Super Bowl Week Blog
Golic here checking in from Miami. I love it. The sun. The beach. The great food. And, oh yeah, it’s the Super Bowl this week. Tony Dungy said “Why don’t we just play this one in Ft. Wayne.” That’s how close these two teams are. But I’d rather go to Miami where there’s nicer weather and I can get a tan.
SUPER BOWL PREVIEW – Part 2:
Last week we talked about how the Indianapolis Colts defense matches up with the Chicago Bears offense. Although everyone will be talking about the Chicago D versus the Indy offense, and the name match-up in Peyton Manning and Brian Urlacher, keep an eye on this Colt D/Bear offense match-up and the special teams, since the game could easily be won or lost when these guys are on the field.
Colts Offense vs. Bears Defense
When you’re playing Peyton Manning, you have to mix it up. You can’t do one thing like pressuring him with blitzes, because he’ll kill you. You have to be able to disguise looks, which the Bears can do. They have a good D. They have to somehow, someway confuse the blocking schemes up front to get a free rusher in. That’s what Pittsburgh did last year. Peyton doesn’t like pressure. (Not that many QBs do.) Plus the Bears defense has ball hawkers. You could catch a 10 or 12 yard slant in front of them, but they’re going to try to rip the ball out of your hands. They do a great great job of that. They will take the ball away from you and will try to score with it. Even though you may see the Colts make some plays, don’t rest easy as a Colts fan until the guy’s down and the whistle blows.
The Bears D struggled against the run late in the season. That had a lot to do with Tommie Harris getting hurt early on. They lost Mike Brown in the secondary and at times they weren’t getting pressure on the QB. But against the Saints they did get pressure on the QB, sacking Drew Brees 3 times, and made him hold onto the ball. Stopping the run and pressuring the QB had been their weakness. They did it well last week, so let’s see if they can do it again against the Colts.
Food Pick:
Before I get into my pick to win the Super Bowl, how about my pick for the super foods I love when I’m in Miami? From spending my final year in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins to going to a couple of Super Bowls down there, I think I have a little experience with the local grub.
When I’m there, I’ll be down at Joe’s Stone Crab. That’s a given! If I can eat there every day, I will. When I played my one year with the Dolphins, we ate there all the time. I’ll go there and get some crab. I’ll send some to my wife up in Connecticut. She loves them as well. I’m sure I’ll have a lot of other stuff down there on South Beach, but Joe’s Stone Crab will be the staple of my diet no doubt about it. I’ll try anything, but as long as there’s some stone crab nearby, I’ll be happy. And if the crab bites back, I’ll have some Alka-Seltzer® close by. I also love the Cuban Sandwiches with the pork, the ham, pickles and cheese nicely grilled with some yellow mustard. I like those a lot. It’s phenomenal.
Game Pick:
Not only is this The Heartburn and Headache Causing, So You Better Have Some Alka-Seltzer nearby, Game of the Week, but a Heartburn and Headache Causing, So You Better Have Some Alka-Seltzer nearby, Super Bowl Pick.
I picked the Colts from the beginning of the year to win the Super Bowl, so there’s no way I would change that now. Right off the bat, I will pick the Colts to win. I would be a fool to go off my initial pick. I’ve picked the Colts for the last couple of years and it’s about time they made me look good. All that really matters is me looking good. Plus Indy has three Notre Dame guys on their roster: LB Rocky Boiman, Hunter “the Punter” Smith and TE Jerome Collins, who’s on IR. The Bears don’t have any.
Now for this week’s Alka-Seltzer Tip of the Week:
As the nerves and tension build, don’t forget the Alka-Seltzer to calm your acid stomach and to relieve headache and body pains so you’re in your best playing condition for Super Sunday. Stop by next week for my final blog of the season, when I’ll give you my thoughts on the big game and some of the great food we ate while we broadcast during Super Week.
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Super Bowl Off-Week Blog
Hey. It’s me, Mike Golic back again. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I love talking football and the food that goes with it so let’s get right to the games.
Chicago 39, New Orleans 14
I picked the Saints to win this game, and obviously I was wrong. The way it started out, it was interesting. Even though Chicago got a lead to start the game, I thought the Saints were moving the ball better, but then they would turn the ball over as a result of bad weather, just not hanging on to the ball, or the fact that the Chicago defense does a great job of ball-hawking. They couldn’t cash it in. Then the Bears would turn those takeaways into 3 field goals and a touch down to make it 16-0. But as it was getting close to half time, I was thinking “You know what, I can see New Orleans coming back.” Because they were moving the ball enough and I didn’t see enough out of the Bears’ offense to where I would say “This one’s over.”
Sure enough the game gets to 16-14 after Reggie Bush has that unbelievable run. The momentum swing was going the way of New Orleans. But then you have Bush pointing back at the Bears’ defense and doing his flip and dance in the end zone. Which I have no problem with – it was a great play so you’re going to celebrate. But there’s a difference between celebrating and taunting. It’s not the end-all, where you should say we’re going to win because of that, but I think it woke up a bear (for lack of a better term.) Those guys really got ticked off. You heard them talk about that after the game. They really got upset with that and started laying the wood to that Saints team. The Saints went away from running a little bit, and I don’t think that helped either. The Bears’ defense started hammering the Saints and getting pressure on Brees a little more and he held on to the ball a little too long. Something you thought would be a momentum swing for the Saints turned out, in the end, to work out for the Bears.
With Rex Grossman, you were saying “Is he going to have a good game or not?” He didn’t play great, but as he said, “Even when I play bad, I can’t be awful.” He wasn’t awful. He didn’t throw an interception. They didn’t let him throw much in the beginning, when he wasn’t doing very well, but then when he needed to put together a drive after they got the ball following the safety and it was still a game at 18-14, he goes 4 for 4 for 78 yards and a touchdown. When they needed him the most, he put them up 25-14 and onward they rolled with the running game. He did enough for this team to win and the defense really stepped up.
Indianapolis 38, New England 34
Who, when Peyton throws the pick, and New England goes up 21-3, isn’t envisioning the same old song, different verse. “This is it again. New England’s
got the Colts’ number. Peyton’s going to have a bad game.” But that Indianapolis drive before the half gave Indianapolis points they needed. They only
got a field goal, but what you saw was Indianapolis running their no-huddle offense – which is not really a hurry-up offense except on that drive. What
they saw with it was that New England started to get a little tired. A few guys got hit with the flu bug during the week, and that’s where it started to take
effect. You started seeing hands on hips. Guys were walking a little bit on defense instead of jogging. So in the second half, when they implemented the
no-huddle, they again used more of a hurry-up to keep the pressure on the Patriots, and didn’t let them sub people in and out to get fresh bodies in.
Even Richard Seymour said after the game that he felt winded. So that started to have a cumulative effect, and was one of the reasons you saw the
Colts put up 32 points in the 2nd half. (The most points the Patriots gave up all year in a GAME was 27. The Patriot defense gave up maybe the least
points in franchise history this year.)
Did Peyton Manning get rid of the proverbial monkey-on-his-back by getting to the big game? He won’t admit that it was ever there, but I think he’s human. I don’t know how he couldn’t be thinking “Oh my God. Here we go again!” when things weren’t going very well. Getting there is farther than he’s ever been so at least that’s part of the hurdle. He has another step to go, but at least he was good enough to get his team to the big game and to the next hurdle.
The Colt defense played well. They didn’t let the Patriots get over 100 yards rushing as a team, just like the other two teams they faced, Kansas City and Baltimore. (In 16 regular season games, they didn’t hold one team to under 100 yards rushing.) That’s just an incredible job by that defense, and the offense finally helped in this game by putting those 32 points on the board in the 2nd half.
And how about the REAL athletes of the game, the linemen, finally getting their due! The game is really won in the trenches and now they get to touch the ball. Mankins falling on it in the end zone. Saturday scooping it and falling in the end zone. And then the pass to the D-lineman, Dan Klecko, which he makes a nice catch on and rumbles 1-yard into the end zone. D-linemen are great athletes, we all know that! That was a nice added feature to the game which started out as “Here we go again!” I was a D-lineman in the NFL for 8 years, and despite 3 career interceptions, 3 career fumble recoveries and many downs on the field goal team as an eligible receiver, I never scored a TD. Except in practice!
Mike Golic’s Tailgating Favorites – Part 2
Before some of my thoughts on the Super Bowl, last week I promised you some of my tailgating grill favorites, and here they are!
I will grill anything. Anything is grillable. There’s nothing like food cooking on a grill at a stadium. It’s almost like you can’t eat anything bad that’s been thrown on a grill. I’m really a meat kind of a guy.
My number one has got to be ribs. When I used to go play in Kansas City the ribs that were being cooked in the parking lot were unbelievable! Ribs at a game are heaven! That obviously takes a little more time, though.
For a quicker tailgating food, I’m a brats guy. Love brats! HUGE HUGE brats fan! I like the brats over the Italian sausage, which can come back and kick me a little later, but then I can just get some Alka-Seltzer® and I’m all right. I like beer-soaked brats and you can put anything you want on it. I’ll put horseradish on it. Mustard. Cheese. What I put on it may depend on how much I’ve had to drink too, but I could put anything on it.
Without a doubt a nice cold beer goes with it. Ice cold bottles or a keg, it doesn’t matter to me.
I’m not a fan of the sushi, the glasses of wine, soup, cheese or the finger foods. I am a fan of diving in to food…real food…not bait like sushi…food! Let me get a little greasy, a little dirty; let me wash it down with some beer. That’s what I want. If you want that other stuff, have a ball. You don’t have to eat what I eat, but it’s not for me. I have to bite something and it has to stick to my ribs. I will consider it a success if I have to grab some Alka-Seltzer after it.
SUPER BOWL PREVIEW:
When the game ended, I thought the Colts would be about a 6 point favorite, and it turns out they opened as a 7-point favorite which is about right. The Bears defense is playing well, but the Colts’ offense is playing great. With Peyton Manning versus Rex Grossman, there’s no comparison. We’ve seen Rex play great, we’ve seen Rex play awful, and we’ve seen Rex play in between.
Key Match-Ups:
Two match-ups stand out to me to look at:
1) The Chicago tackles, John Tait and Fred Miller go up against Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, the Indy D-ends. I don’t know if the Bear line can handle those speed guys right off the bat. Will they need help to block those guys?
2) The special teams. The reason the Patriots were still in the game was their return game. Ellis Hobbs and Troy Brown were putting them in great field position to score. The Colts did not cover well. And look at who’s the return man for the Bears. Oh, that’s right. It’s only a guy that’s returned 5 kicks for touchdowns this year, Devin Hester. On special teams, a lot of times, guys will jump up and get their snacks. You can’t do that here because the Colts have struggles with their coverage and the Bears have a great return man. This match-up is a real position-changer and could make all of the difference.
Bears Offense vs. Colts Defense
The Indianapolis D doesn’t adjust. They play one way. They are an undersized defense that flies to the ball and swarms the carrier like bees. If they’re one-on-one they’re probably going to get beat, because they don’t tackle well one-on-one. What they do best is have one guy slow him up and then three or four come in and finish him off like a school of sharks. That’s it. There’s not a lot of adjustment going on. They can’t do much more than that, but when they do it well, it looks pretty because they are all over the place. They have so much speed on defense, flying around the field. The only one that could match their speed on the Chicago offense is Bernard Berrian, who can stretch a defense pretty well. They are fun to watch. They just take off and tackle everything on the way to the QB. At times, it gets them into trouble. During the regular season they were awful against the run, but they’ve played a little more disciplined and made sure they thought about the running game in the post-season, and it’s paid off pretty well.
The Bears run the ball well. If you lose to the Bears, at the end of the game you better be saying “Rex Grossman beat us.” Indy will try to make Rex Grossman beat them. They’ll have to stop the run again. Chicago, with Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson, has an excellent running attack. The offensive line has blocked extremely well on the run. Indy has to stuff that run, get out to a lead if they can, and make Rex Grossman come from behind and have to throw the ball. If Grossman has a game where his rating is over 100, which he’s done 7 times this year, then the Bears have a shot. If it’s below 40, which he did 4 times this year, then they’re in a lot of trouble.
Next week, I’ll talk about the Colt offense versus the Bear defense and give you my Super Bowl pick! Plus, of course, some of my favorite
foods down in Miami.
Before I go, here’s the Alka-Seltzer tip of the week! So now you have two weeks to prepare the ultimate Super Bowl party! Check out some of the game days spreads for menu ideas, and don’t forget to put Alka-Seltzer on your shopping list! You’ve got to be ready when headache and indigestion
hit you the day of the game!
See you next week,
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Conference Championship Week Blog
Golic here. Thanks for joining me again for some football and food talk.
This was an incredible playoff weekend! What was interesting about it and what I liked about it the most was the fact that of the four teams that made it, we could just as easily be talking about the four teams that lost as winners, because all of them were in it. It wasn’t always greatly played football, but it was compelling football.
Indianapolis 15, Baltimore 6
The Colts’ defense has been the most surprising thing about the playoffs so far. They have been incredible with what they’ve done. They were awful against the run during the season, but they’ve answered the bell. People who believe in destiny and fate (and I am not one of them) will say that this must be their year, because Peyton has yet to play a good post-season game, and they’re winning. Great quarterbacks who struggle come up with big plays at the end of the game. It’s only a matter of time before he has a great game and now they get the home game against New England, so we’ll see. He had 2 touchdowns against them in the regular season. Baltimore may have abandoned the run a little early, but no doubt the Indy defense stepped up. I said last week that everyone was going to talk about Baltimore’s defense and Indy’s offense, but it’s Indy’s defense that was the key to the game. They held Baltimore to only field goal attempts.
New England 24, San Diego 21
They always say, “Did Team X lose it or did Team Y win it?” Team X is San Diego – they gave it away. New England stood there and said, “Thank you very much! We’ll take it!” Tom Brady, who was throwing bad footballs out there, made the good throws at the end of the first half with the nice touchdown drive and then again at the end of the game to win. San Diego was the better team, yet dropped passes; didn’t get their feet down in the end zone; muffed punts; and had two of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen in football. One was asking for an instant replay on the interception and then fumble by Marlon McRee. (Marty Schottenheimer is relying on the coaches in the booth because on the sideline you never get a great view of that. If someone told him to review it, then I don’t know what you should do to that person, because that was a blatant waste of a time-out that they could have used at the end of the game.) Then after the muffed punt fumble by Eric Parker, and New England got the ball, San Diego stopped them on 3rd and 13 when Brady fumbled, and then for reasons only known to Drayton Florence, he comes up and head butts Daniel Graham. Why? I don’t know why he doesn’t have the composure to not do that. So they’ve stopped New England and he gets a 15-yard penalty! 1st down Patriots and they go on to score. Unbelievable!
The Chargers were the better team, and yet they are going to watch the rest of the playoffs. And everyone will put that on Schottenheimer. They’ll say, “He’s 5-13 in the play-offs. He’s lost 6 straight.” Some of it is his fault. For example, going for it on 4th and 11 in the 1st quarter instead of kicking the field goal. There are some of his decisions that you question, but he’s not dropping the football. He’s not the one not getting two feet down in the end zone. He isn’t muffing the punt. He’s not head-butting somebody. Everyone will talk about his job security, but Marty Schottenheimer should be coach of that team. I’d be shocked if he got fired.
Immediately after the game I could see why LT would be upset with the other team dancing on the middle of their field. That’s going to bum me out a little bit. I know he’s mad, but “Shut Up!” Move on. You’ve lost the game. Is it the greatest thing in the world done by the Patriots? No. But if I’m asked, I’m saying, “If we don’t lose the game, we don’t have to worry about that.” The last thing in the world I’m worrying about or commenting on is the other team dancing on my 50-yard line when I just gave a game away.
Chicago 27, Seattle 24
With Chicago you have to say “Good job” to Rex Grossman. He is the biggest question mark out there and he came through. He hit a nice pass in the 2nd quarter to Berrian down the middle for 68 yards. He hit a great pass in overtime to Rashied Davis to set them up. So he’s another one who threw the good passes when he needed to and he played a good game. Seattle gave up on running between the tackles a little early with Shaun Alexander, though Shaun is a bouncing type of runner. He had a great game, but he could have had more. They could have controlled the ball more if they ran between the tackles. That’s where Chicago’s been susceptible since losing Tommie Harris.
This was another game going back and forth. Hasselbeck’s interception right after Rex threw an interception was one of the worst passes I’ve ever seen by a quarterback that was just in a Super Bowl. You can’t make that mistake. I know it didn’t lead to anything but it’s just a momentum killer that you can’t have. Kudos to the Bears for hanging in there, Rex Grossman for getting the job done getting them down the field, and Robbie Gould. What a clutch kick. A 49-yarder that looked like a great fade.
New Orleans 27, Philadelphia 24
New Orleans started the year as that team where people said if they weren’t playing against their team, “Oh I hope that poor team wins. Look what they’ve been through. If they could get themselves 6 or 7 wins, how great would that be for the city that’s rebuilding. A nice rallying point.” Reality set in and we found out that they’re an excellent football team. They have the best offense of the 4 teams that are left and overall they’re playing the best. They are as legitimate as can be. 3-13 last year and now on to the NFC championship game is unbelievable. Sean Payton is obviously justifying the coach of the year award. They’re going to give Chicago all kinds of trouble. Philadelphia had their opportunities. They were in the red zone to score a touchdown and go 1 point up and they don’t get it. New Orleans’ defense holds them; they have to kick the field goal and they end up losing by those 3 points. Philly had their chances, but New Orleans is probably the best of any team left.
Mike Golic’s Tailgating Favorites
Before we get to the conference championship games, I want to talk a little bit about the pre-game and the tailgating!
This is one of my favorite subjects! I am a huge, huge tailgating fan! For starters, I like the chips and dip and stuff, but give me a something more substantial like a taco salad or dip. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll eat the chips, but if I had a little more on the appetizer level like taco dip or nachos, I’m a little more into that.
I couldn’t tailgate when I was playing for the Eagles, but I used to go to the game with my wife, drop her off in the wives’ lounge, before I went down to the locker room, and they had food in there. One of the things they had there were these really good cream-filled doughnuts, and that would be the last thing I’d eat before I played. Looking back, some Alka-Seltzer would have helped too!
Sticking with the sweet theme, of course you gotta have your desserts after the apps and grilled food. Your cakes and pies! I’m not picky when it comes to dessert. As long as it’s fattening and cream-filled. Don’t give me fruit or fruit on something. Give me cake, icing, cream filling… I’m not at a tailgate to watch what I eat. I’m a chocolate freak, so chocolate cream pie or chocolate cake would be my favorites. I’ll eat cookies if that’s all you got, but I need a little more something to it.
On to this weekend’s games. But stay tuned next week. I’ll tell you my favorite foods from the grill and more memories from my playing days.
New England at Indianapolis:
The Heartburn and Headache Causing, So You Better Have Some Alka-Seltzer® nearby, Game of the Week!
Game Pick:
They’ve played twice in the post-season and Manning has 1 touchdown and 5 interceptions and is 0-2. Brady won them both and has had a great post-season career, while everyone’s waiting for Peyton to make his mark on the post-season and justify all the regular season numbers. Indy has built a speed team that plays better indoors. They have the advantage they wanted to have, though they had it last year and lost to Pittsburgh. They played once this year, the weather was fine and Brady had one of the worst games I’ve ever see him play, throwing 4 interceptions and no TDs. Peyton threw 2 TDs, but Indy only won by 7, 27-20. You would’ve thought it would’ve been a blow out.
It’s the team (the Patriots) that has done nothing but be clutch in the post-season, against a team (the Colts) whose regular season nobody outside of Indy cares about. It’s meaningless. They have to take that next step, getting to the Super Bowl, to justify all the moves they made and Peyton Manning’s greatness. Fair or unfair? That’s for each person to decide. Do you have the John Elway career that goes down as one of the greatest of all time and have Super Bowl rings; or do you have the Dan Marino career, where you go down as one of the greatest of all time, and have no Super Bowl rings? That’s what Peyton Manning’s being judged on.
I like Indy in this one. Part of it is the fact that I picked them at the beginning of the season and they’re still in it, so it would be really ridiculous for me to go away from that at this point. Peyton has played two mediocre to bad games in the post-season, and I don’t see it happening again. I see him playing well in this game. Marvin Harrison had 145 yards on 8 receptions and 2 TDs earlier in the year. Belichick is supposed to be the master of stopping the other team’s best weapon. Earlier this year, he didn’t do it. Peyton and Marvin were great, and now the defense is playing better. You get Dwight Freeney indoor on turf with his speed and Mathis on the other end and they’re going to put pressure on Brady. I think it’s Indy’s time. They’re going to win this one and go on to the Super Bowl.
New Orleans at Chicago:
Food Pick:
When the show was in Chicago last week, we ate at Hugo’s, a good steak and seafood joint, and oddly enough I didn’t get steak there, I had the king crab. It was phenomenal. Oh my God it was good! I usually go there or some place like Gibson’s for a piece of meat, but I felt like seafood that night.
Game Pick:
If Chicago has good weather, advantage New Orleans. New Orleans has the better offense. If the field is playable and there’s not snow everywhere, they have more speed on offense than Chicago has on defense. They have mismatches with 2 running backs on the field at the same time in McAllister and Bush. So what do you do? Do you keep your base defense in? Do you put your nickel in and now you’re one linebacker short so McAllister runs and gains a bunch of yards? Marques Colston has been fantastic. Drew Brees was the runner-up for the MVP award and certainly could have had it. They are on fire offensively and Chicago’s defense is inconsistent. Again, if you add 2 feet of snow to the equation, that’s going to change the dynamics of it for a domed team coming in to play in that kind of weather. We have to wait and see what the weather looks like because crappy weather negates speed. But if it’s like it was this past weekend – cold but the turf was fine – New Orleans is playing better and I would give the advantage to the Saints. Right now, straight up, I think New Orleans will win the game.
I think it’s Indy and New Orleans in the Super Bowl.
And finally, this week’s Alka-Seltzer Tip of the Week. After all the amazing games this weekend, whether you’re celebrating a victory, or commiserating over a defeat, remember the Alka-Seltzer® the morning after to relieve your upset stomach and pain to get you back on track for the Conference Championship games!
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Divisional Playoff Week Blog
It’s me Mike Golic back with some thoughts on wild card weekend, this upcoming weekend’s games and more about my other favorite topic, food!
Last weekend, the way I look at it, the AFC ran how it was. In the AFC you have the top four teams and then it’s a step down. The Colts winning and the Patriots winning certainly wasn’t any surprise at all. They took charge of the games.
Indianapolis 23, Kansas City 8
When we broke down the Colts/Kansas City game, we got exactly what we thought, it was just reversed. We said a team would run the ball 40 times and control the ball for about 36 minutes. We just didn’t know it would be the Colts and not the Chiefs. Pretty amazing that they were able to do that. And the defense really stepped up and answered the bell even though Kansas City was pretty predictable on offense. With Peyton Manning, even though 30 for 38 looks good, 3 picks does not. But I’m not concerned. He’s a great player and will overcome that, but, as we’ll talk about, they’ll have their work cut out for them against Baltimore.
They were the better team than Kansas City. No doubt about it. Kansas City did nothing innovative to try to keep that defense on their heels. They basically said, “Here Larry Johnson, run through 20 people,” and not shockingly, they weren’t able to do that.
New England 37, New York Jets 16
As far as the Patriots, it’s a coach and a pupil along the same lines of “don’t make mistakes” and capitalize on the other team’s mistakes and if both teams play like that, the team with the better talent is going to win and that team is the Patriots. Tom Brady is now 11-1 in the post-season. They converted 11 of 16 3rd downs. As a former defensive player, it’s so disheartening when you’re on the field and it’s a third down and you have a chance to stop that team and get your offense back on the field to have Brady throw for 9 yards on 3rd and 7 and move the chains. He’s so good. They have the ability to morph into whatever they need to do to win a game. And their receiving corps is exactly like the Denver running backs. It doesn’t matter who they are, the system says that someone will be made a star.
In the NFC you had some games where you put some dice in your hands and roll it. The NFC’s a crap shoot.
Seattle 21, Dallas 20
In Seattle, no matter what you say, it comes down to a snap, something you do hundreds or thousands of times in practice and almost take for granted. Though we’ve learned with the Cincinnati snap and hold in Denver, costing them a game and a playoff spot, that you can’t take that stuff for granted. It’s amazing that that’s what it comes down to. I thought that Dallas could have been the one visiting team that wins.
Now to the future of Bill Parcells. Will he want to come back at all? It’s definitely Bill’s call. I really think Bill will want to come back because he sees some potential on this team. Will he want to come back if T.O.’s coming back? It will be very difficult for Jerry Jones to get rid of T.O. after bringing him in. I’m not sure he’s willing to do that. For Seattle, they get to go to Chicago where they got walloped earlier in the season.
Philadelphia 23, New York Giants 20
Philly’s been the hottest team in football coming into this game. Offensively, Garcia wasn’t as hot as he’d been, so Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg really changed their stripes as far as the play calling. They went 31 passes, 31 runs. They were split right down the middle. We’re seeing that Bryan Westbrook can handle the load. And the defense has been incredibly aggressive as well. So it didn’t surprise me that they won. And David Akers. Outside of Adam Vinatieri there is not a better money kicker left in the playoffs. That was a huge kick in bad weather.
A team with more questions than Dallas is the Giants. Tiki’s not coming back and you don’t know if Coughlin’s coming back or not. Mort seems to think he’s coming back. Is it because Charlie Weis is not going to come out? Because Cowher’s not coming out? Let him coach another year and we’ll see who becomes available? But it seems like he’s lost the locker room. Too many players are speaking out against him right now. That just doesn’t make for good chemistry. I just think it’s going to be too difficult for him to regain control of that team. Guys struggle playing for him and can’t keep their mouths shut. It seems to be an ugly situation all the way around. And someone is going to have to take over as team leader and god knows there are probably enough guys that want to.
For this weekend’s games:
New England at San Diego:
The Heartburn and Headache Causing, So You Better Have Some Alka-Seltzer nearby, Game of the Week!
Food Pick:
San Diego is hard. I need something that will stick to my ribs. I can’t do the tomato soup or sushi they serve at the ball park. The deep-fried lobster is something else. Nothing like taking something that’s supposed to be better for you and deep frying it. That brings back some good memories there. That is some GOOD stuff.
Game Pick:
San Diego’s the best team in the league right now. They’re just amazing. But Marty Schottenheimer’s got the hang up on him that he can’t win the big game. That’s why he was fired in Cleveland and Kansas City. He’s going up against Belichick who’s had nothing but success in the post-season. Again, New England does such a great job of morphing into what they need to do to win. And they’re going to have to do it here. LaDainian Tomlinson, Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers have all been playing well and their defense is incredibly underrated. I think this is the best complete team in the league.
The Patriots have overcome a team like this before, just by scheming. This is what New England does so well. They’re able to game plan an opponent, but I think that San Diego’s just too good this year. LaDainian Tomlinson is unbelievable. It’s not like he just sets up in the backfield. He splits out. He goes in motion. It’s tough to get a bead on him to stop him. Who’s going to cover him? Is it a linebacker? I just think they have too much. They’re at home. They’re not going to take many chances which they can do with LT and Gates. And if they don’t have to take many chances they’re going to fare very well. Of all the AFC teams, I’d give New England the best chance to win a game like this. I just think San Diego’s too good and San Diego’s going to win.
Indianapolis at Baltimore:
Food Pick:
Obviously it’s crab cakes. Wherever I go, I eat the local fare. In Baltimore, that’s crab cakes. Some seafood, but I usually stick with the crab cakes. I usually get them for lunch, then as an appetizer and my dinner.
Game Pick:
That’s the #1 defense against arguably the best quarterback in the game. What a great set up that is. And the Colt defense played a little better, so you have to start respecting them a little bit. The thing I like about Baltimore the best is that their defense isn’t just great, they’re proactive. They have 5 interception returns for touch downs. They just don’t want a turnover; they want to do something with it. They want to pick off a pass or scoop up a fumble and GO! They want to score. They’re so aggressive. I just love watching them. But Peyton’s seen everything. He just has to get his throws on the mark. Quick throws. Timing routes. Comeback routes. The things they’ve been doing all year. But if he’s made to hold the ball a second longer than he has to that’s when it could be trouble. So that falls on the Indy O-line to protect those different looks that they get.
The Baltimore offense really started clicking when Billick took over the play calling. Jamal Lewis complained earlier in the year that he needed more carries to be effective. Steve McNair started to pass well late in the season. No doubt the chalk talk will be Colt offense/Baltimore defense. That’s why there’ll probably be someone on the other side of the ball that will make the big play.
I picked Indy at the beginning of the year to go to the Super Bowl. They’re still in the playoffs so I have to stick with them, but I think they’re fighting an uphill battle against the #1 defense in Baltimore. I think Peyton’s going to have a big game and the Indy D will maintain their high from last week so I’m giving Indy the win on the road.
Seattle at Chicago:
Food Pick:
In Chicago, I learned to appreciate the food there. When I was at Notre Dame it was about finding the right bar. Now, while we’re in town, I’m sure we’ll hit some great steak places. We’ll go to Harry Caray’s place. It’s a lot of fun there. Sometimes we go to Mike Ditka’s and have a steak also. Anywhere we go in Chicago, the theme is steak. Greeny will try to take me to one of his hot dog joints. I like dogs, but I’m going to get me a steak. I might have a hot dog for dessert. Hot dogs for dessert, now that might require some Alka-Seltzer®! I like the deep dish too, but I always like to get a good steak in first.
Game Pick:
Seattle’s still in the playoffs because of a bobbled snap. Seattle’s been an enigma. They’re not an overly great team. Chicago’s the better team, but Chicago has that one major shaky point, and it only happens to be the quarterback. Chicago smoked Seattle 37-6 earlier in the year. Alexander didn’t play, but Hasselbeck did. The best part of Seattle is their offense and it’s not great. The Chicago defense IS great. So I think that Chicago smothers that Seattle offense and Chicago will be able to do what they want on offense because I don’t think a lot of pressure is going to be put on Grossman. I think they get through this game relatively unaffected. They’ll be able to hand the ball off or run play-action passes. The Bears will be able to get the win. The Chicago defense is too good and the Seattle offense is just not good enough.
Philadelphia at New Orleans:
Food Pick:
I love New Orleans. Without a doubt, this is the one of the top places, if not THE top place I love to eat in the country. I cannot get enough jambalaya. I LOVE jambalaya. Oh my god. I cannot get enough of blackened whatever…I’ll eat blackened anything. Even with the heartburn it may cause, I love the New Orleans spices. I love the New Orleans dishes. And then there’s the morning coffee and beignets. I get the powdered sugar all over me. If I go down there for a Super Bowl, I usually gain about 10 pounds. But I wish the Super Bowl was there every year.
Game Pick:
Again a game from earlier in the season. New Orleans won 27-24. Obviously, Garcia’s been a difference maker. But I think the biggest thing that’s helped Philadelphia is that Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg have split up the pass and run and are putting more of the load on Bryan Westbrook to run the ball. Their biggest difference is that they now have a 4-minute offense. If they need to control the ball to burn some clock, they can now do it. I think their ability to do that and to be a more balanced team has been a huge difference for them. The one constant with McNabb going down and the defense having its ups and downs has been Westbrook.
New Orleans has over-achieved this year. It’s been a great story. They went from an underdog city, to a legitimate contender and a lot of that has to go to Sean Payton, the coach of the year. He’s got those guys believing in themselves. They have the guy that was almost MVP in Brees. Brees has been underrated, but he’s been great for them. He doesn’t throw interceptions. They have a guy who came on strong later in the year in Bush and that’s impressive for a rookie. Colston, another rookie, did a great job. But you’re talking about young guys who have no playoff experience, but they may be too young to care. I’ll be honest with you. I have a feeling about Philadelphia. They’re on a run right now. They did enough to win this last game and I think they’ll regroup and hit a rhythm again. I think they’re going to go on the road and win in New Orleans.
That’s it for the games, so once again it’s time for the Alka-Seltzer Tip of the Week! Don’t forget the Alka-Seltzer as you battle the sick feeling after the agony of defeat! I know the Cowboys, losers of last week’s Heartburn and Headache Causing Game of the Week could probably use some!
See you next week for more food and football as we head into the Conference Championship games!
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Wild Card Week Blog
Hey it’s Mike again. The playoffs are set and wild card weekend is coming up. Here’s a few thoughts on the games and also a few thoughts about my favorites places and foods in the wild card cities!
The best advice for teams in the playoffs is that the better you can do what you’ve done all year in the regular season, the better off you’re going to be. If you start playing out of character because of the “lose and go home” mentality, that’s when you start making mistakes.
The better players are willing to take chances: go for the interception; go behind the block to make the tackle; throw the pass into tighter coverage. Some players play it safe and are afraid to make a mistake. They don’t want to be that guy that costs your team. If you play like that you usually don’t play very well. You want guys on your team that want the ball, that want to make the play, and not every team is full of those guys.
And now to the games:
Dallas and Seattle:
The Heartburn and Headache Causing, so you better have some Alka-Seltzer nearby, Game of the Week!
Food Pick:
In Seattle, it’s gotta be seafood.
Game Pick:
Seattle has been such an enigma. They’re another team that’s skirting into the playoffs not hitting on all cylinders. The defense is struggling this year compared to last year when they had the most sacks in the league and were putting more pressure on the quarterback. Hasselbeck and Alexander have struggled with injuries.
Dallas has Parcells and the T.O. situation. We had Tony Romo heading to the Hall of Fame after 4 starts and now he’s playing like a first year starter. Which he is so it shouldn’t shock many people that he struggles at times.
I think Dallas is all around a better team. But if things don’t go well early for them, I think they’ll struggle since they’re a team that has combustible parts like T.O. and inexperienced players like Romo.
Seattle can be a little more consistent at home. This is the toughest one for me to pick.
But because it’s so tough, I think I’ll go with the home team, Seattle, on this one.
New York Giants at Philadelphia:
Food Pick:
I played in Philly most of my career and filled my stomach on cheese steaks. So much so that when I went to Miami in my last year and we came up to Philly for a regular season game, I ordered 9 or 10 cheese steaks to be delivered to the hotel for our defensive line meeting. That was my food there. I couldn’t get enough. I ate them all the time. ALL the time. Geno’s and Pat’s were and are the places to go, but I got a cheese steak just about anywhere. I’m a Cheese Whiz guy so I usually tried to go to a place that had the Whiz.
Game Pick:
You look at the Giants and just shake your head. Too many cooks in the kitchen. Too many personalities shooting their mouths off. Unlike Eli Manning, guys like Elway or Marino would tell those guys to shut the hell up. For a disciplinarian coach, they’re a very undisciplined team. They lead the league in personal fouls.
If they lose in the first round of the playoffs, I think there’s a good chance that Coughlin may be gone. All that said, they have talent. If they put it all together, they’re a good team.
But I don’t think there’s anyone hotter than Philadelphia right now. Garcia playing like he did when he wore a 49er uniform. The defense is back to that attacking style defense that Jim Johnson loves to run. Eli Manning struggles when he’s under pressure. He throws off his back foot, the ball sails and he throws interceptions. Guess what? The pressure’s coming.
Philly has it going on right now and I think they take out the Giants and move on.
New York Jets and New England:
Food Pick:
In New England I’m always getting lobster or seafood up there. I’m a big clam chowder fan. I don’t go off the board there. What I like to do when I go to stadiums is get what that place is known for.
Game Pick:
These teams won on each other's turf this year but New England is the better team. They have a better running game, a better passing game, a better defense. But Eric Mangini, borne of the Belichick coaching system, has given the Jets team discipline, they don’t turn the ball over a lot, they don’t make a lot of mistakes. They’re like the Patriots, in that their philosophy is to play smart football until the other team makes a mistake. The only problem is that when the other team doesn’t make mistakes, like the Patriots, the better team is going to win and New England is the better team.
So while Mangini may win coach of the year, all around the Patriots are a better team and will win this one at home.
Kansas City at Indianapolis:
Food Pick:
First let me say that in Indianapolis I usually go to St. Elmo Steak House with the great shrimp cocktail and the big steaks. Always go there and get a big piece of beef.
Game Pick:
For the game, this is a pure set-up you would think for Larry Johnson to have a field day because a lot of 100 yard rushing days were against top rushing defenses and now you have the Colts you have the 32nd ranked run defense. (If there were 40 teams they’d be 40th.) Indy can be had right now because their defense is so bad.
On paper you’d say Kansas City is going to control the ball defense for 40 minutes with Larry Johnson against Indy’s 32nd ranked run and keep Peyton Manning off the field. That’s going to be their game plan, but…
Sometimes it doesn’t quite work that way. It could be a shoot-out. The KC defense is not going to stop Indianapolis. Indy’s going to score when they have the ball.
It’s easy to say that KC could run the ball well over the Indy D but I think they’ll get by this first game. They’re on their turf, and D-Ends Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney are going to get quick starts off the ball and get some pressure if KC has to throw. I’m going with Indy in this one.
Finally, the Alka-Seltzer© Tip of the Week! As you head into the first round of playoff parties, keep the Alka-Seltzer nearby for that hot wing that was just a little too hot! If the first round of playoff food is a little too spicy and you end up with an acid indigestion and pain, Alka-Seltzer will get you back in the action fast!
There you go. Enjoy the games I’ll be back with more football and food picks next week!
This just in from Mike….
Hi, Mike Golic here! Join me at Alka-Seltzer Tailgating Central over the next five weeks as we tour through the playoffs heading into the super showdown in Miami on February 4th!
Over the next few weeks this will be the place to find my expert analysis of the previous round’s games as well as my predictions for the weekend’s upcoming match-ups.
Each week I’ll also spotlight a different playoff host city and I’ll share with you exclusive insights into food and tailgating in that city. Whether it’s the cheese steaks in Philly, the chowder in New England or the deep dish pizza in Chicago I’ll give you my thoughts on the best way to have a good time with football and food!
Don’t forget to enter the Tailgating Central contest here (open to legal U.S. residents 18 years of age or older, 19 in AL and NE and 21 in MS). I look forward to hearing your tailgating stories, and remember, the winner gets to spend the day with me at ESPN studios! Got a great recipe you want to brag about? Check out the “Game Day Spreads” page and upload your own dish or plan ahead for your next event.
Finally, as the playoff parties and tailgates begin, don’t forget to be ready with the Alka-Seltzer. Look for my Alka-Seltzer tip of the week on the many ways that Alka-Seltzer is the perfect playoff companion. Don’t let upset stomach and pain sideline you from making it all the way to the big game! Talk to you next week.
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