Sunday, January 23, 2011

AFC Championship

Last weekend, for Martin Luther King Day weekend, I headed down to Columbia, Maryland to visit my cousins who I hadn't seen in three years. More importantly, however, I was there to watch the Steelers play the Ravens right from the middle of Ravens country. My uncle, being my dad's brother, is originally from Pittsburgh also and therefore a diehard Steelers fan too, so we all got together to root them on. I follow football more than your average person, but not to a zealous degree and I wasn't really sure how to call the game beforehand, especially with this season being as wild as it was:

(Look no further than Marshawn Lynch's amazing run against the Saints)

It wasn't a half bad game at first, but my aunt and uncle assured me that Baltimore always gave it up after halftime, and oh how right they were. The myriad of follies in the third quarter by the Ravens almost made me hesitant to be proud of us for winning (Almost!), and we happily watched as the Steelers secured their spot in the AFC Championship.

Now our eyes turned to our opponents. It should be no surprise that anyone from Pittsburgh would've wanted the Jets to win, because we all loathe the Patriots (and I'm sure many of us knew we'd have a much better chance against the Jets), however I am personally a Jets fan as well, so I was really hoping to see the Jets win. With their recent performance up until then, however (and the line being NWE by 9.0) my hopes weren't high.  I remember saying to my uncle as we visited the National Museum of the American Indian (and to no surprise checked to see that the Bears were indeed beating the Seahawks), "I'll just be happy if Tom Brady gets picked." And picked he was...


This was what Tom Brady looked like as he walked off the field after most of his drives, as he saw passes blocked, dropped, and intercepted; and needless to say it was quite a refreshing change from seeing that big beaming smile on his face that says, "I'm better than you and I know it."  I watched as the Jets defense played amazingly and couldn't have been happier, every team going into the playoff was a team I wouldn't mind seeing in the Superbowl. Obviously as a Pittsburgher my first choice would be the Steelers but hell having an excuse to wear Jets stuff around here suits me just fine too.  My uncle laughed as he watched 'the dopesmoker' pull one in


Today I watched the beginning of the Packers-Bears game, and I figured it would be a close one especially with the formidable defenses on either side.  I was surprised, however, to see the Packers getting through the Bears defense pretty easily, only having real issues with the blitz, and holding back Chicago's offense pretty easily. Turning it back on with a little under 5 minutes left in the 4th while waiting for the Steeler game and typing this, the Packers are up 21-14. Well we do know Greg Jennings likes to put the team on his back.


Steelers seem to have the favor for this one, it should be a fun game to watch.

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