Patriot Conspiracy Theory

After watching Super Bowl XLII and the New York Giants upsetting the previously undefeated New England Patriots, I started thinking about what was different between the previous three Super Bowls appearances in the Bill Belichick era. To refresh your memory, here is a brief synopsis of each Super Bowl in the Belichick era:

Super Bowl XXXVI: The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots (14-5) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams (16-3), 20 – 17, as kicker Adam Vinatieri made a game-winning 48-yard field goal as time expired. The Rams had been 14-point favorites to win the game, making the Patriots' victory one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history.

Super Bowl XXXVIII: The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots (17-2) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Carolina Panthers (14-6), 32–29, as Adam Vinatieri kicked a 41-yard field goal with four seconds left.

Super Bowl XXXIX: The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots (17-2) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles (15-4), 24–21, and became the first team since the 1997–98 Denver Broncos to win consecutive Super Bowls.

Each of these margins was because of an Adam Vinatieri field goal, two of which (against the Rams and the Panthers) happened in the final seconds of the 4th quarter. Maybe this franchise should have attempted a field goal when they had 4th and 13 on the Giants 31 yard line at the end of the 3rd Quarter. Granted their team no longer has the greatest kicker to ever play the game, Adam Vinitaeri, but Steve Gostkowski is no slouch of a kicker. Why can’t the leagues best kicker in 2007 kick a 48 yard field goal in a dome stadium? That bold move by Belichick cost his team the game.


Sorry Pelsi!

My "Negative Comments" Email to the NFL

Subject: Negative Comments (this is in the drop down menu on NFL.com)

I recently was able to watch a game on the NFL Network (Packers/Cowboys), and after having to watch/listen to Bryant Gumbel, Chris Collinsworth, and Deon Sanders for 3 hours, I am glad that my cable provider does not offer the NFL Network because I would not watch games due to the poor quality of the people listed above. Shape up and get some actual people that are interesting, understand the sport, and know the names of the players and coaches, and maybe I will fill out your "I want the NFL Network" email. I sure don't want it in its current form.
And another thing, go back and watch the officials in that Packers/Cowboys game and start holding them accountable for their poor performance (i.e. Owens fumble, pass interference call on Tramon Williams, offensive pass interference not called on Witten or Owens, and lack of 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct calls on the Cowboys for taunting, just to name a few).
Thanks,

Mo Money Mo Problems a retrospective

Rip all the spots, rock all the rocks
Cop all the drops, I know you thinkin now's when all the ballin stops,
never home gotta call me on the yacht
Ten years from now we'll still be on top
Yo, I thought I told you that we won't stop

Ma$e, (1997) Releases Harlem World, biggest up-and-comer in the business
Puff Daddy, (1997) on the cusp of winning Grammy's, still on his first nickname
Notorious B.I.G. (1997) well at the beginning of 1997 he was getting out of legal trouble
Peyton Manning (1997) Archie's Kid, runner-up in Heisman trophy
Tom Brady (1997) backup to Brian Griese, although a national champion
Brett Favre (1997) MVP, Super Bowl Champ
Us (1997) Graduating High School

Ma$e (2007) pastor, retired 2 years after stating he'd be on top in 10 years
Diddy (2007) producer/mogul, on fifth nickname
Notorious B.I.G. (2007) still dead
Peyton Manning (2007) defending SB Champ, never missed a game
Tom Brady (2007) front-runner for MVP,
Brett Favre (2007) playing like it's 1997, still hasn't missed a game
Us (2007) Just working

Surprisingly, most of the people are doing a good job on staying on top.

Telemundo...

Check out the dude over her right shoulder...

I'm sure he's living it up. I bet he has the SB shuffle as his ringtone. Uggh.

Go Peyton.

http://dev.nwherald.com/superbowlblog/index.php

NFC Home Field Advantage - Where the Winners Are!

After last weeks analysis, I decided to see how the NFC does in playoff games regarding home field advantage. I went back to the 2000 season and was happy to see the round where home-field advantage is the most effective is the divisional round. Here are the statistics to support my findings:

Wild Card Home Field Effectiveness: (9/14 appearances for 64.29%)
(5 home-field advantage losers in wild-card round of NFC since 2000)

• 2002 Season: Green Bay Packers losing at home to the Atlanta Falcons
• 2004 Season: Green Bay Packers losing at home to the Minnesota Vikings
• 2004 Season: Seattle Seahawks losing at home to the St. Louis Rams
• 2005 Season: Tampa Bay Buccaneers losing at home to the Washington Redskins
• 2005 Season: New York Giants losing at home to the Carolina Panthers

Divisional Round Home Field Effectiveness: (11/14 appearances for 78.57%)
(3 home-field advantage losers in divisional round of NFC since 2000)

• 2001 Season: Chicago Bears losing at home to the Philadelphia Eagles
• 2003 Season: St. Louis Rams losing at home to the Carolina Panthers
• 2005 Season: Chicago Bears losing at home to the Carolina Panthers

All of the home-field advantage losses in this round over the past seven years involve either the Chicago Bears hosting or the Carolina Panthers playing on the road. This round is so important for home-field advantage in the NFC during the past 11 seasons, as the #1 seed has never lost in the divisional round. These three home field advantage losses listed above are actually the only three to have happened in the last 11 seasons.

Conference Championship Round Home Field Effectiveness: (5/7 appearance for 71.43%)
(2 home-field advantage losers in championship round of NFC since 2000)

• 2002 Season: Philadelphia Eagles losing at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• 2003 Season: Philadelphia Eagles losing at home to the Carolina Panthers

Each round seems to have one team that really does not fair well with home field advantage in the NFC. The wild-card round was not kind to Mike Sherman as the Packers head coach during his tenure, only winning two of his four home field advantage appearances. The divisional round was not kind to the Chicago Bears and I was surprised this year that Chicago was able to finally get past their divisional round demons. The conference championship round was the nemesis of the Philadelphia Eagles as they went to four straight championship games, hosted three of them and only won one of those three games in which they held home field advantage to get to the Super Bowl. The other major comparison is that the lowest seed to ever reach the Super Bowl in the past 11 season for the NFC was the Carolina Panthers (#3) in 2003 and in the AFC a team seeded #3 or lower has made it five times in the same timeframe.

Why did I waste the time?

Broncos/Falcons
Giants/Ravens
Bucs/Raiders
Steelers/Seahawks

Listed above are what I consider the four of the biggest wastes of my time. They will be trumped by Bears/Colts. Honestly, who do you pull for? I sure don't know. Its funny, when I was compiling this list, I thought I remembered this awesome game between the Rams and Titans, but I could not find any record of them playing in a big game.

Here's better stuff to do instead of watching this years Superbowl:

-Watch Favre 4 Ever 4 times
-Watch Rocky, Rocky 2, and Rocky 4
-Read the profiles of the guys that are draft eligible for the 2007 Draft
-Play about 10 games of FIFA 2007 on PS2
-Take a nap and then if the Bears win, watch the looting on WGN
-Take a nap and then if the Bears lose, watch the looting on WGN
-Pass two kidney stones

AFC Home Field Advantage - Why Bother?

I decided to do some research after this past weekends NFL playoff games and seeing both the AFC teams that received byes losing their home-field advantage. From there I started thinking that this seems to happen more often than I would think in the AFC, so I went back as far as the 2000 season and was surprised to see the round where home-field advantage is the most effective is the wild card round. Here are the statistics to support my findings:

Wild Card Home Field Effectiveness: (11/14 appearances for 78.57%)

(3 home-field advantage losers in wild-card round of AFC since 2000)

• 2001 Season: Miami Dolphins losing at home to Baltimore Ravens
• 2004 Season: San Diego Chargers losing at home to the New York Jets
• 2005 Season: Cincinnati Bengals losing at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers

Divisional Round Home Field Effectiveness: (9/14 appearances for 64.29%)

(5 home-field advantage losers in divisional round of AFC since 2000)

• 2000 Season: Tennessee Titans losing at home to Baltimore Ravens
• 2003 Season: Kansas City Chiefs losing at home to Indianapolis Colts
• 2005 Season: Indianapolis Colts losing at home to Pittsburgh Steelers
• 2006 Season: Baltimore Ravens losing at home to Indianapolis Colts
• 2006 Season: San Diego Chargers losing at home to New England Patriots

More scary is the fact since the 2003 season, only 50% of the AFC teams with home field advantage in the divisional playoffs round have won their playoffs games. Obviously, it appears home field advantage in the AFC may be overrated!

Conference Championship Round Home Field Effectiveness: (3/7 appearance for 42.86%)

(4 home-field advantage losers in championship round of AFC since 2000)

• 2000 Season: Oakland Raiders losing at home to Baltimore Ravens
• 2001 Season: Pittsburgh Steelers losing at home to New England Patriots
• 2004 Season: Pittsburgh Steelers losing at home to New England Patriots
• 2005 Season: Denver Broncos losing at home to Pittsburgh Steelers

I guess in the AFC, just making the playoffs is good enough as the top teams seem to either play down to their opponents level and lose or some other phenomenon occurs that causes the home teams to rest on the fact they are playing at home and believing the other team will just not show up and play well. I even looked at the number through 11 season (1996) and found the percentages hold up in the AFC and that 4 of the last 11 winners of the AFC have been wild card teams that did not even win their division!

BCS Standings in the NFL

So I keep having to hear how great the Bears are from my ex-manager at Deloitte. He tells me that losing to a "top rated" AFC team on the road and coming behind on the road against "the Cardinals" them makes them second to the Colts? I say Tom Brady running by their best linebacker on third and long shows they still crack under pressure. I still stand by the fact that they are overrated and that their record looks good due to the poor quality of teams in the NFC.

So lets say they ranked all the NFL teams like they do in football. Where would the Bears lie?