the NFL playoffs

[Ray Barnes]

I hope everyone here had a fine celebration and drank some great Portugese wine - and will do plenty more of it in 2012.

A quick opening remark about the New England Patriots: in spite of being one of their few fans outside of Massachusetts (especially in Western Canada, home of many NFL haters), I predict the AFC Championship game will not be played in Foxboro. The Patriots have played bad to mediocre teams since mid season, and none of their recent wins have IMHO been impressive. In the last three games against Denver, Miami and Buffalo, they didn't show up for the first quarter. They almost lost to the Colts after a 28 point lead in the third quarter. The pass defence is frankly awful. I am a little bit pleased that the Jets are done, since their coach does to my nerves what a chain saw does to trees or a thumbnail to a chalkboard.

I'm happy to see Green Bay take the NFC #1 seed, since the Packer home games under polar conditions make for great television. I tip my hat to their fans who can sit through that stuff.

I have a wager of a Saumur sparkling wine on the Cowboys over the Giants. It gives no pleasure to cheer on Tony Romo.

[Moses Botbol]

I don't have a good feeling about my Pats this play-off. Playing catch up every 2nd half is not a good recipe for getting to Super Bowl. We need defense when playing the best teams. I don't like the pass interference rules as they've evolved. It's made QB ratings much better than they should be. I think the Steelers will be AFC champions.

[Ray Barnes]

I'm leaning towards a rematch of last year's Super Bowl, unless the Saints can overcome the Packers and the playing conditions.

Ben Roethlisberger and Tim Tebow could hardly be more different off the playing field - and I don't care for either of them.

[Ray Barnes]

PS - Being an etymological purist, I wish the Pittsburgh QB would change the spelling of his last name to either Rœthlisberger, with the diphthong forcing the first syllable to rhyme with joy or the German word Freude; or, as the more likely accurate Röthlisberger, forcing another change in pronunciation; or, to simply go with Rothslisberger. Perhaps I am the only person who cares about this, but I agree with Napoleon that a person's name is his or her most important non-monetary possession. It deserves to be used correctly, in every detail.

[Glenn E.]

or, as the more likely accurate Röthlisberger,

Roethlisberger is the correct spelling when you don't have access to an umlaut on your keyboard. When I learned German, ae, oe, and ue were given as correct alternate spellings for words containing ä, ö, and ü. I was taught that they are not the same as œ and its ilk.

Of course that was back in the day of the manual typewriter, so these days it's a bit of lost knowledge because basically everyone has access (via alt-codes) to any foreign letter they might need.

[Glenn E.]

Basically, New Orleans vs Detroit is the only game I even care to watch. The rest are just... boring time filler until the next round.

[Ray Barnes]

Agreed with Glenn. One can also use ss instead of ß. Until a sellout crowd at Heinz Field pronounces his name with absolutely correct intonation, my grievance stands.

[Ray Barnes]

Not to mention, the last two syllables are usually pronounced as burger instead of berger. This is a travesty of etymological justice.

When his name is pronounced correctly, it takes on a vein of nobility and dignity - quite unlike Herr Ben himself.

[Roy Hersh]

I hope Detroit does well too, SF I like this year as the underdog. Denver limping into the playoffs without a winning record as a Division champ is pathetic after 3 consecutive losses. May Teblow fail miserably in his attemp to beat the Steelers and please know, I don't like Pittsburgh.

[Steve Pollack]

Go Giants! Hop on the bandwagon before it's too late Roy. You used to be a New Yorker!

[Roy Hersh]

Yes, but there were only two NY teams I ever rooted for: NY Yankees (since 1963) and New York Islanders (since 1974).

I never could stand the NY Jets, but never held the Giants to the same disdain. I was pretty neutral with the Giants and when my team was not making the playoffs, certainly prefered the Giants to most.


Back to today. How the heck Pittsburg could lose in the game to Denver is beyond me. I am glad the Giants won, but sorry Detroit lost.

It should be interesting from here although if New England some manages to lose to Denver, well I'd be amazed. Denver's defense was tough and Tebow barely good enough to get it done, but he did. Impressive.

[Ray Barnes]

This seems quite reminiscent to me of the Seattle upset of New Orleans a year ago. If this is a fair comparison, then reality should be restored next week in New England as was the case last year in Chicago.

[Glenn E.]

How the heck Pittsburg could lose in the game to Denver is beyond me.

Any time the Stealers play there's an extra cheerleader for the other team, and her name is Karma.

[Eric Menchen]

How the heck Pittsburg could lose in the game to Denver is beyond me.

While this game was won in overtime, if you watched you may have thought it could have even gone worse for Pittsburgh. Ben was limping a lot, which I think was a factor in that interception he threw that was called off due to a penalty. Sometimes you see the penalty and just try for something on the free play, but I don't think that was the case here.

[Moses Botbol]

It should be interesting from here although if New England some manages to lose to Denver, well I'd be amazed. Denver's defense was tough and Tebow barely good enough to get it done, but he did. Impressive.

If Denver builds off of the Steelers game, Pat's season could come to an end. I hate the bi-week and it does no favors for idle teams. I am not uncorking a fancy wine for next week's game, that's for sure.

[Ray Barnes]

I think if the Patriots can win in Denver late in the season, even with their (serious) shortcomings in defence, they can also win at home this weekend. What will likely get ugly, IMHO, will be a potential AFC Championship game against the very tough and complete Ravens.

[Moses Botbol]

What will likely get ugly, IMHO, will be a potential AFC Championship game against the very tough and complete Ravens.

Funny how no one wants to talk about the Ravens. They are the silent killer this season just like the Steelers have been. I sure hope they don't go to the Super Bowl!

[Roy Hersh]

The Ravens or the Patriots, now there is "Sophie's Choice" all over again.

I'm not betting against Denver though.

[Ray Barnes]

I might be persuaded to bet against Denver - perhaps for a modest ? (straight up, no point spread)

[Ray Barnes]

PS - I am willing to bet a good bottle on the Patriots over the Broncos - assuming it does not contravene protocol.

Thanks to Denver beating Pittsburgh, I had to part with a 2001 Lindemans St. George Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Win some, lose some.