Super Bowl 48 Preview

The day has finally arrived. The Big Game is finally here. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey is the setting. We will see the NFC Champions the Seattle Seahawks take on the AFC Champions the Denver Broncos. We will see the #1 defense in the league, Seattle, take on the best offense in the league in Denver. Before we really start breaking down the game, lets take a look at how both teams got to the big game.

Seattle finished the season 13–3, winning the NFC West division and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The team scored 417 points during the season, while giving up just 231.

The offense was led by second year quarterback Russell Wilson, a third round draft pick who had immediately picked up the starting role, leading the team to a playoff win in his rookie season. He finished his second completing 63.1 percent of his passes for 3,357 yards and 26 touchdowns, with only 9 interceptions, while also rushing for 539 yards and another score. His 101.2 passer rating ranked him 7th in the NFL, and made him the first quarterback in history with a triple digit passer rate in his first two seasons. His top target was Pro Bowl receiver Golden Tate, who caught 64 passes for 898 yards and 5 touchdowns. Tate was also a major asset on special teams, returning 51 punts for 585 yards (2nd in the NFL). Other key targets included Doug Baldwin (50 receptions, 775 yards, 5 touchdowns) and tight end Zach Miller (33 receptions, 387 yards, 5 touchdowns). Pro Bowl running back Marshawn Lynch was the team's leading rusher with 1,257 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was also a reliable receiver, hauling in 36 passes for 316 yards and two more scores. The Seahawks' offensive line was led by Pro Bowl center Max Unger. Kicker Steven Hauschka ranked 4th in the NFL in scoring (143 points) and second in field goal percentage (94.3%, 33/35).

Seattle had the NFL's top defense, leading the NFL in fewest yards allowed per game (273.6), fewest points allowed (231), and most takeaways (39). Seattle's defensive line featured defensive ends Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett, both of whom recorded 8 sacks. Avril also forced 5 fumbles, while Bennett recovered three, returning them for 39 yards and a touchdown. Defensive tackle Clinton McDonald also made a big impact with 5.5 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, and an interception. Linebacker Bobby Wagner led the team in combined tackles (120), while also racking up 5 sacks and two interceptions. But the best aspect of the defense was their secondary—collectively known as the Legion of Boom—which sent three of their four starters to the Pro Bowl: cornerback Richard Sherman, who led the NFL in interceptions (8, with 125 return yards), along with free safety Earl Thomas (5 interceptions, 105 tackles, 2 forced fumbles) and strong safety Kam Chancellor (99 tackles, 3 interceptions, 78 return yards).

In the playoffs the Seahawks took down the New Orleans Saints 23-15, the they beat the San Francisco 49ers 23-17 in the NFC Championship game.

As for the Broncos, Denver finished the season 13–3 for the second straight year, winning the AFC West division and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Broncos had the best offense in the NFL, leading the league in points scored (606, the highest total in NFL history) and yards gained (7,313). The offense was so explosive that they scored points on their opening possession at least eight straight games leading into the playoffs and a ninth time against the San Diego Chargers during the Divisional Playoffs game. During the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots, they broke that streak, only to score on the opening possession of the second half.

In command of the offense was 16-year veteran quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning had enjoyed a stellar career with the Indianapolis Colts for his first 13 years in the NFL, making 11 Pro Bowls, winning four NFL MVP awards, and a championship ring in Super Bowl XLI. However, it all came to an end in 2011, when Manning, who had never missed a game in his career, had to miss the entire season due to neck surgery. Without Manning, the Colts finished the season with an NFL-worst 2-14 record, and with uncertainty about Manning's future looming, they decided to release him and use their number 1 draft pick to select quarterback Andrew Luck.

Manning signed with Denver for the 2012 season and quickly put any doubts about his future to rest, leading the team to a 13-3 record. However, the year ended in disappointment, with the team losing in the divisional round of the playoffs. Now in his second year as the team's starter, Manning posted one of the best seasons of any quarterback in NFL history, leading the league in completions, attempts, yards, and touchdown passes. His 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdown completions both set new NFL records. His 450 completions were the second highest total in NFL history, and his 115.1 passer rating ranked second in the league. Denver's leading pass-catcher was Pro Bowl receiver Demaryius Thomas, who caught 92 passes for 1,430 yards and 14 touchdowns. But Manning had plenty of other reliable options, including Eric Decker (97 receptions, 1,288 yards, 11 touchdowns), Wes Welker (73 receptions, 778 yards, 10 touchdowns), and Pro Bowl tight end Julius Thomas (65 receptions, 788 yards, 12 touchdowns). Overall, they made Denver the first team in NFL history ever to have four players with at least 10 touchdown receptions in a season. Running back Knowshon Moreno was the team's leading rusher with 1,038 yards and 10 touchdowns, while also catching 60 passes for 548 yards and another 3 scores. Rookie running back Montee Ball was also a big contributor with 554 rushing yards, 4 touchdowns, and 20 receptions. The team's offensive line featured Pro Bowl guard Louis Vasquez. On special teams, Pro Bowl kicker Matt Prater ranked second in the NFL in scoring (150 points) and first in field goal percentage (96.2%, 25/26). His only miss of the year was from 52 yards, and he set a new NFL record for the longest field goal ever made (64 yards), breaking a record that had stood for 44 years.

Defensive end Shaun Phillips anchored the Broncos' line with 10 sacks, while linebacker Danny Trevathan racked up 129 combined tackles, three forced fumbles, and three interceptions. Linebacker Malik Jackson was also a key component of the defense with 42 tackles and 6 sacks, helping compensate for the loss of Von Miller, who had 5 sacks in 9 games before suffering a season-ending injury. Cornerbacks Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Chris Harris led the secondary with 3 interceptions each.

So this is going to be a battle of two titans from the regular season. In fact, this will be the 5th time in history that the #1 offense and #1 defense will square off in the big game. Those previous four games were in 1978 (Cowboys vs. Steelers), 1984 (Dolphins vs. 49ers), 1989 (49ers vs. Broncos), and 1990 (Bills vs. Giants). Of those four previous meetings, only once has the #1 offense come out on top, that game being the 49ers over the Broncos in 1989. The other three times, the best defense has won the championship. So if history is any indication, then the luck is on the side of the Seahawks.

As for the actual game itself, its going to be a close, highly contested football game. Looking at the offenses, the running attack is about even, so the running games may cancel each other out. It's the passing game that's going to be key. Sure the Broncos have the best pass attack in the league, but the big question is can the Seattle secondary shut down the passing game. Think about this, Peyton Manning hasn't been sacked at all during this years playoffs, his offensive line has been that good. Knowing Peyton Manning as a passer, he is one of the most patient guys in the pocket in the world, so he has no problem waiting for the play to develop. He has four dangerous weapons to throw to, Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Julius Thomas and Wes Welker. Plus Denver has a very ballanced attack in that if the passing game doesn't really work out they can run the ball with good effectiveness from Knowshon Moreno and Montee Ball.

But they are going up against the best defense in the leauge. Seattle has the top ranked defense for a number of reasons. Their defensive backs get most of the attention because of what Richard Sherman says and what they all do. They cover, hit hard and tackle well. Add it up, and it’s difficult to get first downs, let alone long balls and big plays after the catch. The Seahawks' deep edge pass rush led by Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett is one of the most fierce in the NFL. Sop this is going to be a fun matchup to watch.

Now lets not sell Seattle short on offense here. We all know about Seattles running game with Marshawn Lynch, who has had a good post season, but he hasn't really looked like "Beast Mode" that people are expecting. Also lets not forget Russel Wilson can throw the football too, if the running game isn't going to pan out. Whether it’s Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin or Jermaine Kearse, Wilson will hit on a few deep balls, the sneaky strength of Seattle’s offense. That’s before getting to the fact healthy wild card Percy Harvin will draw plenty of attention working the slot, facilitating the outside routes. They are doing this against a slightly banged up Denver defense. The Broncos are without their most disruptive pass rusher (Von Miller) and top cover man (Chris Harris). So its going to be a fun game to watch.

This is going to be a tight game, and its going to be a very tough test for the Seattle defense. The Legion of Boom had a good week two weeks ago against the 49ers, but now they are facing a tougher offense in Denver and they won't get as lucky. I got the Denver Broncos winning it 30-27!

Women's Hockey Pushes Elmira To The Limit

The Oswego State Women's Hockey team had a fierce battle on their hands at home this past weekend, facing a team that they  have never been able to beat yet in program history. the first game of the weekend was won by Elmira 5-2 but the game was closer than the score would indicate.

Elmira got the only 2 goals in the opening period, one scored by Cassidy Delainey and the other from Ella Stewart to give the Soaring Eagles a 2-0 lead. To the 2nd period we go, one which was dominated by the Lakers, who outshot Elmira 16-4 in the 2nd period. Phoebe Piku scored for Elmira at the 3:11 mark to give the Soaring Eagles a 3-0 lead, but Oswego would finally get on the board at the 18:16 mark when Kendall Appelbaum scored her 6th of the year. To the 3rd period we go and in that final frame Oswego managed only 3 shots but one went in, thanks to Jocelyn St. Clair's 2nd of the season. But the goal was stuck in between two Elmira goals, one from Ella Stewart and one from Jessica Prance to seal the 5-2 win for Elmira.

Shots finished 27-26 in favor of Elmira and Oswego went 31-28 on faceoffs in the game, so you can kinda see that the game was closer than the score indicated. Lisa Marshall got the win for Elmira, improving her record to 9-2-1 on the year, as she stopped 24 of the 26 shots she faced. Catherine Cote took the loss for Oswego, dropping her record to 5-4-0 on the year, as she stopped 22 of the 27 shots she faced.

Now to the Sunday game we go and Elmira dominated the play that day but Oswego pushed them to the very very limit, as the Soaring Eagles came away with a 2-1 overtime win. Ashton Hogan scored the only goal in regulation for Elmira, at the 11:46 mark of the 2nd period. Leslie Jarvis tied the game for Oswego with exactly 1 minute left in regulation to force overtime. Elmira got the last laugh though, as Brooke Wilgosh scored on the powerplay with justover a minute left in overtime.

Lisa Marshall got the win for Elmira, improving her record to 10-2-1 on the year, as she stopped 12 of the 13 shots she faced. As for Oswego, Tori Trovato took the loss, dropping her record to 2-2-0 on the year, as she stopped 38 of the 40 shots she faced. Oswgo came oh so close to knocking off one of the best teams in the nation.

The Lakers return to action this weekend, February 1st and 2nd, as Stevenson comes into town to play the Lakers at the Campus Center Ice Arena!

(Photo provided by Oswego State Athletics)

Men's Hockey Splits Western New York Road Trip

After splitting games last weekend against Nazarth and Elmira, the Oswego State Men's Hockey team looked to rebound on a Western New York road trip. First up was the Fredonia Blue Devils, a team who beat Oswego in Oswego the first game of the season. The Lakers were looking for payback for that loss, and did so in a big way, skating away with a 5-1 victory.

Oswego got on the board first at the 6:57 mark when Denton King scored his 2nd of the year, the only goal of the opening period. To the 2nd period we go, and Oswego scored twice more to improve the lead to 3-0. First at the 5:20 mark Matt Galati scored his 16th of the season, then at the 14:42 mark Kenny Neil scored his 9th of the year. Alex Perkins scored the lone goal for Fredonia at the 19:05 mark of the 2nd period to cut the lead to two. Oswego put the game away in the 3rd thanks to goals from Nick Rivait and Chris Carr to put the game away at 5-1. Alex Botten (2 assists), Denton King (goal assist) and Nick Rivait (goal 2 assists) each had multi-point games.

Jeff Flagler took the loss for Fredonia, dropping his record to 2-4-0 on the season, stopped 25 of the 30 shots that he faced. Matt Zawadzki picked up the win for Oswego, improving his record to 8-1-2 on the year, stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced.

Oswego followed this up with a game against the Buffalo State Bengals in Buffalo, a place where Oswego has had great success, going 38-0-4 all time against the Bengals. That perfect record came to an end as Buffalo State beat the Lakers 4-0.

All the scoring in the game came in the 2nd period, as Kyle Whipple (4th of the year), Mike Zannella (6th of the year), Taylor McGraw (3rd of the year) and Dan Turgeon (10th of the year) were able to find the back of the net in the win. Kevin Carr got the win for Buffalo State, improving his record to 9-8-3, as he stopped all 33 shots that he faced. Matt Zawadzki got the start, but was pulled after the 2nd period. He stopped 16 of the 20 shots he faced as his record fell to 8-2-2. Justin Gilbert came in to play the 3rd period and stopped both the shots he faced.

Only one game this weekend for the Lakers get set to host the Cortland Red Dragons on Saturday February 1st.

(Photo provided by Oswego State Athletics)

Yankees Spending Spree Sounds Very Familiar

With the Yankees latest deal,signing Japanese Star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka to a seven-year contract worth $155 million, his agent, Casey Close, confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com. This just adds to the massive amount of spending the Yankees have done in the offseason, already signing the likes of Jacoby Ellsbury (7 years, $153 million), Brian McCann (5 years, $85 million), Carlos Beltran (3 years, $45 million), Brendan Ryan (2 years, $5 million), Kelly Johnson (1 year, $3 million), Brian Roberts (1 year, $2 million) and Derek Jeter (1 year, $12 million). Of course McCann, Ellsbury and Beltran are the biggest names signed by the Yankees during this time period, and they don't have Alex Rodriguez contract on the books for this season, as he is facing a suspension, but still the Yankees have spent $475 Million on ballplayers.

I understand why the Yankees are doing this, they are unhappy about missing the playoffs a year ago. Same thing happened after the 2088 season. They missed the playoffs in 2008, then during that offseason went out and spent around $425 million on players. That year they went out and picked up A.J. Burnett (5 years $82.5 million), Andy Pettitte (1 year $5.5 million),  CC Sabathia (7 years $161 million) and Mark Teixeira (8 years $181 million), among a few others. That 2009 season the Yankees went on to win the World Series, their first title since 2000, and only the 2nd title of the new century!

Sure the Yankees have gone out and spent the money, and sure it may help bring them a title right now, but over the long run I'm not sure how much this helps the team. I understand totally wanting to win right now, every single team in baseball wants to do that. But what I think separates the Yankees now from the Yankees of the late 90's is the way they are doing business. What I mean is, the reason the Yankees turned in a dynasty team at the end of the century is they didn't spend all this money on talent, they built through the draft and their farm system. The team now has the money and is deciding to spend it all and not build a farm system.

Sure it could get them another title. Maybe it changes this time, five years after Hideki Matsui’s huge October and after John Damon changed everything one night by stealing two bases on the same play, and Sabathia looked, in all ways, like the biggest ace in the game. Maybe the new guys do for the Yankees what all the new guys with beards did for the Red Sox last season. But if they are trying to build another dynasty team this isn't the way to do it. Since the Yankees finished the 3 titles in 4 years, they have made it to the World Series three times winning once in 2009 (losing in 2001 to Arizona and 2003 to Florida). So sometimes spending money works out and sometimes it doesn't. Will it work in this case, only time will tell!

Tight Games and Post Game Comments Define Championship Sunday

Championship Sunday in the NFL lived up to all the hype and then some. We had a tight game, right down to the wire in the NFC title game, and a battle for supremacy in the AFC title game. Peyton Manning finally got over the hump and was able to beat longtime rival Tom Brady in the playoffs. Seattle's defense was able to find a way to shut down the high power 49ers offense in a tight football game in Seattle. Before Seattle and San Francisco could dop battle, it was Brady vs. manning in another bigtime playoff game.

Tom Brady and the Patriots were on the road in the playoffs for the first time in seven years, which was also the last time they faced Peyton Manning when he was with the Colts. But the story was all about Denver as their offense racked up 507 yards without turning the ball over or giving up any sacks as they advanced to the 7th Super Bowl in franchise history. That was going to be a key in the ball game was to whether or not Denver could hang on to the ball, something they did with great effectiveness. Peyton Manning set a conference championship record with 32 completions for 400 yards and two touchdowns. The team also got a big performance from receiver Demaryius Thomas, who caught 7 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown, and kicker Matt Prater, who made four field goals. The win was especially satisfying for head coach John Fox, who lost to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in Super Bowl XXXVIII 10 years earlier when he was with the Carolina Panthers.

Midway through the first quarter, Manning got the Broncos into scoring range with an 18-yard completion to Knowshon Moreno, a 29-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas, and a 19-yarder to Eric Decker. Prater finished the drive with a 27-yard field goal to put the team up 3–0. The next time Denver had the ball, they advanced 93 yards in 15 plays on a drive that took up nearly half the second quarter. At one point they faced 3rd and 10 from the Patriots' 39-yard line, and made the conversion with a 28-yard draw play by Moreno. Manning eventually got the team into the end zone with a 1-yard pass to tight end Jacob Tamme, making the score 10–0.

This time New England managed to respond, with Brady completing a 27-yard pass to receiver Aaron Dobson on the first play of their next drive; this ended up as Brady's longest completion of the game. The Patriots eventually reached the Broncos' 18-yard line, but Denver lineman Robert Ayers sacked Brady for an 11-yard loss on third down, forcing them to settle for Stephen Gostkowski's 47-yard field goal. Denver then took the ball back and drove for more points, as Manning hooked up with Demaryius Thomas for a pair of completions that netted 53 yards. Prater finished things off with a 35-yard field goal, giving the team a 13–3 lead with 25 seconds left in the half.

Denver started out the second half with a long touchdown drive that took up almost the same amount of time (7:08) as their last one (7:01), moving the ball 80 yards in 13 plays. Manning completed 7 of 8 passes for 59 yards on the drive, the last a 3-yard touchdown toss to Demaryius Thomas that increased Denver's lead to 20–3. New England responded with a drive to the Broncos' 29-yard line, but on a 4th and 2 conversion attempt, Brady was sacked for a 10-yard loss by defensive tackle Terrance Knighton. Denver then took over and set up a drive for more points, with Manning completing two passes to tight end Julius Thomas for 28 yards and a completion to Demaryius Thomas for 30. New England managed to halt the drive at their own 1, but Prater kicked his third field goal to put Denver up 23–3.

New England finally scored a touchdown with just over 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Starting the drive with an 18-yard pass to tight end Michael Hoomanawanui, Brady followed it up with completions to Austin Collie and Julian Edelman for gains of 20 and 16 yards. He eventually completed the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Edelman, cutting the score to 23–10. However, Denver scored again with their next possession, with Manning's 37-yard completion to Julius Thomas setting up Prater's 4th field goal, this one from 54 yards.

New England now faced a 26–10 deficit with 7 minutes left in regulation; Brady completed 5 of 7 passes for 54 yards on their next drive, and took the ball into the end zone himself on a 5-yard run. However, their 2-point conversion attempt failed, keeping the score 26–16. Then after Decker recovered New England's onside kick, Denver managed to run the final 3:07 off the clock with their last drive. Brady finished the day 24-for-38 for 277 yards and touchdown, along with 2 carries for 7 yards and a score on the ground. Edelman caught 10 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. Julius Thomas had 8 receptions for 85 yards for Denver, while Decker had 5 catches for 73.

Now after the game, Patriots coach Bill Belichick made some interesting remarks towards former Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker. Welker took out Patriots defensive back Aqib Talib when Welker made a block on him late in the ball game. Belichick said it was a “deliberate attempt” by Welker to “take out Aqib,” who was injured on the play. The Patriots coach said he “would let the league handle the discipline on that play,” Yeah sure you would their Bill.

In the 2nd game of the day Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks showed up in a big way against the 49ers. With 22 seconds left in regulation, Seattle defensive back Richard Sherman deflected a pass in the end zone into the arms of linebacker Malcolm Smith for a game clinching interception as San Francisco was trying to drive for a winning score.

Things got off to a rough start for the Seahawks as their quarterback Russell Wilson was sacked on the first play of the game by linebacker Aldon Smith, resulting in a fumble that was recovered on the Seattle 15-yard line. However, their defense managed to keep San Francisco out of the end zone, forcing them to settle for Phil Dawson's 25-yard field goal to take a 3–0 lead. There would be no more scoring until the 2nd quarter, when 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took off for a 58-yard run that gave the team a first down on the Seattle 10-yard line. Three plays later on 4th and goal, running back Anthony Dixon dove over the goal line pile to score a 1-yard touchdown run, increasing the lead to 10–0. This time, Seattle managed to respond with Wilson's 51-yard completion to Doug Baldwin leading to a 32-yard field goal by Steven Hauschka with just under 6 minutes left in the quarter. Near the end of the quarter, the 49ers appeared to have a chance to drive for points when Wilson threw an incomplete pass on 4th down from the 38-yard line with 20 seconds to go. Defensive back Carlos Rogers was flagged for shoving receiver Golden Tate out of bounds after the incompletion, resulting in a penalty that pushed San Francisco back 15 yards and the team decided to run out the clock. Commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman both said they felt the penalty call was improper, as it appeared to be only a mild push.

San Francisco was forced to punt on their first drive of the second half, and Tate returned the ball 10 yards to his 40-yard line. Three plays later, Marshawn Lynch scored on a 40-yard touchdown run, tying the score 10–10. The 49ers struck back with Kaepernick completing a 22-yard pass to Michael Crabtree and then rushing for a 22-yard gain himself. Kaepernick fumbled the ball on the next play, but center Jonathan Goodwin recovered it and ran for a 6-yard gain. Kaepernick then finished the drive with a 26-yard scoring completion to Anquan Boldin, putting the 49ers back in front at 17–10. Baldwin returned the ensuing kickoff 69 yards to the 49ers' 33-yard line, setting up Hauschka's 40-yard field goal that made the score 17–13 with less than four minutes left in the third quarter. Seattle took their first lead of the game on the second play of the fourth quarter, 20–17, scoring on Wilson's 35-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse on 4th down and 7. A series of fumbles and turnovers followed; firstly, Seattle defensive end Cliff Avril forced and recovered a fumble from Kaepernick on the 49ers' 23-yard line. Seattle then drove to the 10-yard line, and on third down Wilson completed a pass to Kearse. But Kearse fumbled on the 1-yard line as he was going in for a score, while being tackled by linebacker NaVorro Bowman. Replays showed Bowman making a recovery and being touched down by contact, but the play did not end and the ball was pulled away from Bowman. Seattle receiver Michael Robinson ended up with the ball, allowing the Seahawks to maintain possession. The play was not reviewable, and to make matters worse for San Francisco, Bowman suffered a severe leg injury. Now with 4th and goal on the 1-yard line, Seattle coach Pete Carroll decided to go for the touchdown. But Lynch fumbled a handoff from Wilson and the 49ers ended up getting the ball back on the Seahawks 15-yard line. However, all they managed to do with this opportunity was give it back, as Kaepernick was intercepted by safety Kam Chancellor on the second play of their ensuing drive.

Now with the ball on the San Francisco 40-yard line, Seattle drove to the 29-yard line where Hauschka kicked a field goal to give the team a 23–17 lead with 3:37 left in the game. San Francisco responded with a drive to the Seahawks' 18-yard line, featuring a 17-yard reception by running back Frank Gore on 4th down and 2. With 30 seconds left, Kaepernick threw a pass intended for Crabtree in the end zone, but Sherman made a leaping deflection and the ball fell right into the arms of Malcolm Smith for an interception to put the game away. Wilson completed 16 of 25 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown. Lynch rushed for 109 yards and a score. Baldwin had 6 catches for 106 yards, and added another 102 yards on three kickoff returns. Chancellor had 11 tackles – of which 5 were solo tackles – and an interception. Kaepernick finished the game 14-for-24 for 153 yards and a touchdown, with 2 interceptions and a lost fumble, while also rushing for 130 yards on 11 carries. This was his second 100-yard rushing game in the postseason; only two other quarterbacks in NFL history up to this point ever had one. Bowman had 14 tackles – including 6 solo tackles – along with a sack, and a forced fumble. Both teams achieved the same amount of total yards, with 308.

In the postgame Richard Sherman went off on 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree saying something to the effect of that Cabtree should never have called him out ect. Of course Sherman later apologized for his outburst but still it left a pretty good impression.

So there you have it. The Super Bowl is now set as the Seattle Seahawks will take on the Denver Broncos. We will have a full preview of the game next week!

Championship Weekend Ready To Kick Off

The time has finally arrived. We have FOUR teams left standing in the NFL Playoffs, thew Denver Broncos, new England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. By the time all is said and done this Sunday, we will have ourselves two teams left to play for the biggest prize in professional football today. But that's still a little over two weeks away. We still have to decide who will be playing in that game.  So lets now take a look at the 4 teams left standing.

In the first game of the day, its the AFC Championship game in which the Denver Broncos play host to the New England Patriots at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. game is set for a 3PM kickoff on CBS. These two franchises have met twice before in the playoffs, with Denver winning two of three, but New England won the last meeting back in 2011. The big storyline in this matchup is the battle of the Quarterback, as we will once again see Peyton manning go up against Tom Brady. Brady has won 10 of 14 matchups with Manning's teams, including a 2-1 mark in the postseason in which the home team has prevailed each time. We know both QB's can throw the football, as Brady had 4,343 pass yards this year, while Manning set a new record with 5,477 pass yards this season. Both teams have 1,000+ yard receivers this year, for the Patriots it was Julian Edleman, while Denver had both Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas. So it's almost a given the passing game will be there.

In this game however, I feel its going to be the running game that's going to be a key, especially if New England wants to stand a chance. Look at what happened against the Colts, when LaGarret Blunt went off for 4 TD runs and over 100 yards rushing. For the Patriots to pull off the upset this week, as the Broncos are favored, they need to control the clock by running the football, and put pressure on Peyton Manning on Defense. The Patriot defense needs to rush Peyton like crazy. For the Broncos, they need to do the same on defense and try to get to Brady, making him as uncomfortable as possible in the pocket. Also the Broncos running game will have to be a bigtime factor too. Knowshon Moreno had a career-high 1,038 rushing yards this season, and the Patriots will be very familiar with him after he had a career-best 224 yards in the November meeting. And while the Patriots remember what Moreno did to them in the last meeting, While New England knows what to expect from Moreno, Denver can't say the same about LeGarrette Blount, who had two carries for 13 yards the last time these teams met. So it's going to come down to a battle of running backs, which will make for an interesting battle.

Now if the past has been any indication, then Denver has to be the favorite here. In the last three playoff meetings between the two clubs, the home team has won every game. Sure the Patriots took the last playoff meeting in New England, but that was a bigtime mismatch. This is going to be a different game. Its going to be a high scoring game, with coming down to who has the ball last. It's going to be a tight ball game but in the end I just think Peyton has more to work with and will be better suited for this ball game than in past meetings with the Patriots. Denver takes it and advances to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1998!

Next up we have the NFC Championship game between the Seattle Seahawks playing host to the San Francisco 49ers at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, with kickoff set for 6:30PM on Fox. This will be the first meeting between these to franchises in the playoffs. San Francisco is coming in red hot, having won eight straight games, including the last two in the playoffs over Green Bay and Carolina, both on the road mind you. Though the teams have split the last four meetings, Seattle has owned the 49ers, forcing seven turnovers and outscoring San Francisco 71-16 to win the last two at raucous CenturyLink Field. It's already tough enough playing in Seattle, as we know that the 12th man has been known to be quite loud. Factor that in with a good Seahawks team, it looks like a very daunting task for the 49ers.

When these two teams met in week two this year, Kaepernick completed 50.0 percent of his passes for 371 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions in his two starts at Seattle. His 87 yards on nine carries highlighted San Francisco's 29-3 loss there in Week 2. However, once the playoffs roll around, Colin Kaepernick is a different quarterback, as he's 4-1 in the postseason, including 3-0 on the road. He posted a 92.7 passer rating and threw six TDs and three INTs in those five games, while rushing for 377 yards and four touchdowns with a 9.4-yard per-carry average. So yeah, the guy can perform come playoff time. So Seattle has the unenviable task of trying to containe him and a decent running attack, lead by Franke Gore.

Lets not forget that Seattle has a pretty good QB in their own right in Russel Wilson. Seattle's Russell Wilson has thrown for five TDs and two INTs while posting a 101.4 passer rating in the past two at home against the 49ers. So he has good numbers in his career against the 49ers. And lets not forget about the running back the Seahawks have, some guy name Marshawn Lynch, who had another big week last week against the Saints, a team he always seems to dominate come playoff time. For San Francisco to pull this game out, he has to be contained.

The biggest problem Seattle is going to have thought, is trying to deal with a team in San Francisco that's allowed averages of 15.5 points and 304.9 yards over the last eight weeks. This contest is going to be just as close and just as exciting as the AFC title game. In this game however, I think its going to be the passing game that's going to be the deciding factor. Just by looking at the numbers, San Francisco has a better pass attack than Seattle this season. Seattle is going to be a tough team to beat, but it can and will be done as the 49ers will be playing in the Super Bowl for the 2nd year in a row.

So there you have it, our preview for the AFC and NFC Title games. Now sit back relax and enjoy some good hard hitting FOOTBALL!

Dodgers Lock Up Clayton Kershaw Long Term

Everybody knows that Clayton Kershaw is one of the best young arms in baseball today. The Dodgers know it and have locked him up to a long term deal. The team has signed their best pitcher to a seven year deal worth $215 million. It is the richest deal for a pitcher in Major League Baseball history, eclipsing the seven-year, $180 million contract Detroit gave Justin Verlander last winter, and his average annual salary of $30.7 million is the highest ever for any baseball player. Kershaw will also have the opportunity to become a free agent again in five years, if he chooses (ESPN).

Kershaw has won two of the last three NL CY Young Awards (RA Dickey won the other), is getting his new deal off of a very solid year last year, going 16-9 with a 1.83 ERA and 232 strikeouts. In fact, Kershaw has a 2.60 career ERA and recorded at least 212 strikeouts in each of the past four seasons (ESPN). With the new deal for Kershaw, the Dodgers now have five players with an average annual value of $20 million or more. Among active contracts (or contracts signed that have not yet started), the Dodgers now have five of the 22 largest average yearly salaries in the sport on the roster -- Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp (ESPN). So its obvious the Dodgers are not afraid to spend money to keep their players in tact.

The big question here is whether or not Kershaw was worth that much money? I say yes he is, at least amongst pitchers anyway. Very few pitchers that currently pitch in the National League are as dominant as Kershaw. Sure you have guys like Adam Wainwright, Stephen Strausberg, Tim Hudson and Tim Lincecum, but I think it is safe to say that Kershaw is the best of the bunch.

Now we can see if he can live up to his new contract. Kershaw should be able to I have no doubt, but the reason I bring this point up is we have seen in other sports recently that some stars have trouble living up to their new bigtime deals. Kershaw can handle it though!

Owego Women's Hockey Stumbles On Road

The Oswego State Women's Hockey team kicked off the 2014 portion of the schedule on the road, heading away from the friendly confines of the Campus center Ice Arena for the first time since before thanksgiving. This time, the team made the trip to the Resch Olympic Pavilion in Wisconsin, to take on the St. Norbert Green Knights.

First up was a Friday Night showdown at the Pavilion, a  tight checking game which saw the Green Knights pull out the 4-2 victory. St. Norbert scored the lone goal of the opening period, as at the 11:17 mark Lauren Roethlisberger scored her 4th of the year. Norbert increased their lead to 2-0 at the 3:14 mark of the middle frame, when Zoe Kurth scored her 3rd of the year. Oswego would cut the lead in half at the 7:18 mark when Emma Smetaniuk connected for her 3rd of the year. Laurel Hill scored her 2nd of they year with just over a minute left in the 2nd to rebuild the St. Norbert 2 goal lead.  Oswego would cut the lead to one when Jocelyn St. Clair scored her 1st of the year, a powerplay goal, with just over five minutes left in regulation. St. Norbert would put the game away when Zoe Kurth scored her 2nd of the game into an empty net to seal the 4-2 Green Knights victory.

Katie Aluia picked up the win for St. Norbert, improving her record to 5-0-0 on the year, as she stopped 23 of the 25 shots she faced. Catherine Cote took the loss for Oswego, dropping her record to 5-3-0, as she stopped 17 of the 20 shots she faced.

The two teams squared off again at the Pavilion the following afternoon, in a much more dramatic affair. Sadly for Oswego the result was the same as the day before, a loss. This time St. Norbert pulled out a 3-2 win. Andrea Senne scored the only goal of the opening period, her 2nd of the season, to give the Green Knights a 1-0 lead. That lead would be increased to 2-0 at the 12:14 mark of the 2nd when Zoe Kurth scored 5th of the season and 3rd in the last 2 games. Oswego would get on the board at the 18:15 mark of the 2nd when Erika Truschke scored her 2nd of the season. Oswego would tie the game at 2 thanks to Kendall Appelbaum's 4th of the year, a powerplay goal at the 8:15 mark of the 3rd period. St. Norbert took advantage of a powerplay late in the game, and at 16:05 of the 3rd Lauren Roethlisberger scored to give the Green Knights a 3-2, one they would not relinquish.

Kaley Gibson got then win for St. Norbert, improving her record to 3-5-1, as she stopped 28 of the 30 shots she faced. Meanwhile Tori Trovato took the loss for Oswego, dropping her record to 1-1-0, as she stopped 37 of the 40 shots she faced.

Oswego keeps the road trip going this weekend, with a pair of games at  the Buffalo State Sports Arena to take on the Buffalo State Bengals in an ECAC West Matchup!

(Photo provided by Oswego State Athletics)

Oswego Men's Hockey Keeps Right On Rolling

Ever since the calender turned to 2014, the Oswego State Men's Hockey team has kept right on rolling along. First it started with the victory in the Pathfinder Bank Oswego Hockey Classic, winning both of their games, and capturing the title in a shootout. They followed that up with a shutout win at home over Nazareth. Now they took their act on the road for the first time in the new year, and came back with a pair of solid victories.

First up was a rematch with the Golden Eagles in Nazreth. Oswego made their first trip there since the hockey program at Naz has been istituted. Oswego pulled it out, walking away with a 5-3 win. Oswego jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a pair of goals from Matt Galati (goals 9 and 10 on the year) and one from Chris Watterstreet, his 2nd of the year. They carried that three goal advantage into the intermission. Once the 2nd period got started, Nazareth came storming back, with two quick goals, one from David Seward and the other from Jon-Paul Durso. But Oswego would regain a two goal advantage thanks to Dylan Smith's 4th of the year. Seward would score again before the period ended, cutting Oswego's lead to just 4-3 heading to intermission. The Lakers would put the finishing touches on the win when Morgan Bonner scored his first career goal into an empty net, sealing a 5-3 Oswego win.

Ed Zdolshek took the loss for Nazareth, dropping his record to 0-9-2 on the season, as he stopped 18 of the 23 shots he faced. Meanwhile Matt Zawadzki picked up the win for Oswego, improving to 5-0-2 on the year, as he stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced. Oswego went 2 for 5 on the powerplay, while Nazareth went 1 for 3.

The next night Oswego continued their road trip, heading to Memorial Auditorium in Utica to take on the same Pioneers team they just beat in the Championship game of the Pathfinder Bank Tournament. The result was exactly the same as the night before, Oswego skating away with a 5-3 win on the road. Mike Montagna got Oswego on the board first with his 4th of the season, a powerplay goal. Utica would answer back just over ten minutes later, when Adam Graff scored his 7th of the season. It took Oswego just 17 seconds to retake the lead, thanks to Brandon Adams 6th of the season. Oswego went into the first intermission holding a 2-1 lead. The two teams would trade goals in the 2nd period, with Dylan Smith scoring his 5th of the year for Oswego and Ridge Garbutt scoring his 4th of the year for Utica. The Lakers held the 3-2 lead going into the2nd intermission. When the 3rd period started, Oswego came out firing, scoring two quick goals, one from Kenny Neil, his 5th, and Matt Galati, his 11th. Utica got one back late, but the Lakers would hang on to the 5-3 victory.

Marcus Zelzer took the loss for Utica, dropping his record to 3-1-1 on the season, as he stopped 33 of the 38 shots he faced. Meanwhile Mat Zawadzki picked up the win for Oswego, improving his record to 6-0-2 on the year, as he stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced. Oswego went 3 for 5 on the powerplay while Utica went 0 for 3.

Oswego then returned home for another rare Tuesday Night game at the Campus Center Ice Arena, this time playing host to Salve Regina. This time it wasn't a close, tight checking game. Oswego's offense exploded for 9 goals in a 9-3 victory. Jonathan Felteau and a pair from Cameron Gaudet provided the only scoring for Salve Regina. Oswego got plenty of offense to go around, getting goals from Shawn Hulshof (6th), Matt Galati (12th), Alex Botten (4th), David Titanic (3rd), Stephen Johnson (3rd), a pair from Chris Raguseo (2nd and 3rd) and a pair from Kenny Neil (6th and 7th).

Oswego now gets a little rest as they get set to play Nazareth and Elmira over the weekend!

(Photo provided by Oswego State Athletics)

NFL Divisional Round Recap

Yes that's right, we are one step closer to Metlife Stadium and the Super Bowl. The NFL's Divisional round is in the books, with wild and crazy action, that wasn't as nail biting as Wild Card Weekend. This weekend saw New Orleans try to keep up a road winning streak in Seattle, New England and Indy renew an old rivalry, Cam Newton's playoff debut against the 49ers and Peyton Manning trying to shake off the events of last season.

In the first game of the weekend, the New Orleans Saints had the unevniable task of heading to Seattle to take on Russel Wilson and the Seahawks. The Seahawks defeated the Saints to advance to their first NFC Championship Game since 2005. The win was the Seahawks' fifth consecutive home playoff win, as they have not lost at home in the playoffs since being defeated by the St. Louis Rams in 2004. The Saints were unable to win a second consecutive playoff game away from home after winning a franchise-first the previous week.

Seattle scored the first sixteen points of the game, all in the first half. Kicker Steven Hauschka hit field goals of 38, 49, and 26 yards and Marshawn Lynch added a 15-yard run. New Orleans did not get on the board until the fourth quarter when running back Khiry Robinson scored on a one-yard run. Fellow back Mark Ingram added a two-point conversion to make it 16–8. Late in the fourth quarter, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson hit wide receiver Doug Baldwin on third down and 3 for a first down at the New Orleans 31-yard line. Saints head coach Sean Payton lost the subsequent challenge and it cost the Saints their final timeout. On the very next play Lynch scored again on the ground, and the extra point gave the Seahawks a 23–8 lead with 2:40 remaining.

On the Saints' drive that followed, quarterback Drew Brees led his team down the field eighty yards in nine plays, the last coming on fourth down and 6 from the Seahawks' nine-yard line when Brees found Marques Colston in the endzone for a touchdown. Kicker Shayne Graham, who had missed two field goals earlier in the game, kicked the extra point to put New Orleans within eight with twenty-six seconds remaining. On the subsequent kickoff, Graham's onside kick traveled to Seattle receiver Golden Tate at the Saints' 42 yard line. Tate bobbled the ball, and Colston fell on the ball at the 41-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Brees found tight end Jimmy Graham for eight yards, then spiked the ball to stop the clock.

On the next play, Brees found Colston along the sideline at the Seattle 38 yard line. Instead of running out of bounds to stop the clock and give the Saints one more chance, Colston turned back toward the field of play and attempted to keep the play going by relaying the ball across the field to teammate Darren Sproles. However, the throw by Colston to Sproles was forward – therefore not qualifying as a lateral – resulting in an illegal-forward-pass penalty which included a game-ending runoff; thus, the Seahawks won, 23–15.

Next up, we renewed an old rivalry as Andrew Luck lead the Colts into Foxbrough to take on Tom Brady and the Patriots. New England intercepted four passes, rushed for 234 yards, and scored 6 rushing touchdowns – the second highest total in postseason history – as they advanced to their eighth conference championship game in the last 13 years.

The Patriots took a 7–0 lead just 1:15 into the game after Alfonzo Dennard intercepted a pass from Colts quarterback Andrew Luck on the third play of the game and returned it 27 yards to the Indianapolis 2-yard line. On the next play, LeGarrette Blount ran the ball into the end zone for a score. Then after an Indianapolis punt, Tom Brady completed a 25-yard pass to Julian Edelman and a 16-yarder to Danny Amendola as the Patriots drove 74 yards to increase their lead to 14–0 on Blount's second 2-yard touchdown run of the first quarter. This time, the Colts managed to respond. Faced with 3rd and 6 on their ensuing drive, Luck converted the down with a 22-yard pass to Griff Whalen, and then threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to receiver LaVon Brazill on the next play, cutting the score to 14–7.

Early in the second quarter, Edelman caught passes for gains of 27 and 13 yards as the team drove 75 yards to up the score to 21–7 with Blount's third 2-yard touchdown run of the half. Luck countered with a 29-yard completion to tight end Coby Fleener that set up Adam Vinatieri's 36-yard field goal. Then the Colts caught a break when a high snap sailed over the head of Patriots punter Ryan Allen. Allen recovered the ball on his own 1-yard line, but fumbled it while being tackled by Kelvin Sheppard. The ball went through the end zone for a safety, making the score 21–12. To make matters worse for New England, Allen was knocked out of the game on the play; placekicker Stephen Gostkowski replaced Allen for the rest of the game. After the free kick, Indianapolis drove to the Patriots' 39-yard line, but linebacker Dont'a Hightower ended the drive by intercepting Luck with 1:14 left in the half.

After the Patriots punted on the opening drive of the second half, Luck's completions to T. Y. Hilton and Fleener for gains of 40 and 16 yards set up Vinatieri's 21-yard field goal, cutting their deficit to 6 points at 21–15. But this was as close as they would get for the rest of the game. On the Patriots' ensuing drive, Brady's 53-yard completion to Amendola moved the ball to the Colts' 32-yard line, and they eventually scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by Stevan Ridley; he added a two-point conversion, increasing New England's lead to 29–15. Indianapolis struck back quickly with Luck completing a 46-yard pass to Hilton and a 37-yard touchdown pass to Brazill.

However, the Patriots quickly dashed the Colts' comeback hopes early in the fourth quarter. With 13:08 left in the game, Blount broke through the line and took off for a 73-yard touchdown run, putting New England back up by 14 points at 36–22. Then New England linebacker Jamie Collins intercepted a pass from Luck and returned it 20 yards to the Colts' 18-yard line, and they scored another touchdown on a 1-yard rush by Ridley. Indianapolis was forced into a three-and-out on their next drive, enabling New England to get the ball back and run almost 8 minutes off the clock, aided by Blount's 30-yard run. By the time the Colts got the ball back, only 2:34 remained. Then Dennard sealed the win by recording his second interception from Luck on Indianapolis' final play.

Blount tied a franchise playoff record with 166 rushing yards, and set a franchise record with 4 rushing touchdowns. He also returned two kickoffs for 37 yards. Ridley rushed for 52 yards and two touchdowns, while Brady threw for 198 yards. His top target was Edelman, who caught 6 passes for 84 yards. Luck threw for 331 yards and two touchdowns, but completed only 20 of 41 passes and was intercepted 4 times. Hilton caught 4 passes for 103 yards.

There we have all the action from Saturday, First up Sunday we saw the playoff debut of Cam Newton, as he and the Carolina Panthers played host to Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco recovered from a 10–6 first half deficit by intercepting Panthers quarterback Cam Newton twice, sacking him four times, while scoring 17 unanswered points to earn their third consecutive trip to the NFC championship game.

A 23-yard completion from 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to rookie receiver Quinton Patton helped the team advance to the Panthers' 24-yard line on their opening drive. But on third down, Kaepernick was sacked for a 7-yard loss by linebacker Luke Kuechly, forcing the team to settle for Phil Dawson's 49-yard field goal. Then on Carolina's next drive, Newton was intercepted by linebacker Patrick Willis on the Panthers' 46-yard line, and the 49ers converted the turnover into another Dawson field goal to take a 6–0 lead. Carolina took the ball back and drove 65 yards to the 49ers' 1-yard line, only to turn the ball over on downs when Newton was stopped short on the first play of the second quarter. But the Panthers' defense forced the 49ers to punt after three plays, and Ted Ginn, Jr. returned the ball 24 yards to the San Francisco 31-yard line. On the next play, Newton completed a deep pass down the left side of the field for a 31-yard touchdown completion to receiver Steve Smith, giving the Panthers their first lead, 7–6.

San Francisco was forced to punt again on their ensuing possession, and Newton led the Panthers back for more points. After rushing twice for 17 yards, Newton's 35-yard completion to tight end Greg Olsen gave them a first down on the 49ers' 20-yard line. The drive stalled at the 7-yard line, where Graham Gano kicked a 24-yard field goal to give the team a 10–6 lead with 3:41 left in the half. But Kaepernick rallied the 49ers back, completing three passes to Anquan Boldin for 42 yards and a 20-yarder to Michael Crabtree. With just 14 seconds left, he finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Vernon Davis in the right corner of the end zone. Davis was ruled out of bounds when he made the catch, but a replay review showed he had both feet in bounds before stepping out and the call was overturned. With his touchdown, the teams went into their locker rooms at halftime with San Francisco leading 13–10.

In the second half, San Francisco completely took over; after Carolina punted on the opening drive, Kaepernick completed passes to Boldin for gains of 16 and 45 yards as the 49ers drove 77 yards and got into the end zone on Kaepernick's 4-yard run. Then after a long Panthers drive ended on the 49ers' 37-yard line with a punt, San Francisco running back Frank Gore's 39-yard burst set up a 34-yard field goal by Dawson, giving the 49ers a 23–10 lead with 7:35 left in the fourth quarter. Carolina responded with a drive to the San Francisco 28-yard line, but safety Donte Whitner intercepted a pass from Newton to prevent any scoring. After the turnover, the 49ers put the game away with a possession that ran the clock down to 12 seconds.

Kaepernick completed 15 of 28 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 15 yards and a score. Nearly all of his passing production came from Boldin, who caught 8 passes for 136 yards. Gore added 84 rushing yards, while linebacker Ahmad Brooks had six tackles and 2.5 sacks. Willis had 11 tackles – 5 of which were solo tackles – and an interception. Newton finished his first playoff game 16-for-25 for 267 yards and a touchdown, with 2 interceptions. He also had 10 carries for 54 yards. Ginn caught 4 passes for 104 yards, returned two punts for 26 yards, and had 80 yards returning kickoffs.

Finally we had the Denver Broncos playing host to the San Diego Chargers. Heading into the weekend, there were a lot of question marks about Peyton Manning and this Broncos team? Where they for real? Was last year a fluke or not? All those questions were answered and then some on Sunday, as the Broncos beat the Chargers 24-17. This was the first time Denver has won in this round since 2006. Manning welcomed Wes Welker, one of his favorite targets who had been out with a concussion, back into the lineup with a touchdown toss Sunday and the Denver Broncos narrowly avoided a repeat of their playoff slip from last year.

Last year it was the bomb pass from Flacco to Jacoby Jones that spelled the end for Denver. This year, Manning rescued the Broncos from the brink of another crushing collapse and sent them into the title game for the first time in eight seasons. Manning completed 25 of 36 passes for 230 yards and two TDs, numbers not quite close to what he put up during the regular season, but still ve5ry good for considering what Manning has done in past playoff performances.

But it was windy and the Broncos were intent on establishing the run and controlling the clock, and they converted 9 of 13 third downs while holding the ball for 35½ minutes. After gaining just 18 yards on the ground against San Diego last month, the Broncos ran for 133 yards, including 82 by Moreno, whose 3-yard TD run put them ahead 24-7 with 8:12 left. After that, things got interesting. Keenan Allen hauled in a 49-yard catch with Quentin Jammer in coverage on fourth-and-5 from the San Diego 25 with seven minutes left. That led to his second TD -- both from 16 yards -- that pulled the Chargers to 24-14 with 5:43 left.

Decker then made his third big blunder of the day, flubbing the onside kick, which San Diego recovered, leading to Nick Novak's 30-yard field goal with 3:53 remaining that pulled the Chargers (10-8) to within a touchdown. Novak followed with a pooch kick, and Trindon Holliday secured the ball at the Denver 27 with 3:51 left. Manning's third-down brilliance kept the Chargers' offense on the sideline.

In this ball game controlling the ball and the clock was going to be key for the Broncos if they wanted to have success, and that's exactly what they did.

So Championship Sunday is all set for next week as the San Francisco 49ers head north to take on the Seattle Seahawks, while the New England Patriots have to travel to take on the Denver Broncos. We will have full predictions and previews of the game later on this week!

Alex Rodriguez Ruling Handed Out

Just when you thought the story would go away and not get any stranger, it has. The ruling was handed down by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, that Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez ban has been cut to 162 for his involvement in Major League Baseball's Biogenesis scandal. This does include all possible playoff games for the Yankees, should they make it there in October Originally the ban was for 211 games. As expected, Rodriguez said he will contest Saturday's ruling in federal court. The decision will relieve the Yankees of about $24 million in luxury-tax savings based on A-Rod's 2014 salary; the team still owes him about $61 million for 2015-17. We will touch a little more on this in a moment.

Now here's where things get really weird. In a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday night, Anthony Bosch, the founder of the now-shuttered South Florida anti-aging clinic Biogenesis, said that after he rejected Alex Rodriguez's request for him to sign an affidavit, it was suggested he "leave town" until the case was over and that he was then offered money and a trip to Colombia. "60 Minutes" reported it had over 500 BlackBerry messages between Bosch and Rodriguez. Baseball connected the pin number of the messages to a phone owned by Rodriguez.

From what I gathered here, there were threats maid by Alex Rodriguez in this investigation, so there is probable cause for a suspension this long. But for some reason I get this feeling that during the 60 Minutes interview, Bosch was still hiding something from the public. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it is, but there was just this vibe coming that he was still hiding something. I still think there is more to this whole A-Rod story then the public is being told, and it would make some in the public feel better knowing everything that was held against Alex Rodriguez. I would really like to know everything if at all possible, so I can fully determine if this is all justified. I originally didn't think 211 was, I thought it was a bit harsh based on what we knew of the whole situation. Now that all this has gone down over the weekend, i would still like to know more, but the ruling I feel now fits the crime, based on pure evidence that's become public knowledge. Sure I understand that we haven't seen the full picture of what has gone on here, and I don't think we ever will, but based on what we have available to us, I feel this is the right call.

As far as A-Rod's playing career goes, you can kiss that goodbye. He will turn 39 in July and, coming off two hip surgeries and a 2013 season in which he played just 44 games, may not be able to return after sitting out an entire season. Most guys who hit that age are in the decline during there careers and don't have much left in the tank to offer big league clubs. So I think this has spelled the end of his playing career.

Plus Alex is still trying to play this off as being the victim here. A-Rod is still trying to push his belief on everybody that MLB is still trying to keep from paying him the approximate $86 million that the Yankees still owe on his contract. He wants his fellow big-leaguers to think, “This could happen to you.” Don't give us that crap man! You are not the victim here, you are the one who was dumb enough to take the drugs in the first place then try to play it off like it never happened. So no you get no sympathy from me!

NFL Divisional Round Picks and Preview

The stage is set. Eight teams remain in the chase for the Super Bowl. After the excitement from Wild Card Weekend has finally settled down, everybody gets ready for the Divisional Round to kick off, which promises to be just as exciting as last weekends action was. So lets not waste any time and jump right into looking at this weeks action. we start with the action on Saturday.

First up is the New Orleans Saints heading to CenturyLink Field to take on the Seattle Seahawks at 4PM. Seattle had the bye, being the #1 seed in the NFC, while the Saints come in after the dramatic win over the Eagles last weekend. Now then, if the past is any indication, then what happened during the regular season doesn't really matter too much during the playoffs. Here's what I mean. These two teams played in Week 13 of this year, with Seattle blowing out the Saints 34-7 at home. Look at what happened with Denver and Baltimore last year. Denver crushed the Ravens during the regular season and got upset by them come playoff time. It happened to the Giants in 2011 and the Packers in 2010. Look at what happened just last week with the Colts and Chiefs. KC wanted revenge for their loss earlier this year to Indy but couldn't hold the lead and lost. My point is is that nothing is a given come playoff time. Sure the Saints are going to want payback for the loss earlier this season, but there is no promise that it's going to happen

These two teams have met once before in the playoffs, back in 2010 a game which was won by the Seahawks 41-36. So we know anything can happen. As we saw last week, we know Drew Brees and the rest of the Saints can handle playing on the road and in cold weather. Both of those things are going to factor in on Saturday afternoon. There is one other thing that's going to play a factor, that of course being the crowd. Seattle has already set the world record for the loudest crowd, so you know they are going to be a bigtime factor. New Orleans is going to get out to a fast start, but the Seahawks will wake up eventually and pull it out. Seattle takes it by a field goal and moves on to the NFC Championship game.

Next up we have the Saturday Night Game, as Andrew Luck leads the Indianapolis Colts head into Gillette Stadium to battle Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at 8PM. This is still a rivalry lets not forget that fact. It just doesn't seem to have as much steam on it without Peyton Manning playing in Indy. But I digress. New England is 2-1 all time against the Colts in the playoffs, looking again to increase that record. Think about this folks. Since Brady and Belichick have been the coach-QB tandom with the Patriots, they have been deadly in the playoffs. When they get a first round bye, the Patriots are almost a lock to win in the divisional round, going 6-1 in this situation. The only team to beat them was the Jets in 2010. Indy hasn't been quite so lucky. The Colts have only missed the playoffs once since 2002, and have only gotten out of the divisional round three times in that span. So history isn't exactly on the Colts side.

These two teams didn't play eachother during the 2013 regular season. The last time they met in the playoffs was 2006 when the Colts beat the Patriots by 4. New England is coming in rested and ready to go, while the Colts are coming in off that dramatic comeback win last week against Kansas City. Indy is going to be coming in riding high off the win last week, and trust me they are going to be putting up a good fight. But I highly doubt the Patriots are going to be blowing a 28 point lead, especially at home. If the Colts want to have a chance in this game, they have to try and keep it close and possibly see if Andrew Luck has better luck, no pun intended, than Brady in the 4th quarter. I really don't see that happening, as Brady and Belichick will flex their playoff muscle and down the Colts, moving on to the AFC Title game.

Now we move on to the action on Sunday as the San Francisco 49ers head to Bank Of America Stadium in Carolina to take on the Panthers. This will be the 5th trip to the playoffs in Panthers history, the 4th time they are doing so as Division champions and the first time they will ever play the 49ers in the post season. Carolina beat the 49ers in San Francisco 10-9 back in Week 10. Carolina still has something to prove to me and to everybody else. This is the 1st playoff game for the Panthers since 2008, they haven't won a playoff game since beating the Bears in 2005, and they haven't won a home playoff game since 2003, when they went to the Super Bowl. So there is a lot of pressure on Cam Newton and Carolina.

Nobody is really sure how Newton is going to handle the pressure of his first career playoff game, and that uncertainty is going to be an advantage for the 49ers. And San Francisco has proven that they have no problem winning playoff games on the road, as they did it in Atlanta last season as well as in Green Bay last week. This is going to be a good battle of two running QB's but I don't think Colin Kapernick is going to have as easy a time rushing the ball against Carolina's defense as he did against the Packers. What its going to really come down to is playoff experience and the edge goes to the 49ers. San Francisco take the game and will meet the Seahawks in Seattle with the NFC title on the line next week.

Here we have the final game of the weekend,a s Philip Rivers leads the San Diego Chargers into Sports Authority Field at Mile High, to do battle with Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.  This will be the first meeting between the two teams in the playoffs ever, and the 2nd meeting this season between the teams, as San Diego handed Denver their only loss at home this season, 27-20 back in Week 15.  Now the interesting fact about the playoffs is that the three teams that are left in the AFC playoffs, San Diego New Ingland and Indy are the only three teams to beat the Broncos during the regular season.

San Diego is coming into this ballgame a red hot team, having won five in a row, and they are the only team that won last week by more than a field goal. So you know Denver is going to have a fight on their hands on Sunday. A key for this game is going to be ball control, especially from a Denver perspective. If the Broncos don't turn the ball over and give the Chargers easy field position, I can't see San Diego being able to scrap up enough points to win. That's why the beat the Bengals last week, they were able to force the turnovers and give the offense great field position. And lets not forget that Denver had the rough outing a season ago in the loss to the Ravens, so that's going to be a factor if Denver turns out to be a tad bit gun shy at home. Now we will see if either this Chargers team is for real and if Denver really has the mettle it lacked last year in the playoffs. either way its going to be a good ball game, but I think that Denver has too much firepower for the Chargers to overcome. Manning and Brady are on a collision course for the AFC championship game next week in Denver!

So there you have it, we are all set to go for some great football action in the divisional round this weekend!

2014 Baseball Hall of Fame Class Announced

The votes are in. Unlike last season we WILL have a hall of fame class in 2014 for baseball. Three men got the number of votes necessary for election. The three men getting the call are Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas. Craig Biggio missed out on induction by just 2 votes. In fact, of the 22 men who's names appeared on the ballot, only seven received more than 50% of the votes for the hall. Before we get into the guys who missed out on the hall, lets take a look at the three men who are getting induction.

First there is quite possibly the greatest right handed pitcher of this generation in Greg Maddux. Maddux finished with 97.2% of the votes, the 8th highest votes total in history. During his brilliant 23 year career, Maddux went 355-227, good for 8th all time on the wins list, and a career 3.16 ERA. During his career Maddux struck out 3,371 hitters, while allowing just 999 walks. He was an eight time all star, won four Cy Young Awards, won a record 18 gold gloves and was a member of the 1995 world champions with the Atlanta Braves. He did this all pitching for the Braves (11 seasons), Chicago Cubs (10 years 2 stints), Los Angeles Dodgers (2 years) and San Diego Padres (2 years). What mad Maddux so good over his career was he relied on his command, composure, and guile to outwit hitters, something you don't really see too much of in today's game. He had a great command of his pitches, being able to paint the corners better than almost everybody. He also had a durability to him, leading the National League in innings pitched in five consecutive years. He also had outstanding control, finishing with the lowest BB/9 ratio in the NL nine times. He also was the most celebrated fielding pitcher of his day, with a record 18 Gold Gloves to his credit and the third-highest range factor per 9 innings among all Major League pitchers. Very few right handed pitchers in history had the kind of control and command Maddux did, making him a slam dunk to get elected into the hall.

Next there is Tom Glavine, who was a running buddy for Maddux for years with the Braves. Glavine was no slouch, having a great career of his own, pitching 22 years in the big leagues, 17 years with the Braves and 5 with the New York Mets. Glavine finished his career with a  record of 305–203, a 3.54 ERA and 2,607 strikeouts. Glavine was a ten time all star, two time Cy Young Award winner, four time Silver Slugger award winner and was MVP of the 1995 World Series which he won with Atlanta. Glavine is known for a calm, unemotional personality, even during rough outings. This is a marked contrast to longtime teammates Greg Maddux and John Smoltz, both emotional competitors. And, much like Maddux, Glavine has been very consistent during his career, which is also highlighted by his durability. Since his first full year in 1988, he started at least 25 games every year and never being placed on the disabled list until his final season---at age 42. In addition to his excellent changeup and well-controlled fastball, Glavine has a plus-curve ball, a slider, and a tailing two-seam fastball. Despite being a left-handed pitcher, Glavine was often more effective against right-handed batters. Glavine and Maddux, when together in the rotation, made up one of the best one two punches of the 1990's in all of baseball.

And think about this. Both of those guys may be the last two guys to ever hit the 300 win mark for pitchers. The closest active pitcher to getting to 300 was Andy Pettite but he retired with 256 career wins. In fact the only active big league picture with 200 or more wins is CC Sabathia, who has 205.

Finally we have the only hitter to make the hall this year, Frank Thomas. Thomas spent 19 years in the big leagues, with the Chicago White Sox (16 years), Oakland Athletics (2 Years) and Toronto Blue Jays (2 years). During his career, Thomas was a lifetime .301 hitter, with 521 home runs and 1,704 RBI's. Thomas was a five time all star, a four time silver slugger winner, won the 1997 AL Batting Title and oh yeah won the American League MVP in 1993 and 1994. Unlike the other two gentleman he is going into the hall with, Thomas never won a World Series.  He was a big guy and a tremendous power hitter, plus he was one of the few great power hitters who did it clean. He even admitted in his press conference yesterday that he was clean. During his career, for a long time in fact, he was the face of the White Sox franchise. The Big Hurt was the first player in major league history to win two Silver Slugger awards each at two different positions (1993–94 at first base; 1991 & 2000 as designated hitter).

So those are the three who got the call for induction. Lets take a look now at the guys who missed out. First there is Craig Biggio, as he finished two votes shy with a voting percentage of 74.8%. This ties him with Nellie Fox (1985) and Pie Traynor (1947) for smallest margin not to get into the Hall. Biggio was one of the most patient hitters at the plate ever, drawing a fair amount of walks every season.

Also missing out, for the final time, is Jack Morris, who was 78 votes short at 61.5 percent in his 15th and final appearance on the writers' ballot. His next chance at Cooperstown could come at the expansion era committee meeting in December 2016. A solid pitcher in his own right, but wasn't quite at the level of Glavine or Maddux.

Then there's Mike Piazza, who is considered to be one of if not the greatest hitting catchers of all time. Piazza's came in with 62.2%. Of course you have some other names on the list who didn't get voted in like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire and Rafael Palmeiro. Palmeiro landed just 4.4% of the votes. The fact that he has failed to earn 5% of the votes in back to back ballots means that he will be left off the ballot from now on, making him inelegable for hall induction.

To me that's a bit of poetic justice that Palmeiro can't get into the hall. That's a big statement to me made by the sports writers in that they are saying that anybody who has used steroids won't get into the hall. I know it hasn't been proven outright yet but this means to me that the likes of Sosa, McGuire, bonds and Clemens don't have much of a chance to get into the hall going forward.

So there you have it, the hall of fame class of 2014!

Crazy Endings For Wild Card Weekend

Wild Card Weekend in the NFL lived up to all the hype and then some. Crazy endings to crazy, shootout style games defined the weekend for sure. It was also a big, record setting weekend as well. We had a battle of former #1 overall draft picks in Alex Smith and Andrew Luck, Green Bay has had trouble winning at home in the playoffs as of late, and the trend continued, which were just some of the big highlights of the weekend. So if you missed any of the action, fear not, because we got you covered. Here's what you missed from Wild Card Weekend.

A 28-point second half lead was not enough for Kansas City to break their 20-year playoff win drought. Trailing 38–10 a few minutes into the third quarter, Indianapolis scored 35 second half points for the second biggest comeback victory in NFL postseason history, behind only the Buffalo Bills' 32–points comeback in the 41–38 Wild Card game win against the Houston Oilers in 1992.

The game got off to a rough start for the Chiefs, as starting running back Jamaal Charles was knocked out of the game on the opening drive. But before this, he rushed three times for 18 yards as the team drove 84 yards in 14 plays. Quarterback Alex Smith added a 16-yard run, and converted the drive's only third down with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe. Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck quickly led his team back, completing 7 consecutive passes for 74 yards. Four of them went to T. Y. Hilton, including a 24-yarder and a 10-yard touchdown catch to tie the game at 7. On the next possession, Smith completed a 68-yard pass to Bowe at the Colts 2-yard line. But the team could not get into the end zone with their next three plays and had to settle for Ryan Succop's 19-yard field goal to take a 10–7 lead. Then after a Colts three-and-out, Smith launched a 79-yard touchdown bomb to Donnie Avery, increased the Chiefs lead to 17–7 21 seconds into the second quarter.

The situation continued to deteriorate for Indianapolis. On the first play of their next possession, Trent Richardson lost a fumble that linebacker Justin Houston recovered and returned 7 yards to the Colts 17-yard line. Two plays later, Smith's 5-yard touchdown throw to fullback Anthony Sherman on a shovel pass made the score 24–7. This time the Colts managed to respond with a 61-yard scoring drive in which Luck completed a 16-yard pass to Griff Whalen and rushed for a 21-yard gain after faking a handoff up the middle on a 4th and 1 conversion. Adam Vinatieri finished the drive with a 37-yard field goal, cutting the score to 24–10. However, Smith also got to show off his skill at passing and rushing, as he carried the ball 4 times for 24 yards and completed 5 passes for 33 on an 81-yard drive that ended with Knile Davis' 4-yard touchdown run, putting the Chiefs up 31–10. The Colts managed to reach midfield on their next possession, but defensive back Brandon Flowers intercepted a pass from Luck to keep them from scoring before halftime. On the first play of the second half, defensive back Husain Abdullah intercepted Luck and returned the ball 4 yards to the Colts' 18-yard line, setting up Smith's 10-yard scoring toss to Davis that put them up by 28, 38–10. It seemed that Kansas City was in complete control of the game, but Indianapolis suddenly stormed back with 14 unanswered points. First, Luck's 46-yard completion to reserve receiver Da'Rick Rogers moved the ball to the Chiefs' 10-yard line, and Donald Brown ran the ball into the end zone on the next play. Then linebacker Robert Mathis forced a fumble while sacking Smith, and fellow linebacker Kelvin Sheppard recovered for the Colts on the Chiefs' 41-yard line just before it rolled out of bounds. The offense then capitalized with Luck completing 4 passes from 5 attempts, the last a 3-yard scoring pass to Brown that cut the score to 38–24.

Following a Chiefs punt, Abdullah intercepted another pass from Luck. Kansas City took over on the Indianapolis 28-yard line, and scored on a 42-yard Succop field goal to give them a 17-point lead, 41–24, with just over 5 minutes left in the third quarter. But Luck quickly led the Colts back, completing a 25-yard pass to Brown on the first play of the next possession, and later hooking up with LaVon Brazill for a 35-yard gain before finishing it off with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Coby Fleener. Then after a three-and-out, Kansas City punter Dustin Colquitt's 31-yard boot pinned Indianapolis back at their own 10-yard line. But it did not stop the Colts, as Luck completed 5 out of 6 passes for 61 yards and rushed for 12 on a 90-yard scoring drive. On the last play, Brown fumbled the ball while trying to run it into the end zone, but it bounced right back into the hands of Luck, who took it across the goal line himself for a touchdown. With this score, the lead was cut to 41–38 with 10:38 left in the game.

Aided by A. J. Jenkins' 27-yard reception, the Chiefs managed to run the clock down to 5:36 with their ensuing drive. Succop finished it off with a 43-yard field goal to put the team up by 6 points. But three plays after the kickoff, Luck fired a deep pass to Hilton over the middle, who caught it without breaking stride and took off for a 64-yard touchdown catch, giving Indy their first lead of the game at 45–44. With 4:21 left, Kansas City desperately tried to get in range for a leading field goal. Smith started the drive with a pair of completions to Bowe for 38 yards. But after a 3-yard running play moved the ball to the Colts 39-yard line, Smith was flagged for a 10-yard intentional grounding penalty. The next play netted the team 6 yards, bringing up 4th down and 11. On the next play, Smith threw a deep pass to Bowe along the right sideline. Bowe made a leaping catch, but landed with only one foot in bounds, causing a turnover on downs and allowing Indianapolis to run out the rest of the clock.

For Kansas City, Smith finished the game 30-for-46 for 378 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 57 yards. His top receiver was Bowe, who caught 8 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. Davis rushed for 67 yards, caught 7 passes for 33 yards, and scored two touchdowns. Abdullah had six tackles and two interceptions. For Indianapolis, Luck finished 29-for-45 for 443 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 3 interceptions. He also rushed for 45 yards and scored a fumble recovery touchdown. Hilton caught 13 passes for 224 yards – the third highest total in postseason history – and two touchdowns. Both teams combined for 1,049 total yards (513 for Kansas City, 536 for Indianapolis), an NFL postseason record. This was the eighth consecutive playoff loss for Kansas City, an NFL record.

That was just a nuts finish to the opening game of the weekend. Moving on to the night cap, we saw the New Orleans Saints overcome their road woes against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philly, the first road playoff win in Saints history. The first quarter of the game was scoreless. The farthest the Saints made it was to the Eagles 49-yard line, and that drive ended when Drew Brees was intercepted by defensive back Bradley Fletcher, who returned the ball 24 yards to the New Orleans 27-yard line. After the turnover, Philadelphia drove to the Saints 15-yard line, but New Orleans' defense made two key plays to prevent a score. First, Curtis Lofton tackled tight end Brent Celek on a screen pass for an 8-yard loss. Then defensive end Cameron Jordan sacked Nick Foles for an 11-yard loss, pushing the Eagles all the way back to the 34-yard line. Following a 4-yard gain on third down, Alex Henery missed a 48-yard field goal 34 seconds into the second quarter.

After the miss, New Orleans drove 43 yards to score on Shayne Graham's 36-yard field goal and take the lead, aided by a replay review that caused officials to overturn a lost fumble by tight end Jimmy Graham. New Orleans subsequently forced the Eagles to punt on their next drive, but then linebacker DeMeco Ryans intercepted Brees and returned the ball 23 yards to the Saints' 44-yard line. Philadelphia receiver Riley Cooper started off their possession with a 22-yard reception, and finished it with a 10-yard touchdown catch to give the Eagles a 7–3 lead. New Orleans responded with a 47-yard scoring drive, with Brees completing a 17-yard pass to Jimmy Graham and a 13-yarder to Kenny Stills on the way to a 46-yard field goal by Shayne Graham with less then two minutes left in the half, cutting the score to 7–6 going into halftime.

Philadelphia was forced to punt on their opening drive of the second half, and Darren Sproles returned the ball 12 yards to the Saints 47-yard line. Aided by Mark Ingram's 3 carries for 24 yards, New Orleans drove 53 yards to score their first touchdown on Brees' 24-yard pass to receiver Lance Moore, giving them a 13–7 lead. The next time New Orleans had the ball, they matched that feat with a 66-yard scoring drive. Tight end Benjamin Watson caught a 24-yard pass, while Ingram had 5 carries for 26 yards, the last a 4-yard touchdown run that put his team up 20–7. The Eagles managed to respond, with Foles' 40-yard completion to DeSean Jackson setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by LeSean McCoy, trimming their deficit to 20–14 with just over 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

New Orleans went three-and-out on their next drive, and Jackson's 29-yard punt return to the Saints' 40-yard line set up Henery's 30-yard field goal. But Brees' 40-yard completion to Robert Meachem helped move the Saints in range for another Shayne Graham field goal to put them back up by six points at 23–17. Taking the ball back with just over 8 minutes left in regulation, the Eagles managed to drive 77 yards to take the lead, aided by a 40-yard pass interference penalty on defensive back Corey White. Foles finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown toss to tight end Zach Ertz, giving the Eagles a 24–23 lead at 4:54. However, the Saints would need to cover little ground for their game winning drive, as Sproles returned the ensuing kickoff 39 yards, with a horse-collar tackle penalty on Cary Williams adding on another 15. As a result, New Orleans got the ball on the Eagles' 48-yard line and needed just 34 yards to set up Shayne Graham's game-winning 32-yard field goal – as time expired – which they managed to space out over 10 plays to run the clock down to 3 seconds on the play.

Foles finished his first playoff game completing 23 of 33 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper was the top receiver of the game with 6 catches for 68 yards. Ryans had 10 tackles – 8 of which were solo tackles – and an interception. Brees threw for 250 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions. Ingram was the game's top rusher with 18 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown, while also catching 3 passes for 17 yards.

That was just the hot and heavy action from Saturday. but wait there's still more from Sunday. First up saw the Bengals blow and lead and get shut out in the 2nd half, getting upset by the Chargers. And although the Bengals outgained San Diego in total yards, 439–319, and first downs, 27–16, the Chargers defense forced four turnovers, two failed fourth down conversion attempts, and shut out Cincinnati in the second half to send them home with their first home loss of the season and their 6th consecutive playoff loss since 1990.

After a pair of punts started the game, San Diego drove 86 yards in 12 plays, including a 22-yard reception by tight end Ladarius Green, and scored on Danny Woodhead's 5-yard touchdown run. Following two more punts, Cincinnati tied the score with a 60-yard scoring drive. The key player on it was rookie running back Giovani Bernard, who rushed 5 times for 28 yards and caught a pass for 11. Quarterback Andy Dalton finished the possession with a 4-yard scoring pass to tight end Jermaine Gresham, his first postseason touchdown pass in three playoff games. After a San Diego three-and-out, the Bengals appeared to gain momentum with Dalton's 49-yard completion to receiver Marvin Jones. But on the next play, linebacker Donald Butler forced a fumble from Bernard that Richard Marshall recovered for the Chargers in the end zone and returned 13 yards to the 11-yard line. San Diego was forced into a three-and-out again, and Cincinnati got the ball back on their own 32-yard line with 1:14 left in the half. Dalton subsequently completed three passes for 41 yards to set up Mike Nugent's 46-yard field goal, giving the Bengals a 10–7 first half lead.

However, that was all Cincinnati accomplished as the Chargers took over in the second half. After forcing the Bengals to punt on their opening second half drive, Philip Rivers completed a 33-yard pass to Eddie Royal that set up his 4-yard touchdown toss to Ladarius Green, giving the Chargers the lead at 14–10. Then Dalton lost a fumble at the end of a 12-yard run without being touched, and defensive back Jahleel Addae recovered for San Diego on the Bengals' 46-yard line. The Chargers then drove 40 yards in 9 plays to go up 17–10 with Nick Novak's 25-yard field goal. Then after two plays on the Bengals next drive, cornerback Shareece Wright intercepted a pass from Dalton and returned it 30 yards to the Cincinnati 3-yard line, setting up another Novak field goal that made the score 20–10. Dalton threw another interception on the ensuing possession, this one to linebacker Melvin Ingram. Although the Chargers would not convert this one into points, the Chargers' defense would go on to pin down the Bengals for the rest of the game. For their final three drives, they turned the ball over on downs twice in Chargers territory, while their final drive ended as time expired on the Chargers' 6-yard line. Meanwhile, a 58-yard touchdown run by San Diego running back Ronnie Brown made the final score 27–10.

Rivers finished the day 12-for-18 for 128 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions. Dalton finished 29-for-51 for 334 yards and a touchdown – and rushed for 26 yards – but was intercepted twice and lost a fumble. Bernard rushed for 45 yards and caught 7 passes for 73. Jones caught 8 passes for 130 yards, setting a postseason franchise record and making him the first Bengals player to have over 100 receiving yards in a playoff game since Cris Collinsworth in the 1983 season. Bengals receiver A. J. Green, who had 1,426 receiving yards during the season, finished the game with just 3 catches for 34 yards.

Finally we had the night cap Sunday which saw the Packers host the 49ers in a rematch from last years NFC Wild Card Game. Colin Kapernick had a field day a season ago, and to the Packers credit, they did a better job containing him than a season ago. Sadly for Packers fans, the result was exactly the same: a 49ers victory.

After the Packers punted on their opening drive, San Francisco started off the scoring with a 69-yard drive, featuring a 31-yard completion from Kaepernick to Michael Crabtree, that ended with Dawson's 22-yard field goal. Green was subsequently forced to punt again, and Tim Masthay's kick went just 29 yards to the Packers 49-yard line. Frank Gore rushed 4 times for 21 yards for the 49ers as they drove 42 yards to go up 6-0 on Dawson's second field goal of the day.

The Packers were forced to a three-and-out on their next drive, but this time their defense managed to step up and make a big play. Early in the second quarter, defensive back Tramon Williams intercepted the ball from Kaepernick and returned it 17 yards to the Green Bay 30-yard line. After the turnover, Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers completed 6/7 passes for 45 yards as the team went 70 yards and 14 plays on a drive in which they never gained more than 9 yards on a single play. Rodgers capped it off with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson that gave the Pack a 7-6 lead. In a notable contrast, the 49ers quickly struck back, scoring with just five plays as Kaepernick took off for a 42-yard gallop to set up Gore's touchdown on a 10-yard run. Green Bay responded with Rodgers completing a 19-yard pass to Nelson and a 13-yarder to running back James Starks on a 59-yard drive that ended with Mason Crosby's 34-yard field goal as time expired in the half, making the score 13-10 at halftime.

San Francisco drove to the Green Bay 25-yard line on the first drive of the second half, but on third down, linebacker Nick Perry sacked Kaepernick for an 8-yard loss and the 49ers decided to punt rather then attempt a long field goal. Following one more punt from each team, Rodgers led the Packers on a 80-yard drive to take a 17-13 lead on fullback John Kuhn's 1-yard touchdown run. The highlight of the drive was a 4th down 2 conversion in which Rodgers managed to power out of a tackle attempt and throw a pass to Randall Cobb for a 26-yard gain. However, like Green Bay's earlier touchdown, the 49ers quickly struck back, starting with LaMichael James' 37-yard kickoff return to the 37-yard line. Kaepernick then broke off a 24-yard run and soon finished the drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Vernon Davis, retaking the lead for the 49ers at 20-17.

Taking the ball back with just over 10 minutes left in regulation, Rodgers led the Packers back with 4 completions for 46 yards, including a 25-yard pass to Cobb. Crosby finished the drive with a 24-yard field goal, re-tying the game at 20 with 5:16 to go. But this was matched by the 49ers, who drove 65 yards for the game-winning score. Kaepernick completed three passes for 39 yards along the way, two for 28 to Crabtree, and also rushed for 11. Gore also played a key role, rushing 5 times for 15 yards, including 4 consecutive carries that forced Green Bay to use up all their timeouts. Then with just 3 seconds left, Dawson managed to narrowly get his 33-yard field goal inside the right upright to give the 49ers a 23-20 win.

Rodgers finished the day 17/26 for 177 yards and a touchdown, along with 11 rushing yards. Kaepernick completed 16/30 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. He also rushed 7 times for 98 yards. Crabtree was the leading receiver of the game with 8 receptions for 125 yards. 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks had 6 tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble.

So there you have it. You are now caught up with the action from a crazy Wild Card Weekend. By the end of the week we will have full previews for you of the Divisional Round of the playoffs!