cowboy_from_hell

No good for this one Rollo. It's my boy's birthday that weekend.

Just watched the full replay again. It was a fun game to watch. Obviously JKH has a lot of potential and to those who have been saying so in all the training reports you are spot on. Our set up in the back half was brilliant. A lot of talk centres around Hogan and now JKH but I believe out best and most reliable recruit will be Grimes back in defence. He plugs holes and will sit under packs but can also rebound well. His leadership faded when he played in the midfield last year. In the back line he stands up and oozes leadership. WORST ON GROUND by far was David King. Fair dinkum david you need to relax. He talked us up saying we have our identity back and also said Richmond should have won but they lack leaders. So after 5 years of absolute rubbish and a decade or longer of nothing 1 pre season win has us claiming our identity back. I wasn't around in the glory days of melbourne but if we had our identity back it would mean we are the most dominating team in the league year after year.

To all you lads on here cheers for the year. I don't have any mates who are into nfl. Everyone at work looks at me stupid when I bang on about Ponder or those bloody packers. Always after the Super Bowl I'm left with an empty feeling that I won't see a young fit man tackle another young fit man whilst both wearing tight uniforms for another month.

Wow. Seattle are a monster. They are Jesse Hogan scary. Manning looked like Christian Ponder out there. No time to plant his feet and he got burnt today. Seattle just had to be a little productive with the ball and they were. Then bloody Harvin chimes in and it's a massacre.

Bloody hell those bombers are a sucker for punishment. I smell a rat though. They may have some new recruits who might be sidelined for a year from their day job. Will whispering jack go toe to toe with bomber Thompson? Wise vs Watson? Might be a tough game. Bookies have demonland by 6 goals.

I will take Seattle 17 Denver 9 Beast mode for the MVP.

Pretty ordinary tipping effort by me. I was going for the upsets as the playoffs seem to always end up having the road teams get up and wildcard teams making the superbowl. But it's all good once again it has been a very entertaining playoffs. The best two teams are in the superbowl. A dynasty could be set up at Seattle not just because they plucked a QB from no where in the draft. WIlson has a very small contract which has allowed Seattle to target free agents . Wilson's third round selection contract cannot be renegotiated until 2015 I'm pretty sure. He is on 2.96 Million over his four contract. Imagine having a superbowl playing QB for under a million a year. It pays to draft well doesn't it?

I thought the Vikings would go for a coach with a offensive background as our last coach was a defensive man. Seems to be good reports on Zimmer. The vikings always hire the opposite personality to the coach we just fired. Frazier was the nice guy after Brad Childress was fired and now we have Zimmer who as you said doesn't hold his tongue. Hope he can work with a new QB. We should trade up or hope that Bortles falls to us at pick 8.

Vikings hire Bengals DC Mike Zimmer. That's the second bengals coach to be hired as a head coach. Are the Bengals the flavour of the month? Any thoughts on losing your coaches Strafford and are they any good? So we have a coach now it's time to trade up to get QB. New England 31 Denver 30 San Fran 17 Seattle 7

Not sure about the weather but you are right. Saints/Hawks ran the rock a lot as well. All the talk will be Manning V Brady but someone else will pop up and win this game. Then all the credit will go to Manning or Brady. As much as Belichick reminds me of Mark Neeld he has done an amazing job with a not so talented list that then got injured. If they win he should get the credit.

My wife asked me what I wanted to do today. I answered double header. She was perplexed at the thought and then not so happy when she found out what i meant.After watching the Seattle game it left me a little underwhelmed about the 'hawks. The saints couldn't put on any scoreboard pressure and being done for delay of game in crucial spots didn't help yet they were still in the game. The pats running game/strategy was brilliant. Brady needs the play action to give his not so great receivers a chance and it worked. Kap vs Cam I can't wait for that.

On paper it looks tough but the last few years wildcard teams have done very well compared to teams who had the week off. The giants snuck into the playoffs and won the Super Bowl pretty sure Green Bay did the same a few years back. The toughest place to play is Seattle. The fans are well and truely insane and they break records for crowd noise all the time. It doesn't help that their team is damn good as well. If your boys are to make it they will probably have to travel there. Oh yeah Seattle and San Fran absolutely hate each other too.

Seattle 28 Saints 3 Pats 21 Indy 10 49ers 21 Carolina 7 Chargers 31 Denver 28

The only problem with a longer playoff system in the NFL is making sure a team can run onto the field. Injuries are soaring and I'm sure every supporter on here can tell a story of their team this year being ruined by not just one injury but a dozen. The vikings had to line up Jarred Allen at Tight End! He should of had a TD but Cassel over threw the ball. One thing I have always liked abut the NFL is the importance of winning your division. It makes the divisional games exciting and has created massive rivalries. Even though San Fran had the better win loss record then the Pack I don't think it should of been played at Candlestick. Every year there is a stronger and weaker divisional winner. It won't change. The regular season is great because you need those wins in divisional games.

Goodell and the owners want money so it will happen. It doesn't bother me too much. The system isn't perfect but it will never be due to the teams and their divisions. Every year a strong team misses the playoffs or a weak team makes it due to their divisions the system can look flawed.

I was away all weekend so I just caught up with all the games. I didn't expect KC and Indy to have such a high scoring game I thought Philly and the saints would shoot it out. More questions over Dalton (hope you are ok strafford) in the playoffs. At home they were a different team in the regular season but couldn't do much right in a playoff game when you turn the ball over so many times. Are the bengals in a position to trade/draft a QB strafford? Did the weather in Green Bay help the kap out more then Rodgers? Anytime a first down was needed his legs got it done for the 2nd year in a row. I bet the 49ers aren't your best friends right now macca. All in all a pretty good year by the packers though.

KC 34 Indy 17 New Orleans 28 Philadelphia 30 San Diego 7 Cincinnati 21 San Francisco 14 Green Bay 21

The black day for coaches has begun. Schiano from the bucs, Frazier from the vikes, Shanahan from the skins and Schwartz from the lions are gone. Not as many as last year. Schiano had a good second half of the year with bucs and no talent. their 0-8 start didn't help though.

That first round bye can play tricks on teams but a playoff in Seattle would keep many awake at night. Can your lads defense contain Kapernick this time around? Last year he tore your defense to shreds. The run game is there and Cobb and Rodgers are back so you must have some confidence going into next week.

Good work Strafford I thought I had this comp done and dusted by week 6. You came home strong that's for sure. Do Cleveland know what they are doing? Who would want to coach there? There seems to be some talent but after one year you can't demand miracles. So your lads are at home (9-0) this year. What's your gut feel? The first round bye doesn't seem to sit well with playoff teams the last few years. Is it too early to call the Bengals a smokey?

And congratulations are in order for our joint winners in the tipping comp. Here's the final points tally ... 9 - Strafford, cowboy from hell (joint winners) 7 - pantaloons, Macca 5 - Gorgoroth 1 - DemonDave 0 - 45HG, Norm Smith's Curse, Arrow, bananas Well done to 'cowboy from hell' and 'Strafford' 'cfh' led from the start and then 'Strafford' slowly but surely chased him down. Level going into the last round, both earned 3 points to take the prize - worthy winners of the inaugural competition! Well played to all the participants ... it's been a bit of fun and rather challenging (to say the least) We might tweak it a bit if we do it all again next year. Open to suggestions. Had a brief discussion with 'cowboy from hell' about a playoffs comp. Tip the winners of all the games (1 point each) with 3 points for the SuperBowl. Fairly basic and if you're interested, give a shout out. Or just post your tips. But for now, winners are grinners! Congrats Strafford. A big Thanks to Macca for running this ship. All the game times and channel information are also appreciated by all. I don't check for times and channels anywhere else now so you better not retire from here anytime soon Macca. I would also like to take this time to thank a few people for my joint win. Thanks to all tippers, Adrian Peterson, Viking beer (seriously good drop if you want to try a new beer) You Tube for showing games where Minnesota actually win, Matt Cassel for showing we don't have a QB, Josh Freeman for all your efforts and lastly the Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jags, Redskins and Bills/Raiders for making it easy to at least get one tip correct.

Great work by the Packers. 9 weeks ago Detroit looked like a NFC contender and Rodgers look doubtful to return. I enjoyed the forward fumble recovery TD by Green Bay. Everyone stood still and watched a TD happen. Do the bengals try to replicate David Boon on road trips? Because at home they are a different team. Even with Dalton getting picked off all the time they still win easily. Miami=Choke 7 points in 2 games. At least Dallas are consistent. The KC reserves and SD put on a fun game.

Lacy can find himself very unlucky not to be included. I thought his year was very impressive. Your main man is back this week. Life is restored to normal.

Carolina Denver Green Bay

It's a bit odd to see the NFC north take a dive this year. Even in the bad years with the Vikes I could always come back with the "It's the toughest division in the NFC" argument. Detroit is a head scratcher. On paper they have it all. Chicago have major problems. Philly has a pretty poor defense (Cassel threw for 348 yds last week) but chicago couldn't give Cutler any time to throw. Chicago's defense is also god awful. If Cutler is gone for the cheaper option of McCown who played well in place of Cutler then they could maybe plug some holes. It could be a win/win for Chicago and Cutler. The Vikes have the obvious QB problems and virtually no secondary. The Packers have fought well without Rogers and to still be in with a chance is a great effort even though the other 3 teams have helped out a fair bit. I don't think either Chicago or Green Bay can get much done in the playoffs but if your boys did make it I think it's a credit to McCarthy and co for signing Flynn and keeping in the hunt to the end.