There is no doubt in my mind that the red-hot New York Giants will defeat the Green Bay Packers this weekend in Lambeau Field to advance to the Super Bowl.

The Packers are overrated.  They played a fairly easy schedule and have just been extremely lucky.  If the weather gods did not come through with snow during the first quarter after being down 14-0 last weekend against Seattle, they would have been blown out. 

Brett Favre is having an incredible season and I predict the gunslinger will have his hands full against the tough NYG defense.  Unlike the west-coast based Seattle Seahawks, the east-coast based New York Giants will have no trouble executing offensively in the freezing cold weather. 

Eli Manning has been playing incredibly well and the NYG running game has been unstoppable.  I look for a low-scoring game where Favre will throw at least 2 INTs and get sacked at least 6 times for a NYG victory and a ticket to the Super Bowl.

Recently, McNabb posted on his blog that the team should restock and ’secure some playmakers’. 

Well, no kidding!!!  Darn right the Eagles need playmakers, especially a playmaker at QB!  After going 8-8, its obvious the Eagles need to make some changes.  If you look at their roster, Andy Reid did a great job with this club guiding this club to 8-8.  The offense in most of the games was horrific and it starts with the horrific play of the QB, Donovan McNabb.  McNabb  clearly was not fully recovered from his knee injury from the previous year as he was limping all season making him an easy target for sacks.  That elusiveness that he once had is clearly gone.  

I have said this many times and I will say it again.  McNabb is the most overrated QB in the NFL.  McNabb can bitch and complain all he wants about lack of respect because he is black, but honestly McNabb gets no respect because he is simply not very good.  Its clear that without a good #1 WR target like a Terrell Owens, McNabb cannot guide this offense effectively.  Instead of running his moth, McNabb should be worried his own job security and getting healthy.  The Eagles seemed to perform very well with AJ Feeley at QB.  Plus, the Eagles have #1 draft choice, Kevin Kolb waiting in the wings.

http://yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/McNabb_wants_weapons/65850

I reading Ray Ratto’s columns in the SF Chronicle or sfgate.com because he tells it like he sees it.  Its the straight truth whether you like it or not and thats the way it should be. 

Here is his column on January 2nd about the 49ers and specifically John York.  In a nutshell, John York is another idiotic owner who has no clue how to run a sports team.   

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/01/02/SPHBU7TQL.DTL

Congratulations to the New England Patriots on going 16-0 in the regular season after another comeback win over the New York Giants.   Mr. Cool, Tom Brady did it again!  I am not a Patriots fan, but lets face it, they are darn good. 

To go 16-0 in the NFL is a major accomplishment.  Those 16 victories included victories over the very talented Colts and the Cowboys. 

No one remembers or acknowledges those teams in any sport that go undefeated and do not finish the job by winning the championship.  For example, the 1934 and 1942 Chicago Bears teams that went 11-0 in the regular season only to lose in the NFL Championnship games both times or the 1991 UNLV Running Rebels basketball team that steamrolled through the regular season undefeated, only to lose to Duke in the Final Four. 

If the undefeated Patriots can win the Super Bowl just like the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins, then we can say that this Patriots team is the best team of all time.  No doubt about it.  Those 1972 Miami Dolphins may still have reason for a champagne toast if the Patriots lose in the playoffs!

In a dramatic ending of regulation, the 51-yard FG by The Cleveland Brown’s kicker Phil Dawson was ruled good after initially being ruled no good and what looked like a 30-27 victory for the Baltimore Ravens.  In a wild turn of events, after a discussion by the referees since according to some stupid NFL rules, FG kicks are NOT reviewable by instant replay.

This play cannot stress the importance of instant replay in the NFL and all major sports and the need to expand it. With action happening so fast, referee/umpires are going to make the incorrect call from time-to-time.  Often times, one play can dramatically impact the result of a game.  Although it may hurt a team from time to time, everyone including coaches and fans wants to see the correct call made even if instant replay has to verify or reverse a call.  In MLB, with 162 games, a bad call may cost a team a game,  but not make much of an impact on a team’s season, but in college football where every game counts, it would be terrible for a team to lose a game and possibly a national championship because of an incorrect call that was not reversed.  

In the Browns game, there were 2 referees right under the goal posts when the kick went thru and both of them did not see the ball go through.  What the hell were those referees looking at and why did neither of them make the correct call?  It was another referee that saw the ball go through.

Why a FG is not replayable in the NFL is stupid and the rule ought to be changed. 

On a side note, the Browns then took the opening kickoff in OT and drove it down the field for a game-winning FG leaving the Ravens in shock and disbelief.  Too bad Ravens!