They also beat Pittsburgh in the 2004 Fiesta Bowl to complete an undefeated season, and did not get it then either. I really hope they don't overlook this obvious great team again because they really deserved it this year.

Now we move on to the Divisional Round. These games feature all rematches, which makes for high drama. Let's look at each game:

Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans- This game features two great rushing attacks and two outstanding defenses. The Ravens bring Willis McGahee and LeRon McClain against a Titans defense that may be without Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch. If these two don't play, that could spell trouble for the Titans, as these two backs have been running wild of late.

The Titans counter with Chris Johnson and LenDale White, aka Thunder & Lightning. Johnson is the speed guy, capable of breaking a long run at any time, while White is the muscle, usually used at the goal line, but also has the speed to break one every now and then. They face a Ravens defense that is #2 in the NFL, and is reminding some of the championship defense of 2000. Ed Reed has been a ball hawk, with three straight two-interception games, and eight interceptions in his last five games. Then of course, there is the constant imposing presence of Ray Lewis, who seems to be ageless. The Ravens D will pose a lot of problems for 36 year old Kerry Collins, who is not playing as well as he did in the early part of the season when he took over for Vince Young.

I think the Ravens are playing too well right now for the Titans to handle. Joe Flacco is looking to be the first rookie QB to win two playoff games, and with the help of his running game and the defense, I think he gets it done. Ravens-24 Titans-10.

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers- I may have been wrong about the Cardinals last week, but not this week. The Panthers have a much better defense than the Falcons, and the Cardinals can't win on the East Coast. Anquan Boldin is hurt (he'll play, but not at 100%), the Cards have no real running game, and Jake Delhomme, Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammed will simply be too much for the Cardinals defense. Panthers-31 Cardinals-17

Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants- This one should be a great game, and since it's the playoffs, it can't possibly end in a tie (right, Donovan?). The Eagles are riding some momentum after last weeks close call against the Vikings, but they go up against the defending world champions. The Eagles D played well last week against Adrian Peterson (as well as anyone can play against that kid), holding him to just 14 yards in the second half. However, the Giants have too many weapons at the running back position, all with different gifts.

I don't think the Eagles will be able to stop Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw, and with the Giants playing without Plaxico Burress, there will be a heavy dose of all three. The Giants defense is still formidable even without the retired Michael Strahan and the injured Osi Umenyiora. They should create problems for McNabb and Westbrook. Giants-20 Eagles-14

San Diego Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers- Fact. LT is hurting. So much so, they he may not play this week. Darren Sproles has proven to be a capable backup, but the Steelers defense is not the Colts defense. The Steelers bring the #1 defense in the NFL, including the defensive player of the year in James Harrison. The Chargers do have several weapons, but they were pretty much ineffective the first time these two teams met.

It looks like Ben Roethlisberger will play, albeit behind a suspect offensive line. If Willie Parker can get going, that will allow Big Ben to hit his big play receivers down the field against a very porous Chargers secondary. Steelers-13 Chargers-10

There you have it. My picks for this week. Hopefully, I will do better than .500 this time. I'm looking forward to the conference championships.

See you next week.

D

 Manchester has completed the signing of Serbian dou. Giovani Dos Santos has been added to the transfer list by Tottenham after being a total flop. On the other hand Ronaldinho has voiced his concern to stay at AC Milan where he potentially sees himself ending his career here. 

There were several reasons for this thinking: his relationship with owner Pat Bowlen, the fact that he still had three years left on his contract and the Broncos would be on the hook for $20 million dollars if they fired him, yada yada yada. Well, it seemed none of that mattered. The day after my previous article was published, Mike Shanahan was fired after 14 seasons as Head coach of the Denver Broncos.

Nobody saw this coming, least of all Shanahan himself. He was called into Bowlen's office, and five minutes later, he was unemployed. In the press conference the next day, both Bowlen and Shanahan reared up when speaking about one another. They obviously still continue to be very close, but the bottom line is this is a business, Shanny wasn't getting the job done anymore, and the Broncos organization decided to move forward without their coach.

Immediately the rumors and theories began to swirl as to exactly why he was fired. My theory was that Bowlen wanted Shanny to give up the GM position and just be the coach. Shanahan obviously is not a master of the draft, with a few obvious exceptions: Jay Cutler, Ryan Clady, Eddie Royal, Brandon Marshall, and a few others. However, if you notice the four players I just mentioned, they have one common bond. They're all offensive players. Shanahan hasn't drafted a really good defensive player since D.J. Williams. His attempts at picking up players via free agency or trade have all failed (the ENTIRE Browns defensive line???) except for Champ Bailey. While getting Bailey was great for us, giving up Clinton Portis to get him really hurt.

So I figured that Bowlen wanted to hire someone else in that position and Shanahan didn't want to give it up, and thus, lost both jobs. That's my theory. Another one I've heard is that Shanahan wanted to fire defensive coordinator Bob Slowik (which would have been the 4th in the past 4 years) and Bowlen said "Hey how about instead of firing Bob, let's just fire YOU." That theory has some teeth to it too. In the past three season, the Broncos defense has seen three different coordinators who are expected to build a terrific defense out of a bunch of players that would probably be nothing more than special teamers on most other teams. Then,  when the defense sucks, the coordinator gets the axe. Doesn't sound fair, does it?

Whatever reason he was fired, and Bowlen was pretty vague in the press conference, bottom line is, he's gone. So now there are two questions that need to be answered. The first, who are we going to hire to replace him? We're talking about replacing an iconic figure in Denver. The Broncos have begun interviews, with Giants defensive guru Steve Spagnuolo scheduled to come in Saturday, and Bucs brand new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris on Monday. Morris had been the Bucs seconday coach, and was elevated to coordinator after Monte Kiffin left to join his son Lane at the University of Tennessee. Two defensive guys. Go figure.

I don't know much about Morris, but Spagnuolo seems to be a good choice. He's been one of the hot names out there with the several coaching vacancies out there. Of course, like every other organization that fired a coach in the past week, the first name to come up was Bill Cowher. Cowher would be a dream hire, but it simply isn't feasible. The Broncos couldn't afford him, and he would likely want to be in charge of personnel as well, as Shanahan was. Bowlen has said he doesn't plan to hire someone to do both jobs, so that counts Cowher and someone like Bill Parcells out. Another name that was mentioned was Bob Stoops, the head coach at Oklahoma. We've all seen what happens to college coaches that try to jump to the NFL. They get eaten alive.

As for that GM position, the popular (and obvious) desire around these parts is former Broncos hall of Fame quarterback John Elway. Both Bowlen and Shanahan were asked about that move, and both were unsure if that would happen. Apparently Elway is a busy guy (restaurants, the AFL's Colorado Crush....oh wait. They're not playing this year. Oops.) and they aren't sure he'd be interested. Only time will tell. I have to say, as a fan, I'm excited to see who the Broncos bring in. I was a Shanahan defender for a long time, but after this season, I felt it was time for him to go.

The second question is, where will Mike go? It's been reported that the Jets are interested in interviewing him, although the Jets seem to have bigger issues at the moment with all the public flogging of Brett Favre the last couple days from his teammates. Shanahan would be inheriting a pretty solid defense, but if Favre retires (or is just sent packing), I'm not sure what he could do with Kellen Clemens. He's a decent enough player, but he's no Cutler. He definitely is no Favre or Elway. However, Shanahan did manage to make Jake Plummer look like a pretty good QB (when he wasn't throwing those exciting left handed interceptions), so I guess anything is possible. We already know where Shanny won't be going. I think being in Oakland once is enough for almost anyone, except for Art Shell, apparently.

Well, the next few weeks should be interesting to watch. It looks like most teams have a pretty good idea of who they would like to be their next coach, which sadly could make Romeo Crennel a victim of the Rooney Rule, in which at least one black candidate has to be interviewed, even if the team has no intention of hiring him. But that's another article for another day.

Stay tuned.

Vincent Jackson had some great catches. They were all good attempt when thrown to him too.

Plus wow watching Darren Sproles the 5'6 short running back but fast and very elusive. He managed to score twice being the top rusher for the Chargers in this game. I hear everyone's new nickname for Sproles, Lightning bug.

Jacob Hester , the new fullback scored his first touch down that game and was excited and got to spike the ball. Nate kaeding was able to get some good kicks in for some field goals.  The biggest  play i saw was when Line backer Shaun phillips hit the ball when Jay Cutler passed it and it when down to Luis Castillo the defensive end and he got a pick. His first in his whole nfl career.

So the Bolts were able to dominate the horses as they won 52-21 leaving the Broncos out of the playoffs.

The Chargers have yet a challenge on monday against the colts.  See my next article about the Colts.

Atlanta Falcons At Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta is hot this year. they have my pick. I think that rookie QB Matt Ryan is to good of a leader to lose his debut playoff match. I think they have the more flexible offense with star RB Micheal Turner as well as their strong passing game. Dont get me wrong, Fitzy and Boldin can run up the score, i just think Atlanta has the stronger team at the moment.

Indianapolis Colts at San Diego Chargers

Lets face it, San Diego has the colts number. at least Peyton Manning's. Last year manning threw six picks to the Chargers. But what happened this year? San Diego has barely made 8-8 while the Colts are 12-4, rebounding from their early losing streak. Colts want it more, and are more prepared. Colts take the win in this one.

Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins

At the beginning of the season no one thought either of these teams would even be able to compete for a playoff spot. Why Miami even made the biggest single season recovery of all time, 10 wins. Certainly a defensive game. Each team has their offensive threats though. Pennington, an ever so accurate passer, should be challenged by the ravens defense. Miami Wins by 5 or less points.

Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings

Am old fasion running game is what we will see here folks. no way around it. Westbrook vs. Peterson. whichever one has a bigger game will win the game. both defenses are very solid, although the vikings main focus needs to be to contain Mcnabb and Westbrook. if they can do this, they will definetly win! Over all though, I think that philly has to many weapons and will walk away with the win.

Every Sunday (Black Sunday) and sometimes Monday, I feel like I have to flee my home with my children like fugatives. It's either that or dodge projectiles. Shoes, water bottles, pillows and most likely - the remote. (If anyone wants to invent a NERF remote, I'll buy it.) We have had many remote casualties, one smashed T.V. tray and one window. (It must have broken when I tried to open it.) If men love sports so much why do they get so angry? and moody? It's the equilalent of male PMS but it's once a week or more. I have to admit, I would be a happier wife without sports on television. I have tried to share the experience with my husband but was banned from the room for "talking" and "moving around" so I gave up.

 Wouldn't it be great is if we, the family, played sports together. I mean... teach the love of the game to your children instead of teaching your four-year-old to say, "Romo sucks!" and we'll all get some exercise.

The playoffs. The Second Season. The real show. High drama, more intensity, Don Cheadle...it's definitely a great time to be a football fan (sorry, Detroit). Now that the regula season is over, and the guillotine has already fallen on three coaches (Eric Mangini?? Who saw that coming?), we can now regroup and get ready for some serious action. But first, lets review.

What a season it was. We saw the New England Patriots, fresh off an 18-1 season (you can put away that David Tyree voodoo doll now, coach Belichick) narrowly miss the playoffs with an 11-5 record. Not only that, but they achieved this record with a backup quarterback that hadn't started a game since high school. The Patriots lost the AFC East title for the first time since the dawn of time it seems like to the Miami Dolphins. That's right, the same Dolphins who stubbornly refused to do last year what the Detroit Lions were able to pull off this year. I'll get to that.

The Dolphins completed their worst to first turnaround by beating the Brett Favre led Jets with the quarterback they unceremoniously dumped once Favre got there. How sweet is that revenge, Mr. Pennington? Favre, meanwhile, may have played his last game and will probably retire...at least until next July.

The Baltimore Ravens, having the distinction of being the only team the Dolphins actually beat in 2007, are back in the playoffs behind the play of rookie QB phenom Joe Flacco. Speaking of rookies, the Ravens and Falcons are the first teams to make the playoffs with rookie coaches (John Harbaugh in Baltimore, Mike Smith in Atlanta) and rookie quarterbacks (Flacco in Baltimore, and Matt Ryan in Atlanta). If you're looking at matchups for these young guys, Ryan probably has the easier one: they face the Cardinals, who after winning the NFC West (somebody had to), promptly rolled over and died the last month of the season.

Also back in the playoffs are the Tennessee Titans, who jumped out to a 10-0 start behind Kerry Collins (really??) when Vince Young got hurt, physically and mentally. They look like the team to beat in the AFC, although the Colts are looking almost like the Colts of old.

The Denver Broncos, winners of the AFC West, are gearing up for another playoff run, riding Jay Cutler's arm, and whoever is able to run the ball this week. That's at least what I'd hoped to write. Alas, my beloved Broncos became the first team in NFL history to miss the playoffs after leading the division by 3 games with 3 games to go. Heck, they led the division the entire season and still missed the playoffs. Who are these guys? The Mets?? Instead, the San Diego Chargers, led by Phillip "The Mouth" Rivers get to be the sacrificial lamb for the resurgent Colts. Maybe missing the playoffs isn't so bad.

Then there are the Detroit Lions. Honestly, is this team going 0-16 really a surprise? They've been bad for a long, long time. Even before that idiot Matt Millen. This is a team that has been so bad for so long, they caused one of the greatest running backs of all time to retire early because he didn't want to play for them anymore. So to watch them take the winless burden off Tampa Bay is pretty much par for the course.  This isn't even the first time the Lions have gone winless. The 1942 team went 0-11. It's a good thing my wife, who is from Michigan, is a hockey fan. She loves the Red Wings. Needless to say, we don't talk hockey in our house.

Lions coach Rod Marinelli was fired, not surprisingly, and it's a wonder if the Lions brass can find anyone willing and able to lead this bunch. We shall see. Also on the chopping block were Browns coach Romeo Crennel, and Jets coach Eric Mangini.Crennel, like Marinelli, was expected. This was a Browns team that looked so promising last season after finishing 10-6 and just missing the playoffs. To come back with a 4-12 record this season, with a myriad of injuries and off-field problems, was inexcuseable. The Mangini firing was a surprise. It caught a lot of people, including Jets players, off guard. Granted, they did have a late season collapse that cost them a trip to the playoffs, but you don't see Mike Shanahan looking for a job. Reportedly, Bill Cowher is interested in the job, this after telling the Browns "thanks, but no thanks". Should be an interesting off-season.

Now, we have the playoffs. The infamous Wildcard round. This should be an exciting week of football. There are a couple of evenly matched games, and a couple that should be blowouts. I suppose you'll be wanting my picks now, right? Well, ok, since you asked nicely.

Colts-31 Chargers-17

Ravens-17 Dolphins-13

Falcons-41 Cardinals-3

Eagles-20 Vikings-19

There you have it. Enjoy the football this weekend, and I'll see you next week.