Last week was one of the great football week over the last
several months. First, the college football championship sequel was as good as
I had expected it to be. Deshaun Watson and Clemson did what I was hoping as
well as expecting from them. Alabama is as legit a team and as solid a program
as they come in college football today. They brought everything they had and then
some to the table, but I was expecting that the talent and experience of Watson
would be the difference maker and would be able to handle it all. That’s what
happened, though the Alabama D made it difficult for the kid. The game came
down to the last seconds and Watson finished Bama off with a 2-minute drive like an elite NFL QB. I
like him at the next level and would draft him high, but then again, we fall
easily for great college QBs and some of them don’t translate to the next level.
I would trust the GMs on this one instead of making my own call. I liked QBs
like Michael Vick and Geno Smith coming into the NFL. Didn’t expect much from Cam
Newton or Tim Tebow at the next level. As you can tell, I was right with Vick and
Tebow and not so much with Geno or Cam. It’s a tough call and I am definitely not
qualified to make it. But I will keep an eye on Watson on the projections of
experts like Mel Kuiper, who should be out and about soon.
This college game came right after the start of the NFL
playoffs, which had an underwhelming run over the wild-card weekend. Even the
much-anticipated Giants-Packers game was a dud, though it’s never boring to
watch a great QB like Aaron Rodgers play. He impressed us in the wild-card game
and gave us a performance for the ages last weekend in the divisional round in
what was one of the best football games I have watched in a long time! The word
instant classic is often over-used in sports, especially in the 24-hour
ESPN-classic era where they will repeat the so-called classic game just 4 hours
after the final buzzer. But this one was a hyper-instant-super-classic. ARod is
carving an amazing niche for himself and his career is shining brighter than
ever. We all know that his talent has been on display for many moons now and we
have seen him do amazing things on the field. He has also been one of those
guys with immense confidence in himself and walks the cocky-v-confidence line
expertly. Of course, it’s easier to act like the boss once you win a
championship. That Super Bowl ring brings you all kinds of credibility that you
can’t enjoy without it. And that’s true not just for star players like ARod or
Curry or LeBron, but also GMs and coaches too. I always half-joke that the
coaches get a free pass for 5 years after a championship and GMs, probably 10
years. Talented players get a pass anyways.
The thing that is really adding onto the legend of ARod is
his cool and calm leadership. Few years back, he asked the media and fans to
R-E-L-A-X after a bad start to a Packers’ season. And then the Packers had an
amazing rest of the season as he had predicted. He had a similar moment this
season as the Packers were looking mediocre and struggling in their division,
but Rodgers then said they can run the table and save the season. Boy, was he
prophetic! They have not lost since. Not only did they run the table, they did
it primarily due to ARod’s amazing play. He spoke and then he delivered. That
momentum continued well into this Dallas game and it looked like it was over at
half-time with the Packers leading comfortably. The only blemish on ARod’s play
in this game, probably his entire second half of this season, was an
inopportune pick he threw in the third quarter right after Dak threw a horrible
pick to give the Packers the ball. Packers could have put the game away in that
drive, but instead, handed Dallas the ball back and gave them a lot of life.
Dak played great from that point on and was actually the best part of this loss
for Dallas. Their future with the new triplets – Dak, Zeke, and Dez, look
great.
There were moments in the early parts of the game when I was
telling myself, “I know Dak earned this and he has to go through this right of
passage. This experience can only help them down the road. But this is the kind
of game where Dallas probably needs Tony Romo to hang with Rodgers.” Dak looked much more impressive later in the
game and almost negated my Romo argument. Mind you, I was not saying that
Dallas should have started Romo or even put him in mid-way through the game. I
was just saying Romo would have played better in this game at this particular juncture
of their respective careers. But Dak was not the problem as he tied this game, giving
Dallas a chance to win. Dak kept pace with ARod. There were 3 game-tying or
tie-breaking field goals in the last 2 minutes of the game. I can’t remember
ever seeing something like that. After Dak drove the Boys down for a game-tying
field goal, ARod worked his magic with just 35 seconds left while all of us
were getting ready for overtime. The final play for the Packers, which led to
the game winning field goal, was typical ARod! He scrambled left, danced around
forever, and nailed a pass to a spot where only his TE Jared Cook could catch
and barely stay inbounds. Cook made a great play to complement Rodgers’ genius.
The other hero for the Packers was Mason Crosby who nailed 3
pressure-packed, 50+ yard field goals in the final seconds, including one that
was nullified by a Dallas timeout. That one was right down the middle while the
next one that actually counted looked headed wide-left before sneaking in to
deprive us of overtime. For a moment, when that ball looked headed wide-left, I
thought this may be another heart-breaking OT loss for the Packers. They have
had some rough go-arounds and hard luck in the playoffs since they won the
Super Bowl 5 years back. They have had impressive seasons and ARod has been
mostly great, but playoff dominance has still eluded them lately. That may be
over this year as ARod is playing at an HNL (‘hole ‘nother level!) and they
look every bit like the proverbial team of destiny. GB and Dallas played a
great playoff game just 2 years back that GB won at home. That was the famous “Dez
Bryant catch/no-catch” game and this year’s edition was even better. This game
was another sequel that didn’t disappoint. The Atlanta-Seattle game was also a
sequel from 4 years back, but Atlanta repeated the result this year with an
impressive win that was not as close as the earlier one. Seattle was not great this year and they deserved to lose. Of course, both these NFC divisional match-ups and the NFC championship game next weekend are also re-matches from this regular season, which is also great.
Atlanta on the road next weekend is going to be tough for
the Packers, though Dallas had the best record in the NFC. I can’t wait for
that game! Good luck to the Packers and ARod as there is nothing in the NFL
quite like watching a great QB play. Matt Ryan is probably the MVP of this
season, but ARod is looking legendary right now. A Brady-ARod (much like the
Peyton-ARod) Super Bowl has been eluding us and we need it this year. Brady and
the Pats dispatched the Texans last weekend as expected and their real test
only starts this weekend with the Steelers coming to town. Can Le'Veon Bell
dance and find holes against a hoodie defense is a question I am eagerly
awaiting to answer. Pats don’t have a great defense, but they have great
coaches who seem to be able to scheme their way to success more than anybody
else. What do the Pats do against the killer Bees is a great story for this
week. The Steelers rode Bell to the AFC championship game with a win at Kansas
City in another great game last Sunday. We finally got 2 great games on Sunday
after a week and a half of playoff futility. The Steelers sneaked past the
Chiefs in a game where the Chiefs scored all the TDs. Steelers moved the ball
up and down and stalled every time, but scored enough field goals to win. Nonetheless,
we got a good game and we also got a Steelers @ Pats game we want. Bring it on!
Another sequel that was hyped up was the Cavs at the
Warriors game in the NBA on MLK jr day. The dubs took care of business at home
and crushed the Cavs. Not much to say here except that we now wait for the finals.
We hope these 2 teams make it and continue this rivalry and the sequels. LeBron
doesn’t think this is a rivalry and I don’t know why he is so insecure about it.
It is every bit a rivalry and the only one of any relevance in the NBA today. A
third straight finals will cement it, but nothing is guaranteed in the brutal west.
The great Warriors still have to get past the Spurs and/or the Rockets to get
to the Finals. Along the way, they may run into the dreaded Westbrook too if
the Thunder pull off an upset in the early rounds of the playoffs. All of this
will make for an exciting playoffs, but I will trade it all for the
Cavs-Warriors version 3. This time, hopefully no injuries and suspensions. I wouldn’t mind a Spurs-Warriors western
conference finals too along the way. That has been eluding us over the last 2 great
dubs season as well. After the Packer-Cowboys game last weekend, I am shooting
for the moon in the playoffs in all sports!
