Macca

I've tipped Seattle for a few reasons I stated a few posts back but I'd also like them to win so as to reinforce to the Packers as to what they've missed out on ... in a way that might help Green Bay to be doubly determined for next season. I know a lot of people don't like Seattle's "in your face" style but that stuff doesn't bother me. I like the way their defense often acts as another form of offense.

Yep, it is. And the way the QB's are protected now, they'll have even better numbers to stake their claim. Not saying that Aaron wasn't a worthy winner though - he was almost certainly the best of the QB's. Romo had a very good year - probably his best year in fact. Sharing the accolades around ... there's a lot of categories now. How about the most disappointed fan award? Or worst coach? I'd have a couple of candidates for those 2 would be awards

Yeah, well done ... Rodgers got the MVP but JJ Watt can count himself very unlucky. I think if the Texans had have made the playoffs, he might have got it. Big honour for Bridgewater though.

and here it is ...

are grinners

A top strike too ... it might open up at the back now (or in the last half of the 2nd half)

The back of his elbow was hit was it not? It was an unusual knock and I'm not sure about the length of time for recovery. If it's like a corky, he should be fine. Apparently he didn't train yesterday because of an unrelated back injury but who knows? They'll need him, that's for sure.

I'm on call Monday but I'm hoping not to get that call I've been invited to a couple of functions but can't commit unfortunately. Every year is different ... for a long time I had every Monday off and that situation may eventuate again in the future. If I'm off I'll probably be posting here ... otherwise, trying to avoid the scores might prove a little tricky.

Well we're going to get at least 4 sets but I'm tipping it goes 5. Could be a classic. 1 set all but the 2nd set to Wawrinka was perhaps more impressive.

Everyone's on the Pats it seems ... I just reckon the Seahawks will take advantage of an opportunity that they may have thought had slipped away from them (until the Packers gifted them a berth) I'm also thinking that this whole furore about 'deflategate' has got to have had an effect on the Patriots. And, ... if there's any truth to the controversy, then playing with fully inflated footballs might be a disadvantage for New England. They rarely fumble the football and I can just imagine the thinking if they fumble one early Defense often wins out in these sort of games and if the Seahawks bring it, they'll win.

Seattle 23 Patriots 21

Yeah, Japan going out the way they did was the shock of the tournament ... their coach may be removed as a consequence. Golden opportunity for the Aussies - I reckon we'll go on and win it now. In other news ... from the 'Mirror' ... Chelsea 2-4 Bradford: Blues crash out of FA Cup as Bantams run riot at Stamford Bridge ... highlights Manchester City 0-2 Middlesbrough match report: FA Cup shock as Premier League champions dumped out ... highlights Spurs also crashed out whilst Liverpool could only draw.

Such is the nature of this sport that the Adelaide side have failed miserably at the worst possible time. I believe both finalists in the big bash qualify for the riches of the champions league so they've missed out big time. Meanwhile, the sixers just got a nice healthy bonus to the coffers.

My reckoning is the 'Occam's razor' theory ... someone simply got access to the footballs at some time and stuck a pin in 11 of them for about 3-5 seconds each. 2 minutes in total and it's done. I'm thinking the footballs were probably unattended at some stage ... either that or the footballs weren't checked properly (initially) and were all set 2lbs lighter (except for one of them) Or they were somehow switched. The answer will almost certainly be a perfectly logical one but someone probably has to 'talk' for that to happen. Regardless, they'll get done for governance issues you'd reckon. For us here in oz, if a footy is ever over inflated, it doesn't take long to get enough air out so it's just right ... just a few seconds will do it. This incident is going to be very difficult to explain away ... here's the full Tom Brady press conference ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD7i5hQYHZs

In light of the new information re the Pats, I reckon it's perfectly understandable to be able to review your tips and re-do them if either of you want to. If anyone has any objections please say so. Remembering that 3pts are awarded if you pick the winner of the SB. Playoff tipping comp leaderboard 8 - JV7, Go the Biff 7 - pantaloons, Macca 6 - Georgiou R.R. Martin 4 - Gorgoroth

I'd put him at or close to the top ... big occasion player as well. ESPN FC Press Pass featured the 2 goals on their show tonight ... 1st goal & 2nd goal

He's brilliant

Assuming they're guilty I reckon the penalties might take a fair bit of time to eventuate. Anything from what you've indicated to maybe a bit worse. I'm leaning more towards Brady being behind it all but I can't see how Belichick wouldn't know to some degree. Ordinarily I'd reckon fines and loss of draft picks only but they've got some history with spygate and what not. They are repeat offenders. Too much is being connected to the scoreline against the Colts but I reckon that's irrelevant. Cheating is cheating and having the balls deflated to the extent that they were is a significant advantage (in my opinion) The other question is how long have they been doing it - they barely got over the line against the Ravens. We're all brought up kicking a footy in oz and you always know when the footy is even a little bit flat. Brady had to have known and he and Belichick are as thick as thieves. Some over there are saying that Belichick might get a year based on the treatment of Sean Payton by the NFL. If that happens and Brady gets off then Tom would count himself very lucky. That's if they're guilty of course ... there's still a lot to play out. It's certainly added a bit of spice to the Super Bowl

Seems the deflated balls story turns out to be true ... I wonder how long they've been doing it? Years? ... it's entirely possible. 11 of 12 Pats footballs underinflated And this from SI.com ... Report: Ravens believe underinflated balls were used against Patriots

McCarthy will most likely stay but I hope he learns from this game. He'll know inwardly that he made some poor decisions though - even if he most likely wouldn't admit it. Rodgers just needs to be managed and given his head, not necessarily coached. I've never seen the 2 as a team though - it's not like Brady & Belichick. McCarthy is not overly liked amongst Packer fans but I form my own opinion without bias or influence. He's a good and sometimes very good coach who can have B grade days. Not too many B grade days but this game was one of them (in my opinion) The coach sets the pattern on game day - a lot rests with them. I'd much prefer to have a "great" head coach but they're hard to find ... Gruden might yet be coaxed out of retirement As for the SB, at this early stage I'm leaning towards Seattle but I'll put my "official tip" in when I'm more sure. If the Seahawks find their A game (especially their defense) then they should be able to shut down the Pats (more so the Pats offense) Gronk could prove the difference - shut him down and Seattle are well on their way to winning. It's a classic match-up all the same. Should be a top game and lets face it, they are the 2 best teams this year. Every other team has greater flaws than these 2 teams. Both teams are hard to "like" but both are well coached and highly skilled.

What's at issue here is when you've got the opposition reeling, you go for the jugular or the knockout punch ... we weren't aggressive enough or rather McCarthy wasn't. The pattern of play was set early by McCarthy and we just didn't take enough risks throughout the match. The TD after the first 2 field goals made things seem better but in the end, we lost and that's all that matters. And I'm not analysing in hindsight either - I was annoyed at the time and thought that it could come back to bite us later - and it did. Trent Dilfer said as much as well. The thing is that people need to eliminate all pre-game thoughts - most were thinking that the Packers would do well to stay with the Seahawks but as it turned out, it was the other way around. The hunted became the hunter but the hunter didn't go for the kill. It was weak kneed play calling on those 2 goal line 4th downs in the 1st quarter and I reckon most will end up seeing it that way. On the road, you've got to take risks. We played into Seattle's hands - right now, too many are focusing on the last 5 minutes of the match. McCarthy will need to get this team back to the NFC Championship game next year if he wants to keep his job. And he'll probably need to win it and get into the Super Bowl. He had a poor game and for someone who has been in the system for as long as he has, that's unacceptable. My focus remains on the first quarter when we could have completely blown Seattle away. They were always going to come back at us and we didn't have a big enough lead to hold them off (the last 5 minutes was complete mayhem but that mayhem often has a chance of happening) The finish didn't particularly surprise me.

The worst football loss ever? Cousin Sal & Bill Simmons are leaning towards thinking it is. I know I haven't felt this bad about an NFL loss since the 2007 NFC Championship game loss to the Giants (in O/T) Anyway, for lots more chatter about the Packers catastrophic collapse/ meltdown / choke (?) ... here's the BS Report (in this podcast, McCarthy isn't spared nor are all the big moments which led to the loss)

We've seen Rodgers make great plays when given the opportunity to do so In this game he wasn't given that opporrunity Poor play calling and we didn't go for the jugular 3pt field goals? Not the Green Bay way

McCarthy's play calling in the first half was even more questionable and conservative (especially in the 1st quarter) Again, the focus goes onto the big moments in the last quarter when in fact the whole game needs to be looked at if a proper appraisal is to be made. Also, 2 of Wilson's interceptions were after the ball had bounced off 2 of his own players (who both could have caught the ball) ... another was a bit of a fluke catch by Clinton-Dix. It's not like all 4 of his interceptions went directly to Green Bay players. Sure, there was some bad luck involved but not nearly as much as some might think ... there's a bit of bias against Seattle involved as well. That can cloud people's thinking. By trying to play in a careful and safe way on offense we played into Seattle's hands. McCarthy has to cop a lot of the blame but he is what he is. A good and sometimes very good coach but not a great one. Rodgers sounded more than dissatisfied with the play calling after the match. We had our chances to put them away and didn't.

Sometimes a game can be won or lost early in proceedings ... in the first quarter the Packers were in 4th and 1 situations (twice) ... both times 1 yard from the end zone. Both times we elected to take the field goal. In my opinion McCarthy took the 3 points on offer because of 4 reasons ... A) He doubted our capacity to convert those 4th downs because of Seattle's defense B) He didn't want to hand the ball back to Seattle even though they would have been 100 odd yards from scoring - he didn't have enough faith in his own defense if we did hand the ball back C) The 3 points on offer "seemed" attractive at the time. D) He seemingly didn't have enough faith in Rodgers Meanwhile ...Seattle know all this and were probably quite happy to concede both field goals. We've got arguably the best QB in the business and we're not going to take a chance for 1 yard? Twice? When both times you're 1 yard from the end zone? A risk not taken can sometimes be a huge risk. We're not the sort of team to grind out wins ... the way we win is to score early and to score TD's. We win by blowing teams out of the water (early) This has the effect of making teams take undue chances which in turn can create more scoring opportunities. Field goals aren't usually high on the agenda. We gave them a sniff and even though it took them a while, they took advantage. Play by play (1st quarter)