win, barely. I'll go out on a limb and say Ladanian Tomlinson, the second coming of Jesus Christ, will be the SB MVP as well as the league MVP and offensive player of the year.

Yah, Rex Grossman is terrible, but if he only throws the ball 15-20 times a game Da Bears win big in the NFC playoffs, no such luck against SD in the Super Bowl though.

CP

The Kalamazoo Cretins will crush the Peoria Pioneers 4 goals to 2.

But I'm still rooting for Manchester United, no matter what!

I think you can officially remove my Panthers from any list. This season has been a *huge* disappointment.

ROFL...See this is what I am talking about.

You are mentioning Romo's name as if he fits in the same company with these other quarterbacks... See this is what I am talking about... Five to six games does not warrant that kind of talk, even if you are a Dallas fan. I always thought people were nuts when they said Reggie Bush was going to be the greatest Running Back to ever play before he was even drafted.

Are you from Louisiana?? I thought the "Who Dat" campaign was just in Louisiana...

All I can say is that I came to work and posted the biggest 42-17 on my office door... it is MONSTEROUS. (I work in Dallas)

The Saints have had a couple of tough losses, but some monster wins. Atlanta in the beginning of the Season, and now the Cowboys in Texas Stadium. The Cow girls defense couldn't stop the Saints to save their lives, and the Saints Defense made a pretty good case...

There are a couple of good games for New Orleans in the next couple of weeks, with the Redskins in the Superdome, the Giants in the Meadowlands, then (probably a push over) Carolina to end the season. I think the tough one of the three will be NY in the Meadowlands on Christmas eve.

Who knows about the play offs... but I'll echo the "Who dat say they gonna beat them saints"...



I dunno about DA BEARS... Rex Grossman has more turnovers than most TEAMS!
It looks like it might be Mr. Griese at the helm. AND- most of their schedule has been SOFT, not to mention the rest of their schedule is that way too. They'll make the play offs... but I wouldn't ever talk NFC championship. For God's sake... they beat Arizona by 1pt.

The Bearssss will win the NFC, and the Super Bowl, my friend. They will win this evening, one hundred and thirty to three. Grossman and Griese will not be needed as Da Coach Mike Ditka will come out of retirement and quarterback in the Super Bowl in Miami, setting records for rushing, passing and Pinot Grigio consumed.

Bearsss.

No, Sleeper you are misinterpreting my words. Romo had a bad day. He is not yet and may or may not become a great quarterback, BUT, even the great quarterbacks had bad days. Why would anyone expect pefection from Romo at this stage of his career. As I said, he will only get better with experience, assuming he doesn't get hurt. Getting better does not necessarily predict greatness.

I don’t think the players matter as much as the program the team is running and how well the run it. I know players matter, but if they don’t play on the same page cohesively it really does not matter. I think such was the case with the rams a few years back, some form of the west coast offense hybrid with arena football theory, perfectly executed, of course good players were on the team but it was the team that made it.

For sometime, the broncos could make any running back good because of how well the team played overall, its a team sport is all I am saying and the best team is going to win, not best players. Take Barry Sanders and the Detroit lions for example…

I have not put much attention into football actually, kind of lost basically all interest in sports overall, I think its because parts of my family were in the sports is what got my attention and well I moved away oh well.

Your Saints did really well against my Cowboys, but I have to side with BoF:



All the pundits are wrong. The SB will be Colts vs. Cowboys and will go into overtime with Colts kicking the winning field goal and Gramatica missing at least two from less than 40 yards. I'd give you the exact score, but no one can really predict that accurately this far in advance, and there's still a chance the Colts will lose to the Titans along the way. Hehe.

After all, the Super Bowl isn't a popularity contest like the BCS. You actually have to win real playoff games to get to the Super Bowl. The best teams don't always win playoffs. John Elway knows that better than anybody.

I really want to be a Houston Texans fan, but I have absolutely no sympathy for their coach belly-aching about not have good enough runners and quarterbacks. They passed up both Vince Young and Reggie Bush for Mr. Penalty! Mind you, the Texans played the Saints in the Reggie Bowl last year for last place in the league (and first pick in the draft). One year later, the Saints are making my 'Boys look like a high school team, while Houston is still giving Texans a bad name. We want a do-over!

Oh, and it does look like the Saints are becoming the new America's Team. We wanted them to stay in San Antonio forever. Until the rebuild, there are going to be tons of displaced Saints fans in every major stadium. The Saints had home field advantage in Texas Stadium last night. I kept looking around for Moose Johnston, only to see the Deuce Himself scoring yardage left and right.

The infatuation with Romo? Romosexuality, a.k.a. the Man-Crush. Women want him, men want to be him, and Coach Tuna wants the nightmare to end. Well, thanks Saints. You played right into Bill Parcell's master plan to dampen the Romo ego early on, so it will be smooth sailing here on out. Muahahahah!!!

Yes, we are all insane. Fanatical. Embrace it.

I dunno about the soft schedule comment Aevans. They destroyed Seattle, wiped the floor with the Bills, blanked my New Jersey Jets, killed that other team we share a stadium with, narrowly lost to the Patriots and beat up on St. Louis. That's as hard a schedule as you can get in the NFC. Granted, they aren't exactly playing powerhouses in the next three weeks in GB, Detriot and Tampa, but I'd look for them in February. Grossman is inconsistant, but come playoff times it'll be run run Anthony Thomas.

On edit: Seamus, welcome to AD, "Romosexuality" had me laughing for a good 5 minutes.

CP

Do me a favor and add up the combined record of the Bears opponents that they beat then get back to me.

Well, through the first seven games, the combined records of Bears opponents was 17 - 32. Exactly the same as the first seven games' opponents in 1985. Hmm, why would I reference 1985?

Anyway, the record doesn't mean that much, given that the Dolphins were 1 - 7 when they beat the Bears for their first loss, and they just put the smackdown on New England this Sunday.

More up to date, here you can see that the Bears have the 6th-toughest schedule in the NFC for the opponents that they have played to date. Which, due to the strength of the AFC, only translates to the 21st-toughest schedule in the league.

Much like last year though, the bye week is just going to make us fans nervous, and with good reason.

86-122. Yes, it isn't very good, but consider this...

The New Orleans Saints opponents are a combined 93-115.

So let's read too much into the stregnth of schedule argument...The fact is everyone in the NFC has an easy schedule.

New Orleans doesn't score on the Bears D and it'll be Anthony Thomas all day on the Saints D. Bears win the NFC championship, lose the Super Bowl to the Chargers, write it down.

CP

I'll write it down in pencil... because it'll be ERASED!!!

The Saints have the NFL's most prolific passing game, Reggie Bush, Deuce, and a better than average O Line. They won't score? I looked into my magic 8 ball. It's not lookin' good for Da Bears and their one man show offense.

beat up on who?
The 5-8 Rams? Lord... I can't wait for the play offs. I wish everyone could come to Dallas and watch them together.

Anyone who watched the Saints' opening kick-off in the renovated Superdome earlier this year knew then that the play-offs are theirs to lose. You could feel it coming.

Here are my picks:

AFC: Baltimore

NFC: Dallas

Oh dear lord... The helmet man has a Romo crush

What Lord Helmet is a Romosexual?
Houston will make it to the superbowl this year before the cowgirls do!
Let it be written.

Bolts vs. Saints


Great Game all the way BUT, Saints Win!

Let it be done.

Who do you think will be in the big game this year?

Last week, I picked the Cowboys and Colts. I'm sticking to that, but I reserve my prerogative as a Romosexual to change my mind later on.

Also what is with the sports media infatuation with Tony Romo... Well at least before the game last night.

Last week, the Saints and Cowboys were both 9-5, so the whole spat between the Brees-lovers and the Romo-sexuals seemed a draw. This week, the Saints are 10-5, and the Boys are 9-6, so the Reggie Bushwhackers have an edge. But the Saints aren't going to beat the Boys twice. Not even in Dome 2.0.

One problem with Dallas is that it no longer has a Big D. Nobody seems to want to tackle. Nobody covers the screen pass in the flat. The Saints exposed the problem, but it didn't get fixed in the Falcons and Eagles games, so maybe its an Achille's heel.

The other problem is Terrell "Butterfinger" Owens. Drew Bledsoe wasn't such a bad quarterback; T.O. just can't catch (dropped 14 of 27 so far). T.O. Must Go! No other team wants T.O., so trade him to the Saints for a tenth round pick and clean out the roster for a real receiver.

Chuck Norris Fact (YouTube): "Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas."
Tony Romo Fact: Chuck Norris wears Tony Romo pajamas.

And for the Bears fans...
Mike Ditka Fact: Mike Ditka was a Dallas Cowboy. No, really.

the Bears beat the Ravens

I'm amazed that that Panthers' haven't been mentioned here KIDDING, of course, as their chance at the playoffs requires them to win another game and two teams to lose.

My prediction is Saints vs. Chargers in the Super Bowl. LT will put on a rushing clinic against NO and make this a close, but dominating game.

Chargers 23 Saints 16

NY Giants...Who said that? Yes well after one of the most difficult collapses for me since the Yanks bowed to the Tigers in October, the super bowl contending g-men are now the laughing stock of the nfl. Yes they could still make the playoffs with a win against the Redskins and with relative little help, but crawling into the playoffs is going to do nothing. Coughlin needs to go and hopefully we can find a coach that can put this team of very talented players together.

My predictions? Chargers over the Bears. Chargers are the complete team and are led by one the best rbs of all time. I think the Bears will barely get into the superbowl but beat an energized eagles team in the championship game to get there. Yes, it pains me to say it but i think the eagles will make it to the championship game and nearly squeak one out.

I can't believe how many people... Here and in the sports media are overlooking the Ravens. Even though the Saints are my team. I think it is going to be the Ravens who will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
I believe their stingy defence will be able to keep LT at bay and show why the Chargers should have never gotten rid of Drew Brees.

You could be right on that, Sleeper. I gave the Chargers the edge because of their superior offense (and their defense ain't bad either) and the fact that the game would be at home. Otherwise I think that is a very close contest.

Ahem........
To all the romeosexuals out there,

ha


ROLMAO!

HA HA!

The only thing sweeter than watching him flub the hold was watching him all alone on the side lines.
sweeeet!

That was the most messed up game I have seen in a long long time. Too weird.

Just a few more games away from Saints vs Ravens in the Superbowl.

'Pokes choke, 'Hawks squawk. The only thing that can beat Tony Romo is phoney slo-mo. At the end of the game, refs overturned a first down ruling without conclusive evidence, thus forcing Romo to drop the winning fieldgoal. Refs defeat Cowboys 21-20, advance 'Hawks to next round. :whine:

Who do you think will be in the big game this year?

I exercise my prerogative as a Romosexual to change my mind. Let me be the first to predict Giants vs. Colts. And a few weeks from now, I predict that I will predict Saints or Bears vs. Bolts. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Also what is with the sports media infatuation with Tony Romo... Well at least before the game last night.
Romo, Romo, wherefore art thy PIGSKIN, Romo?
'Twixt the hooves of thee and thine enemies.
Same place Owens drops it, perhaps?

da bears and ravens are both still alive.

Wrong!!

After watching how strong the Patriots looked today, I think the AFC is really gonna get interesting next week.

How strong the Patriots looked today? C'mon. My Jets were in that game for 3.5 quarters, the Pats and Colts are both losing next week, as are the Eagles and Seahawks.

CP

Quoth the Ravens nevermore...
My consistent AFC pick, the Colts, defeated Ravens in a defensive struggle and will still go to SB past Chargers or Patriots in AFC title, makes no difference which wins tomorrow. Eagles and Seahawks too banged up from NFC East teams, certain to lose. The Saints vs. Bears for NFC title too close to call, so edge to the Saints for shot at best turnaround ever. I predict Colts vs. (Saints or Bears) in the big game, Colts win by 3, possibly in OT. A self-fulfilling prophesy, if you buy earlier prediction was a typo. Romo rests up for Pro Bowl domination.

Ahem!!

Saints vs Patriots in the Super Bowl..

Okay, let's be realistic here. Both the Colts and the Pats [the Pats especially] were given wins this last week. Manning goes 15-30 for 170 yards and 2 picks and the Colts still win, what the hell. As for the Pats: Schottenheimer spots them three points, gives up a time out on a terrible challenge and his team makes unforced errors the entire game, Pats are given that one. I was wrong, but Jesus Christ, the Pats and Colts played horribly. Unfortunately this means I'm stuck with the scenario of who do I root for, Peyton Manning [whom I hate and believe is the most overrated player in sports] or the Pats [whom I hate due to their head coach being a classless, petty liar who left the Jets in 1999]. If, as I suspect will happen, the Pats win, they will win the SB regardless of who comes out of the Junior Varsity Conference, if the Colts win, then I have to hope the Saints beat Da Bears, as Indy would lose to N'Awlins...Overall one of my worst sports predictions weeks in recent memory [in fairness, I was 2/2 in my JV Conference picks].

CP

What a weekend for football.
I am the biggest Bears fans. My boyfriend is a Cowgirls fan. (sucks to be him)
Well here we are. Final two games before the Super Bowl.
I am going to predict that New England will beat the Colts. (Hoping at least)
But as for my Bears. Even though the Bears are at home, I am a little bit worried. Saints are hot and we do have that quarter back Grossman who has gotten as far as he has but is so inconsistent.
GO BEARS!!!!!!!!!

It's funny how a loss by one's favorite team can make them completely irrational.



Let's see a list of his NFL accolades:

Seasons with 4,000+ yards: 7, 1999–2004, 2006
Consecutive seasons with 4,000+ yards: 6, from 1999–2004[
Consecutive seasons with 25+ TD passes: 9, from 1998-2006 (current)
Games with perfect passer rating: 4 (includes 1 playoff game; most perfect games of any QB since passer rating was created by the NFL in 1973)
Manning has started every game since he has been in the NFL, a streak currently at 144 games, the longest career-opening streak for a QB.

And there are many more esoteric statistics he has achieved. How can it be said he is overrated?

And also was Tom Brady 'given' his 12 wins in post season play, you do realize he is 12-1 as a starting quarterback in the post season?

WHO DAT SAY THEY GONNA BEAT THEM SAINTS? WHO DAT WHO DAT?

I haven't been so excited in a million years. The Eagles took a nose dive and the Saints have a solid chance. Oh when the Saints, come marching in... oh when the Saints come marching in....

The Bears are gonna get poached and made into a rug. New Orleans is hot to trot and if we can get the Saints secondary to get it together, it's game over. The Bears bearly beat Seattle and with Joe Horn a likely return... get ready Chicago. It's hunting season.

My favorite team lost last week [the Jets]. In addition, it is simply fact that the New England Patriots were given a gift-wrapped win yesterday in San Diego, between a muffed punt, a FG that was never attempted, dropped passes, stupid personal fouls, a fumbled INT and a missed FG, a personal foul on the Pats that was never called [Asante Samuels punched a Charger in the grill] the Chargers and the officials did the best they could to ensure a Pats victory. I'll say it again, as a Jets fan, the San Diego Chargers are the best team in the league, New England may well be the league's luckiest. Now, as for Indy, Peyton Manning had yet another horrific playoff game but his Defense bailed him out. Look for that trend to continue next week, the man is a terrible playoff QB, and for that matter is terrible against good teams in general.

Yeah, how could he accomplish all that with only: Marvin Harrison [future Hall of Famer], Reggie Wayne, Edgerinn James [for what 8 years?], Brendon Stokley [a #2 receiver on most teams] and one of the best offensive lines in football. The fact is, Manning rarely has to make great throws because his receivers are generally wide open, in addition he is one of the least clutch QBs in recent history, he simply doesn't play well against good teams. He does, however, tear bad teams apart [hence his numbers]. So, yes, he absolutely is overrated and is certainly not the best QB in the game [nor is he in the top 3] and he is among the worst playoff QBs in the NFL. As I said, look back at his performances against playoff teams, it isn't pretty at all. His statistics are great, his intangibles suck.

CP

The best teams WIN when it counts, they win the important games. They don’t play poorly, they don’t give away big plays, they don’t try to review plays that were clearly as called(during the game I said Marty had just cost his team the game when he did that), they don’t run LT only 7 times in the whole second half. They don’t headbutt or shove the other team. And most importantly they don’t give an talented and experienced QB like Brady a second or third chance.

San Diego earned their loss.

As for Peyton—until he wins the big games—which until this weekend he hasn’t done—he can have all the stats in the world and in the end without The RING on his hand he gets relegated to Jim Kelley status – forgotten.

I don’t see the Colts winning –then again I was sure the Ravens were going to do the job.
Colts are dedicated chokers when it comes to big games, Dungy and Manning have something to prove this weekend or they can go hang with Schottenheimer and Kelley –Coulda Woulda Shoulda-Beens.


Belichick is now 5-0 in his career coaching against No. 1 seeds in the playoffs.
The bigger the hype about a team the more they slack off in the playoffs –when it really counts.


Patriot players you don't know save the day. Artrell Hawkins and James Sanders
Antwain Spann, Eric Parker, Dave Thomas, who are these guys?? Brady wins with guys you never heard about.

Tom Brady = clock management. Once San Diego gave him the chance at the end it was over. The Pats ate the rest of the clock.
Experience and coolness under pressure. Serious drive to win. Always ready to go on the field and try again, rarely loses control in bad situations.
Brady wins consistently without a steady roster of Names.
Belichick is a great coach -- whether you like him as a person --Jets fans --

Saints light up the Bears – who BARELY held off the Seahawks – like a 4th of July display.

New prediction Saints/Patriots and I say Saints.

Granted, but New England didn't earn they're win.

Bill Bellichick is one of the greatest coaches of all time, I've never disputed that and those Jet fans that do are morons. Bill Bellichick is also one of the most classless liars of all time as well, but that's fine.
As much as I believe that the Saints will beat the Bears, I'm sticking with my NFC prediction. Pats over the Bears in a laugher.

CP

C'mon people you know it's going to be a replay of 1986 here and da Bears stomp the Pats!






A woman can dream can't she?

I can't believe people are so focused on a RING for quantifying greatness. Was Marino any less of a QB because he did not win a superbowl?

How about Nolan Ryan. Does his 7 no-hitters(yes seven) and 5,714 strike-outs make him any less of a pitcher because he never won a world series?

I like sports because it can make rational people look very irrational.

I've been a Saints fan all my life and I like the idea of playing the Pats in the Bowl, but we have to get my Chicago first. I won't say it will be a blow out because none of the games so far have been.

Well, I for one, never said a thing about a ring. My point is that Peyton can't beat good teams...and he can't. Nolan Ryan could, Marino could, every great QB made good teams look bad, Peyton Manning can't do that and hasn't done that...ever. Seems rational to me.

CP

Without the big win, yes I think it affects the overall legacy of a player. Marino was a great QB--who led his team to how many SBs? He won how many?
Schottenheimer has over 200 wins yet a pathetic post season record.
Jim Kelley was a great QB--had 4 shots at a Ring--nada.

Take Heisman Trophy winners--how many have been worth their weight after being drafted, take a look at the last 20 and who sticks out, maybe 5?

The Ring counts. Winning the big games counts.

That's hardly fair. Manning doesn't get to play against many good teams because he's in the AFC. If he were playing for, say, the Redskins, he would have had to play all six divisional games againt playoff-quality teams. But he's stuck in the AFC South where his team is the only one with a winning record. Baltimore's AFC North was even weaker. The AFC West is strong enough to make up for the paltry performances by the rest of the conference in the overall stats, but face it-- the representative from the AFC, whoever it is, will not have consistently faced opponents with a good record against good teams until they get to the Super Bowl and play a team from the big leagues, so I don't see how that problem is specific to Manning.
The thing about Ryan and Marino is that they were one-man-teams. When Testaverde was with the Bucs, he was a one-man-team. One-man-teams put up the occasional amazing performance, but they don't win consistently in football. When the Colts offense is good, the defense can slack off and the team still wins. When the Colts defense is good, the offense can slack off and the team still wins. The only way to over-rate Manning is to assume he's on a one-man-team. The Colts played clock-control for the last 7 minutes against the Bolts-- if he'd thrown a few quick long bombs, they might have lost, so they didn't risk it, and Manning's stats suffered as a result. But he was playing to win, not to shock and awe the fans.

If I'm wrong about the Colts and Jaime gets her way with a Pats v. Bears rematch, but the Pats win, you realize what that will mean. We'll hear the word "Dynasty" ringing in our ears forever-- sacreligious comparisons of Tom Brady to Roger Staughbach-- "Bill Bellychick is the reincarnation of Tom Landry" blasphemy. Terry (Steelers Dynasty), Howie (49rs Dynasty), and Jimmy (Cowboys 2nd Dynasty) will have to scoot over to make room for some Pat. As a Jets fan, CP , do you hate Manning so badly that you'd rather let the Jets be forever known as "that green team the Patriots usually beat two or three times a year"? Or "that team that's had a losing record against the Pats ever since Broadway Joe's one-hit-wonder at SB III ushered in decades of losing seasons and wildcard losses"? The Pats have had their 15 minutes. It's the Colt's turn this year, then Romo can win the next three Superbowls to restore order to the galaxy.

To paraphrase Tom Hanks, "Are you trying to be rational? You can't be rational! There's no rationality in football!" Stick with fanatic sensationalism where sports are concerned. It's much more fun.

"Any given Sunday" makes liars of us all.

There's absolutely no way you're saying that the NFC is stronger, top to bottom than the AFC. In the last week of the season teams with 6-9 records in the NFC had a chance at making the playoffs, meanwhile it was no guarentee that 10-6 would get you in in the AFC. The AFC is far and away the better conference but Peyton Manning has been blessed to move out of the AFC East during realignment and into the cupcake AFC South. If he was still in the East this year he would not have made the playoffs.

Sleeper, I believe, initially brought up the comparisons of Ryan and Marino, I was just responding to those comparisons. Still, part of what you said supplements my point. Manning isn't a one man team, but if you listen to the media, you'd think he was. Manning doesn't take over games against good teams, the TRUE greats did. He is the QB of the best offense, top to bottom in the NFL, nothing more.

The Pats winning the Super Bowl would not relegate them to that status, the Jets played three tough games against the Patriots, winning one, I firmly believe that next year we will be in contention for the division championship [and I am rarely optimistic about the Jets]. My temptation is to say, "the hell with it" let the Pats win just so the point is driven home that Peyton Manning plays his worst against the best opposition, but then I'd also have to deal with Pats fans [being in Boston] on a daily basis, and they've become football's version of Yankee fans [ironic since they are also normally Red Sox fans.]. So, best case scenario, Manning has a terrible game and the Colts win 3-0 then lose in the SB...I won't hold my breath.

I'll leave sensationalism to the media and Peyton Manning's growing horde of defenders. I'll stick to facts, like this one: Peyton Manning doesn't beat good teams, ever [a fact that has not been disputed in anyway, I might add].

CP

My new call is Saints vs. Colts in the Super Bowl. Manning gets the monkey off his back against a suspect Pats secondary (esp at safety, Dallas Clark will have a HUGE game) and Adam V gets revenge by kicking the game winner, 27-24.

The Saints are tons more complete offensively and have enough of a defense to make Grossman make mistakes. Saints win 30-24.

Manning makes Pats (a good team) look bad with biggest comeback in playoff history, 38-34. Will play Bears, whose home field advantage made the Saints stumble, 39-14. The Saints has a great year, played a good game, but it's Colts-Bears in SB-XLI. Did anyone pick that matchup early on? Do we have a winner?

(edited to add-- reporters got the biggest comeback stat wrong, as discussed below. The Comeback was a playoff game)