Championship Weekend: Pats vs Bolts; Giants @ Pack

Here is your games for Championship Weekend. The winners here will meet in Superbowl XLII on Sunday, February 3, 2008. Have fun picking your winners and cheering on your favorite teams remaining in this season's bid for the Super Bowl.

AFC Championship: Sunday, January 20, 2008--3:00pm

(4) San Diego Chargers (13-5)

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(1) New England Patriots (17-0)

NFC Championship: Sunday, January 20, 2008--6:30pm

(5) New York Giants (12-6)

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(2) Green Bay Packers (14-3)

Bolts beat Colts; Giants hand Cowboys Playoff Loss

San Diego Chargers 28 Indianapolis Colts 24
The surprising San Diego Chargers took it to the Indianapolis Colts yesterday afternoon, as they defeated them 28-24 in a surprising upset. The Colts and Bolts traded off scoring all game, but it was San Diego who prevailed in the end when a Peyton Manning pass slipped through the fingers of Dallas Clark on the Colts final drive of the game.

The Indianapolis Colts scored first on a Peyton Manning pass to Dallas Clark to give Indianapolis an early 7-0 lead. Then the Bolts returned the favor with a touchdown of their own. Vincent Jackson took a 14 yard pass from Phillip Rivers to tie the game in the second quarter. Indianapolis would score on a field goal with 5:10 left in the half to take a 10-7 lead. The field goal was a 46 yard kick, off the foot of Adam Vineteri.

In the third quarter the Bolts would take their first lead of the game with a 30 yard pass from Phillip Rivers to Chris Chambers giving San Diego a 13-10 lead. The Colts would answer back with a touchdown of their own and another three point lead. Peyton Manning would find Reggie Wayne in the end zone for a nine yard strike to give the Colts a 17-14 lead. However, the Chargers would answer back before the end of the third quarter with yet another touchdown. Phillip Rivers connected with Darren Sproles for a 56 yard pass, and a 21-17 Bolts lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Colts would score first and regain the lead 24-21. Peyton Manning would hit Anthony Gonzales for a 55 yard strike. That would be Indianapolis's final lead. San Diego would then score on a one yard run from Billy Volek with 4:50 left to play in the game and give the San Diego Chargers a 28-24 lead. Manning and his Colts were unable to answer the call and the Bolts win.

San Diego will now play the new England Patriots for the AFC Title game and the right to play in Super Bowl XLII.

New York Giants 21 Dallas Cowboys 17
In an epic East Division rival, the New York Giants defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21-17. This was a typical game between two clubs that know each other very well and love to knock the other out of the playoffs.

The New York Giants were the first to strike, as Amani Toomer was hit for a 54 yard touchdown in the first quarter. The Dallas Cowboys would answer back with 14 unanswered points and look as if they may take control of the Giants. Tony Romo would find Terrel Owens in the end zone for a five yard pass to tie the game; and later Marion Barber would run in a one yard touchdown to take a 14-7 lead. The Giants would then answer with a touchdown of their own when Amani Toomer was open in the end zone for a four yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to tie the game before the half.

The third quarter saw only the Cowboys score, as Nick Folk would kick a 34 yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 17-14 lead. New York would take the final lead of the game on a touchdown run from Brandon Jacobs one yard out. The Giants would have a 21-17 lead with 13:29 left to play in the game. New York's tough defense would not allow Dallas to score, and now the Giants will travel to Lambeau Field to play the Green Bay Packers for the NFC Championship.

Saturday's Divisional Series

Green Bay Packers 42 Seattle Seahawks 20

This game did not start out as planned by Brett Favre and his Green Bay Packers. On the first play of the game Brett Favre threw a short pass to Ryan Grant who fumbled the ball. It was recovered by the Seahawks and brought back to the one yard line. Seattle's Shaun Alexander scored one play later to give Seattle a surprising 7-0 lead.

Favre and his Packers then had their second chance of the game, and Ryan Grant fumbled again. The Seahawks recovered the ball on the Green Bay 49, and returned it to the 27 yard line. Seattle scored seven plays later on a Matt Hasselbeck pass to Bobby Engram for an early 14-0 Seahawks lead.

Then the Packers came to life. Green Bay scored on their next six possessions and never turned the ball over again. Brett Favre threw to Greg Jennings (15 yards), in the first quarter, and handed the ball if to Ryan Grant who ran in a one yard touchdown. In the second quarter, Favre hit Greg Jennings for a two yard touchdown, and Ryan Grant ran in a three yard run for his second touchdown of the game. In the third quarter Favre hit Branden Jackson for a 13 yard touchdown and Ryan Grant ran in his third touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter.

On the evening, Brett Favre completed 18 of 23 passes for 178 yards, threw three touchdowns and no interceptions. Ryan Grant carried the ball 27 times for 201 yards, ran in three touchdowns and fumbled the ball twice. Grant also had two receptions for six yards. Greg Jennings had six receptions for 21 yards and two touchdowns.

The amazing comeback by the Green Bay Packers now put them in the NFC Championship game to face the winner of the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.

New England Patriots 31 Jacksonville Jaguars 20

In a much closer second game of the evening, the New England Patriots defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars. This game was a dog fight in the first half, as we saw Tom Brady throw a perfect 12/12 in the passing game and David Garrard went 10/12 on his passing game.

The Jacksonville Jaguars scored first on a David Garrard pass to Matt Jones for eight yards giving the Jaguars a 7-0 lead. The scoring drive for Jacksonville was the first time a team has scored on the opening drive against New England in 14 games. Then the Patriots scored two touchdowns. A Tom Brady 3 yards pass found Benjamin Watson in the end zone to tie up the game 7-7 in the first quarter, then scored again in the second quarter on a Laurence Maroney one yard run to give New England a 14-7 lead. Jacksonville tied up the game before the half with a touchdown pass from David Garrard to Ernest Wilford for six yards.

In the second half New England took a little more control of the game. The Patriots scored on a Tom Brady pass to Wes Walker for six yards in the third quarter, and later hit Ben Watson in the end zone for nine yards. Jacksonville's only third quarter score was on a 39 yard field goal from Josh Scobee. new England took an 11 point lead into the fourth and final quarter.

Jacksonville then made it an eight point lead with a field goal early in the fourth quarter. Josh Scobee kicked a 25 yard field goal to bring the Jaguars within one score. However, New England would put the game away with a 35 yard field goal of their own from Stephen Grostowski with 6:39 left to play in the game.

For the Patriots Tom Brady completed an amazing 26 of 28 passes for 262 yards three touchdowns and no interceptions. Laurence Maroney was the guy in the backfield with 22 carries for 122 yards and one touchdown, while Wes Welker caught nine passes for 54 yards and one touchdown. The team leader on receptions was Dauntee Stallworth with three receptions for 68 yards and no touchdowns. Finally, Bobby Watson had two receptions for 12 yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots will now play the winner of the Indianapolis San Diego game.

AFC and NFC Divisional Series

With the Wild Card Weekend coming to an end last Sunday, we are now ready to look at the AFC?NFC Divisional round of games. Here we see all the winners from Wild Card Weekend playing against the top seeds of each division.

It appears in most people's mind, last weekend went as planned. Jacksonville defeated Pittsburgh 31-29, and San Diego defeated Tennessee 17-6. In the NFC games, the New York Giants defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-14, while Seattle defeated Washington 35-14. In my mind the only upset came when Seattle defeated Washington. I thought the 'Red Hot" redskins would overcome the Seahawks and go on to play Dallas. Below you will find the new AFC/NFC match ups for this weekend. I will list the games as conferences.


NFC Divisional Series Match ups:

(5) New York Giants (11-6)

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(1) Dallas Cowboys (13-3)

(4) Seattle Seahawks (11-6)

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(2) Green Bay Packers (13-3)

AFC Divisional Series Match ups:

(5) Jacksonville Jaguars (12-5)

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(1) New England Patriots (16-0)

(4) San Diego Chargers (12-5)

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(2) Indianapolis Colts (13-3)

NFL 2008 Tentative Draft Schedule

Here is the 2008 NFL tentative Draft order. The final draft order will be determined after the Super Bowl. Here is a look at how things should line up for the April 2008 Draft day. Listed below you will find the teams name, record, win percentage, strength of schedule and opponents record respectively.

1 Miami 1 15 .063 .539 138-118

2 St. Louis 3 13 .188 .512 131-125

3 Atlanta # 4 12 .250 .516 132-124

4 Oakland # 4 12 .250 .516 132-124

5 K.C. # 4 12 .250 .516 132-124

6 NY Jets 4 12 .250 .523 134-122

7 New Eng. 5 11 .313 .465 119-137 (from 49ers)

8 Baltimore 5 11 .313 .516 132-124

9 Cincinnati 7 9 .438 .461 118-138

10 New Orl. 7 9 .438 .480 123-133

11 Buffalo 7 9 .438 .516 132-124

12 Denver 7 9 .438 .516 132-124

13 Carolina 7 9 .438 .523 134-122

14 Chicago 7 9 .438 .543 139-117

15 Detroit 7 9 .438 .543 139-117

16 Arizona 8 8 .500 .434 111-145

17 Minnesota 8 8 .500 .504 129-127

18 Houston 8 8 .500 .516 132-124

19 Philadel. 8 8 .500 .563 144-112

20 T.B. * 9 7 .563 .469 120-136

21 Washing. * 9 7 .563 .555 142-114

22 Dallas * 10 6 .625 .430 110-146 (from Browns)

23 Seattle * 10 6 .625 .414 106-150

24 Pittsb. * 10 6 .625 .453 116-140

25 Tenn. * 10 6 .625 .500 128-128

26 NY Giants * 10 6 .625 .516 132-124

27 San Diego * 11 5 .688 .500 128-128

28 Jackson. * 11 5 .688 .516 132-124

29 Green Bay * 13 3 .813 .469 120-136

30 Dallas * 13 3 .813 .496 127-129

31 San Fran. * 13 3 .813 .516 132-124 (from Colts)

32 New Eng. * 16 0 1.000 .469 120-136

THE AFC Playoff Race

Below you will find the seeding and pairings for the AFC's first round of the playoffs. This is Wild Card Weekend; the time where the Wild card teams showcase their talents and look for some upsets. In the AFC race I see there being many possibilities and different outcomes. Please take a few minutes and look over the match ups, then make your pics in the comments section.

1. New England Patriots (16-0) Bye Week

2. Indianapolis Colts (13-3) Bye Week

6. Tennessee Titans (10-6)

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3. San Diego Chargers (11-5)

5. Jacksonville Jaguars (11-5)

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4. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)

NFC Playoff Picture

The Minnesota Vikings season is over, and they are now looking into the new year. The 2007 season ended much better than it started with Minnesota going 3-6 in their first nine games, and 5-2 in their final seven games. Our Vikings almost made the comeback of the year with their five game winning streak, but fell two games short in the end. We now look toward the 2008 playoffs and preview who we think will win each round and go to the Super Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona.

Below you will find the seeding and pairings for the NFC's first round of the playoffs. This is Wild card weekend, the time where the Wild card teams showcase their talents and look for some upsets. In the NFC race, I see there being many possibilities and different outcomes. Please take a few minutes and look over the match ups, then make your pics in the comments section.

1. Dallas Cowboys (13-3) Bye Week

2. Green Bay Packers (13-3) Bye Week

6. Washington Redskins (9-7)

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3. Seattle Seahawks (10-6)

5. New York Giants (10-6)

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4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7)