Favre Finally Calls it a Career

After multiple offseasons of retirement talk, Brett Favre has finally decided to hang up the cleats once and for all. Over his 17-year career, Favre has set many different records for quarterbacks. Favre owns the completion, yardage and touchdown records. Favre has won three MVP awards, and is a Super Bowl champion.

The most impressive feat of Favre's career is his 275 consecutive starts. That is over 15 seasons, including the postseason, without missing a start. That is unbelievable in a sport where injuries get you at every turn. That record will probably never be topped, and only Peyton Manning has a chance to possibly sniff it. Favre probably is one of the top 10-15 quarterbacks in NFL history.

However, Favre also owns the interception record. He did have fatal flaws in his game. Just a month ago, Favre's last NFL pass was picked off by the Giants in overtime of the NFC Championship. He was outplayed in his own building by Eli Manning. Favre has had other rough playoff games as well. He threw six interceptions against St. Louis in the 2000-01 playoffs. He also lost Super Bowl XXXII as a heavy favorite to the Denver Broncos. These dreadful performances lead me not to put Favre in the elite of the elite. He is not on the level of Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, or even Tom Brady.

Even though this is the third year in a row we have had to deal with Favre pondering retirement, I am shocked he is leaving after the Packers' great season in 2007. I figured he'd want to come back and take one last stab at a Super Bowl with this talented roster. There are things behind the scenes that we will probably never know about. I do think Aaron Rodgers can keep the Packers competitive next year. I was impressed with his performance when Favre went down vs. Dallas, and I think if he can beat his injury problems he will do alright for Green Bay. He certainly will not be the next Brett Favre though.

Pat Morgan

Third Tyme the Charm; Giants Claim NFC Championship

-Giants 23, Packers 20/OT
Heroes: Eli Manning & Plaxico Burress
Goat: Brett Favre
Turning Point: Brett Favre's INT in overtime to set up Tynes's third FG chance and game-winner
Next: Super Bowl XLII vs. New England

The New York Giants are going to the Super Bowl! Lawerence Tynes's 47-yard field goal in overtime completed an unlikely 3-0 run through Tampa, Dallas, and a frozen Green Bay. Now they will have two weeks to prepare for their second crack at defeating the perfect Pats in Super Bowl XLII.

Eli Manning was absolutely spectacular in leading the Giants on this march. He went through the entire NFC playoffs without throwing an interception! How his career has changed drastically since the regular season finale vs. New England. Manning managed another brillant game by picking apart the Green Bay defense with short stuff all over the place. He was extremely efficient in getting the Giants down field. He was only 21 of 40, but sometimes statistics lie as he was much better than that today.

Plaxico Burress had a tremendous game by catching 11 balls for 154 yards. Green Bay made the mistake of leaving Al Harris alone on Burress for most of the game. Harris is a good cornerback, but he was schooled today by Burress. Most importantly, the Giants dominated field position for most of the game. Even if a drive did not amount in points, they made the Packers' defense work. Only once did they go three and out, and that was only because Amani Toomer dropped a wide open pass. The Giants held the ball for over 40 minutes.

The Giants' defense did a tremendous job in giving Brett Favre problems. They didn't really get to hit him much, but they did take away his receivers down field. Other than the broken play that resulted in a 90-yard touchdown to Driver, the Giants had Favre forcing passes all day. He threw two interceptions, but he really could have thrown two or three more. The Giants also took Ryan Grant completely out of the game. After having 201 yards last week vs. Seattle, Grant ran for a mere 29 yards. Conversely, Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw ran for a 130 yards between them.

The Giants really dominated this game in a lot of ways. They really should have won this game easily if it wasn't for missed field goals, dropped passes, key penalties, and a few big plays from Green Bay that kept the game close. Conventional wisdom tells you the Patriots from the much stronger AFC will beat them handily in the Super Bowl, but it's hard to bet against the Giants giving them a big, big test the way they are on this magic carpet ride. It should be a great game in two weeks in Glendale, Arizona.

Let the two weeks of media nonsense in beating this game to death in every possible way begin!

Pat Morgan

Championship Sunday Predictions

It's hard to believe, but the football season is almost over. Every year it seems like we just watched Week 1 and it's somehow the Super Bowl. To me, the football season ends on Championship Sunday. That is because the Super Bowl is an overblown entertainment event, with a game in there somewhere. But lets get on with it! The predictions for Championship Sunday!

-New England 35, San Diego 17
The magic will run out for the San Diego "Super" Chargers in New England. It was really an amazing win for them last week being all banged up in Indianapolis. I don't see a miracle like that happening again in the building of the unbeaten Patriots. Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson will probably start, but the question is how long will they be able to go? Had this been during the regular season, both would probably have missed this week and maybe next. So, that really hampers their offense. The Chargers' defense gave up over 400 yards last week to Peyton Manning, so that doesn't sound the least bit encouraging with their defense going up against Tom Brady. I will be rooting hard for the Chargers, but I really would be shocked if the Chargers make this a game. Perhaps with the Patriots aging defense they can keep it close for a quarter or two, but I really think the plethora of injuries will keep this from being an upset. Even if San Diego was healthy, I would be shocked.

-Green Bay 23, NY Giants 16
Is there any better site for a NFC Championship than Lambeau Field? Maybe the players would say so with single-digits forcasted, haha. But there really is no better venue in all of football to watch a football game. There is so much history in Green Bay, and it represents old time football to a tee. I am really looking forward to this game, as I think it is very hard to predict. I can see all sorts of scenarios playing out. That is because there are a lot of questions coming into this game. Will Eli Manning be able to play in extremely difficult weather conditions? Will Brandon Jacobs/Ahmad Bradshaw be effective against the Packers' front line? Will the Giants' secondary be able to hold up like they were last week @ Dallas? Will Brett Favre and the Packers play tight with a golden opportunity at home to make the Super Bowl? However those play out, I really expect this to be a great football game. I will predict the Pack to win at home. This is because I think Favre will play well, and Eli will struggle a bit in the extremely cold conditions. The Giants need their running game to really give them an edge, as they definitely have a potential advantage here. I know Ryan Grant had 200 yards rushing last week, but he won't do that this week. The Giants will also need their pass rush to be effective like it was in the 4th quarter at Dallas. If it isn't, Favre will carve up their depleted secondary. 48 hours til kickoff!

Pat Morgan

Suffern's Ryan Grant Leads Packers to Dominate Win

-Packers 42, Seahawks 20
Heroes: Ryan Grant & Green Bay offensive line
Goats: Seattle defensive line
Turning Point: Brett Favre convincing coach Mike McCarthy to challenge spot on a 4th and inches when trailing 14-7. Packers won challenge and tied game on the drive, and the Packers' offense never looked back
Next: @ Dallas/vs. NY Giants

After two big, early fumbles that set up two Seattle touchdowns, Ryan Grant was simply unstoppable. Grant ran for 201 yards on 27 carries in leading the Packers to a 42-20 win in what were blizzard like conditions in Green Bay. The Seahawks' defensive line was simply outclassed by the offensive line of the Packers. Even backup running back, Brandon Jackson had an impact on the game. It was a stunningly bad performance from a line that held Clinton Portis to just 52 yards rushing last week.

Brett Favre managed the game brillantly. Favre did not go crazy throwing bombs after the Pack fell behind 14-0, which he tends to do sometimes. He made an incredible play late in the 1st half when he scrambled away from a sack and threw underhand to Donald Lee for a 1st and Goal. That would set up the TD before the half which would make it 28-17. You'll see that play on highlight reels for years to come.

As for Seattle, Matt Hasselbeck played a decent game, but was plaqued by dropped passes and an inept performance from Shaun Alexander. It is a amazing how far Alexander has fallen from his MVP year two years ago. He will need to bounce back to form for the Seahawks to be a legit contender in the NFC for the next couple of years. The Pack will head to Dallas or host the Giants next week. They clearly sent a message to the NFC with their dominate performance today.

By the way, how funny did Seahawks' coach Mike Holmgren look in the snow? FOX kept cutting to him during the game, and each time they did the snow was higher and higher off his hat and headset. You can wipe it off, Mike!

Pat Morgan

Stone Cold, Lead Pipe, Giant Lock Divisional Round Picks

What a sexy quartet of matchups! This is my favorite weekend of the NFL season to begin with. I've always loved the second weekend when the best teams get involved and the wildcard winners have a chance to pull the upset on the road. I think winning on the road in this round is one of the toughest things to do in sports. All of the matchups this weekend are very compelling with big time storyline lines and stars. Expect the ratings to be as high as the divisional round has seen. Now to the picks in time order! (3-1 in the Wildcard Round)

Saturday's Games

- Green Bay 27, Seattle 24
Of the road teams this weekend, I think Seattle has the best chance to win. They are more experienced in the postseason than Green Bay, and have played well in Lambeau in the playoffs in 2004. However, I think the problems of Shaun Alexander will be the difference in this game. His poor year has made the Seahawks' offense one dimensional, and thus puts a lot of pressure on Matt Hasselbeck in this game. Hasselbeck is certainly capable of having a special game, but that's asking a lot in a hostile environment like Green Bay. The Seahawks also have a very good pass rush, but Brett Favre was only sacked twice in the second half of the season. So, we'll see if the Seahawks strengths show on Saturday. I think their experience keeps them close and could possibly give them a chance late, but I think the Packers are a more rounded football team who is at home. Plus, I picked them to go to the Super Bowl at the beginning of the postseason. I can't change now!

- New England 38, Jacksonville 17
Enough of this Jacksonville is the team that will knock off the Patriots talk. It is utterly ridiculous for anyone to predict the Jaguars in this game. Those who are, are just looking for attention and should hell freeze over and their right, they can claim to be geniuses. The Jaguars struggled against the injury riddled Steelers' offense last weekend, and needed four game changing plays to win. This isn't a knock against Jacksonville, but I don't think they are ready to pull of an upset of this magnitude. It would be considered a great upset in the eyes of many if the defending champion, better than ever Indianapolis Colts should beat New England. So, how will Jacksonville win this? They will need several things to happen. First, they will need Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew to run for 300 yards combined to chew up lots of clock. Second, they will need to have an extreme amount of success with the pass rush and hope for some Brady fumbles, which he does do more than he would like. Third, they will need to go into this game calm. Sure everyone is saying they have no pressure on them, but we know they will feel it. I like the Jags, but there is no way they are winning this game. (Hope I'm wrong!)

Sunday's Games

- Indianapolis 34, San Diego 20
Are the Colts the greatest overlooked defending champion in the history of professional sports? They have received very little recognition this year, outside of their opening night trouncing of the then NFC favorite New Orleans Saints. Outside of that early praise, most of the discussion they got about their team was negative. People dropped them in their power rankings behind the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, and even the Pittsburgh Steelers. They should never have been dropped below number two! Let me tell you something. This is the best all around Colts team I've seen and I expect them to be a very difficult out in this postseason. Even for the Patriots. As for this game, I think the Chargers have been way too inconsistent this year to expect them to go into Indy and win. The Colts' defense is the best it has ever been, and I expect them to give LT and Philip Rivers a hell of a time. The injury to Antonio Gates really hurts them too. This is also a payback game of sorts for the Colts. The Chargers ended their perfect run two years ago, and beat them, when they really shouldn't have, earlier this season.

- Dallas 35, NY Giants 31
The perfect storm for an upset? The Giants come in riding high on all sorts of momentum from their battle with New England and their impressive playoff win vs. Tampa Bay last week, while the Cowboys haven't played well since November. I think this game will be a high octane battle all the way to the finish. I expect both quarterbacks to play well, and have the secondary scratching in all states of confusion. The Marion Barber/Julius Jones vs. Brandon Jacobs/Ahmad Bradshaw battle intrigues me. This will be key in determining who wins the time of possession battle. The battle of DeMarcus Ware vs. Osi Umenyiora on the defensive line to see who can assert more pressure on the quarterback will be interesting to see as well. Whether Terrell Owens can play and be effective is a big question, but I would expect him to play well if he plays. Remember Super Bowl XXXIX? Will Terry Glenn be effective coming off the long injury? He's a very underrated receiver, but he also missed a year. These teams are actually very much alike, but I will pick the Cowboys because they have more talent and are at home. I think this is the most intriguing game of the weekend.

Pat Morgan