Indianapolis Colts Advance to Super Bowl

The Indianapolis Colts have advanced to the Super Bowl, which will take place this year in Miami on Sunday, February 7. Their opponent will be either the Minnesota Vikings or New Orleans Saints, who play each other in the NFC championship later today.

The Jets held a 17-13 lead at halftime (and at one time led 17-6) but the home team dominated the second half on their way to a 30-17 victory. Peyton Manning absolutely shredded the Jets defense this afternoon for 377 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Before the season began, I picked the Colts and the Vikings in the Super Bowl. I still feel that this will be the match-up, although it will be VERY difficult to knock off the Saints at the Superdome.

No matter who wins the NFC Championship game, it should definitely be a fun Super Bowl this year! Manning vs. Favre or Brees? You have to think it’ll be high scoring!

Eagles Knock Off Giants

Well, it’s going to be a Philadelphia Eagles/Arizona Cardinals NFC Championship game next weekend after the Eagles upset the #1 seeded Giants today by a score of 23-11.

Going into the final game of the day today, the road teams are 3-0 on the weekend and San Diego could make it a perfect sweep with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.

From the Associated Press:

Donovan McNabb and his Philadelphia Eagles get another week to keep chasing that elusive Super Bowl crown. Eli Manning and the New York Giants get a whole offseason to wonder what went wrong.

McNabb made all the big plays that Manning did not, and the Eagles eliminated the Super Bowl champions 23-11 Sunday to reach the NFC title game for the fifth time in eight seasons.

Throw in Philadelphia’s hard-hitting, ball-hawking defense, and these NFL playoffs are now for the Birds — the underdog Eagles, Cardinals and Ravens all won on the road this weekend.

McNabb lunged for one touchdown, threw for another and converted several key third downs to move the sixth-seeded Eagles (11-6-1) into next Sunday’s title game at Arizona (11-7). Philadelphia beat the Cardinals 48-20 on Thanksgiving night.

“It feels like it was years ago,” McNabb said.

Gusting, swirling winds played havoc with any ball in the air, and also helped produce an odd-looking score: This was the first game in NFL history to finish 23-11, the Elias Sports Bureau said.

A year after road success fueled the Giants’ route, the Eagles are taking the same path. They opened the postseason by winning at Minnesota and, after their sixth victory in seven tries, look nothing like a team that needed several breaks on the final day simply to make the playoffs.

David Akers added three field goals — extending his NFL record to 18 straight in the postseason — to fend off the top-seeded Giants (12-5).

LaDainian Tomlinson Won’t Play Against Steelers

LaDainian Tomlinson will stay on the 53-man roster in the hope his strained groin is healthy enough to allow him to play if the Chargers advance to the AFC Championship or Super Bowl, but he won’t be playing this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Darn groin injuries! This could be a blow to the Chargers…or will it? Darren Sproles had a great game against Indianapolis and the “older” Manning brothers team. We’ll see what the little guy can do in six days!

From Sporting News:

The star running back is not expected to play Sunday at Pittsburgh, but he is also not considered any worse than he was going into Saturday’s victory over Indianapolis, in which he carried five times before being unable to go on.

Other than Tomlinson, the Chargers are remarkably healthy for a team about to play its 18th game. Tight end Antonio Gates’ ankle sprain is no worse for the wear after eight catches and 87 yards on Sunday.