Brain Drippings

The two best teams in the AFC going into the playoffs were assumed to be the Colts and the Patriots; but each was beaten by one of the teams in today’s AFC Championship game. The Colts were convincingly trounced by the Steelers who overcame the shameful officiating as much as the vaunted Colts offense to earn five turnovers and a shot at Super Bowl XL, despite several miss-steps and blown calls in the final minutes which almost resulted in a Colts win. The Broncos meanwhile took care of the Patriots in a game that should have been a better game, breaking the Patriots, and Tom Brady’s, 10 game playoff winning streak. There can be no excuses from New England, which suffered through the season with key injuries but was finally healthy for their trip to Denver. They were simply out played, out coached, and overmatched. Denver, thanks to the Steelers, is hosting the Championship game, Despite the Colts regular season run at perfection. Pittsburgh is the first 6th seed to advance to the Championship round, and both the Steelers and the Carolina Panthers are playing their third road game in as many weeks. Fatigue will likely play a part, as will the Steelers having to play at altitude (5280 ft, 1610m), Now we wait, only a couple of hours now, to see which of these teams will step up and claim their sport in Detroit for the Super Bowl. Sure, it’s not technically football, but it is the NFL, and is a great sport in itself. It would seem fitting to see Denver face-off against their former AFC West rivals, the Seattle Seahawks, in this Super Bowl, especially since it would pit Mike Shannahan against Mike Holmgren once again. One interesting bit of trivia about this Sundays match-ups, for the first time in NFL history the 4 coaches in the Conference Championships have each coached a Super Bowl before. I’m not one to make predictions, but I am less worried about this game for the Broncos than I was for the New England game, and I have a good feeling that Carolina can repeat their stunning upset of 2003 to earn another trip to the Super Bowl. That said, I will be sitting, TiVo remote in hand, hoping for a Broncos v Seahawks date in Detroit on 5 Feb. Just in time for the Winter Olympics and, hopefully, a US Gold Medal in Curling!