I've talked surprisingly little about the NFL playoffs thus far. This is due in part to the Eagles' plight (I don't want to talk about it) but probably more to the fact that the games as a whole have been dreadfully boring. But now, we're down to the final four of the 2009 NFL season. Tomorrow, the Jets will play the Colts and the Vikings will play the Saints for the right to go to Super Bowl XLIV. There are a few interesting story lines with the four teams remaining.
For starters, there's Brett Favre, the token old guy and off-season he's-retired-oh-wait-nevermind story. The Minnesota Vikings proved that adding Favre can get you to your conference's championship game. Then again, the Jets showed that losing Favre can get you to your conference's championship game, so I suppose it's a zero-sum game.
The Indianapolis Colts are vying for their second (yes, SECOND) trip to the Super Bowl, having won it all in Super Bowl XLI. But they will be the only team who can act like they've been there before; their opponents, the Jets have never made it to the Super Bowl since the AFL-NFL merger. On the NFC side, the Saints have never made it to the Super Bowl, while the Vikings' last trip was in 1977, before all but a handful of current players were born or even thought of.
What I'd like to see is Saints vs. Jets, for a couple of reasons. First of all, I root against Indy on the bitter behalf of Baltimore. I've got family roots in N'awlins, and the city clearly has been through quite a bit lately, so it would be nice to see them go. Mark Sanchez conceivably being the first Mexican-American to start in the Super Bowl would be kind of cool. But more than anything else, it would avoid the wankfest that Favre vs. Manning would be. That said, my prediction is Saints over Vikes in a close one, and Colts over Jets in a slightly-less-close one. We shall see!
For starters, there's Brett Favre, the token old guy and off-season he's-retired-oh-wait-nevermind story. The Minnesota Vikings proved that adding Favre can get you to your conference's championship game. Then again, the Jets showed that losing Favre can get you to your conference's championship game, so I suppose it's a zero-sum game.
The Indianapolis Colts are vying for their second (yes, SECOND) trip to the Super Bowl, having won it all in Super Bowl XLI. But they will be the only team who can act like they've been there before; their opponents, the Jets have never made it to the Super Bowl since the AFL-NFL merger. On the NFC side, the Saints have never made it to the Super Bowl, while the Vikings' last trip was in 1977, before all but a handful of current players were born or even thought of.
What I'd like to see is Saints vs. Jets, for a couple of reasons. First of all, I root against Indy on the bitter behalf of Baltimore. I've got family roots in N'awlins, and the city clearly has been through quite a bit lately, so it would be nice to see them go. Mark Sanchez conceivably being the first Mexican-American to start in the Super Bowl would be kind of cool. But more than anything else, it would avoid the wankfest that Favre vs. Manning would be. That said, my prediction is Saints over Vikes in a close one, and Colts over Jets in a slightly-less-close one. We shall see!
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