NFC North

The Bears won the division this year and I think they will have a good chance to win it again. The rest of the division is strong, but the Bears are strong too and they can compete with every team in their division. The Packers did win the Super Bowl, but I don't care and that won't make a big difference, they can only go down from there so I'm fine with them winning it. The Vikings aren't the same without Favre, but they will have a chance this year. The Lions are up and coming and will probably have a good year, but I can't guarantee that because the Lions always find a way to screw things up.

The Vikings were not good last year. The Bears swept them and the vikings did not live up to the high expectations for the team. Brett Favre was expected to lead them back to the NFC Championship game and farther and he did not. I like the quarterback that they started to play towards the end of the season. He played well and seemed like the right guy for the Vikings. Adrian Peterson was expected to fix his fumbling issues to be solved and they just got worse. I do think they will be better than last year, but I don't think they have a huge chance to win this division. They are a big question mark, because when you think they will be good they are bad and when you think they will be bad they are good. I don't know what to expect truthfully, but I don't believe that they will make a run at the division.

The Packers are probably the best team in the division, as much as it pains me to say that it is true. That doesn't mean they won't make a mistake along the season and end up not winning. The Saints ended up losing there division this year and losing to a bad playoff team. The Packers could make that same mistake. Championship hangovers are real, look at the Blackhawks this year. A championship hangover is more likely with a young team, and the Packers are a young team. I don't want to sound like a stupid Bears fan, so I'm being honest. They are a good team, but sometimes good teams make mistakes and end up having bad years, I hope the Packers make those mistakes. If the Packers win the division, don't call me an idiot, they are contenders but I have faith in the Bears to get better this offseason and win this division again.

The Lions are always a big question mark. I think that they will be a contender, and then they have a bad season. I think the problem last year was that from the first game when that call was made against them they lost all their momentum and hope. Matthew Stafford got hurt in that game and they didn't think they had hope from then on. They do have good players and a pretty good team, they need to figure out how to get over the Lions curse. The curse that every Lions team must be terrible. They have drafted well in the past few years with Stafford, Suh, and Calvin Johnson but that still hasn't been enough to push them to be contenders in the NFC north. Next year will not be their year to climb to the top, because the other teams will be too good, but I think eventually they will be included in division winner talk.





All this talk about the NFC North is only going to be true if the Lockout ends before the season starts. I don't want a lockout, I want football. This is the first I have talked about the Lockout, but I don't want it to happen. People keep asking me which side I am on and I say that I am on the football side. I don't see why Billionaires can't agree with Millionaires about playing football. Just keep things the same, everything was fine. As a fan, I don't care if there is two more games and I don't care if the preseason is boring, it is still football and I want football. Just give the money to charity and play football. This is just getting ridiculous.


Bears YouTube Video Of the Day
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This was my reaction when I found out the Bears clinched the Division. Just kidding, this is a crazy Nets fan that I love in a non-gay way.

Lucky Number Thirteen

With Green Bay's victory in Super Bowl XLV, they collected their fourth Super Bowl and their thirteenth overall NFL championship. In, my opinion they are clearly the best overall organization in the NFL. No disrespect to the Steelers, but the Packers have been winning championships since before the Steelers even had a winning season.

Some may say that world championships don't count,like Super Bowls, but i think that is an absurd statement. You can't blame the Packers for being the best team before the championship game was called the Super Bowl. Yes, the Super Bowl is bigger than the world championship games were, but a win in either game put you on top of the football world.

Now I ask myself, where does this years Green Bay team rank among the past champions. I don't think that the 2010 Packers are even close to the Lombardi era Packers. The number of championships says it all. I do think that within the next decade you will be able to more evenly compare the two. The Packers are still a young team and have a very bright future.

When I compare this years team with the 1996 team, it is a much tougher decision. I honestly think that this years team is better, not by much, but still a better team. You might think I am saying this because of Brett Favre, I am not. The 2010 Packers had to overcome a whole lot more on the field than the 1996 team did. This years edition of the Packers had to deal with injuries throughout the year and including the Super Bowl. The team in 1996 had a very good year and were huge favorites in the Super Bowl. With 16 players on injured reserve, this years team came together and fought their hardest for every victory. They lost two veteran leaders, Donald Driver and Charles Woodson, in the Super Bowl. Once again, the team pulled together and came out with yet another win. I also think this years team is better simply because i got to witness it and I just had feeling about this team. No disrespect to Brett Favre and the rest of the '96 champions but I think that Aaron Rodgers and the 2010 champions are a better team.

Aaron Rodgers has fully stepped out of the shadow of a legend and is building his own legacy in Green Bay. Clay Matthews has finally won a Super Bowl for his family name. The 2010 Green Bay Packers will always be remembered as Super Bowl XLV Champions.

It was a great year and hopefully the Packers will have another outstanding year next year, if there even is a next year.

The End of the Road for 2010 Season

Aaron Rodgers is the new WWE Champion... Err, wait, Super Bowl MVP! I'm sure all of you watched the game so I won't go into too much detail here, but I would like to throw out a few things I noticed from this year's Super Bowl.

-First of all, Aaron Rodgers did not record a single rushing attempt via scrambling for the first time all season. While watching the game I remember pleading "Run Aaron run!" at least a few times, and each time he pulled back from crossing the line of scrimmage. Perhaps Mike McCarthy had instructed Rodgers to stay back and protect himself from taking hits from those Steelers linebackers, or maybe he just didn't see the opening he wanted. Despite not using his mobility as well as he did all season, Rodgers still managed to extend a few plays and make timely throws.

-Where in the world was Polamalu? According to the ESPN game recap, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year was lined up within five yards of the line of scrimmage for only three out of 55 offensive plays for the Packers. It seems that he has been lined up far from the line for most of the postseason, and one has to wonder why. Polamalu's instinctiveness and ability to make a play are at their best when he is near the line, and he was only sparingly used this way. He was also the nearest defender on both of Greg Jennings' touchdown catches. I won't be surprised if a report comes out this offseason stating that Polamalu was far from healthy during this postseason run.

- In a similar vein, where were all of the other defensive playmakers we expected to see? B.J. Raji ended the game with only a single quarterback hit, and no tackles. I also didn't see him on offense, which is disappointing. James Harrison had just a single tackle, which was a sack to go along with three QB hits. LaMarr Woodley had only three tackles, with a single sack. Clay Matthews did not record a sack, but he did force a crucial fumble late in the game. While the Steelers and Packers combined for four sacks, there wasn't a feel of either defense's pass rush taking control of the game. For the most part, the Packers' superior depth in the defensive backfield made the biggest difference in this game, with two interceptions that tilted the odds squarely in the Packers' favor.

After the Super Bowl hangover has worn off, we'll be getting back to more Browns-centric news and analysis, so check back soon and follow me on Twitter @legoman0721 .

Monday Morning Falcons Hangover (Super Bowl Edition)

Green Bay Wins the Super Bowl, Prime Time Makes the Hall

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers and the state of Wisconsin on your fourth Super Bowl Title. As I wrote here, I am not “happy” the Falcons lost to the Super Bowl Champion, as in, “At least we lost to the Super Bowl Champion,” line of b.s. many in Atlanta will be espousing this morning. That’s the lament of the loser, and it’s not for me. I will say my congratulations, and mean it, but it doesn’t heal the wounds of the butt-kicking the Falcons took, the only butt-kicking Green Bay doled out this post-season (all other games were won by single-digits), because the Falcons head coach, Mike Smith, coaches scared, like Marty Schottenheimer.

Now that the congratulations to the Super Bowl Champs are out of the way, I want to also congratulate the seven men who were elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Richard Dent, Marshall Faulk, Chris Hanburger, Les Richter, Ed Sabol, Shannon Sharpe, and of course, Prime Time himself, Deion Sanders! Congratulations, guys, on your outstanding careers in the NFL, but as it is related to Sanders, this is an especially sweet moment, or it should be, for Falcons fans.

Deion Sanders is the first player to be drafted by the Falcons to make it into the Hall of Fame. It is because of that fact that the many Falcons fans that hold any resentment for Prime Time need to let it go; especially since that resentment is usually based in untruth. Falcons’ fans: Deion did “leave” the team to go chase money and Super Bowls. No, the notoriously dumb and cheap Rankin Smith, the team owner at the time, didn’t even offer Sanders a competitive contract when he became a free agent. By claiming that he couldn’t afford to pay Sanders and not even offering a contract, Rankin Smith was able to turn many fans against Sanders; fans that didn’t understand the relatively new salary cap and free agency system.

Rankin Smith could’ve re-signed Sanders. He had the money. The Falcons weren’t strapped for cash or that close to the cap at the time. Smith simply chose to not even offer Sanders a contract because he didn’t want to be rebuffed and look like a fool for being a terrible owner no big name star wanted to play for (which he was). So please, Falcons fans, don’t buy into the anti-Deion hype in Atlanta anymore. The guy was electric. He put the Falcons on the map and gave forlorn fans a reason to cheer. He was a big part of the first Falcons team to win a playoff game (in 1991 against the Saints). And he is now the first player drafted by the Falcons to earn a place in Canton. Be proud of Prime Time, Falcons' Fans!

And to lay another myth to rest: Deion Sanders was not “afraid” of contact on the field. The man was one of the best punt returners in NFL history. Punt returners routinely get hammered on the gridiron. As a corner, he simply always played the ball, not the man. He wanted interceptions, and that’s how he played. Contrary to the myth, he could, and did, frequently make a tackle or two. For about an eight-year period, he shut down an entire side of the field. Who needs to be a physical corner, like Rod Woodson, when you could do that?

The Seven Things I Know

1) Aaron Rodgers is now something Brett Favre can never be: A Super Bowl MVP. Congrats, ARod.

2) Although I picked the Steelers to win 34-31, a part of me can’t help but marvel at the symmetry of karma in Ben’s horrible performance coming at the worst time possible after his previous bad behavior during the off-season. What goes around…

3) Comeback Player of the Year Awards should only be eligible for players who sustained an injury or illness only to overcome true adversity and excel on the field once more. It should NOT be eligible for animal-torturing-and-killing sociopaths who’s personal CHOICES (not mistakes) led to a situation that took them off the field (and into federal prison).

4) Dallas, with its sand (not salt) on the roads, falling ice injuring people, & screwing ticket-holders out of seeing the game, has now become the worst city to hold a Super Bowl. The citizens of Jacksonville can now breath easier.

5) Aggressive, throw-first offenses have now won the vast majority of Super Bowls in the last 20 years or so. Going back to 1989 and Super Bowl XXIII won by the 49ers against the Bengals, teams with attacking, throw-first offenses have won 17 out of the last 22 Super Bowls. You don’t win the big games if you coach scared (don’t take chances with the deep ball), or if you run more than throw. It’s why Marty Schottenheimer never won a game that mattered.

6) The NFL needs to scrap the lame corporate-ized Super Bowl logo and go back to game-specific, city-specific Super Bowl logos. They had character, and some were great, like this one.

7) We’ve now gone 8 years since a terrible Super Bowl game (2003, Raiders-Bucs), and since 1998 (Packers-Broncos), we’ve only had three total truly bad Super Bowl games (Falcons-Broncos, Giants-Ravens, Raiders-Bucs). For a kid who grew up in the midst of NFC domination of the 1980s and 90s, the last 13 years of Super Bowls has been nirvana.

Today in History

On 07 February 1990, the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party decided to allow the different states making up the Soviet Union to have not only their own elections, but elections with candidates not backed by the Communist Party. The decision by the Committee and Premier Gorbachev was like the first crack in the dam, allowing first just a trickle of water, but soon growing into a torrent, as many of the states elected reformers and began to sever ties with the Soviet Union altogether. To this day, I find it amazing that I lived to see the end of the Evil Empire (although a democratized form of (evil) socialism still haunts the world, including our own beloved country), and as always, give particular thanks to this guy for helping to make it happen.

Film Real

There were trailers for many big name films shown as commercials during the Super Bowl, from Captain America, to Thor, to the new Pirates of the Caribbean film (yep, they’ve made another one of those), but the trailer that had me the most interested was the really quick look at the new Matt Damon film, The Adjustment Bureau.

I’m always a guy who loves smartly written science fiction, like Asimov or Heinlein would write, and from the quick look at this film, it looks like an interesting and intriguing idea. Plus, the guys in this Adjustment Bureau, who control our destinies, look vaguely similar to the Observers on Fringe, a favorite television show of mine, so that can’t hurt.

The idea though, that we are not in control of our destinies is a harrowing thought many have, and that idea could be mined for great material if done right. I hope it’s been done right. Check out the short trailer of here, and see if The Adjustment Bureau looks like a film you’d want to see.

Smart Quote

This quote is for Aaron Rodgers.

Leaders are made; they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.

Vince Lombardi

Hey, Check This Out!

Without a doubt, this is the best Super Bowl Commercial this year, if not this decade. I laugh so hard I cry when watching this. Love the little kid’s body language. Hilarious!

The Lombardi Trophy Returns to Green Bay!

The Green Bay Packers are once again on top of the NFL. They beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 to win Super Bowl XLV. Aaron Rodgers was named the MVP of the game (something that Brett Favre never did). He threw for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns.

On my pregame post I predicted the score would be 31-27 and I was pretty dang close. This is the greatest sports moment I have witnessed. I have never been happier to be a Packer fan. I look forward to seeing many more Green Bay Super Bowls while Aaron Rodgers is around.

Super Bowl Prediction

[NOTE:  I write about the Carolina Panthers for Around Pro Football, but with our editor's permission I'm including my Super Bowl prediction column.  I originally wrote this for my own blog, which can  be found here.  You can also follow me on Twitter @JasonBlackwood.]

After the Steelers beat the Jets and the Packers beat the Bears two weekends ago, Vegas set an early line that had Green Bay favored to win the Super Bowl by 2.5.  Last I checked, the line had jumped to three, meaning more people are taking the Pack to cover that spread than they are the Steel.

This event matches what are almost certainly the two largest fan bases in all of football (the Cowboys are not candidates because it is unclear whether or not they have any real fans) in what has surely been a boon for the local economy.  I have no doubt the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex can hold its own with most Super Bowl sites, but the area has been dominated with a winter storm all week, something that has surely put a damper on the occasion.  It's not as if Packers and Steelers fans aren't used to the weather, but the scene has once again brought up the argument of whether (no pun intended) or not certain cities are Super Bowl-worthy.  The event has a way of really embarrassing any place that proves it can't handle the situation.  Again, in fairness to DFW, I'm confident that there are enough hotels, bars, taxis, strippers, and unique food joints to handle the world's largest sporting event, but the skies are literally dumping on the whole aura.  This has been a remarkably uneventful Super Bowl week.  The game should always take place in one of our nation's party capitals - Miami, New Orleans, or Las Vegas (Vegas, of course, would need to build a stadium) - areas that almost certainly never have to worry about winter storms (hurricanes and oil spills are another matter).  If there is a chance people can become critically injured by ice falling off the roof of your stadium, then you probably don't need to be hosting the Super Bowl.  With that said, let's get to the game.

The word on the street largely seems to be that the Steelers overachieved a bit to get here, winning two home games in very unconvincing fashion and basically getting lucky by not having to play the Patriots, a team that picked their defense apart earlier in the year.  That may be true, but there's a reason these guys are in the hunt pretty much year after year: they draft so well that it doesn't seem to matter when players get old or get hurt - someone is always willing to step in and perform well.  Their offensive line has been banged up all year but as I said in my last post that shouldn't matter because Ben Roethlisberger actually becomes more effective when he's forced to make plays on the fly.  The absence of center Maurkice Pouncey, however, should be cause for concern.

Jason really doesn't want to see Big Ben win another Super Bowl...

The main reason Pittsburgh is here, of course, is Roethlisberger.  One can never count the Steelers out when that guy is on the field.  He just makes plays.  If he has snap issues with Pouncey being out, I expect his rushing yardage total to go up.  If the Steelers can't run the ball, I expect him to get away from the rush and find his receivers open deep.  I just expect Roethlisberger to do great things.

(Note: I am definitely among those who are going to be a bit sick if Big Ben leads the Steelers to a title again this year because of what kind of guy he is.  I don't really want to write that column, though, and I don't have to because Andrew Sharp already did.  I suggest you read it if you're having trouble deciding whom to cheer for on Sunday.  Or if you're a Steelers fan in denial.)

As far as the Packers are concerned, the secret is out.  The overwhelming consensus now is that this truly was a title contender from the get-go but the team suffered enough injuries and lost enough close games that they ended up going 10-6 instead of 13-3 or 14-2, as we touched on in the last blog entry....  That Aaron Rodgers is just a stud, possibly ready to deny the Steelers dynasty status and stake his claim as the league's best quarterback all at the same time....  That they are far more than just Rodgers - look how good that defense was against the Bears, and unsung players continue to step up.  Green Bay has veterans such as Charles Woodson, hungry for his first title; they have young stars like Clay Matthews, A.J. Hawk, and Tramon Williams; they have nose tackle B.J. Raji up against an unproven Steelers center (Legursky, Pouncey's replacement).  They have running back James Starks, who has suddenly given the Pack a ground game once again (star back Ryan Grant was among those hurt earlier in the year).

But let's be honest, this is about Rodgers.

Come back with me to 2008, will you?

Packers legend Brett Favre was retired.  Green Bay was ready to move on with Rodgers, who had been sitting for three years, and the team had already gone through minicamp workouts and begun training camp with him as their leader and quarterback when....Favre un-retired.  (I am better at un-retiring than he is, I'd like to add.)  He wanted to come back and play again, naturally for the Packers, whose reaction was basically, "Uhhhhhh.....welllll.....umm...really?? Isn't retirement cool and all?  You don't really want to come back, do you?"  The team eventually scheduled a really awkward meeting with Favre, and afterward declared him "mentally unfit to lead this team" or something to that effect.  Packers fans, of course, were outraged.  The team's public stance was basically that they weren't sure he was ready to come back - that maybe his head wasn't in the right place.  And this was a man who had just led them to within a game of the Super Bowl the previous season.  Do you really think that was the reason they didn't want him back?

...and because of this guy, he won't have to.

Of course not.  It's because they knew Rodgers was better.  Green Bay would have happily dumped him and handed the keys back to Favre if they felt otherwise.  Of course they would have.  Why?  Because winning means more than doing the right thing in pro sports, unfortunately.  There are examples of it everywhere.  The Packers said no to the most famous player in their history - again, infuriating their fans in the process - because they knew Rodgers would give them a better chance to win.

Fast-forward to the present day, and you will see that Rodgers' numbers in his first three seasons as a starter compare quite favorably with those of Favre during the best three seasons of his career (1995-97, when he won three straight MVP awards).  If he can lead this team to victory tomorrow, he will have just as many rings (1) as Favre does, as well.  You might say that Rodgers will have single-handedly buried the Favre era in Wisconsin, and with great authority.  He handled the Favre situation with incredible class, never dissing his predecessor in public or getting upset with the fans who wanted the legend to take his job back.  Instead, Rodgers just went out on the field and became a star.

I watched the Packers-Falcons game three weeks ago with my jaw practically stuck to the floor.  This Green Bay team just reaches another level when they play in a dome - essentially the scenario on Sunday - because they are so much faster and have so many weapons.  Everyone talks about the Steelers defense, and while they do make plays against the pass, they are predominantly a run defense.  The Steelers can be exposed by teams who can spread the field; no one does that better than Green Bay.  This truly is the worst possible matchup this season for Pittsburgh.

Everyone is planting storylines for this one, about how it matches two legendary franchises, two great teams, and two rabid fan bases.  This is already being touted as one of the more exciting games, and they haven't even kicked off yet.

I'm sorry, but no.  This is about Aaron Rodgers.  Super Bowl XLV will be his official coronation as the league's new star, and if the Steelers can't make a big play on defense, this might not be close.  I just hope someone keeps Aaron away from the Kardashians.  Packers 38, Steelers 28.

The Packers Return to the Super Bowl

This is one of greatest Super Bowls to ever be played. Both teams have a rich history of winning championships. The Green Bay Packers have an NFL best 12 world championships (including 3 Super Bowls), while the Steelers have an NFL best 6 Super Bowl wins. There has never been a Super Bowl with this much history in it. No matter the outcome it will be an "instant classic."

It will be a very hard game for both teams but I believe that the Packers will come away with their 13th world championship. To be successful against the "steel curtain" defense of the Steelers will not be an easy task. I am tired of hearing everyone in the media say that Green Bay needs to spread the field and use their 5 wide receiver set. I think if the media is smart enough to figure this out, then so is Dick LeBeau. Green Bay just needs to play smart and aggressive.

The first thing that Green Bay needs to do is to win the field position battle. This is important because both teams have very good defenses and the team with the shorter field will have a huge advantage. I think this will be a game that is decided by 1 or 2 field goals. Obviously, it is easier to go 40 yards and kick a field goal than it is to go 60 yards. Field position will be a huge factor in deciding the winner.

The Packers will also need to keep the pressure on Ben Roethlisberger. Even though he is very hard to take down, it is much harder to find the open receiver with a linebacker hanging on to your back. If the Green Bay pass rush can consistently get in Roethlisberger's face I think he will be more likely to try to force the ball out, which will give the Packer secondary a chance to make a play on the ball. Green Bay has been thriving off turnovers during their historic playoff run and if they can continue to do this, I think the Packers will have a chance to win.

Another key factor for the Packers in this game is for them to just stay calm and execute their game plan. I know that Mike McCarthy can put a perfect game plan together when he is given 2 weeks to do so. Dom Capers (the Packers' defensive coordinator) can do the same thing. With these two master minds having two weeks to plan for one game, there is trouble for the opposing team, no matter who it is. With that being said, it is up to the players to keep their cool and just play football the best they can for one game.

Is this the game that will put Aaron Rodgers in the same class as Bart Starr and Brett Favre? Will Clay Matthews finally win a ring for his family name? Will the Packers finally be able to put all the Brett Favre talk behind them for good? Will this be the start of a new dynasty for the Packers rich history? Or will the 2010 Green Bay Packers just be the forgotten team that lost the Super Bowl?

Only time will tell. For me, I hope this is only the first of many rings for Aaron Rodgers. I have been a Packer fan for 10 years and I have never been happier to be a Packer fan than I have this year. No matter the outcome of the Super Bowl, this is by far the best team I have seen in Green Bay and I am proud to call myself a Packer fan.

My prediction: Packers 31 Steelers 27

Football Friday!

Well, I meant to have a rundown of Senior Bowl news as it pertains to the Browns, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Since this is the last Friday of the football season, it's a good time to focus on the Super Bowl. As a Browns fan, I will be loyally wearing my cheesehead on Sunday and I hope the rest of Ohio will be doing the same. Well, I don't expect any of you to actually own a cheesehead but you get the point.

In the spirit of the Super Bowl, and due to my fanhood of Bill Simmons, I've been taking a look at some interesting gambling tidbits for the big game. The basic line is Packers by 2.5, last time I heard, and I would definitely take the Pack (you know, if gambling was legal). They have quite a few matchup advantages to exploit, chief among them being Aaron Rodgers. From taking a quick peek at their schedule, the only elite quarterbacks they've faced this season were Tom Brady and Drew Brees, and they lost both of those games. They have yet to face an "elite" QB in this offseason, with their wins coming against Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez. This may be pretty tenous, considering that the Steelers did beat Matt Ryan and Rodgers is only arguably an "elite" quarterback, but I'm sticking to it. Oh yeah, I really don't like the Steelers so that may be skewing my opinion.

Some other fun bets concerning the Super Bowl are whether B.J. Raji will appear in an offensive play (+140), points total of 71-75 (100/1), John Kuhn rushing for more than 5.5 yards (-115), and Aaron Rodgers winning Super Bowl MVP (+175). Until recently I had no idea that there were so many things to bet on, up to and including the length of the final word in the national anthem!

Coming back to more local goings-on, Colt McCoy is all set to be the full-time (and healthy!) starter next year. He says he was not fully recovered from the shoulder injury he suffered in his last college football game, but he will be ready to go for next season and he's preparing to be the starter. Considering how the quarterback situation has been handled for the last few years, this is welcome news for Browns fans. Stability at last?!

As always, stay tuned for more Browns news and notes and feel free to comment.