2006 NFL Divisional Playoffs

Go Bears.

I'm just throwing that out there, right off the bat. I am a Chicago Bears fan. Been so since youth. Damn Cubs, Bears and Bulls have engrained themselves into my brain. Oh yeah, boo hoo. Lot's of Bulls wins there. Yeah, that's nice, but the Cubs futility easily balances that out. Don't ya think?

Anyway, back to the Bears. I want them to beat the Carolina Panthers. No matter what I try to do to analyze the game without prejudice, it just ain't happenin' folks. So, Bears Win. That's my Final Answer.

OK. On to the other three games which I may or may not be able to look at impartially. Let's stay in the NFC. The worst name in all of sports, the Washington Redskins, up against the hidden away Seattle Seahawks. I'm not convinced the Seahawks played all that hard a schedule, but it's hard to ignore Shawn Alexander, the NFL's leading rusher. The Redskins defense is ranked 13th. Hmm... However, the 'skins held the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to 75 yards rushing in the Wild Card game. What would trouble me for Washington is the 120 total yards the offense put together last week. Ouch. 25 yards rushing? For the team? What kind of outfit does that sort of effort deserve, Clinton? Anyway, I think this is going to be a tough game in the trenches with the Seahawks coming out on top. My buddy Manoli would be PO'd I just said that. Oh well. I'm just predicting not proclaiming.

Alright. AFC, here I come. Again, being a Bears fan, I admittedly haven't watched too many AFC games this season. I mean, if were in the Houston Texans viewing area, how many AFC games would you watch? On Saturday night it's the New England Patriots up against the Denver Broncos. It's tough to go with Woody Paige here and it's even tougher to not go with Tom Brady and the winners of three of the last four Super Bowls. Am I crazy? Well, yes, but that's beside the point. I just think the Broncos' #2 defense will stop the Pat's running game, therefore forcing the ball into the hands of one... Tom... Brady... oh... Hey, maybe I am wrong here. Hold on. It's in Denver. Who cares. I think I've just waffled on this one. I've convinced myself it's Patriots on to the AFC Championship game.

But who will they play? The early game on Sunday brings us the Pittsburgh Steelers going into the dome-de-dome-dome of the Indianapolis Colts. Bring the earplugs. Man, this should be a great game. Fine-tuned offense of Peyton Manning (#3 overall in the NFL) up against the smash-mouth, hard-nosed defense of the Steelers (#4 overall in the NFL). Let's bring it on. In Indy, on turf, can you really deny Peyton, Edgerrin and Marvin? Well, the Colts do give up over 110 yards a game on the ground. Yikes. If they can outscore 'em, and if the Colts D plays inspired, it'll happen. But will that happen? I say yes. Then again, I'm an idiot.

There ya go. Colts v. Pat's in the AFC final and Bears and Seahawks in the NFC. It's the word of Graham. Which is worth, like, 89 cents in Ecuador. Or is it Burma? Anyway, that's the deal. Dig?

Later.

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