Now here's an idea....

With the celebrity world abuzz over the engagement of Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen I got a great idea. Maybe Bill Belichick would like to be the videographer for the wedding!? Seems fitting doesn't it?

Superbowl Recap: What Does 18-1 Really Mean?

18-1. What does it mean? Sure, I was rooting for the Giants Sunday and sure I rooted against the Patriots almost any chance I got the entire season. However, what do we owe to 18-1? Is the season marked by the Superbowl loss?

Unfortunately for the Patriots, they will forever be remembered as the team to go undefeated and lose in the Superbowl. It took 35 years to have another undefeated team with a perfect record going into the superbowl and it might be another 35+ before we see it happen again. It is indeed very possible that they go down as the only NFL team to EVER go 18-0 and lose in the superbowl in the history of the world.

At a wide look, a Super Bowl loss looks bad for this Patriot dynasty. The '70s Steelers 4 for 4 in their Super Bowl appearances, as were the '80s 49ers. Thus I must say that Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana are always going to have something over Tom Brady. But during those Steeler and 49er dynasties, there were years when they lost in the playoffs before reaching the Super Bowl. We shouldn't discredit the Patriot dynasty because that in one of their non-championship years, they lost in the Super Bowl instead of earlier in the playoffs. If the Patriots go on to win another championship this decade, they're legacy will still match the '70s Steelers and '80s 49ers and most likely surpas. In the grand scheme of things, when looking at this dynasty 10+ years from now this superbowl loss could be almost an asset to the team's list of accomplishments. How good of a chance do they have of doing this? I think very good. Brady is most likely going to be a Patriot for life, they have the 7th pick in the draft and if they can get Moss to come back and recharge their LB corps with some youth, they could be as good if not maybe better than ever!

To be honest if I had to say who I thought has a better chance of winning the Superbowl next season, the Giants or the Patriots, I would probably say the Patriots. For now, I'm going to ignore all Spygate and Spygate 2 allegations and info just because we aren't really sure what it entails right now. That aside, I think that there's really no telling if this loss marking the infamous "perfect" season will mark the Patriots "dynasty". Only time will tell.

Aside from that I was really impressed with the play of Eli Manning and the Giants Defensive line. Truly I would have liked to give the MVP award to the Giants D-Line. They really won the game. The New York defensive line dominated the game. Individual players like Justin Tuck, Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, and Jay Alford kept making outstanding individual plays. Tom Brady had a record setting season mostly because the New England offensive line consistently gave him time to throw and when given a chance to scan the field, Tom Brady will pick apart any defense. But the Giant pass rush consistently got to Brady, sacking him, knocking him down, throwing him off rhythm. We haven't been used to seeing Brady knocked around, but that's what the Giants did. The Giants lines, both offensive and defensive (but mostly defensive), outplayed both of the Patriots' lines.

Since in the MVP award has to go to an individual player, I think, for the game as a whole, Eli Manning is a worthy choice. In the fourth quarter, the Giants had three real possessions. Manning twice threw go-ahead touchdown passes. He completed four of five passes on 3rd down, three of them converting to first down (on a 3rd and ten, he completed a nine yard pass that allowed a short 4th down run). In the fourth quarter, he made big play after big play. He's a deserving MVP.

I tip my hat to the Giants. I'm very happy for guys like Tom Coughlin and Michael Strahan. Although, hopefully skipping training camp doesn't become a popular trend! Amidst all the screaming and cheering towards the end of the game I couldn't help but think what Tiki Barber must have been thinking!

2007 NFL Divisional Round Playoff Preview

NFC
SEA Seahawks at GB Packers
This should be a really good game. Matt Hasselback will try to live down the whole, "we want the ball, we're gunna score" thing while trying to get over the .500 mark (sitting 4-4 for his playoff career). I will obviously be rooting for the Packers and, I will admit that I would rather have had them play the Redskins than the Seahawks. However, I'm pretty confident that Favre gets another big win in his playoff career. As long as the Packers can protect Favre from the likes of Kerney, Peterson, and Tatupu they should be victorious. I just think that the Seahawks aren't quite good enough. Shaun Alexander has not been impressive at all and I don't really see him being able to run the ball against the Packers' front 7. Side note: The Seahawks had the easiest schedule in football: their opponents had an adjusted combined record of 100-140. Are they a paper tiger in that sense?.....a little bit.
Prediction: GB 27 SEA 14

NY Giants at DAL Cowboys
Eli Manning led the Giants to a 4th quarter comeback victory four times this season: tied with Tom Brady for the league lead. Just something to keep in mind when you watch Eli struggle in the first half. I dont' see this being much of a game. I would love to see the Gmen beat down Romo and the 'Boys but with that extra week off they're going to be fully healthy and fully prepared. T.O will be back which will spell trouble for the Giants. True, it is difficult for any team to defeat a division opponent 3 times in a season but while I think Eli is progressing nicely, he’ll have to wait another year.
Prediction: DAL 30 NYG 10

AFC
JAX Jaguars at NE Patriots

This is the marquee match-up that I have been waiting all week for as the NFL’s top passing offense (New England) and the league’s No. 2 rushing offense (Jacksonville) take center stage. It is no secret that the Patriots are the biggest story so far this season going 16-0 in the regular season (The NFL’s fourth unbeaten/untied season in history and set a league scoring record with 589 points). But Jaguars are also a dangerous dominating bunch as through the Wild Card, they own an active streak of scoring at least 24 points in 11 consecutive games. I would absolutely love to pick the Jags in this one. I absolutely want the Jags to win this one. I will not be picking the Jags to win this one....I just can't. Where a week off hurts a lot of teams, if you have Bill Belichick as your head coach it helps you immensely. I think the Patriots will be beyond prepared in this one. Bill Belichick is 5-0 when the Patriots have a bye week in the playoffs (including Super Bowls 2003 and 2004). Whenever Belichick has time to prepare, he finds success, or success finds him. Again, I’d love to pick the Jags because they can run the ball, they can stop the run, get to the quarterback and they have a quarterback who doesn’t turn the ball over. However, I just can't pick against Brady, Moss, and the Patriots right now. That being said, "GO JAGS".

Prediction: NE 31 JAX 20

SD Chargers at IND Colts
Though the Chargers beat the Colts 23-21 in November of this season, this is an entirely different Colts squad. Everyone wants to talk about the Patriots, but most people are sleeping on the 13-win Colts in my opinion. Let’s not forget that this team allowed the fewest points in the league this year on defense (262) and they sport this year’s defensive player of the year safety Bob Sanders. And who wants to debate me that the Chargers are just glad to have finally won a playoff game after squeaking past the beat up Titans 17-6 after trailing 6-0 at the half. I personally feel that with the Patriots undefeated season and all, the Colts got kind of forgotten. Remember, they are the defending champs and they are probably a better all-around team than they were last year when they won it. Now, is everybody else better too. Maybe? Are the Chargers better than the Colts? No. Tony Dungy > Norv Turner .... by a longshot.

Prediction: IND 35 SD 13