Conference Championship Games

 The AFC side of things is pretty straightforward.  Without Bo Nix it is just too much of a stretch to pick the Broncos.  That said, if Denver's defense can force some turnovers and hold New England reasonably, anything is possible.  The Patriots offense hasn't been great in the post season.  They do have a good defense, and I assume they'll try to make Stidham throw the ball and blitz him when he does.  Stranger things have happened, but I have to go with New England.

The NFC is where it really gets tough.  The Seattle Seahawks have a complete team whereas it's hard to bet against MVP favorite Matthew Stafford.  I think I will go with Seattle even though they are dealing with injuries at running back.  I like their defense more than LA's as well.  This should be a fun game.  That's the hope anyway.

New England Defeats Los Angeles 13-3, Super Bowl LIII Champions

Last night was a great SuperBowl.  I know I’m in the minority on that but in an era when the offenses are handed so many advantages it was great to see two defenses play so very well.  NewEngland was able to move the ball some but Wade Phillips’ defense played so well limiting the Patriots to 13 points.  No matter how great they were they were outplayed by the Pat’s defense who befuddled Los Angeles all night long.  It was an amazing game plan for the Pat’s defense and Jared Goff seemed lost all night.  But don’t be fooled.  So props to the New England coaching staff and the players who executed the gameplan.  While the offenses did make mistakes what you really saw was the defenses getting pressure on the quarterbacks and covering receivers very well.  So good on both defenses.  

As for the Rams, Sean McVay has to take blame for the offense’s inability to adjust during the game and to his credit admitted he was out coached.  I also have to wonder why Todd Gurley wasn’t given the ball more. He is a rare talent at running back but ran the ball only 10 times for 35 yards and caught one pass.  The game was 3-3 going into the 4^th so they had plenty of time to run it and maybe create opportunities for play action.  Maybe try some screen passes?  I was at a loss as to Los Angeles’ lack of direction and creativity.  

The Patriots deserve a ton of a credit on defense but the offense did do enough when needed to win the game.  Julian Edelman starred and took home the MVP.  He seemed to be open so much in this game and it wasn’t until late they Gronk really got in a groove.  To be honest the defense deserved the trophy.  Again I think it is awesome a team could scheme so well as to shut down an offense that stood among some of the greats all-time.  You have to hand it to New England.  Bill Belichick figured out a way to win even when his offense wasn’t at its best.  It is just amazing what he and Tom Terrific has done.  I enjoyed the game and ate lots of good food in the process so it was a win all around for me. 

AFC and NFC Championship Games - Just Wow!

"Are you not entertained?"  Great games yesterday.  The first time both conference championship games have gone into overtime.  Did the Saints get hosed?  Oh yes.  That was a horrible call.  The easy answer is to say don't put yourself in that position.  Don't go silent for almost two quarters while the Rams get back into the game.  Don't call for a pass on first down with under two minutes to go and definitely don't let it go incomplete.  It will be so hard to think of this game though and not think of the non call at the end of the 4th quarter.  Still New Orleans had the ball in overtime and failed.  Congratulations to the Rams.  They adjusted on offense to the stadium noise and their offense came alive.  I'm still confused as why Todd Gurley wasn't in the game more.  The touches he did have weren't great but when you have a beast like him you have to ride him.  This is great young team and I can't wait to see what they can do in the Super Bowl.

    We keep wanting to pick against the Patriots and they keep snubbing their nose at everyone.  This will be their 8th Super Bowl appearance in the Tom Brady era and 10th overall.  Just crazy.  Give it to their defense for shutting down Mahomes and the crazy good Kansas City offense long enough to give New England a 14-0 lead at the half - and they needed it.  The KC offense finally appeared and the rest of the game was back and forth never quite knowing which was it would end.  Again we went to overtime and the Pats made sure the Chiefs revitalized offense didn't get a chance to steal the game.  This was a fun game to watch.  I was hoping the Chiefs would win even though I have a self proclaimed man crush on Michigan alum Tom Brady.  They don't call him the G.O.A.T. for nothing.  Hopefully Kansas City will be back in force again for years to come.  For now we'll see what greatness the Pats can dial up in the Super Bowl.

The NFL and Owner Stan Kroenke Do St. Louis and Rams Fans Wrong

Stan Kroenke

St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke and the NFL decided to move the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles.  This wasn't done this week.  It is very obvious by the actions of owner Stan Kroenke and when Roger Goodell tipped his hand this week with the letter he sent to owners.  Is there anything wrong with that?  At it's core, no.  But the way this whole thing was handled is completely and utterly unfair to St. Louis, the state, and the fans.  Stan Kroenke hasn't spoken to fans or given interviews concerning the Rams in years.  All the while he purchased land in Los Angeles and made his plans.  At some point it would have been the right thing to do to speak out on the topic while the city and fans fretted over the possible loss of their NFL franchise.  But he never did.

The city of St. Louis was allowed to come up with a very good stadium proposal working through all the hoops concerning land, funding and bureaucracy.  It wasn't an easy journey for anyone involved.  And while St. Louis came up with a proposal neither San Diego nor Oakland have stadium plans in place.  This seemed to make it look good for the teams from those cities moving while keeping the Rams in St. Louis.  On the surface anyway. 

This week when the owners met to vote we heard the relocation committee recommended Oakland and San Diego move.  We also heard there were other owners who either didn't like Kroenke or the idea of the Rams being allowed to move while St. Louis had a viable stadium option on the table.  That all soon unraveled.  The first vote quickly showed owners were on board with the Rams moving.  Then they were approved by a 30-2 vote. 

Again, a team moving to another city because they can make more money is at it's core not wrong.  How the league let the city of St. Louis drift in the wind for the last two years when they had no chance of keeping their team is downright wrong.  It was a sham.  How can you say otherwise?  Looking at the NFL bylaws on relocation and the stadium proposal it is hard to believe Kroenke met all the requirements.  I am disgusted by how this was handled.  Kroenke shut out the city and the fans.  Completely silent for years not giving any hint while going behind their back.  Not engaging them in an true discussions on how to keep the Rams in St. Louis.  And Roger Goodell let it happen.  How do you run a league seeing an owner doing this, and say yeah that is ok.  I have lost so much respect for the NFL and Goodell.  I have had none for Stan Kroenke for quite a while.  He has to rank up there as one of the worst owners ever in this league. 

Enough with that.  So the Rams are leaving.  Ironically they are going back to Los Angeles whom St. Louis "stole" the team from 20+ years ago.  Interesting side note.  The Rams actually started in Cleveland playing eight years and won the NFL Championship in 1945 before they moved to Los Angeles after that season.  I get all the reasons why this can be good.  Those Rams fans who are still in Los Angeles will be ecstatic.  Former Los Angeles Rams who are still in California will be able to reconnect with the team and hopefully we'll get to see more of those great older jerseys.