NFL Championship Games Set

COLTS v PATRIOTS and PACKERS v SEAHAWKS

The teamswho will compete for the AFC and NFC Championship games have been decided on the field of play. The Colts will travel to New England to take on the Patriots while the Packers will head west to face the defending Super Bowl Champion, Seattle Seahawks.

The Colts upset the reigning AFC Champion Denver Broncos, in Denver, 24-13 behind Andrew Lucks' 265 yards passing with 2 touchdowns and the running of Daniel Herron who ran for 63 yards and a TD. The Indianapolis defense held Peyton Manning to just 211 yards and a touchdown while limiting the Broncos to 88 yards on the grond with no touchdowns.
Read the Grantland.com Piece here.


The upset minded Ravens were unable to overcome the play calling, Coach Harbaugh called it cheating, in the 35-31 loss to the Patriots. This despite having lead the Patriots twice by 14 points. Joe Flacco threw for 292 yards and 4 touchdowns but threw 2 interceptions, the last with 1:39 left on the clock and the Ravens driving. The Ravens defense held the Patriots to 14 yards on 13 carries but allowed Tom Brady to score on a 1 yard QB keeper. Brady meanwhile, threw for 367 yards and 3 touchdowns and Julian Edelman threw a 51 yard TD strike to Danny Amendola.

In the NFC, the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks used 3 touchdown passes from Russell Wilson and a smothering defense to defeat the 8-8-1 Carolina Panthers 31-17. Wilson threw for 268 yards with no interceptions and the the Seahawks rushed for 100 yards. Jermaine Kearse, Luke Willson and Doug Baldwin caught the TD passes from Wilson.

The Cowboys came up 1 play short of defeating the Green Bay Packers, who won the game 26-21. Aaron Rodgers threw for 316 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions while Tony Romo tossed the ball 19 times and completed 15 of them for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns. Demarco Murray carried the ball 23 times for 123 yards and a touchdown but the play that will be remembered will be Dez Bryant's non catch of a 4th and 2 pass from Romo that turned the ball over to the Packers on downs and let Green Bay run out the clock.

NFL Picks This Week

UPDATE:  6-7 this week...16-9 for the last 2 weeks!

After going 10-2 last week I thought I would try my luck again this week. The teams playing are a little more evenly matched so the picks are much harder...my caveat if the picks go poorly!

Minnesota @ Chicago     Bears 24-17     Cutler admits he's bad...will bounce back
Houston @ Cleveland     Texans 28-10     Defense wins this one. Maybe 2 Def TDs
Seattle @ Kansas City     Seahawks 24-13     Toss up in KC but Wilson comes through
Atlanta @ Carolina     Falcons 17-14     Newton hurt? Falcons D just good enough
Cincinnati @ New Orleans     Saints 30-21     Saints start their charge today
Tampa Bay @ Washington     Redskins 21-13     Battle of not good teams
Denver @ St. Louis     Broncos 35-10     Offense + Defense win for the Broncos
San Francisco @ NY Giants     49ers 28-24     SF needs to stay ahead of Seahawks
Oakland @ San Diego     Chargers 21-17    Oakland 0-10 looking for QB in 2015 draft
Philadelphia @ Green Bay     Eagles 24-21     Why? I'm not sure. Gut feeling.
Detroit @ Arizona     Lions 28-14     No QB for Cardinals. Stafford and Robotron
New England @ Colts     Patriots 27-17     Brady teaches Luck a lesson in legacy
Pittsburgh @ Tennessee     Steelers 31-21     Roethlisberger recovers and so does D

Giants "Luck" Runs Out Against Colts With 40-24 Loss

Andrew Luck completed 25 of 46 passes for 354 yards and 4 TDs against the Giants as the Colts beat the Giants 40-24. Eli Manning was 27 of 52 for 359 yards and 2 TDs in the losing cause.

This was the 1st game in Monday Night Football history when both quarterbacks threw for over 350 yards with no interceptions. The difference in this game may have been that Eli Manning overthrew his receivers, who appeared to have beaten the coverage in several instances, 11 times. The receivers can't help you when you are unable to get the ball close to them.

The Colt's Luck threw for 354 yards, his 5th consecutive road game with at least 350 yards, an NFL record. The NFL record book is at least as thick as the IRS instruction manual. The things they keep track of are amazing. Luck has also thrown for 300+ yards in seven straight games tying him for third place in NFL history with Peyton Manning. It was also Luck's 17th NFL game with over 300 yards in just 2 1/2 years of play.

The run game for both teams was average at best, just enough runs to keep the defense honest. Ahmad Bradshaw, ex Giants running back, led the Colt's with 50 yards on just 7 carries while the Giants could muster only 89 yards on the ground on 20 carries by 5 different backs, including Manning's 18 yards on 1 carry.

Tight End Coby Fleener caught a 32 yard TD from Luck. WR T.Y. Hilton (31 yards), WR Reggie Wayne (40 yards) and TE Dwayne Allen also caught TD passes from Luck. Corey Washington and Larry Donnell were on the receiving end of Manning's 2 TD passes.

Manning and Luck both fumbled twice but Eli lost one. Jonathan Newsome sacked Manning, causing a fumble that Sergio Brown returned to the Giants 4 yard line. Luck then threw his 4th TD pass, a 2 yard toss to TE Dwayne Allen.

The Colts sit atop the AFC South Division at 6-3, two games ahead of the much improved Houston Texans while the Giants fall to 3-5 in the NFC East, three games behind the Eagles and just 1/2 game in front of the hapless Redskins.

Colts Shutout Bengals 27-0

While Andrew Luck was completing 27 of 42 passes for 344 yards and 2 TDs with no INTs, the Colt defense was holding the Bengals to 135 yards of total offense. The 27-0 final score indicates that the Colt defense is quite formidable.

Cincinnati had 103 yards through the air and 32 yards on the ground for the game. Giovani Bernard was the leading ground gainer for the Bengals with 17 yards on 7 carries. Mohamed Sanu had 3 catches for 54 yards while Jermaine Gresham caught 10 passes from Andy dalton for 48 yards.

Dalton was 18 of 38 for 126 yards but was sacked 3 times for 17 yards.

The Bengals ran 54 plays and got just 8 first downs. Two of those first downs were the result of Colt penalties. Cincinnati was forced to punt the ball away 11 times during the game, tying a franchise record. They didn't get the ball into Colt territory until the 4th quarter.

T.Y. Hilton, of the Colts, had 7 catches for 107 yards, his second consecutive 100+ yard game. Reggie Wayne caught 4 passes for 15 yards that put him over 14,000 yards receiving for his career.

The Bengals fall to 3-2-1 on the year while the Colts are 5-2.

Colts Hang on to Defeat Texans 33-28

The Indianapolis Colts jumped out big early and beat the Houston Texans 33-28. The Texans lost 2 fumbles in the last 5 minutes of play to give the Colts the victory.

Andrew Luck had his 3rd consecutive 300+ yard passing day going 25 of 44 for 370 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT.

Arian Foster, of the Texans, had 20 carries for 109 yards and 2 TDs while JJ Watt recovered a fumble and returned it 45 yards for his 2nd defensive TD of the year.

Read the ESPN story here.