However, I decided from the minute the Ravens missed that kick that I was going to pull for the Giants and I’m so glad they defeated the evil Patriots. Multiple reasons.

First, the arrogance/cluelessness of Belicheck. To cut a player the night before the Super Bowl just because you can and is just pointless. It’s heartless. That player practiced all week, was ready to play, had probably got his family all situated and then to get called to the coaches room less than 24 hours before the game to get cut? Add it to the long litany of Belicheck stories where he does something just to show everybody that he is still the boss. Remember him fining players for being late to team meetings during the blizzards last year?

Second, Belicheck hasn’t won a Super Bowl and has lost 4 out of 6 playoff games since he got caught cheating by video taping opposing teams pre-game walkthrough. McDaniels brought that act with him to Denver and it got him fired. It didn’t help him win either but that is another post.

Third, The Manning Drama. You think your family has drama? How’d you like to be a Manning? Actually…I’d like it very much but that is not important right now. Eli has always been in the shadow of big brother Peyton and daddy Archie. This was supposed to be his week – 2nd Super Bowl, opportunity to have 2 rings, the confirmation that maybe Peyton was Eli’s brother instead of the other way around.

Instead, we have Peyton-Irsay war of the roses breaking out. Peyton started it with the “we’re walking on eggshells, everything has changed” comments. Irsay firing back with his “protect the Horseshoe” and calling Peyton a politician. To top all of that off, Peyton announces that he has been cleared to play (further proving Irsay’s point) while his team says — ‘uhhhh, that’s news to us.’

The bottom line – it was a lot of incredibly selfish behavior from Irsay and Manning during a week that should have been about their city and his brother. Apparently, neither one got the memo.

I didn’t really like anything either party said all week long – speaking of Irsay and Peyton. All of Irsay’s talk about the “Horseshoe” was just pathetic. There is no “Horseshoe” without Peyton Manning. The Irsay family had gutted and killed the Colts until Manning walks in and gives them double-digit wins every single year. There is no Lucas Field, Super Bowl, full stadium, or anything remotely successful about the Colts without Manning. To paint Manning as just another player to wear the uniform is wrong and petty.

However, Peyton seemed to forget that Irsay made him a very, very, very, rich man even though he didn’t play a down this year. It was Irsay that didn’t move Peyton to injured reserved and thus allowed him to collect his full salary this year. That should have in the least bought some public civility between Peyton and the Irsays. Apparently 28 million doesn’t buy what it used to buy.

(And as a sidenote – the Colts needed to make some drastic changes – despite what Peyton thinks. The team just went 2-14, looked woefully out-coached, and had no depth in any position on the field. That’s an epic fail of epic proportion and Irsay was completely justified in dropping the hammer on the coach and general manager.)

Back to the Giants — maybe now the New York media will believe that Eli Manning is not a bust and Coughlin can keep his job for a year or two. How Marvin Lewis keeps his job and Tom Coughlin seems to have to fight for his every season is beyond my understanding.

And to Eli’s credit – he has not changed at all over these years. Just the same old, calm, nothing phases me guy.

The commercials were not so Super this year either. Hands down the M&M and Dog Burying The Cat Doritos commercials were the best. The rest – mweh.

Halftime show? Great stage – loved the video/production of that. But it wasn’t incredible, wasn’t terrible. Then we got the “We just spent millions of dollars on this 20 minute half-time to sell our albums but we want World Peace ending.” Complete with MIA giving the world the middle finger.

Really? Leave to the music industry to completely miss the point of the Super Bowl halftime once again. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!!! You can have wardrobe malfunctions and political statements and whatever else you want at YOUR OWN CONCERT!! Not at the Super Bowl. I wish they would just give up on the music scene and try something else. Cirque De Solia, maybe? Dancing penguins?

The only thing super about the Super Bowl as the last 3 minutes of the game. And maybe that’s how it is supposed to be…but then again, watching the Patriots celebrate New York scoring a touchdown with a minute left in the game while the Giants looked stress was surreal.

And while I’m disappointed with the Super Bowl, the only thing worse is having no football until August. Sigh….. Welcome to the offseason.

Denver Broncos
Orton is clearly the QB that gives the Broncos the best chance of winning this season. Thus far he is proven to be miles ahead of Tebow and Quinn. However, I don’t see the long-term point of playing him. He is not the “difference maker” for the Broncos to be a championship team. It’d be nice to see if the 1st round pick on Tebow was worth it or not before scrapping him altogether. Is getting 6 wins instead of 4 wins worth playing Orton at the expense of seeing what Tebow has got? I don’t think so.

New Rule Changes
Kicking off from the 35 instead of the 30 and forcing all players on the kicking team to be within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage before kicking were said to be done for player safety. I like the new rules. It should slow down those special teamers a bit and there is a chance for a few more onside kicks. I think they should have added one more rule to the mix, though. A touchback puts the ball on the 30 instead of the 20. Would really force punters and kickers to do more than just boom the ball out the back of the endzone.

Pryor and the Supplemental Draft
I don’t get the ruling by the Commissioner. 5 game suspension for circumventing the NFL draft rules? How about just tell him – see ya’ in the draft next April. Or just let him go to the supplemental draft with no suspension. What was the penalty for the Seahawks when Pete Carroll left USC under NCAA probation to coach? Oh yeah…there wasn’t one.

Lockout Fallout
With no offseason workouts, OTAs, or rookie camps, everyone pretty much knows that defense is going to be miles ahead of the offense this year. But the real losers in the lockout are teams that had coaching changes. New head coaches landed in Carolina, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Minnesota, Oakland, San Francisco, and Tennessee. Arizona, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Miami, New England, St. Louis, and Seattle all changed offensive coordinators. That could mean a rough year for these teams (save New England).

Worthless Preseason Predictions
Why even do this? Because I can and you need the laugh. I’ll post my annual Denver Bronco schedule later…

AFC
AFC West: Chargers
AFC North: Steelers
AFC East: Patriots
AFC South: Colts
Wildcards: Ravens, Jets

Comments: Chiefs will now play a harder schedule and with a new offensive coordinator. They will be competitive but not better than the Ravens or Jets for the wildcard.

Darkhorse Team That Could Surprise Us All: Texans. An average defense and that team is scary good.

AFC Champion: Steelers (through gritted teeth)

NFC
NFC West: Who really cares? I guess I’ll pick the Cardinals.
NFC North: Packers
NFC East: Eagles
NFC South: Saints
Wildcards: Falcons, Bucs

Comments: NFC South is so deep…and young. Packers, Falcons, or Saints could each win their way to the Super Bowl.

Darkhorse Team That Could Surprise Us All: Lions. They have a ferocious defense and if they can keep Stafford healthy, they will win a lot of games.

NFC Champion: Saints

Super Bowl Champion: Saints

Sorry Who Dat Nation. I hope I didn’t just secure your demise.

Watched the Chiefs gift wrap the win for Oakland. Pretty bizarre to watch them make all those mistakes they hadn’t made all year in one half. And in more bad news, Chargers look like they are awake now.

Bama
What a painful loss. It’s always hard to win in Death Valley but the 24-21 score hides four huge realities that Alabama fans better swallow.

First, Les Miles coached to win the game, Nick Saban coached to not lose. Les Miles emptied the playbook, took risks, put more on his players to deliver the win. Saban didn’t. Instead of showing up to dominate and beat the snot out of LSU, Alabama showed up and acted like ‘let’s just try to escape here with a win.’ You don’t escape Death Valley. Show up to play hard or don’t show up at all.

Second, Alabama’s offensive line this year is a smaller, less aggressive, less physical version of the line last year. Last year when Alabama would get in a tight game, it was hand the ball to 22 and let’s pound the ball down the field. This year’s version likes to pass way to much. There is no plan B with this team. If the passing game sputters there is no commitment to the running game.

Third, the defensive line play of Alabama this year has been atrocious. The secondary was what everyone thought was going to be the problem this year for the Tide. It hasn’t. They’ve had some mistakes but with no pressure getting to the quarterbacks, they’ve been asked to cover guys for 4 and 5 seconds. That’s unheard of on the pro level, let alone college. The defensive line does not get pressure on the QB and it does not stuff the run without help from the linebackers. And when a defense has to use it’s LB to blitz to stop the run and get pressure, it makes the secondary that much more vulnerable.

Fourth, the Alabama defense is clueless how to stop a 2-minute offense. When an offense picks up the pace on them, forces them to stay at the line of scrimmage – bad things happen for Alabama. And guess who runs this type of offense better than anyone in the country right now?

By losing the game, Alabama lost a lot. There is no shot at defending the national title. They more than likely lost the chance at a BCS bowl as well. There is little to no chance at an SEC title. Those are some huge stakes for a 3 point game.

The bigger question will be their mental state in the next 3 games. Will they quit? When the Tide lost in the SEC championship 2 years ago, they rolled over against Utah in the Sugar Bowl. It was an ugly moment for Tide fans everywhere. We’ll see how they respond to this. While this year’s goals are gone, the Tide aren’t going anyway. There is plenty of talent coming back for 2011 to try again. They just need to finish strong this year.

BCS
Can’t really complain about the rankings to much. Oregon and Auburn still look like the best two teams in the country. TCU had a huge win over Utah – and yes it was impressive. But do that every week or 3 or 4 times a year, and then you can complain about being number 3.

That’s all for now. Been a rough year football wise.

Amy: Ohh yuck. The time of the year when I become a football widow…and you’re going to start blogging about boring football more now.

Grant: You don’t read my blog anyway.

Amy: I do….when I remember.

Grant: Yes. This is the time of year you become a football widow. See ya’ in February.

Okay – I didn’t say the last line…but I thought it. On with the useless that I do every year.

NFC Picks

Divisional Winners: Dallas, Green Bay, New Orleans, San Francisco
Wildcards: Minnesota, Atlanta
NFC Conference Game: Green Bay & New Orleans
Conference Champion: New Orleans

NFC Comments:
I don’t really trust Dallas or Minnesota to stay healthy or drama free for a whole season. That leaves Green Bay and New Orleans. I like both of them, both solid teams. Picked NO just because…I like their unis more than GB.

AFC Picks:

Divisional Winners: New England, Baltimore, Indianapolis, San Diego
Wildcards: Houston, Pittsburgh
NFC Conference Game: Indianapolis, Baltimore
Conference Champion: Indianapolis

AFC Comments:
I changed my wildcard teams about 5 times. Tennessee? New York? Cincinnati? Miami? And every combination after that. It’s to close to feel confident about any picks. Why Houston and Pitt? They are the deepest and could withstand injuries the best…maybe. I think Baltimore and Indy are the cream of the crop. Either one could go to the BIG GAME and win.

Super Bowl Pick:
Indy over New Orleans

Yeah — I’ve stressed over having a rematch of the Super Bowl the year before but since I’m never right, this pretty locks up that it won’t happen.

Let the games begin!

Instead, pick #25, Rolando McClain. But McClain is a 10-year pick. It’s a Patrick Willis, Al Wilson, kind of pick. It’s a “this makes so much sense it’s stupid” pick. The Crohn’s disease? He’s handled it since high school. Proves he’s a warrior and disciplined to play at that high level with that issue. Will he be there at 11? I think so. I hope so. Almost every mock draft has him sitting there. And with Doom in a 3-4 – the meltdown of 2010 could be a thing of the past.

McClain actually covers AND tackles AND calls plays AND audibles AND hits people coming across the middle. Something a LB for Denver hasn’t done since Wilson’s days. He can play all 3 downs, he’s a gym rat, he’s smart, fast, and basically the other teams in front of Denver will be idiots if they don’t pick him.

How sold am I on McClain instead of Dez? If a WR is such a HUGE need (last time I checked, they don’t tackle or block), then I’d rather Denver sign TO for a year and draft McClain then let McClain go and draft Dez. How’s that?

The Rest of the Draft
I think if McClain is drafted at 11, the rest of the draft is gravy. As deep as the WR position is in this draft, grab one of those other WR with the 2nd rounder. Trade up and get a lineman/center in the first round. Grab a safety or DB in the middle rounds.

Tebow is an interesting pick. I know Denver worked him out and like all teams that meet him, they loved him. and if he is sitting there late in the 2nd round — heck yeah, roll the dice. If it works out, you’re a genius. If it doesn’t, well you tried. After watching Gruden’s film on the QB, I think Tebow will be a better pro than what was first thought and I think the team that gets him won’t ever have to worry about his work ethic or staying out of trouble.

He’ll be smarter with the ball than Clausen, bigger than McCoy to take the hits and with Orton — really, what is there to lose by drafting him? Worse case scenario, he’s a backup that does a great job on special teams.