Let the Predictions Spur Forth

Championship Weekend looms; the Bears will play the New Orleans Saints this Sunday in Chicago at Soldier Field. The Saints have never made it this far before, as the organization has been one of the tragic stories of the NFL since they first joined. The Bears on the other hand, after fighting through a largely disappointing decade of the 1990’s, return to the NFC Championship for the first time since 1989. On the AFC side of the coin, it will be a rematch of an ever evolving rivalry; Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady. Surprisingly, these two teams defeated the top two seeds in the AFC (Chargers and Ravens) with convicting victories in two games that were rather close. Being that everyone and their mother is making a prediction about Championship Weekend, I figure that I might as well join the club.

New Orleans Saints (11-6) vs. Chicago Bears (14-3)
The Bears are the favorite in this game, at least as far as the Vegas’ bookies are concerned. But many of the “professional analysts” and the Saints themselves argue that they should be the favorites. I would beg to differ on that point. Somehow the Saints lost 6 games during the regular season; I wonder why? The Saints are not the “hulks” of the football world, as many “analysts” would argue. The team is on a collective roll, which was confirmed over the course of the last few weeks of the season. Drew Brees, Deuce McCallister, and Reggie Bush are all at the top of their respective games right now. Drew Brees is the real deal in my opinion; the man knows how to pass with great efficiency and explosiveness. McCallister is running over everyone in his path and Bush is running all over the field like he did at USC.

Plus, the Saints have the collective moral support of the nation, as they hail from the devastated New Orleans. I completely agree on this aspect of supporting the Saints. It would be an awesome sight to see the Saints go to the Super Bowl after enduring a year away from the Super Dome and giving more hope to the begrudged citizens of New Orleans. I believe that the “analysts” are on board the “moral support train” as well, which has a tendency to cloud judgment. I agree that the Bears are not the team we witnessed during the first half of the season, as injuries have decimated the Monster’s of the Midway. But the Bears did win 13 games during the regular season, which to me shows that they did something right. Even with the train wreck of Rex Grossman at the helm, the Bears managed to put a high-quality season together.

With any game that the Bears have played over the second half of the season, the first issue to come to mind is whether the superior or ghastly Grossman will show up on Sunday. Grossman proved himself last weekend with solid play and poise. He did not make any mistakes that took his team out of the game. Basically, he shone through when the game was on the line. I believe the Grossman of weeks one through seven’s past will show and rise to the occasion. The defense is due for a superior game, as they have been giving a lot of points up over the past five games. I smell a Brian Urlacher-Lance Briggs domineering effort on Sunday. I also smell a Devin Hester run back at some point. He did it last weekend, but was called back after a poor call from the officials. Contrary to belief, I believe the Bears will win the NFC Championship.
Flem’s Prediction: New Orleans 17, Chicago 34

New England Patriots (13-5) vs. Indianapolis Colts (13-5)
The AFC Championship game relights the most recent and entertaining NFL rivalry between two of the league’s top quarter backs. It has been recognized that Peyton Manning has been unable to win “the big game” to solidify his place as one of the game’s all time greats.’ On the other side of the coin, he faces the current reincarnation of greatness itself, Tom Brady. The Colts destroyed the Patriots earlier in the year, but like the Bears, the Colts were a different team then. The Patriots have been the same old’ Patriots throughout the playoffs, as they have shown the resilience of a coach and a quarterback that have won three out of the last four Super Bowls. Manning has been haunted by “big game” losses to the Patriots throughout his career, but I have a feeling that he is due. He is too damn good not to ever make it to a Super Bowl.
Flem’s Prediction: New England 24, Indianapolis 28