The Super Bowl is Set

First, thoughts still go out to Willis McGahee. That was a vicious hit and is a reminder of how awful the game of American football can be. Let's hope that McGahee has a speedy recovery.

But, otherwise, the Super Bowl is set and it might be a pretty interesting one, if you're willing to look pass that the Arizona Cardinals are going to Tampa (I, for one, may not, as referenced last week).

The Super Bowl pits strength versus strength this year. The NFL's top defense in the Steelers and what seems to be a reincarnation of the "Greatest Show on Turf" in Arizona with Kurt Warner leading the team. If that's not interesting enough for anyone to watch this game, then maybe they aren't true football fans.

Of any sport, the only one the really embodies the chess analogy is American football. What one does directly effects what the other team does. If the Cardinals go five-wide and spread the field, then look for the Steelers to matchup with more defensive backs. If you see Troy Polamalu coming in for a blitz, look for Arizona's center to change the blocking assignments.

It'll be a game of strategy in two weeks and one that should be fun to watch.

To the rest of the week:

• Is this the end of the Baltimore Ravens as we know them? If Rex Ryan quits and takes the Jets job, and with an aging defense, what are the Ravens to do?
• I had a conversation with my friend who said that another friend doesn't value DeSean Jackson and says that Jackson is arrogant for no reason. Please. This TD grab yesterday shows why Jackson is the cocky bastard that we (and I) all know. Jackson, if you give him just an inch of space, is one of a handful of players that can take it to paydirt everytime he has the ball. So yes, he does have something to be arrogant about.
• Sorry Joe Flacco, Dan Marino is still the best rookie quarterback ever.
• I don't care if there was a huge banner in the stadium yesterday, but Arizona, you did not just "Shock the world." The world doesn't even care.

Extra Point:

Larry Fitzgerald is superman. Troy Polamalu is superman. Hopefully we get to see those two lineup against each other a few times in the Super Bowl. It probably won't happen, but we can always hope.

The Week That Was the Divisional Playoffs in the NFL

Super Bowl 43 is turning out to be quite possibly one of the most boring Super Bowls in recent memory. With the way the divisional playoffs went, if you thought that the Steelers-Seahawks title game from a few years back was boring, you've seen nothing yet.

Only three of the final four teams have the kind of buzz that brings the masses to their television sets on Sundays, and that's Pittsburgh.

If I were an NFL exec, I'm hoping that the Steelers beat Baltimore next Sunday, because whoever comes out of the NFC won't bring a massive following (or enough hype to give the Super Bowl huge ratings).

Maybe an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl may get people to their TV sets. Maybe Donovan McNabb still has the star power to draw the huge crowds. But, right now, I am not looking forward to next Sunday's championship games nor am I looking forward to February 1.

To the rest of the week:

• There's Tim Sullivan of the Union-Tribune spouting off the obvious...again. However, this time, rightfully so. Pass rush and a lack of a running game has plagued the Chargers all year. It finally bit them in the ass in what was a miracle of a run that was the last five weeks. But now the season's over and A.J. Smith has got to address those problems.
• BTW...not even the 2006 edition of LaDainian Tomlinson could have ran behind the 2008 San Diego Chargers offensive line. The line is the problem, not LT or Sproles or Hester or even Michael Bennett.
• What happened to Carolina? How did the Panthers implode like that?
• I guess it wasn't a Happy Birthday for Jake Delhomme.
• The Giants looked ordinary against Philadelphia.
• And we all knew that Tennessee was a fraud. C'mon. Kerry Collins? Really?

Extra Point:

It's too bad Tony Dungy finally retired. However, I think it's the right time--at least the right time to leave Indianapolis. The sun has set on Peyton, Dungy and the Colts. It's time to start anew and someone had to leave. And that someone had to be Tony Dungy.

The Week That Was Wild Card Weekend in the NFL

There is definitely still a buzz in and around San Diego about the way the Chargers advanced to the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs on Saturday.

It's not a hangover. It's an actual buzz. The city, the county, hell maybe all of southern California are still drunk off of what was quite possibly the greatest game ever played (in San Diego).

And it's too bad that when games this good happen--when there is so much surrounding the game, all the little intricacies and dramas, storylines and arcs--it's too bad that professional journalists have a deadline of a few hours after a game to get their work in, because there's so much to talk about, that often--in the best games--professional journalists become mediocre.

These beat writers and sports columnist always fall short in the biggest of games.

Take the Union-Tribune's two sports columnists. Nick Canepa and Tim Sullivan were so excited and so for a loss for words that they decided to write about everything in their two columns. There was so much to say that the two writers were constricted by their inch counts.

Even the great Michael Silver was dumbfounded and his piece was a mash-up of three different columns (at least that's what it read like).

This game will probably go up there in the annals of Chargers as one of the great ones--right up there with the win over Miami in 1982, or the two wins in the 1994-95 NFL playoffs that sent San Diego to the Super Bowl (a 22-21 win over the Dolphins and a 17-13 victory over Pittsburgh).

But if the Chargers continue to roll and somehow reach Tampa, Florida on February 1, this game should not be seen as the beginning of an incredible run. That win came on Dec. 4, against the hated Raiders, on a Thursday night, when San Diego was 4-8 and the season looked like it was over.

That game won't be remembered, because it was just another blow out.

But the win on Saturday--take it from the professionals who struggled to write about the game--no words can be used to really describe it. And no words are really needed.

To the rest of the weekend:

• Arizona Over Atlanta: It's nice to see that franchise get a home playoff game and win. And it's was nice to see that wiley vet--the former NFL MVP and grocery store bagger--Kurt Warner, flex his muscles and get that team the win. And I was totally surprsied about how much Edgerrin James played after what he said about the Cardinals on Friday. I guess the lesson is throw the team under the bus and then get more carries.

• Sunday Games: Were boring. But I will tell you that Cam Cameron has got to be assistant coach of the year (if the award exists), taking a rookie quarterback (who played Division I-AA football at Delaware!!!) and making him a playoff winner. And everyone has to be excited to see the Philly-NYG matchup next week after the Eagles disposed of the Vikings.

Extra Point:

Of all the guys that NBC could have hired to embellish its football coverage on Football Night, it hired Matt Millen. Does anyone even believe a thing that comes out of his mouth, regardless if it's football related or not?