HELLO PACKER FANS!!!!! For the first time in 10 years the NFC Championship game will be played on the "Frozen Tundra" in Historic Lambeau Field. WHAT A RUSH!!!
All week long all we heard from all the media talking heads was how Seattle DE Patrick Kearney was going to dominate Mark Tausher. Good thing Mark doesn't take what those knotheads say seriously. Tausher and Company just took Kearney and his defense out of the picture as Brett Favre had all the time in the world to pick apart the Seahawk secondary for 3 TD passes. Plus the whole O-Line opened gaping holes for RB Ryan Grant to gash Seahawks for 201 yards on the ground.
Give Grant a lot of credit. After the 2 times he fumbled on the first 2 possesions he could have just packed it in and gave up. But, he got his act back together and made up for it with 3 TD's of his own. Grant looked like a man possessed . He made it his personal mission to make up for his mistakes. Great Job Ryan!
And the old man didn't look too shabby as he hit Greg Jennings for 2 TD's and RB Brandon Jackson for his 3rd. Jennings and Favre have really got their chemistry clicking. Brett just seems to know where Greg is going to be in any situation. If not Favre just goes to Donald Driver or James Jones or Donald Lee,etc.,etc. It is my absolute belief that Green Bay has one of the most dangerous receiving corps in the league. They are better now than when they played the Gaints earlier this season.
And how about the change in game conditions? From flurries to almost a blizzard! I don't know about you, but to me, the sloppier the conditions the better!.Let's see, we had the Mud Bowl Of 1966, the Ice Bowl of 1967, and now the Snow Bowl of 2008!! YA GOTTA LOVE IT !!
Let's face it gang, if Grant hadn't fumbled on those 2 possessions the score could have easily have been 42-6 instead of 42-20. The defense played an outstanding game,especialliy Safety Atari Bigby. Bigby just flat out hammered anyone who got near a ball in his area. Atari has come along way from the reckless style he was displaying about half way through the season. The really dumb unsportsmanlike penalties have seemed to have gone away. You have to wonder if he figured it out on his own, or did the coaching staff and his teamates get him to settle down? I have to believe it's probably both. When you have guys like Al Harris and Charles Woodson around you have to believe they just talked things over with Bigby and help show him the way.
After the game there was wide speculation that this could have been Mike Holmgren's last game as Seattle Head Coach. He is 0-2 in the playoffs against his former team and rumor going around is that the owner is getting frustrated. Give Holmgren his due. He did a lot with a team that was going nowhere fast when he got to Seattle. He's made numerous playoff appearances and got them to a Super Bowl. If Coach Mike is done in Seattle let's hope he is going out on his own terms.The man has done so much for the game that you'd hate to see him dismissed like some lackey. If he is, maybe he will end up in San Francisco where he started in Pro Football.
Now on to the other big part of this story. The Giants went into Dallas having been beaten by the Cowboys twice this season. But in the last half of this season the Giants seemed to put it all together. Especially QB Eli Manning. Eli played a decent game as the Giants beat the Cowboys 21-17 in Dallas. The NY running game was effective against a defense that has been a little suspect over the last couple of games. The pass protection was adequate enough to allow Eli to throw 2 TDs to Amanni Toomer and keep drives alive long enough to win.
I don't however agree with the play calling by the NY coaching staff at the end of the game. By going ultra conservative late in the 4th quarter, they gave Dallas plenty of opportunity to win this game. Thankfully for Giant fans the defense stepped up and snuffed out any dreams of the Championship game being played in Big D.
One more thing I would like to know, "What the hell does the fact that Tony Romo spent the off week in Mexico with Jessica Simpson have to do with whether they win or lose?" Romo wasn't dropping easy passes during this game. Romo played a decent game. It was his supporting cast that looked lost and confused. It just seems that the Dallas and the National media are looking for any lame reason to blame this on the poor guy and /or his girlfriend. Hey People, give the guy a break! Or, would you rather have that stiff Drew Bledsoe back?
So now in the NFC it is down to just 2. As good as NY has looked the past few weeks the Packers have looked even better.( except for that debacle in Chicago). The Pack beat the Giants earlier in the season but that is no reason to get cocky or sloppy. Just ask Dallas. But if the team plays as well as they did after the 2 fumbles in the last game New York could be in for a long afternoon and an equally long plane ride home. Let's hope so. Nothing would be sweeter than another NFC Championship. Except maybe another Lombardi Trophy to keep the other 3 company. Until next week my fellow Packer faithful, SEEEEE YAAAA!!
