Now, it's down to the NFL's final four. For ratings purposes, the league's television partners, in this case Fox & CBS, are running the games later than they used to, a practice that's been in place the last few years. It's wrong, but until someone convinces the network suits and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell that this is a tradition that must be restored, it's not changing. Anyway.......
AFC Championship: New England @ Denver: In November, the Patriots rallied from a halftime deficit, and benefited from the officials holding their flags on obvious fouls that would've been called on the road, to steal one from the Broncos in overtime. They're not at home this time, and Denver's hungry for some payback Both teams have key injuries on defense, so that's a wash, except that defensive back Marquise Cole, who played for the Pats in November, has switched to Denver, having just been signed this week after the Patriots cut him. That may come back to haunt Tom "Crybaby" Brady and Bill Belichick. It's either that, or Peyton Manning torches the New England defense the way Brady did Denver's the last few times out. After that, Peyton'll likely throw a pizza party at the Meadowlands before the Super Bowl. Pick-Denver.
NFC Championship: San Francisco @ Seattle: The two NFC West rivals split the regular season series, and there's much talk about how it is so difficult to win in Seattle, between the noise, amplified to ridiculous levels, and the Seahawk defense, better known now as the Legion of Boom. I guess they didn't want to be mistaken for a certain group of comic book villains, or couldn't pay royalties for the name "Legion of Doom", which was ultimately the alternate name for the wrestling team, the Road Warriors. I digress. Seattle's Richard Sherman was in the news today, calling out retired coach Kevin Gilbride, who accused the Seahawks of getting away with defensive holding that wasn't called in Seattle's win over the Giants in November at the Meadowlands. Hey, I didn't see much of the game, so I can't say anything either way. The way I see it, Sherman and company will be returning to the Jersey Swamps, hungry for their first title. Pick-Seattle.
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