Thank you, NFL, but you're not entirely forgiven

Maybe the NFL felt it was about time. Bill Leavy (and his entire officiating crew, if we’re to cut him the merest slack), had, after all, gifted the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl XL on the most painful of occasions in Detroit on Sunday, February 5, 2006. Yes, this game still rankles with Seahawks fans. It always will, even if we do eventually collect a Lombardi trophy of our own, because we’ll know that we should have two of them. Heck, look at me writing about the Seahawks with two Lombardi’s...we don’t have any yet. I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but that’s what happens in the week leading up to the Draft. We suddenly start envisioning things for our team, including altering the course of historical sporting events, clearly. I like to think that all of this is what makes us Seahawk fans what we are. The hope, the exotic wonderment to be found in desperation when everything comes crashing down around us. Oh, come on, we know we can’t get enough!

A rash of some Titans

Last week, I lamented the fact that David Hawthorne remained unsigned in Seattle and that, should he leave in free agency, the Seahawks had to consider drafting middle linebacker Luke Kuechly out of Boston College when they pick twelfth overall on April 26. In fact, allow me to correct myself: considering Kuechly is just the start of it. Should he be available at 12, get him in, get him integrated and get him started. That may still happen, but there has been some movement at the ‘Mike’ position since my last post. Somewhat predictably, Hawthorne was eventually lost, to New Orleans, a move that saddened me, but one that sees him on his way with plenty of goodwill ringing in his ears from the Pacific Northwest.

Musings of a UK Seahawk

Memorably, Marshawn Lynch caused the earth around Qwest Field to shake on January 8, 2011, after his 67 yard touchdown run broke the back of the New Orleans Saints (no Bountygate pun intended) in an unforgettable NFC wildcard encounter. Upsets like this are nothing new in the NFL, but the hope this offered to us Seahawk fans couldn’t be measured in mere yards and inches. Yes, we lost heavily in Chicago the following weekend (the 35-24 outcome doesn’t reflect the Bears’ dominance), but, if we’re honest, we accepted that would be the case anyway. We were basking long and hard in wildcard sunshine after a 7-9 season had translated itself into a home playoff win over the world champions.

Super Bowl XLVI - New York Giants vs. New England Patriots

NEW YORK GIANTS NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Vegas Line: Giants + 3

Rob’s Line: Giants + 1.5

There is one glaring reality about this rematch of the classic that was Super Bowl XLII in Arizona: the New York Giants are a better team than then and the New England Patriots are a worse team than then. Heck, there’s so many angles to this game that there’s no obvious starting point, suffice to say that the fervour building up to this is palpable and I, for one, cannot get enough of it.

NFC Championship Game - New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers

 NEW YORK GIANTS @ SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 

Vegas Line: Giants + 2

Rob’s Line: Giants + 0.5

As much as I’m looking forward to the AFC Championship Game that precedes this, this is what I really can’t wait for. Interestingly, the line hadn’t moved all week and we were able to back New York +2.5, but money has obviously been flooding in on the Giants as there’s been a small shaving of half a point which, in a game of this magnitude, is pretty seismic. I view this as a very even matchup and am only offering the Giants the narrowest margin possible because they’re the road team. So, where to start? Eli Manning? Alex Smith?

AFC Championship Game - Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

 BALTIMORE RAVENS @ NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 

Vegas Line: Ravens + 7

Rob’s Line: Ravens + 5.5

This matchup brings together the two elements of perhaps the most famous adage in NFL history: offense wins games, defense wins championships. To touch on the betting angle early, the line opened at 7.5 in Vegas so some folks somewhere have clearly had a nibble on Baltimore and brought the line in a little…and I’m not surprised.

NFC Divisional Playoff - New York Giants at Green Bay Packers

NEW YORK GIANTS @ GREEN BAY PACKERS
Vegas Line: Giants + 7.5

Rob’s Line: Giants + 8.5

Last night’s hammering of Denver handed out by New England Tom Brady taught us something heading into this one. Popular opinion had the Broncos and New York Giants taking the momentum gained from last weekend’s wild card wins on the road and advancing to next week’s Championship Games. Lest we forget that the Patriots and Green Bay Packers aren’t current NFL powerhouses for no reason.

AFC Divisional Playoff - Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens

HOUSTON TEXANS @ BALTIMORE RAVENS
Vegas Line: Texans + 7.5

Rob’s Line: Texans + 6.5

For all you Baltimore fans out there, thank Heavens it’s now the playoffs, eh?! No more having to look over your shoulder at Pittsburgh…not after the wonders of last Sunday, anyway. I haven’t actually bothered to look up any press coverage from, say, The Baltimore Sun, during this past week, but I’ll bet both my bottom dollar and yours that there was more than a couple of celebratory column inches devoted to Tim Tebow, the man who practically single handedly orchestrated the demise of the hated Steelers, and all this after his offense had conspired to collate the grand total of 8 yards in the first quarter; the thought that a city that once adored its hometown stable of Colts was last weekend rabidly supporting a herd of supposedly ragged Broncos lends itself to a poetic equine balance being restored to the resting place of Edgar Allan Poe, after whose poem these Ravens are named.

AFC Divisional Playoff - Denver Broncos at New England Patriots

DENVER BRONCOS @ NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Vegas Line: Broncos + 13.5

Rob's Line: Broncos + 12.5

Who'd have thought it? Well, me...almost. That Denver beat Pittsburgh last Sunday night justified my faith in the nine point spread afforded the Broncos by Vegas and it did look just too big from the very beginning. As I wrote, I didn't expect Denver to actually emerge triumphant, but the fact that they did means a week long Tim Tebow story and I for one am not growing sick of it at all.

NFC Divisional Playoff - New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS @ SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Vegas Line: 49ers + 3.5

Rob's Line: 49ers + 1.5

How good does this look to begin Divisional Playoff weekend? Regular readers will know that I wished for this matchup at this stage of the postseason, only in the Superdome. It would've been a no contest and I will have to confess here straight away that I want New Orleans to win. Why? There's a couple of reasons. Firstly, because I've been talking up the Saints all season and I actually believe the 31-21 debacle in St. Louis in Week 8 to be a good thing; they haven't lost a game since, winning nine in a row and they've only been pushed close on two of those occasions.

AFC Wild Card - Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos

PITTSBURGH STEELERS @ DENVER BRONCOS

Vegas Line: Broncos + 8.5

Rob’s Line: Broncos + 5.5

I’ve held back my bet of the week until last. One thing to add to that is that while Vegas seem to be completely writing off Denver, you can actually still snare 9 points on the Broncos at bet365, which I find astonishing. One of the first reasons for my inredulity is because Pittsburgh are 2-6 covering the spread over their last eight and they also come into this one a little banged up. I do have to admit here that it’s not all plain sailing for the home team, believe me, but more of that in a while. Let’s focus on the defending AFC Champion Steelers.

NFC Wild Card - Atlanta Falcons at New York Giants

ATLANTA FALCONS @ NEW YORK GIANTS

Vegas Line: Falcons + 3

Rob’s Line: Falcons + 2.5

Just three weeks ago the Washington Redskins went on the road and defeated the New York Giants 23-10, a result that didn’t put the Big Blue in a good place. That was their fifth loss in six games and the sole victory, over Dallas, was a crazy (yet thrilling) come from behind win as they scored two touchdowns in the final three and a half minutes to take pole position in the NFC East ahead of those Cowboys.

NFC Wild Card - Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints

DETROIT LIONS @ NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Vegas Line: Lions + 10.5

Rob’s Line: Lions + 12.5

In exactly the same fashion as the Bengals/Texans encounter preceding this one, these two teams have met already this season when New Orleans overcame Detroit 31-17 in the Superdome five weeks ago. The week after that, the Saints squeaked past the Titans 22-17 on the road, but they flew home from Tennessee knowing that their remaining three games would keep them inside, the environment where they excel (ahem, the 31-21 shocker of the century in St. Louis aside, that is), with home games against division rivals Atlanta and Carolina following a trip to the Metrodome to take on the Vikings.

AFC Wild Card - Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans

 CINCINNATI BENGALS @ HOUSTON TEXANS

Vegas Line: Bengals + 4

Rob’s Line: Bengals + 2.5

Welcome to the business end of the NFL season. The serious stuff of loser goes home doesn’t get any more real than this and wild card weekend kicks off today when Cincinnati and Houston renew hostilities in the same stadium that hosted their Week 14 matchup just four short weeks ago. There’s some interesting things to look at here, including the spread, which, yes, I believe to be too far in Houston’s favour, but I’ll come to that in a little while.

Week 17 Picks - Part 2

TAMPA BAY at ATLANTA – The Falcons were almost taught a footballing lesson in the Superdome last Monday night and they’ll be smarting from that. The Buccaneers have lost their last four games by 19 27 16 and 32 points so there’s no way I’m betting on them plus 11.5; I would only be tempted by them with a start in the region of 15 or 16. It is dangerous backing Atlanta after an emotional loss last week, but I can’t see any other course of action. I take the Falcons to get last week out of their system before a likely trip back to New Orleans on wildcard weekend.

Week 17 Picks - Part 1

Hi NFLers

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and the football served up. Well done to those of you who managed to catch the Bears/Packers game live on the 25th…I had to rely on NFL Game Pass the next day and it’s been a time of having to catch up whenever I can.

Week 16 Picks

I may need to plead with you for patience initially as I attempt to make sense of the Vegas spreads over December 24, 25 and 26. I say that as you may at first wonder what the connection is between the NFL, Christmas and Ian Dury. Quite simply NFLers, it’s reasons to be cheerful, which brings me straight on to the game that’s top of my Christmas list, San Francisco’s trip to my beloved Seattle.

Week 16 Power Rankings

Hi NFLers

Welcome to my weekly NFL Power Rankings, a look at how I rank the 32 NFL teams after the Monday Night Football fallout. The figures to the right of the logo denote each team’s current record while the number to the left in brackets is where I had them placed last week.
The biggest opportunity missed last week wasn’t Green Bay’s shocker in KC that leaves the ’72 Dolphins as the only unbeaten team in the modern era. No, step forward the Pittsburgh Steelers, the unlikely winners of an accolade as dubious as Doing All You Can To Win The Super Bowl The Hard Way.

Week 15 Monday Night Football Thoughts

PITTSBURGH STEELERS AT SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
 
Won’t you just take a look at these two? The team of the ’70′s visiting the team of the ’80s on Monday Night Football. Christmas come early for us football fans. These two can boast eleven Super Bowl victories between them (Pittsburgh six, San Fran five), which equates to what is basically a quarter of all the Super Bowls played. Not bad going that and this year could see one of them make it twelve victories out of forty six, which is remarkable.

Week 15 Picks - Part 3

For most football followers, the game in DENVER this week is mouth watering. Tim Tebow did it again last week. Again just won’t go away and neither will these Broncos. Tebow doesn’t know when he’s beaten and his teammates’ belief in him is unshakeable. The combination of the two is potent, but you have to think that should they make the playoffs, it’s a formula that won’t get very far.