Welcome all to the new and improved SW Sports Report. Contrary to the introduction presented by Sean below, I'd like to see this site become a community of sports lovers, all throwing in their own opinions and predictions. We'll see how this works out.
Now for the good stuff. I'm liking how this year's playoff race is shaping up. With the exception of the Patriots, I could root for any team right now; these storylines and matchups are looking to make a great run to Miami. But I have to say, I've never seen the AFC games so top-heavy and so hard to pick. I'm having a hard time seeing any NFC team getting past these 4 remaining powerhouses from the American Conference.
It's hard to find a hotter team right now then Brian Westbrook and the Eagles. I really like this team, especially with Jeff Garcia at the helm. This is a scrappy team with a lot of heart, but I think their thinness will catch up with them. You can only go so far with the amount of injuries Philly has racked up this year and lets not forget the momentum Drew Brees and the Saints have built up. It will be close for a few quarters, but N.O.'s potent offense will pull away. I'm seeing Deuce McAllister having a big game. 27-16
My gameplan for the Bears is to keep Rex Grossman on the sideline all day. Don't even risk him throwing 30 rows up. I don't care if Seattle's secondary is hurting, have a tightend hand the ball off every time. Just run; give that offensive coordinator a sick day and run it up the gut. Let that defense make the plays. The weather will contain Hasselbeck and Alexander is far from 100%. Devin Hester seals it with a big runback late. 13-9
I bought a DVD of the history of the Colts for my dad for Christmas. He grew up in the northeast with Johnny Unitas as his hero. He jokingly remarked that this weeks matchup of the Colts and Ravens will result in a Baltimore win regardless of the outcome. The Ravens have been the dark horse all year and I'd like to see Steve McNair recapture his old playoff form and I know that that defense will come ready to play. But, I just don't know how Manning and that Colt offense will perform. He's more than capable of picking through the secondary, but its the Colts and its the postseason. I see an Indy flop. 31-10
I hate this game so much; simple reasoning takes LT and the Chargers to roll, but as much as I hate the Pats, I see them scrapping past San Diego. The Chargers have so many weapons and a defense that will give Tom Brady problems, but the tandem of Cory Dillon and Lawrence Maroney can stabilize a strong passing attack. The Pat's are a shell of their former selves, but Belichick and Co. have crept below the radar this season and they always seem to save their best for January. I've sided for the Chargers this entire week purely due to the fact that I hate New England and want their dynasty to end. But so much about this game scares me and the stat that finally changed my pick is that this will be Phillip Rivers' first playoff game and against that stingy Pat defense, I think he's going to break down, placing the burden solely onto LT's shoulders and I honestly don't think he can carry them. The keys are using Antonio Gates and and a lot of looks for Tomlinson. New England is, for once, without an experienced kicker, which could be a difference maker. I would be overjoyed to be wrong in this one, but I see Brady pulling it out. 31-27
If you could possibly want more of my football musings, check out my ode to this past football season on my own blog.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Monday, January 08, 2007
Seanzy's Divisional Playoff Pics
This past weekend was quite "half and half" as far as entertainment goes. Teams like KC and the Jets failed to deliver a stunning performance allowing the pennatent Colts and eternally praised Pats to move on to more challenging competition. But on the other hand, the pace was quick in a city known for its Salmon and the other for its...Brotherly love?-That must be a mistake in history but oh well. Anyways, the Seahawks and the Cowboys settled the score in a nail-biter that left every fan north of San Antonio in mourning. On top of that, if your a Giants fan then you hate the fact that "kicker" is a position on a football team...not to mention that Akers is one of the more reliable ones at that. But pressing on, here are the predictions for the upcoming week ahead:
First things first. Tonights BCS National Championship game between Ohio State and Florida should be interesting in the least. Now I know I've been stingy and pecamistic about how well the Gators can do against a dominant Buckeye team, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that at the very least, Florida will give them a run for the money. Troy Smith will finish it in the end, breaking the hearts of every Floridian (which doesn't help seeing as how they're already hurt by a violent disorganized Miami college team, and lying coaches moving to Bama). This game at best will be a high-scoring match but Ohio wins it 31-28.
Now that the best part of football is over, we shall look to the the big brother of the NFL, the AFC for more pics. Lets start with the Colts at Baltimore:
Kudos to a very rare run defense by the Colts, however don't expect to see a repeat performance this week for even if they can stop Jamal Lewis, Peyton Manning will have nightmares about Ray Lewis and the rest of that Baltimore D. However, this Baltimore team is slow, and assuming Peyton shakes of that nasty game he had last week, he should easily unload on the Ravens adding to his rep and sending the Colts the AFC title game. Colts take it 21-10.
Good ol' Tom Brady vs. LT. Brady leads the one team that no one ever shuts up about, but I think that this dangerious San Diego team will silence all this hooplah and officially end the Patriot dynasty once and for all-Good news for you Cowboys fans...Well even if you're still not going back the the big one. A Pats defense shouldn't be taken lightly, but neither should the leagues greatest athlete. LT will be more of moral builder, for the Pats will find a way to take care of him, however Rivers is back where he should be and I believe he's ready which means the "play-action pass" is an order. This will be highly affective on this Bruschi owned opposition but Tom will have a thing or two to say, until Shawn Merrymen takes care of him. Both teams will have solid offense but the team that will take it will be the stronger D which this week goes to the Chargers 24-20.
And now the NFC. Of course I'm partial to one team, but I'll try to be honest. Staring with the Seahawks and Bears:
Rex Grossman is super inconsistant...In fact he could either be the greatest threat to the Hawks or the Bears. Depending on how he comes to play will be a huge factor in this one...Afterall, you can't expect Urlacher to save every game. However, Hasselbeck is pretty iffy as well. Yes he throws TDs, but he throws picks about the same leaving a huge hill to overcome for this offense. I could only hope Alexander is up to having a great game in order to take the pressure of Matt. These are both huge variables and I'm not so sure. I hate to say it but if Grossman is decent, then the victory goes to DA BEARS 16-12.
Last and certainly not least, is everyone's favorite story, the Saints. They should have a huge moral boost going into this game (the first playoff game at the Superdome in a long long time). Can the Eagles appose the feel-good story of the year? I doubt it. Garcia has been on fire, but so has my boy Drew Brees. Not to mention NO has a pair of great runningbacks to make a one-two punch, McCalister will have fun measuring up to that. Defense isn't a huge variable, neither team is exactly renown for it thus I have to say "Sorry Stan", but Saints get it 25-17.
That's about it for now. Feel free to correct me or place your predictions on a comment. Either way, as "Swammi Sez", 'It's the playoffs, enjoy them.'.
First things first. Tonights BCS National Championship game between Ohio State and Florida should be interesting in the least. Now I know I've been stingy and pecamistic about how well the Gators can do against a dominant Buckeye team, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that at the very least, Florida will give them a run for the money. Troy Smith will finish it in the end, breaking the hearts of every Floridian (which doesn't help seeing as how they're already hurt by a violent disorganized Miami college team, and lying coaches moving to Bama). This game at best will be a high-scoring match but Ohio wins it 31-28.
Now that the best part of football is over, we shall look to the the big brother of the NFL, the AFC for more pics. Lets start with the Colts at Baltimore:
Kudos to a very rare run defense by the Colts, however don't expect to see a repeat performance this week for even if they can stop Jamal Lewis, Peyton Manning will have nightmares about Ray Lewis and the rest of that Baltimore D. However, this Baltimore team is slow, and assuming Peyton shakes of that nasty game he had last week, he should easily unload on the Ravens adding to his rep and sending the Colts the AFC title game. Colts take it 21-10.
Good ol' Tom Brady vs. LT. Brady leads the one team that no one ever shuts up about, but I think that this dangerious San Diego team will silence all this hooplah and officially end the Patriot dynasty once and for all-Good news for you Cowboys fans...Well even if you're still not going back the the big one. A Pats defense shouldn't be taken lightly, but neither should the leagues greatest athlete. LT will be more of moral builder, for the Pats will find a way to take care of him, however Rivers is back where he should be and I believe he's ready which means the "play-action pass" is an order. This will be highly affective on this Bruschi owned opposition but Tom will have a thing or two to say, until Shawn Merrymen takes care of him. Both teams will have solid offense but the team that will take it will be the stronger D which this week goes to the Chargers 24-20.
And now the NFC. Of course I'm partial to one team, but I'll try to be honest. Staring with the Seahawks and Bears:
Rex Grossman is super inconsistant...In fact he could either be the greatest threat to the Hawks or the Bears. Depending on how he comes to play will be a huge factor in this one...Afterall, you can't expect Urlacher to save every game. However, Hasselbeck is pretty iffy as well. Yes he throws TDs, but he throws picks about the same leaving a huge hill to overcome for this offense. I could only hope Alexander is up to having a great game in order to take the pressure of Matt. These are both huge variables and I'm not so sure. I hate to say it but if Grossman is decent, then the victory goes to DA BEARS 16-12.
Last and certainly not least, is everyone's favorite story, the Saints. They should have a huge moral boost going into this game (the first playoff game at the Superdome in a long long time). Can the Eagles appose the feel-good story of the year? I doubt it. Garcia has been on fire, but so has my boy Drew Brees. Not to mention NO has a pair of great runningbacks to make a one-two punch, McCalister will have fun measuring up to that. Defense isn't a huge variable, neither team is exactly renown for it thus I have to say "Sorry Stan", but Saints get it 25-17.
That's about it for now. Feel free to correct me or place your predictions on a comment. Either way, as "Swammi Sez", 'It's the playoffs, enjoy them.'.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Impressive Display by 'D-hawks' Humbles "Romo-Mania"
Clearly I'm a tad bit bias, but I can't help but say "YES!". In a game where the former "Gods" of the NFL realized their mortality in full, nothing stood out more than how the under-estimated Seattle defense proved that no number of injuries will keep them from attending a play-date in either "The Big Easy" or "The Windy City". This and the fact that the household name of Tony Romo bought into the realization of his 4-year-rookie status. It's official: Romo-Mania is over.
What does this mean for the Cowboys? Well first of all, 'T-Rome' is now everyone's scape-goat tied up with good ol' Terry Glenn and his costly fumble turned into a safety. But I'll get to the climactic 4th quarter later. Right now the story is not what Matt Hasselbeck did, or what former MVP Shuan Alexander contributed, but what Hackett and the 'D' finished. Yes, Hackett made some amazing catches for big plays, keep many of Seattle's drives alive...Or was that those constant plagues brought apon by a careless Dallas secondary? Oh, well that's huge right there isn't it? Yes, the Cowboys kept shooting themselves in the foot and the Seahawks brushed the sweat off their brows.
But back to the Seahawk defense. Talk about a factor that should have been the death of that game for Seattle. Somehow, the rag-tag bunch pulled through and gave Dallas some good practice to punt. But seriously, injuries were a huge factor. 3 out of the 4 key secondary were out leaving back-ups in a pressure situation. But the biggest accomplishment on the D's part was scaring Romo into believing he couldn't do it; which was silly when he had two-1000 yard WR and a trusty tight end named Whitten...Oh well, all over-hyphenated things must come to an end.
All in all I'm happy. Obviously. There aren't many Seahawk fans in Texas, and both of us are ecstatic that we can finally retort to all the flack taken from half of Austin who supports the Cowboys with a passion. But justice is sweet and so is a big W going into a hard second round of playoffs. Commence the excitement; are you ready for some football!?!
What does this mean for the Cowboys? Well first of all, 'T-Rome' is now everyone's scape-goat tied up with good ol' Terry Glenn and his costly fumble turned into a safety. But I'll get to the climactic 4th quarter later. Right now the story is not what Matt Hasselbeck did, or what former MVP Shuan Alexander contributed, but what Hackett and the 'D' finished. Yes, Hackett made some amazing catches for big plays, keep many of Seattle's drives alive...Or was that those constant plagues brought apon by a careless Dallas secondary? Oh, well that's huge right there isn't it? Yes, the Cowboys kept shooting themselves in the foot and the Seahawks brushed the sweat off their brows.
But back to the Seahawk defense. Talk about a factor that should have been the death of that game for Seattle. Somehow, the rag-tag bunch pulled through and gave Dallas some good practice to punt. But seriously, injuries were a huge factor. 3 out of the 4 key secondary were out leaving back-ups in a pressure situation. But the biggest accomplishment on the D's part was scaring Romo into believing he couldn't do it; which was silly when he had two-1000 yard WR and a trusty tight end named Whitten...Oh well, all over-hyphenated things must come to an end.
All in all I'm happy. Obviously. There aren't many Seahawk fans in Texas, and both of us are ecstatic that we can finally retort to all the flack taken from half of Austin who supports the Cowboys with a passion. But justice is sweet and so is a big W going into a hard second round of playoffs. Commence the excitement; are you ready for some football!?!
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Brian Hill and Sean Richards have embarked on something huge. We, your self-proclaimed sports gurus are on a mission to inform you of all need-to-know subjects happening in the sporting world. Stats, scores, picks, fantasy; everything you could possible imagine worth while will be addressed under the watchful care of Mr. Hill or Mr. Richards. So when you want a proper education of athletic spectacles, don't seek Box with his Cowboys heresy, but rather come here where the air is clean, and sports are what they should be.
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