Our girls keep using the word \u201cawkward\u201d incorrectly. For example, earlier this week we ran into their Uncle D at the grocery store and then him again with Aunt J walking their dog through the neighborhood the next day. Both times the girls kept shouting, \u201cAWKWARD!\u201d I had to explain that awkward means uncomfortable, weird, strange, not just an expression surprise. So it\u2019s not awkward to run into people you want to see. I still don\u2019t think they get it.<\/p>\n
They may learn a better example of awkward if the Colts don\u2019t sell 3,000-some tickets today and their Wild-Card Round playoff game with the Chiefs is blacked-out here tomorrow. That\u2019s going to be seriously awkward, although as of this morning, it sounds like \u201cCrazy\u201d Jim Irsay will make sure the tickets are purchased before the deadline.<\/p>\n
Which brings up a weird thing: why are three NFL playoff games, one in Green Bay, under threat of being blacked-out? Cincinnati is explainable, as they\u2019ve had trouble selling tickets for years. The Colts are very strange, as they\u2019ve sold out all but one game over the past decade. But Green Bay, with their 30-year waiting list for season tickets?<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s about economic health, the price of tickets, the weather, the lure of staying home to watch, over-exposure of the NFL, too close to the holidays, or what. Because all those explanations were just as, if not more, valid in recent years. So I\u2019m not going to try to figure out the answer. I\u2019m just going to hope the tickets here get sold so I can sit in my warm basement and watch the game tomorrow. And avoid awkwardness.<\/p>\n
Wild-Card Round
\nIndy over KC
\nNot offered with much confidence. I hoped, when it looked like the Chiefs-Colts matchup of two weeks ago would be a playoff preview, that the Chiefs would roll that day, giving the Colts some kind of revenge factor to go with home field. The Colts decided to flip the script, though, which has me worried. The Colts have hammered the 49ers, beat the Seahawks, and held off the Broncos. They\u2019ve also been crushed by the Rams, Cardinals, and Bengals. The Chiefs beat the Eagles before they were the hottest team in football and then feasted on bad teams. One 11-win team is not like the other.
\nClose, but the Colts win again.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati over San Diego
\nSan Diego shouldn\u2019t be here in the first place. And it\u2019s looking like a blizzard will be blowing through Cincy during the game. They have no shot and the Bengals finally get a playoff win.<\/p>\n
Divisional Round
\nNew England over Cincinnati
\nI know it gets old, but it\u2019s kind of incredible what the Pats have done this year. Look at them on paper and they\u2019re not a very good team. Well, not 2-seed good. But where the Colts and Bengals tripped in key games in mid-season, the Pats just kept rolling. The Bengals, giddy after finally advancing past the first round, will keep it close for a half then fade.<\/p>\n
Denver over Indianapolis
\nLuck-Manning Bowl II!!! Both teams have serious injury issues, Denver on defense and Indy everywhere. Peyton has never played well in a cold weather, outdoor playoff game. The Colts D just isn\u2019t good enough to do what New England and Baltimore have done to Peyton over the years in January, though.<\/p>\n
Conference Championship
\nDenver over New England
\nBrady-Manning Bowl 8,000!!! Ugly game and I have a feeling Denver\u2019s running game wins it rather than Peyton\u2019s arm. My boy Aqib Talib will have at least one pick but three personal fouls as well and likely either be ejected or explode in a ball of pure rage, hate, and iffy pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n
NFC
\nWild Card Round
\nPhilly over New Orleans
\nWe all know the Saints can\u2019t win on the road or outdoors, so this is a no-brainer, right? Wrong. I think this is more about the Eagles being red-hot right now that all the history attached to the Saints.<\/p>\n
San Francisco over Green Bay
\nWon\u2019t be the blow out of last year, but Green Bay isn\u2019t good enough on defense to pull this out. Unless there\u2019s a blizzard at Lambeau, which would change things…<\/p>\n
Divisional Round
\nSeattle over San Francisco
\nBest current rivalry in football. Just don\u2019t think the 49ers are healthy or locked-in enough to hang this year.<\/p>\n
Philly over Carolina
\nThe two hottest teams in the game. I have more faith in all the good karma around the Eagles than the good karma around the Panthers. Which is probably completely wrong.<\/p>\n
Conference Championship
\nSeattle over Philly
\nBlow-out city, baby!<\/p>\n
Super Bowl
\nSeattle over Denver
\nCold weather, outside, Peyton in a big game against a brutal defense. Low-scoring, turnover-filled as Seattle grabs their first Super Bowl title.
\nSeahawks 23, Denver 15<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our girls keep using the word \u201cawkward\u201d incorrectly. For example, earlier this week we ran into their Uncle D at the grocery store and then him again with Aunt J walking their dog through the neighborhood the next day. Both times the girls kept shouting, \u201cAWKWARD!\u201d I had to explain that awkward means uncomfortable, weird, strange, not just an expression surprise. So it\u2019s not awkward to run into people you want to see. I still don\u2019t think they get it. They may learn a better example of awkward if the Colts don\u2019t sell 3,000-some tickets today and their Wild-Card Round playoff game with the Chiefs is blacked-out here tomorrow. That\u2019s going to be seriously awkward, although as of this morning, it sounds like \u201cCrazy\u201d Jim Irsay will make sure the tickets are purchased before the deadline. Which brings up a weird thing: why are three NFL playoff games, one in Green Bay, under threat of being blacked-out? Cincinnati is explainable, as they\u2019ve had trouble selling tickets for years. The Colts are very strange, as they\u2019ve sold out all but one game over the past decade. But Green Bay, with their 30-year waiting list for season tickets? I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s about economic health, the price of tickets, the weather, the lure of staying home to watch, over-exposure of the NFL, too close to the holidays, or what. Because all those explanations were just as, if not more, valid in recent years. So I\u2019m not going to try to figure out the answer. I\u2019m just going to hope the tickets here get sold so I can sit in my warm basement and watch the game tomorrow. And avoid awkwardness. AFC Wild-Card Round Indy over KC Not offered with much confidence. I hoped, when it looked like the Chiefs-Colts matchup of two weeks ago would be a playoff preview, that the Chiefs would roll that day, giving the Colts some kind of revenge factor to go with home field. The Colts decided to flip the script, though, which has me worried. The Colts have hammered the 49ers, beat the Seahawks, and held off the Broncos. They\u2019ve also been crushed by the Rams, Cardinals, and Bengals. The Chiefs beat the Eagles before they were the hottest team in football and then feasted on bad teams. One 11-win team is not like the other. Close, but the Colts win again. Cincinnati over San Diego San Diego shouldn\u2019t be here in the first place. And it\u2019s looking like a blizzard will be blowing through Cincy during the game. They have no shot and the Bengals finally get a playoff win. Divisional Round New England over Cincinnati I know it gets old, but it\u2019s kind of incredible what the Pats have done this year. Look at them on paper and they\u2019re not a very good team. Well, not 2-seed good. But where the Colts and Bengals tripped in key games in mid-season, the Pats just kept rolling. The Bengals, giddy after finally advancing past the first round, will keep it close for a half then fade. Denver over Indianapolis Luck-Manning Bowl II!!! Both teams have serious injury issues, Denver on defense and Indy everywhere. Peyton has never played well in a cold weather, outdoor playoff game. The Colts D just isn\u2019t good enough to do what New England and Baltimore have done to Peyton over the years in January, though. Conference Championship Denver over New England Brady-Manning Bowl 8,000!!! Ugly game and I have a feeling Denver\u2019s running game wins it rather than Peyton\u2019s arm. My boy Aqib Talib will have at least one pick but three personal fouls as well and likely either be ejected or explode in a ball of pure rage, hate, and iffy pharmaceuticals. NFC Wild Card Round Philly over New Orleans We all know the Saints can\u2019t win on the road or outdoors, so this is a no-brainer, right? Wrong. I think this is more about the Eagles being red-hot right now that all the history attached to the Saints. San Francisco over Green Bay Won\u2019t be the blow out of last year, but Green Bay isn\u2019t good enough on defense to pull this out. Unless there\u2019s a blizzard at Lambeau, which would change things… Divisional Round Seattle over San Francisco Best current rivalry in football. Just don\u2019t think the 49ers are healthy or locked-in enough to hang this year. Philly over Carolina The two hottest teams in the game. I have more faith in all the good karma around the Eagles than the good karma around the Panthers. Which is probably completely wrong. Conference Championship Seattle over Philly Blow-out city, baby! Super Bowl Seattle over Denver Cold weather, outside, Peyton in a big game against a brutal defense. Low-scoring, turnover-filled as Seattle grabs their first Super Bowl title. Seahawks 23, Denver 15<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[67,66],"class_list":["post-2089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-football","tag-nfl"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14368,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions\/14368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}