by Tom Weppel
Random thoughts from a cluttered mind...
Congratulations to Jackie Del Rio and his boys, who put together a great season, ending with an 11-5 record. They are now back where they feel they belong, which is in the NFL Playoffs, and they are ready to roll and make a statement.
Things will start for the Jags on Saturday night, when they travel to Pittsburgh for a return engagement with the Steelers. As you all may know, the Jags beat Pittsburgh, 29-22, back on December 16th. They did it with a solid running game and great defense. These are two strengths Jacksonville will again carry into Pittsburgh, and the Steelers have a challenge, for sure, in trying to figure out how to stop the Jags.
In the past few weeks, a lot of national media pundits have hopped on the Jags’ bandwagon, suggesting they are a team that is strong yet totally overlooked. They feel Jacksonville has what it takes to win, and even possibly beat New England. But before that happens, the Jags have to beat the Steelers. If you are familiar with the way the NFL works, you know it is VERY difficult to beat the same team TWICE at their place.
And that’s what the Jags will have to do.
The Steelers have had some problems as of late. QB Ben Roethlisberger is banged up. All-Pro RB Willie Parker is out, and that has severely limited the running game. Standout DE Aaron Smith has also been missed, and SS Troy Polamalu has had persistent knee swelling. For the Jags to win this game, they must continue with their strong ground game, allow QB David Garrard to make the throws to his receivers, play strong defense as usual, and, no matter what, DO NOT ALLOW TURNOVERS! If they do that the Jags will move on to the next round. If not, then it could get messy. We’ll see.
This weekend there will be three other games played. We’ll start off in Seattle where the Seahawks will host the Redskins, a team that has made a very nice run and is coming on strong. Joe Gibbs has gotten his boys in line, and with the help of backup QB Todd Collins, Washington is certainly a team that Seattle should be very leery of. Washington has a very good shot of going out West and picking up a win. Of course people forget that Seattle was in the Super Bowl only a couple of years ago. They are a formidable group and will be tough to play.
On Sunday, we’ll see our friend Tom Coughlin take his Giants into Tampa to face Jon Gruden (aka ‘Chucky’) and the Buccaneers. New York gave the Patriots a great run last weekend, only to fall a little short. Tampa Bay has a great defense, assembled by Monte Kiffin, and their offense is led by the veteran QB Jeff Garcia. To me, both teams are simply inconsistent, and if you are a fan of either, you have been frustrated. There are times when the teams have had great outings, coming through with convincing victories. Then, they fall apart, only to show us bad play, leading to a loss.
It will be interesting to see who makes the least amount of mistakes. The key player in this game is Eli Manning. If Peyton’s brother can make things happen, then New York will win. Whoever forces turnovers will come away with a victory.
The Tennessee Titans will finish off the weekend play, making a trip out to San Diego to face the Chargers, a team that has gotten their act together. On December 9th the Chargers went to Nashville and beat the Titans, 23-17. And so this will be an interesting contest. San Diego has been able to bring things together, thanks to Norv Turner, the Chargers will be a tough outfit. They should be able to handle Jeff Fisher and his band of Titans.
I didn’t want to bore you, talking about all the totally meaningless Bowl games that have been played. Do you realize that 31 Bowl games have been played, all for absolutely NO REASON? There is only ONE GAME that carries any meaning, and it will be played on Monday the 7th in the Superdome, as LSU will face Ohio State for the right to be called the National Champion.
We all saw the Buckeyes get their ass kicked last year by the Gators. Ohio State has had a horrible time trying to deal with the SEC in the postseason. Their record to date is 0-8. And so Jim Tressel must make sure he’s got his troops ready to go to face a pretty formidable Tiger team. It will be up to Buckeye QB Todd Boeckman to make plays, as well as RB Beanie Wells. They O-Line must stop the LSU D-Line up front, which includes DL Glenn Dorsey. LSU QB Matt Flynn is a solid QB, and RB Jacob Hester is one of a slew of good backs for LSU. The Tigers are favored to win this one, and they will feel at home in New Orleans. I’d like LSU to win, further frustrating Big Ten followers.
Tom Weppel talks trash with Greg Larson, Lonnie Marts, Eugene Chung, Artis Gilmore, and Ron Duguay on SportsAvengers.com 24/7.
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