NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND - SATURDAY

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Today on ABC, the first matches of the Wild Card Round will be played!

At 4:30 PM...

Washington (10-6) at Tampa Bay (11-5)

And at 8:00 PM...

Jacksonville (12-4) at New England (10-6)

WHO SHALL WIN?

[Fierce Allegiance]

Thanks, I wasn't going to dig to prove you right! lol.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Heath Evans better get every running carry for the rest of the night.

[scott says]

Its over...I feel a whole lot better now.I want Pittsburgh to win so (we) can go to Denver, gulp.
This will be a VERY tough game.
If Pitt beats Indy-and NE wins, Pats at home against PITT for AFC CG
If not- NE against Indy for AFC CG-at Indy
That is the best case scenario---
Denver is 8-0 at home and will be an incredibly hard road win, but that is the "best" scenario for me to root for.

[CounterCounterCulture]

Scobie FG ... no good FG

Shoulda taken one of those Scobie snacks. ;-)

03 Jacksonville Jaguars
28 New England Patriots

Somebody will have to post the final score. I just got invited over for lasagne. Later y'all.

[SamAdams76]

What were the Jags thinking by attempting that FG? They need touchdowns, not field goals.

[MikefromOhio]

:-)

[MikefromOhio]

I don't know.

The entire town of Cincinnati is nervous for tomorrow.

I think it will translate onto the field.

Pittsburgh has been there before. They will be ready.

[Poser]

It's got to suck, having no chance and having that much time left. I feel sorry for the Jags. They had a good year. They just ran into the Pats when they were semi-healthy.

Imagine what they would be like with Matt Light, Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison.

[scott says]

I think Pittsburgh will win...
If not then, Cincy goes to Denver- a daunting task
And Pats go to Indy
Either way a very tough road to go....
Cincy might surprise everybody and revert to mid-season form. I have to pick and root for Pitt at this point.

[raccoonradio]

They were just showing some of Belichick's playoff record. I found this online, from about 5 years ago:

---

He's the same Parcells who also made Belichick the highest-paid assistant in the NFL at $750,000 a year, the agreement being that he'd eventually take over for Parcells as head coach.
But three years into a six-year deal, Belichick is trying to back out of it. He's blaming an uncertain ownership situation, and he's flashing back to the scars and mental anguish from his time in Cleveland as reasons not to honor his Jets contract.

"I'm not a psychologist," said Jets president Steve Gutman. "But I think I just listened for an hour to a person who is in some turmoil and deserves our understanding and consideration."

The New York Post was far closer to the truth when its headline screamed:
BELICHICKEN!

(snip)
Belichick is Belichick, a guy who always has been out for what is best for Bill Belichick, period. Know how he told the Jets that he was quitting? In a handwritten note scribbled: I Resign as HC of the NYJ. As someone suggested, it's what a teen-ager would do when walking away from a job at McDonalds.

Belichick knows New England wants to make him head coach, general manager and emperor. He's out to grab even more cash in New England, which is a short drive to his summer home in Nantucket.

(snip) Hey, Bill, you signed the stupid thing. You cashed the $1 million bonus check. You gave your word, although loyalty doesn't seem to be very prominent in your vocabulary. The amazing thing is not that Belichick turned his back on the Jets. Rather, it's that any team wants to hire him at all.

---

Hey, how did "Belichicken" make out with that Patriots coaching gig anyways?

[raccoonradio]

To answer my own question, from the Patriots' site:

---Coach Belichick is the only head coach in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in four years.

--Coach Belichick led the Patriots to 18 consecutive regular season victories, spanning the 2003-04 seasons, the longest winning streak for any team in NFL history. New England's streak of 21 consecutive wins, including postseason games, is also an NFL record.

--Coach Belichick's 10-1 playoff record is the best in NFL history. He surpassed the legendary Vince Lombardi with the Patriots' victory in Super Bowl XXXIX.

--Coach Belichick has led the Patriots to 34 victories over the last two seasons, the highest two-year total in the 85-year history of the National Football League.

--With 31 years of NFL coaching experience, Coach Belichick is the longest tenured among active NFL head coaches.

etc.

-----

Too bad about Bill B. resigning as HC of the NYJ, Jets :)

[Boston Blackie]

Yeah, its a real shame!!!!

[Poser]

Funny. And the Jets still suck.

[bikepacker67]

Why the hell is Brady still in?

[Poser]

What is Brady doing in the game? Let Doug play!

[MikefromOhio]

yeah.

I just think that since virtually no one in the Bengals org. have been to the playoffs (I think 3 or 4 players have and that's about it)....

I'll go with experience.


That's what is killing the Jags tonight too.

[MikefromOhio]

I just asked the TV the same thing.

[raccoonradio]

Will post final once it ticks down to zero...

[GraniteStateConservative]

Indy all the way, man!

• 9 -- The number of consecutive victories the Patriots have earned in games played in domed stadiums, including wins in Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII. The Patriots have not lost a dome game since Thanksgiving Day, 2000 at Detroit.

• 35.25 -- The average number of points the Patriots score in domes the last four dome games (40, 32, 38 and 31).

• 9-0 -- Tom Brady’s record as a starter in dome games.

• 19-7 -- Tom Brady’s touchdown-to-interception numbers in his career in games played indoors.

• 97.4 -- Tom Brady’s career passer rating in games played indoors.

• 4.8 -- Corey Dillon’s average number of yards-per-carry in his career in domes, exactly a half-yard above his overall career averag(4.3). Dillon has run 213 times for 1,012 yards.

I love me some RCA Dome!

[ShorelineMike]

That pass was *incredible* ... but *what* were the Patriots thinking of?