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You dig?
On the pop up screen, click on the Sept. 24th "Chad's Corner." Then jump half way through the video to about the 2:20 mark. If anyone knows how to convert this to U-tube, can you help me out?
T.O. did what? How long until the season is over...
"It would've been nice to win two (Super Bowls) in a row," Johnson said. "I felt we had the team to do it. I felt had I not been deactivated, we were right there and would've made the playoffs. We could've snuck in the backdoor. It wouldn't have been easy, but we would've done it."Random note: Martin Gramatica is kicking for the Colts today in replacement of an injured Vinatieri.
I was very happy to see the Falcons do what I and most fans with a passing knowledge of college football wanted them to try: running zone read plays. The personnel fits the play perfectly. It was great fun watching Vick and Dunn repeatedly break big gains on the play that Texas rode to a national title and West Virginia rode to the best season in school history. Eventually, Tampa figured the play out and started blitzing on the weak side of the play to stop Vick from breaking outside, but it seems likely that the Falcons have (or will put in) a countermeasure, probably a pass play to the outside to take advantage of that sort of blitz.
This pick is partly fueled by my man love for Chad Johnson, the next great showman of the NFL, but the Bengals have everything you're looking for in a great team. The offense was already one of the best in the NFL and is only going to get better. The defense is still young but Marvin Lewis' hallmark has typically been defense, so the Bengals should be better on both sides of the ball.
The biggest roadblock for the Bengals is not Carson Palmer's health but the teams mental condition. If the team comes out satisfied with its performance from last season, they are going to rack up the losses early in the season. But if they come out with a chip on their shoulder then they should easily repeat as division champs.
NFC: Chicago Bears
A bunch of idiots have been knocking Sexy Rexy, citing him as the reason the Bears don't stand a chance come playoff time. How quickly people forget that the Bears offense put up 21 points in the playoff loss to the Panthers, and that the vaunted Bears defense lost the game for Chicago. With the exception of the Pats, the last couple of teams that have won the Super Bowl have had crappy quarterbacks (Roethlisberger, Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer). A defense and a solid running game are more important than quarterback play.
The biggest question mark surrounding the Bears is whether their head coach has the balls to lead his team to the Super Bowl. Lovie Smith is a defensive guy, so it's a bit of a red flag that the Bears defense played so poorly against Carolina. But I'm going to give the former Buc coach a mulligan in his first playoff game.
Anyway, those are my picks for Super Bowl XLI. Who are your picks to play in Miami on Feb 4th?
The Bucs are the Adrien Brody of the NFL. Both were rarely watched during their early years. Both have been overlooked for their more star-studded counterparts despite consistent strong performances. The Bucs and Brody even won their profession's top awards in the same year (Lombardi Trophy and Oscar for Best Actor respectively). But unlike Hollywoodland the Bucs are not garnering the type of accolades you would expect from a defending division champ returning 21 starters from last season.