Karma is a bitch Cowboys Chris called right after I sent out the BBofG update.
"You want to come over to the Outdoor Ampitheatre for the playoffs?" "Just one problem though – the heater isn’t working. I think it’s the pilot light."
We decided to try and get Ellis to host on Sunday since his heater works. Ellis had to pass on Sunday so the gang trooped over to Chris’ sans heater.
Chris made up for it with a huge fire. He was tossing everything in, old cigar boxes, crates he found on the side of the road, Christmas trees from around the neighborhood, even some old curtains. I was yelling "In with it!" It was pyro heaven -and quite toasty too!
The games were great too. The BBofG had another 3-1 weekend with the lone loss being by the hook on the Green Bay game.
Aaron Rodgers was hobbled by a calf injury and was struggling for most of the game. Then he caught fire. With 9 minutes left he makes a brilliant pass to Richard Rodgers for a TD to take the lead 26-21. Great – get the extra point and I cover the 5.5. But the Pack decides to go for 2. Damn! It was the right call but it would screw up the cover if they don’t get it. They didn’t.
Then Dallas went on a drive that will forever define the game. On 4th and 2, Romo heaves the ball to Dez Bryant who grabs it at the 2.
Green Bay challenged the call. To me it looked like a catch and Green Bay was hoping for prayer of an overturn.
It was overturned. I was stunned. Happy but stunned. He was ruled to have failed the Calvin Johnson "complete the process" of a catch.
It was the first time all season that Green Bay had a successful challenge.
Karma is a bitch Cowboys. Live by the refs die by the refs. You shouldn’t have been in this game to begin with.
The Pack gets the ball back at their 32 with four minutes left. Plenty of time to get a FG and the cover.
Rodgers is still on fire and gets the ball to the Dallas 34. 1st down! 2:24 left. Then I realized – I need the Pack to go three and out. If they get another first down they can run out the clock.
The Boys are laughing – after rooting for the Pack all game now I’m rooting for a stop by Dallas.
Things were looking good. Dallas forced a 3rd and 11. OK one more stop then get the FG
Rodgers hits Randall Cobb for 12 yards. Crap. I’m jumping around pissed off. The gang is rolling. Rooting for a team and the spread can cause some weird things.
The Packers go into the victory formation and I get my only loss for the week. But I didn’t put any quatloos on it. I was right to fear Rodgers’ injury.
I did get the only Mega Bet correct though.
"You want to come over to the Outdoor Ampitheatre for the playoffs?" "Just one problem though – the heater isn’t working. I think it’s the pilot light."
We decided to try and get Ellis to host on Sunday since his heater works. Ellis had to pass on Sunday so the gang trooped over to Chris’ sans heater.
Chris made up for it with a huge fire. He was tossing everything in, old cigar boxes, crates he found on the side of the road, Christmas trees from around the neighborhood, even some old curtains. I was yelling "In with it!" It was pyro heaven -and quite toasty too!
The games were great too. The BBofG had another 3-1 weekend with the lone loss being by the hook on the Green Bay game.
Aaron Rodgers was hobbled by a calf injury and was struggling for most of the game. Then he caught fire. With 9 minutes left he makes a brilliant pass to Richard Rodgers for a TD to take the lead 26-21. Great – get the extra point and I cover the 5.5. But the Pack decides to go for 2. Damn! It was the right call but it would screw up the cover if they don’t get it. They didn’t.
Then Dallas went on a drive that will forever define the game. On 4th and 2, Romo heaves the ball to Dez Bryant who grabs it at the 2.
Green Bay challenged the call. To me it looked like a catch and Green Bay was hoping for prayer of an overturn.
It was overturned. I was stunned. Happy but stunned. He was ruled to have failed the Calvin Johnson "complete the process" of a catch.
It was the first time all season that Green Bay had a successful challenge.
Karma is a bitch Cowboys. Live by the refs die by the refs. You shouldn’t have been in this game to begin with.
The Pack gets the ball back at their 32 with four minutes left. Plenty of time to get a FG and the cover.
Rodgers is still on fire and gets the ball to the Dallas 34. 1st down! 2:24 left. Then I realized – I need the Pack to go three and out. If they get another first down they can run out the clock.
The Boys are laughing – after rooting for the Pack all game now I’m rooting for a stop by Dallas.
Things were looking good. Dallas forced a 3rd and 11. OK one more stop then get the FG
Rodgers hits Randall Cobb for 12 yards. Crap. I’m jumping around pissed off. The gang is rolling. Rooting for a team and the spread can cause some weird things.
The Packers go into the victory formation and I get my only loss for the week. But I didn’t put any quatloos on it. I was right to fear Rodgers’ injury.
I did get the only Mega Bet correct though.
Not once but twice - and a pick six too! Seattle -11.5 vs Carolina – It was the defensive struggle that everyone expected. – for three quarters. Going into the fourth quarter it was 14-10 Seattle. I needed one more TD to get the cover.
Seattle did more than that. They went FG, TD to start the fourth quarter. Nice. The score is now 24-10.
Best of all, when Carolina gets the ball back Kam Chancellor picks it off and takes it to the house. Pick 6! Excellent. Even though it blew the under - I now had the insurance TD.
And it wasn’t the most memorable play(s) by Kam. It was the back to back blocks of FG where he jumped over the Carolina linemen to get into the backfield that will be remembered long after the game. The first one was amazing. But Carolina jumped offsides and got another chance. You figured that after watching Kam do his amazing jump they would try and stand up and stop him for doing it again. Nope – he did the exact same thing again and blocks the kick. This time he was called for roughing the kicker. It was a bad call. He deflected the kick.
It was a good thing that Kam got the TD as Carolina got a TD on the ensuing drive to close it to 31-17 with 2:34 left. Carolina's only chance was to get the onside.
They didn’t. Seattle gets the ball and runs out the clock. Final score Seattle 31 Carolina 17 WIN
So now the NFL is down to the Final Four but before the hype of next weekend starts, football fandom will be focused one last time on the college game. It’s the first ever Div 1A playoff championship.
And tonight I’m going with:
Seattle did more than that. They went FG, TD to start the fourth quarter. Nice. The score is now 24-10.
Best of all, when Carolina gets the ball back Kam Chancellor picks it off and takes it to the house. Pick 6! Excellent. Even though it blew the under - I now had the insurance TD.
And it wasn’t the most memorable play(s) by Kam. It was the back to back blocks of FG where he jumped over the Carolina linemen to get into the backfield that will be remembered long after the game. The first one was amazing. But Carolina jumped offsides and got another chance. You figured that after watching Kam do his amazing jump they would try and stand up and stop him for doing it again. Nope – he did the exact same thing again and blocks the kick. This time he was called for roughing the kicker. It was a bad call. He deflected the kick.
It was a good thing that Kam got the TD as Carolina got a TD on the ensuing drive to close it to 31-17 with 2:34 left. Carolina's only chance was to get the onside.
They didn’t. Seattle gets the ball and runs out the clock. Final score Seattle 31 Carolina 17 WIN
So now the NFL is down to the Final Four but before the hype of next weekend starts, football fandom will be focused one last time on the college game. It’s the first ever Div 1A playoff championship.
And tonight I’m going with:
Mariota ran for 15 TDs to go with 40 through the air Ohio State +6.0 vs Oregon – I’ve been really going back and forth on this game. Even during last night’s football pyre Bruce asked who I was picking. I was still debating.
Like the Super Bowl last year, the way to go in championship games is to take the better defense. But these teams are eerily similar. They put up points in bunches and then use a good but not great defense to win.
Marcus Mariota is truly amazing. His QBR is #1 at 184.35. The next best? Ohio State’s JT Barrett at 169.2 but he’s not playing.
And Marcus doesn’t turn the ball over either. On the year he threw 40 TDs, ran for another 15 TDs and had only three picks. Three!
He led the nation in passing yards per attempt too. The last two QBs to lead in that stat – FSU’s Jameis Winston, national champ and Cam Newton, national champ. Advantage Ducks.
But Mariota is losing weapons fast. He’s lost TE Pharoah Brown in week nine due to a knee injury. Then WR Devon Allen was lost to an injury on the opening kickoff against FSU. And finally, on Saturday WR Darren Carrington was suspended for failing a ganja test. But, does it really matter? Oregon is all about the system. I mean, can you name an Oregon WR in the NFL?
Oregon as a team was outstanding hanging onto the ball going +20 on turnover margin (second only to Michigan State). On the year, they didn’t lose the turnover battle in a single game.
Ohio State was a respectable +10 but lost the turnover battle in four games. Advantage Ducks.
Like the Super Bowl last year, the way to go in championship games is to take the better defense. But these teams are eerily similar. They put up points in bunches and then use a good but not great defense to win.
Marcus Mariota is truly amazing. His QBR is #1 at 184.35. The next best? Ohio State’s JT Barrett at 169.2 but he’s not playing.
And Marcus doesn’t turn the ball over either. On the year he threw 40 TDs, ran for another 15 TDs and had only three picks. Three!
He led the nation in passing yards per attempt too. The last two QBs to lead in that stat – FSU’s Jameis Winston, national champ and Cam Newton, national champ. Advantage Ducks.
But Mariota is losing weapons fast. He’s lost TE Pharoah Brown in week nine due to a knee injury. Then WR Devon Allen was lost to an injury on the opening kickoff against FSU. And finally, on Saturday WR Darren Carrington was suspended for failing a ganja test. But, does it really matter? Oregon is all about the system. I mean, can you name an Oregon WR in the NFL?
Oregon as a team was outstanding hanging onto the ball going +20 on turnover margin (second only to Michigan State). On the year, they didn’t lose the turnover battle in a single game.
Ohio State was a respectable +10 but lost the turnover battle in four games. Advantage Ducks.
But he lost Carrington for having a little extra in the bloodstream But Ohio State is mentally tough. Midway through the second quarter, they had turned it over twice and were down 21-6 to Bama. They overcame.
Ohio State is 8-0 all time against Oregon with the last meeting back in 2010 in the Rose Bowl. OSU won 26-17 by absolutely killing it on time of possession 42 minutes to 18. Oregon still plays the same style of offense while OSU is more up temp know. But OSU did win the time of possession against Alabama so it’s advantage Bucks.
There are lots of conflicting trends in this game. Urban Meyer maintains focus – he is 12-1 ATS after an upset win.
Oregon does too. They are 12-0 ATS after scoring 50 points in the prior game (they destroyed FSU 59-20 in the Rose Bowl)
Oregon is 4-0 ATS as a single digit favorite while OSU is 5-0 SU and ATS as an underdog.
So I was thinking about OSU and their 3rd string QB and how that may play out when it dawned on me. They are winning regardless of the QB. The success of the Bucks is the excellent blocking and team play. They recruit great QBs but put an excellent system around them.
Ohio State is 8-0 all time against Oregon with the last meeting back in 2010 in the Rose Bowl. OSU won 26-17 by absolutely killing it on time of possession 42 minutes to 18. Oregon still plays the same style of offense while OSU is more up temp know. But OSU did win the time of possession against Alabama so it’s advantage Bucks.
There are lots of conflicting trends in this game. Urban Meyer maintains focus – he is 12-1 ATS after an upset win.
Oregon does too. They are 12-0 ATS after scoring 50 points in the prior game (they destroyed FSU 59-20 in the Rose Bowl)
Oregon is 4-0 ATS as a single digit favorite while OSU is 5-0 SU and ATS as an underdog.
So I was thinking about OSU and their 3rd string QB and how that may play out when it dawned on me. They are winning regardless of the QB. The success of the Bucks is the excellent blocking and team play. They recruit great QBs but put an excellent system around them.
OSU is solid - they can win with a 3rd string QB A 3rd string QB can come in and blow out Wisconsin (who took down Auburn) and then climb back to beat Bama.
That and an angle Bruce sent over. Turns out that as the higher seed gets first pick on unis. Oregon choose a silver pants and white shirt combo. Bad choice as per the article Should have gone with the Green
And, as always, when in doubt take the points. As Woody Hayes said, if you take the favorite, three things can happen and two are bad.
So I’ll take the Bucks despite how obnoxious Chris will be if theywin and I’ll drop a Mega too. Last chance to lay some action on college ball and the Mega Bets have been doing really good lately.
As far as the over/under. It started out at 70.5 and bettors quickly jumped all over it pushing it to 75.5. it’s since settled back to 74. The trends are mixed on that too.
For Oregon, they have had seven games posted at 70 or more points yet the games went under in five.
Ohio State had the best over results s they have gone over 12 of the last 14 games. That said, they haven’t had a line of 70 points. And of the 13 games they have played only 5 went over 74 points (Oregon games did it only four times)
Bowl games do tend to go over, however. So far bowl games have gone over 23-14-1 (62%), The Big Ten games went over 7-2-1 while Pac 12 games went over 6-2.
Ohio State games in post season are 4-0 over while Oregon went under 4-2.
I’ll take the over since they are more fun to root for but no quatloos.
That and an angle Bruce sent over. Turns out that as the higher seed gets first pick on unis. Oregon choose a silver pants and white shirt combo. Bad choice as per the article Should have gone with the Green
And, as always, when in doubt take the points. As Woody Hayes said, if you take the favorite, three things can happen and two are bad.
So I’ll take the Bucks despite how obnoxious Chris will be if theywin and I’ll drop a Mega too. Last chance to lay some action on college ball and the Mega Bets have been doing really good lately.
As far as the over/under. It started out at 70.5 and bettors quickly jumped all over it pushing it to 75.5. it’s since settled back to 74. The trends are mixed on that too.
For Oregon, they have had seven games posted at 70 or more points yet the games went under in five.
Ohio State had the best over results s they have gone over 12 of the last 14 games. That said, they haven’t had a line of 70 points. And of the 13 games they have played only 5 went over 74 points (Oregon games did it only four times)
Bowl games do tend to go over, however. So far bowl games have gone over 23-14-1 (62%), The Big Ten games went over 7-2-1 while Pac 12 games went over 6-2.
Ohio State games in post season are 4-0 over while Oregon went under 4-2.
I’ll take the over since they are more fun to root for but no quatloos.
