Championship Game picks / NFL Officiating = Clown Show

Another 3-1 week on my playoff picks to take me to 6-2. Two games to pick this week, with the AFC and NFC Championship games. I'll go more in depth on my podcast which is embedded at the bottom of the blog but here are my picks:

First in the AFC, we get another Brady-Manning matchup. This one will go in the win column for the Patriots but Denver's defense keeps them close.

In the NFC, it’s also the top two seeds with Arizona vs. Carolina. There are two great defenses on display here and this will be a punchers duel. I think it’s the Cardinals winning on a last minute score.

So that would set up an Arizona-Denver Super Bowl. Just so you know, you won’t get any hype from me on Super Bowl.
 
Off the field, ESPN’s Jon Gruden thinks the NFL should get rid of all replay and that is a great idea. Replay has complicated things and made officials gun shy from actually making calls on the field, not to mention making the games last even longer. While they would never totally eliminate replay, a huge streamlining would be a great step.

While on the topic NFL officiating….The VP of Officials, Dean Blandino defends the Larry Fitzgerald catch in the last game claiming that they didn't say it was a catch but no evidence to overturn the call which is precisely what is wrong with replay. They go back and forth between judgement and evidence and can’t be consistent on either. If the Larry Fitzgerald catch was a catch, then the Dez Bryant catch should have been too.

And to top it off..how about the officials leaving the game balls for the Patriots-Chiefs game at the hotel and having to have them police escortedto the stadium. NFL officiating is a total clown show complete with makeup, large shoes and a tiny clown car they all exit from.
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I’d like to recommend a great read from SI.com on Hall of Fame tight End Jackie Smith who after a great career with the St. Louis Cardinals, came out of retirement to play one final season with the Dallas Cowboys. As some of you might remember, he had one of the most heart breaking moments in Super Bowl history dropping what was a sure TD pass from Roger Staubach in Super Bowl 13...a huge momentum changer after the Cowboys had to settle for a FG to pull within four pts at 21-17. Then the Steelers scored two TD’s to build a lead and then hold off a late Cowboy rally to win 35-31. The article focuses on how being the goat of that game affected his post playing career, nearly ruining his life and how he eventually came to grips with it. It’s a great piece by Ben Baskin and I encourage you to check it out on SI.com

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