NFL Playoffs: Conference Championships

One of the best day’s on the NFL calendar arrives Sunday -- the Conference Championship games.

Here’s one man’s opinion on the outcomes.

Sunday

NEW ENGLAND (-6) over Pittsburgh -- There’s been a wide-spread belief that blue-collar Pittsburgh is one team that can deny the Patriots a trip to SB LI. The Steelers’ mettle, ground game and quality defense make them a tough out. OK, but Belichick, Brady & Co. didn’t come this far to be stopped one win shy of another Super Bowl appearance. The Patriots had a tougher time than many people expected with Houston last week, and still covered the 16-point spread. Tom Brady won’t rest until Commissioner Goodell hands over the Lombardi Trophy.

Prediction: PATRIOTS 31, Steelers 19

ATLANTA (-4) over Green Bay — This certainly has “shootout” potential with QBs Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan at the top of their games. On Oct. 30, Ryan threw an 11-yard TD pass to Mohamed Sanu with 31 seconds remaining to rally the Falcons past the visiting Pack 33-32. Atlanta was impressive in defeating Seattle at home on Saturday. They won’t have to contend with Johnny Hester’s return ability this week. Green Bay, winner of eight in row, escaped Dallas after blowing an 18-point lead. Rodgers' favorite target, WR Jordy Nelson (ribs) expected to be out. The Packers' impressive streak ends here.

Prediction: FALCONS 34, Packers 27

—

LAST WEEK: 3-1 straight up; 2-2 vs. the spread.

PLAYOFFS: 7-1 straight up; 6-2 vs. the spread.

NFL predictions: Divisional Round weekend

Got off to a good start on Wild Card Weekend — 4-0 overall; 4-0 vs. the spread.
Things get tougher for this weekend’s Divisional Round match-ups.

Saturday

Seattle (+4 1/2) over ATLANTA -- This game will pit Atlanta’s offense (second overall, 425 ypg.) against Seattle’s fifth-best defense (318.7). QB Matt Ryan enjoyed an MVP-caliber season, though the Falcons’ defense was 25th overall. The Seahawks beat up on Detroit last week at home. A better opponent and being on the road — where it was 3-4-1 — will test Pete Carroll’s team. The Seahawks rallied at home late to beat Atlanta 26-24 in Week 6. Prediction: FALCONS 24, Seahawks 23

NEW ENGLAND (-16) over Houston --  Last week, the Texans enjoyed defeating the Raiders, who were led by third-string QB Connor Cook. QB Brock Osweiler played well before the home crowd. Houston boasted the league’s top “D” this season, but Tom Brady & Co. will be beginning their Super Bowl mission in earnest. Texans coach and former Bill Belichick assistant Bill O’Brien will not be feelin’ the love in Foxboro. The Brady-less Pats beat visiting Houston 27-0 in Week 3. Prediction: PATRIOTS 31, Texans 13

Sunday

Pittsburgh (+1 1/2) over KANSAS CITY -- Pittsburgh (seventh-ranked offense, 372.6 ypg; 12th defense, 342.6) had the statistical edge vs. K.C. (20th offense, 343 ypg; 24th defense, 368.5) this season. Plus, the Steelers enter having won eight straight. Andy Reid’s Chiefs showed mettle down the stretch to steal division from Oakland. K.C. was 6-2 both on the road and at home. Host Pittsburgh routed K.C. 43-14 during Week 4. Ben Roethlisberger said he will play despite being in a boot after the Dolphins game. Did you expect otherwise? Prediction: Steelers 26, CHIEFS 17

DALLAS (-4 1/2) over Green Bay — The Packers are on a roll, having won seven consecutive. ‘Boys were second in rushing (149.8 ypg.) and first (83.5) in stopping the run this season. Ezekiel Elliott heads a Dallas running attack that will go against the eighth-best defense (94.7) vs. the run. Aaron Rodgers vs. the 26th-ranked defense (260.4) gives Green Bay a real chance, but the ‘Boys will prevail at Jerry’s Place, where they beat GB 30-16 in Week 6. Prediction: COWBOYS 28, Packers 23

LAST WEEK: 4-0 overall; 4-0 vs. the spread.

NFL MVP: Brady or Ryan?

Most NFL watchers have reduced the 2016 MVP race to two quarterbacks: Tom Brady and Matt Ryan.

I did a mental coin flip and came up with Ryan.

Ryan led the Falcons to an 11-5 record and NFC South title. Without him, they’re likely not even a playoff team.

Ryan completed 69.9 percent of his passes for 4,944 yards, 38 TDs and 7 INTs.

Tom Brady led the Patriots to an 11-1 mark. That was after New England went 3-1 while Tommy sat out his Deflate-gate season-opening suspension.

Brady completed 67.4 percent for 3,554 yards, 28 TDs and 2 INTs.

Should any suspension play a factor in voting? Maybe, though the inflation of balls is a gridiron misdemeanor, at best.

As for talk MVP should be awarded after the postseason, no.  There are two seasons -- the first results in awards, the second results in a Super Bowl appearance and victory.

I'm sure Brady would prefer Super Bowl MVP this time around, anyway.


* * *

A 105-year-old Frenchman set a world record in the 105-plus age category by riding 92 laps, 14.01 miles in one hour.

I'm guessing that record will be harder to break than Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak.

* * *

Hey Derek Jeter …

Your wife Hannah is gorgeous,  beautiful, awesome, hot, sexy.

Does that get me a dinner?

Giants WRs catch flight to Miami, R&R before WC game

So Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard, Victor Cruz and Roger Lewis were celebrating the New Year Sunday/Monday in Miami with Justin Bieber and Trey Songz.

A big deal? Not really.

Sure, if you're a Giants coach, official or fan, you'd like to think your players were spending every available second preparing for Sunday's Wild Card game at Green Bay. Heck, even some teammates might be pissed.

But welcome to 2017.

Getting to Miami is nearly as easy as the 1950s Giants got to Toots Shor's in Midtown.

Some of today's athletes, with their fame and money, do things in a big way.  Can you say, "O-B-J?"

If the Giants receivers are on time and focused for all team meetings and practices, there's not much to say.

Of course, if the Giants WRs contribute negatively to a loss Sunday, people will say a lot.

NFL predictions: Wild Card weekend

The 17-week NFL regular season is over. Time to get real with the playoffs beginning with Wild Card Weekend.

Here are one man's predictions for this weekend's games.

Saturday

HOUSTON (-3) over Oakland -- Two teams with QB issues. Raiders lost Derek Carr for the season with a broken leg in Week 16. The Texans benched Brock Osweiler for Tom Savage on Sunday, but Savage suffered a concussion in the game. Who will start? Doesn't matter. The deciding factor here will be Houston's defense -- tops in the NFL at 301.3 ypg. TEXANS 24, Raiders  17

SEATTLE (-7 1/2) over Detroit -- OK, so Seattle might not be quite at the level of their recent Super Bowl teams, but they still have the fifth-ranked defense. Plus, this game offers a clean slate beginning in their raucous house. It doesn't hurt that Detroit is riding a three-game losing streak. SEAHAWKS 31, Lions 17


Sunday

PITTSBURGH (-10) over Miami -- Ben Roethlisberger & Co. weren't guaranteed to be in the playoffs until beating Baltimore in Week 16, but they figure to be a tough out now that they're in. Kudos to the Dolphins for reaching the playoffs in Year 1 under Adam Gaze. I think this game will be competitive, but Steelers will prevail with temps expected in the high 20s. STEELERS 27, Dolphins 16

GREEN BAY (-4) over NY Giants -- Aaron Rodgers won't relax when facing the Giants' D, but New York's offense, a disappointing enigma most of the season, will cost the Giants here. Temperatures expected to be in the teens on Sunday. PACKERS 21, Giants 13

I hate going all chalk and all home, but what can ya do ... except be wrong? LOL

Messi retires? Not so fast

A star athlete in his prime announces he's "done playing with” his national team minutes following an emotional, crushing defeat.

Any chance emotion was involved in the player's decision? Nahhhh …

Lionel Messi understandably was distraught following Argentina’s loss 4-2 on penalties to Chile after a 0-0 draw in the Copa America final on Sunday night.  Adding to Messi’s frustrations was his own missed penalty kick.

"My thinking right now and thinking about it in the locker room, I'm done playing with the national team," said Messi, who apparently also has issues with the Argentine football federation (AFA).

If so, Messi, at 29, walks away with an international record that includes losing the 2014 World Cup final and three Copa America finals. And with the next World Cup just two years away.

Is Messi the greatest futbol player ever? Not to Argentinians who cherish Diego Maradona and the 1986 World Cup victory.

The greatest player of his generation? Maybe, but Cristiano Ronaldo has supporters, too.

Messi has led Barcelona F.C. to eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles.

Ronaldo helped propel Manchester United to three consecutive Premier League titles and a Champions League crown. He has won a La Liga title and two Champions League titles with Real Madrid.

In international competition, Ronaldo and Portugal do not carry the expectations heaped on Messi and two-time World Cup champ and 14-time Copa America winner Argentina.

Has the pressure to return Argentina to the top finally proven to be too much for Messi?

I doubt it. I expect to see him play for Argentina at World Cup in Russia.

An emotional trip into the Spotlight

It was early 1987. I remember exiting a Sayreville, N.J., movie theatre -- a quick jaunt over the Outerbridge Crossing for a then-23-year-old Staten Islander -- after watching Platoon.

No movie ever had affected me as had Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning Best Picture concerning the horrors of war. As I drove home that night, I was so genuinely grateful for not having to serve during wartime.

And I never have forgotten how fortunate many men in my generation have been in avoiding combat.

In the almost three decades since, I've seen many films on the big screen. My love of movies began as kid watching Charlie Chaplin silent flicks on PBS, and took root watching the 4:30 movie on ABC in New York City.

It was not until yesterday when I saw Spotlight that another film affected me in such an emotional way.

And this one had a two-fold effect.

As a journalist, I was excited and envious watching Boston Globe reporters working a story and showing how the Fourth Estate, even in the sensation-filled 21st Century, still can make people proud.

As someone who attended parochial grammar school, was an altar boy for nearly seven years, and was taught by priests at a Catholic all-boys high school, I was shaken.

During the closing credits rolled, I needed to wipe away tears as I sat and thought of the sexually abused victims. THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME!

I often offer a disclaimer when talking to someone about a film -- "Remember, it's a movie," I like to say. "You can't take things as the way they really happened."

That applies to Spotlight, too, though not as much as I wish. The film pretty much mirrored reality: Hard-working journalists exposing how the Boston Archdiocese covered up the action of more than 200 priests who preyed on thousands of young victims.

And while this movie focused on Boston, we all know the sexual abuse didn't stop there.

My beliefs and life as a Catholic will not change after seeing Spotlight. I'm still proud to be a member, and I'll continue to attend Mass regularly because I enjoy going and always leave feeling I'm better for having gone.

As I type this, I continue to think most Catholic priests are good men who, while very human, do their best to live up to the demands and exceptions created by wearing the while collar around their necks.

But this story about pedophilic priests and needed to be told. First by the Boston Globe, and now by director Tom McCarthy (no relation).

If you're Catholic and have avoided seeing Spotlight because of the subject matter, know this:

1. The writing and acting will be well-deserving of the Best Picture Oscar should they win. I also saw The Big Short, and I'd give Spotlight the nod.

2. Yes, the topic is sensitive and uncomfortable. But the movie's focus is more on the newspaper's investigation into the church's cover-up than on any sexual acts. Think All The President's Men.

3. The victims. They are owed something that no settlement, no amount of money can buy -- our love, sympathy and understanding that through no fault of theirs, they were thrust into the Spotlight.