NFL Playoffs – Conference Finals

The Denver Broncos were too good for the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks outlasted the San Francisco 49ers on the back of a strong second half. Richard Sherman went mental, Tom Brady just looked sad, Peyton Manning’s heart rate never rose above 90 and it was all majestic and enthralling and perfect. Now we have to waste a week with the Pro Bowl, but following that we have an amazing Superbowl 48 on the cards. The best offence vs the best defence. And the two best performing teams of the regular season. When was the last time that happened? Probably not since 2009, the last time that Peyton was there, when his dad’s old team New Orleans beat the Colts in Florida. It’s gonna be special…

An Extra Point Too Far?

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is reportedly considering abolishing the extra point after touchdowns as soon as next season. It’s pretty much a gimme point, nobody ever really misses them - there was a 99.6% success rate this season. Goodell’s idea, or at least the one that he likes best, is to give an automatic seven points, but keep the option of the 2-pt conversion, which if failed would take a point away.

Basically, Goodell is worried about the injuries that take place on what he seems to think an extraneous part of the game. Player safety is a massive issue right now in the league, look no further than the hundreds of millions of dollars of settlement money meant for former players still affected by head injuries from the game which was rejected by the US Supreme Court for not being enough.

Personally, I think it’s a stupid idea to do this. It’s a standard part of the game that’s been around forever and you can’t just reshape the rules of the game for corporate reasons (any time a commissioner talks about making the game ‘more exciting for fans’, they’re actually talking about people as commodities). The best case would be to move the kick back a few yards, say to the 35 yard line or so, so that the kick is more than just a walkthrough.

But then this is probably all just a leak to gauge public opinion on the issue, not an actual, planned move by the NFL. If it doesn’t get some public traction, we’ll never hear of it again.

NFL Awards Predictions:

MVP: Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos)

Offensive Player of the Year: Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos)

Defensive Player of the Year: Robert Quinn (St Louis Rams)

Rookie of the Year: Eddie Lacy (Green Bay Packers)

Coach of the Year: Bill Belichick (New England Patriots)

The Moment Paul George Became a Genuine Superstar: 

The Moment Paul George Became a Genuine Superstar (Animated):      

NBA MVP Rankings:

1. Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
2. LeBron James (Miami Heat)
3. …
4. Paul George (Indiana Pacers)
5. LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trailblazers)

Money Over Everything

LA Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has 25 million reasons to celebrate this week, (supposing he wants to celebrate each dollar he earns), having signed a 7 year contract to that amount of deniros. It’s a lot of money, but Kershaw on last year’s form is THE best starter in baseball. He’ll earn every cent.

Weekly Pondering:

If Peyton Manning wins the Superbowl this year, will be be considered the greatest QB of all time? Consider this (assuming he wins the MVP too):

4-time NFL MVP

2-time Superbowl Winner

13 Pro Bowl Appearances

4-time League leader in TD Passes

Second All Time Career Passing TDs (trails Favre by 17)

Second All Time Career Passing Yards (trails Favre by 6874)

Career Regular Season Stats:

Pass attempts 8,452

Pass completions 5,532

Percentage 65.4

TD–INT 491–219

Passing yards 64,964

Passer rating 97.2

Good Week:

• Richard Sherman (Seattle Seahawks) – Wow. Somehow Sherman’s come out looking rosy after his infamous outburst following the NFC title game. A timely apology has emerged, plus a front-running chance at Defensive Player of the Year. Oh, and this *ahem* brilliant piece of investigative journalism:

http://theniche-cache.com/american-sports/2014/1/21/richard-sherman-vs-michael-crabtree-the-feud-explained

• Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) – He came sooo close to Player of the Week honours, but ultimately there was one single man who eclipsed him. Not to take anything away from a week in which KD has absolutely taken the NBA by storm, putting a career high  on the Warriors the other day, and today hitting 46 to carry his team past the powerful Trailblazers. Remember, he’s doing this without Russell Westbrook (and with Kendrick Perkins starting at centre!). He’s scored 30+ in 8 consecutive games now (2 short of the record – held both by himself and LeBron).

Bad Week:

• Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco 49ers) – He played well, but ultimately fell just short with that late interception costing the Niners a place in the Superbowl. It’s almost better to be beaten by a superior team than knowing you had the opportunity but let it slip. Poor fella.
• Andy Samberg (Hollywood Actor/Comedian) – Yeah sure, he won a Golden Globe, but any sports fan can relate to the horror of what just happened to Samberg’s 49ers. Check out his Sherman-esque rant on Letterman yesterday:

Player of the Week:

Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos) – Yeah, again. If you watched the Broncos beat the Patriots on Monday, then you know why. Peyton was simply flawless. Untouchable, literally. He wasn’t sacked a single time, and didn’t turn the ball over at all. This in the biggest game of the season:

32/43  400yds  (74.4%)  2 TDs  0 INTs  118.4 QBR

Upcoming Dates (NZT):

January 24 – NBA All Star starters announced

February 3 - Superbowl XLVIII

February 17 - 2014 NBA All-Star Game