New England versus Denver: A conversation about the AFC Championship Game

The following is a conversation between four strangers about this afternoon's AFC Championship game (click here for thoughts on the NFC game):

Just a man dialing up the past.

Bryan Harvey: So we have Brady, and we have Manning. And, while Brady commands the regular season win-loss record, the rivalry is deadlocked at two playoff games apiece. You, me, all of us, are meant to believe this means everything. 

2014 AFC Championship Game

Some quick points (also, click here for some thoughts on the NFC Championship game):

When Indianapolis has the ball:

T.Y. Hilton understands there are always more Patriots, like ants, like roaches, like legions out of Valhalla. 

I'm not trying to pretend I'm an expert on the Indianapolis Colts offense or New England's defense. What I do know is this: Andrew Luck's career, but especially his Playoff career, has gotten off to a rather historic start. Moreover, this historic start is not like Matthew Stafford's career, where the history making has been shaped by rule changes and Calvin Johnson.

2014 NFL Playoffs: Saturday's Divisional Round

The following is a conversation previewing the 2014 Divisional match-ups (a discussion of Sunday's games can be found here):


Baltimore v New England @ 4:35 on NBC

The New England Patriots haven't been the same since George W. Bush left office.

NFL Playoffs: Championship Sunday Preview

The Championship Game previews below were put together by Russ Morris and Bryan Harvey (Teach):

Time Waster: You Get To Spend More Time With Gisele

Ryan Parker has been dedicating songs to NFL players and doing it well for quite some time. His newest song about Tom Brady, "You get to spend more time with Gisele" , does not disappoint. The song is about getting Tom to look at the bright side of having his ACL shredded to resemble pulled pork:

Go check out his website for more songs- Ryan Parker Songs

Tom Brady's Injury Update

During the second drive of the game against the Chiefs, Tom Brady completed a pass to receiver Randy Moss, who consequently fumbled after a 28-yard gain. But it turns out that the fumble wasn't remotely close to being the worst part of the play. Brady was hit low by safety Bernard Pollard (see: picture and If you haven't seen the video, think Carson Palmer in the 05-06 playoffs) causing Brady's knee to buckle. With help he managed to limp off the field, and from the news coming out it is amazing he didn't leave on a cart. According to Michael Silver of Yahoo! sports, Brady is expected to miss the rest of the 2008 season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Two sources indicated it involved serious damage to the knee.

“It’s bad,” a team source said. “We’re going to have
to play without him.”

Tom Brady was replaced by backup Matt Cassell who completed 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown, but let me remind you they were playing the Chiefs. Alright so there are two major questions that have resulted from this. 1)Who do I replace Brady with on my fantasy team? 2) What are the Patriots going to do? Well I have no idea who I am going to replace him with probably Derek Anderson while the Patriots have a guy who has been a career backup in college and as a pro. Matt Cassell has not started a game since high school and trying to fill the shoes of a three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback is a monstrous task for a glorified clipboard holder. The Patriots realize that and according to what Al Michaels said, they are bringing in Chris Simms for a workout Monday. Simms likely would step in as the primary backup to Matt Cassel, that is, if Brady is done for the year. And if the rumors are true, has there ever been a more devastating/ season changing injury in the first week of the season?