Well, that was ridiculous. I mean. Well. Really. Ok. Ugh. Here are the stats you don't care about: I went 1/2 with my predictions and 1-1 ATS. Total: 6/10, 2-8 ATS. Without saying anything else, I'll just get to the recaps.
Seattle Seahawks defeat Green Bay Packers, 28-22 (OT)
As a whole, this game was awful. Rodgers and Wilson are the two best quarterbacks at protecting the ball in the NFL, and between the two of them, they threw six interceptions. The entire game was riddled with mistakes and lucky plays that really ruined what could have been a very entertaining Conference Championship game. And to top it all off, Green Bay totally imploded like nothing I had ever seen before, other than when the Giants, up 31-10 with 8:00 left in the game, collapsed against the Eagles, back in 2012.
Seattle played their worst game in two years and still escaped with a victory. The list of luck and screw ups is long and embarassing for the Packers. McCarthy blew it. Bostick blew it. Clinton-Dix blew it. Burnett blew it. And McCarthy blew it again. And then again. One of the few things that Russell Wilson is very good at it is protecting the ball. He threw four picks. When Russell Wilson throws four picks, the Seahawks should never win. Let's look at all the ridiculous things that happened in this game, starting from the beginning.
1) McCarthy chose to kick two field goals from the Seattle one yard line in the first quarter. Anyone that knows anything about football knows that you go for it on 4th down at the one yard line. 4th and 1 situations are well above 50%. The potential points are more than doubled when you go for it (7 vs. 3). Sounds like a no-brainer, right? That should be enough to convince anyone to go for it in these situations. However, the old coaching mantra is that you never want to "leave points on the board." However, old coaching mantras are generally lousy and unfounded. Additionally, even if you don't convert, you leave the opposing offense in a tough situation, pinned deep in their own territory. GO FOR IT. Besides two dumb decisions not to go for it on the one yard line, Green Bay failed to take advantage of many Seattle mistakes in the first half. This game should have been over at halftime.
2) After Wilson threw his fourth interception with 5:13 left in the game, Burnett went straight to the ground, instead of returning the ball. Burnett easily had 20 yards of space to return the ball (and probably more), but decided to play it safe and just slide to the ground. In Burnett's defense, the game really should have been over here, with the Packers up 19-7. But still, with 5:13 left to play in the 4th quarter, it was a little too early in the game to just fall to the ground, instead of making a bigger play.
3) Green Bay used another classic "old-school" coaching tactic, dropping to the prevent defense while they were ahead. This is generally a dumb thing to do, especially when the only points your team has given up all day were on a fake field goal. Teams should stick with the defense that has been successful. Again, this should be a no-brainer. Too many coaches in the NFL make this mistake. It is maddening. Kudos to Bruce Arians (Head Coach of the Cardinals) for sticking with the blitz at any time during a game. He is one of the few intelligent head coaches in the NFL.
4) The onside kick was an incredible mistake by Brandon Bostick. I imagine Bostick has not been able to get much sleep since the title game. You have to feel a little bad for him. It is not fair to place this much blame on one player, but this was a significant mistake in the game. Not only did he drop the ball, but he was not even supposed to go for the recovery in that situation. The onside kick return was designed for Jordy Nelson to catch the ball, and you can clearly see why. They happen to trust Nelson's hands slightly more than the hands of Brandon Bostick. No surprise.
5) The two point conversion epitomized the madness of the end of this game. If you watched the play, you were in disbelief that Seattle converted. Wilson heaved up a prayer in a totally busted play. Luke Willson was able to answer that prayer after Haha Clinton-Dix made an unbelievably poor play on the ball, which is unfortunate because Clinton-Dix had had an incredible game up until that point.
After all this madness was done, Green Bay saved themselves by grabbing the game-tying field goal, just before time expired. However, it was not enough, as Seattle won the overtime coin-toss, converted a 3rd and long, made the big touchdown play, and advanced to the Super Bowl. Was God on the Seahawks' side for this game, like Wilson and other Seahawks players claimed? Of course not. I mean, I'm not sure God watches football. And if he did, don't you think he would have had a bet on Seattle against the spread, not straight up? Seattle didn't even cover the spread. However, Russell Wilson was fairly convinced that God was on his side, saying that the divine being caused him to throw the four interceptions1 (Ley). If we use Wilson's logic, God must really hate Brandon Bostick (and most Packer fans). What God did to Green Bay, and especially Bostick, was just mean.
New England Patriots defeat Indianapolis Colts, 45-7
This game was awful for totally opposite reasons than the first game. At least the NFC Championship Game was exciting. Honestly, I didn't watch most of this game, and what would have been the point? The Colts were barely hanging on during the first half, and then got obliterated in the second half. The Colts showed their true colors this game, not quite ready to be an elite team. They will continue to be a playoff team for some time, as they play in the lowly AFC South. However, Indianapolis is still a little ways away from being a top team. This game reminds you of a very similar beat down that the Colts received at the hands of the Cowboys (42-7), back in Week 16. The Colts were able to defeat a Broncos team that was not nearly 100% in the Divisional Playoff Round; however, they were not ready for a Patriots team that has been playing their best football since 2007.
The only other talking point from this game was the deflated balls. However, this is not really a talking point. Teams do things like this all the time, trying to push the limits of the NFL rules. Obviously it did not make a difference in this game. However, it is strange that it seems like New England is the team that is constantly getting caught up in this nonsense. Anyways, there isn't much else to say about this game. This was a demolition.
So, there you have it. The two evils of the football world meet in the Super Bowl. I don't even know who to root for. New England has really been the NFL's "resident evil team" for many years now. However, there are plenty of reasons to hate the Seahawks as well. The obnoxious players is an easy reason to go with. You could even go ahead and hate Russell Wilson if you want. He might seem perfect, but that guy is too good to be true, like a Tim Tebow that's actually worth a damn in the NFL. Anyways, I will be spending the final week and a half of the NFL season deciding which team I want to lose more in the Super Bowl, NOT WATCHING THE PRO BOWL, and working on my Super Bowl XLIX Predictions (including prop bets!) Stay tuned.
1Ley, Tom. Russell Wilson: I Blame Those Four Interceptions On God. Deadspin.
<http://deadspin.com/russell-wilson-i-blame-those-four-interceptions-on-god-1680641071>
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