Welcome/Divisional Round

Welcome everyone to the very first installment of The Sports Tap. This will hopefully be a place where you can come to gain a different view on sports and maybe even laugh a little bit. 

Yesterday was, what is perhaps the start of the best week in all of football "Divisional Week", and the first game did not disappoint. The Saints of New Orleans headed to candlestick park to take on the surprise team of the year (in my opinion), the San Francisco 49ers, who had been out of the playoffs for nearly a decade. Despite the fact that the 49ers were the #2 seed in the NFC, all the talk was centered on the record-breaking Drew Brees and the high-powered New Orleans offense. Most media outlets did not give "San-Fran" much of a chance, but they would be silenced quickly. Think about this for a second...if I were to ask you "In a shootout who would you rather have. Drew Brees or Alex Smith?" you would all say...uh Drew-Freaking-Brees, and with good reason Ole-#9 threw for over a mile this year and looked unstoppable against the Lions last week. Yet, it would seem that Alex Smith missed the memo, and came out looking like the ghost of quarterbacks-past from the bay area. Smith, who went 24/42 for 299 and 3tds (no interceptions) earned a QB rating of 103.2 and rushed for a twenty-eight yard touchdown...yes you read that right. The games only rushing touchdown came from #11 Alex Smith. Before we talk about "the catch 2.0" I feel obligated to point out that Drew Brees did everything he possibly could to win this game, going 40/63 for 462yds, 4tds(one of which that looked to be the game winning throw with under a two minutes left) and 2 interceptions. But, in the end the lasting image will be Vernon Davis making an unbelievable catch, in traffic I might add, and vaulting his team into the championship round.

In the Prime-Time game we had all of the religious figures facing off...We had the father (Bill Belichick), the son (Tom Brady), and the holy-spirit (Tim Tebow). Amen. Brady and Bill had not won a playoff game since the 2007 post-season and were looking to silence all of the doubters. On the other side of the field we have "The Chosen-One" Tim Tebow, who was fresh off his miraculous overtime victory against Bathroom-Ben and the Steelers. Tebow, who is by far the most scrutinized player in recent memory, was looking to prove Mr. Elway wrong and cement his name in Bronco history.  Sadly, this did not happen, what did happen was a blowout of biblical proportions as the Patriots ousted the Broncos 45-10. Brady went 26/34 for 363yds 6tds (5 in the first half) one interception and tied the NFL record for the most touchdowns in a playoff game. Timmy went 9/26 for 136yds with no touchdowns or interceptions, and at one point had fewer completions than Brady had touchdowns. Although the hype was all about Brady vs. Tebow, the defense was the shinning star in my mind. Remember this is the 31st ranked defense we are talking about, and they allowed just 252 TOTAL yards and controlled the tempo of the game right from the start.

Fans should take away two things from yesterdays games: 1) Bill Belichick is the best situational coach in the game today, and maybe ever. 2) The 49ers are for real, and should be put in the same category as the Packers. As for Sundays games, look for Houston to surprise Shane Falco and the Baltimore Ravens 28-24. (Yes that was a movie reference, I am aware that Joe Flacco is the QB's name) And in the NFC look for the Packers to hold off the Giants 42-35.  I will leave you with one of my favorite images from the past week..... Peace be with you, Mike Marcangelo The Sports Tap