Monday Afternoon Mass

The weekend of football was pretty fantastic. Certainly I was rooting for the Colts and the Jaguars, who both lost, which put a slight damper on the weekend. But for a football lover, it was pretty good drama starting in Green Bay on Saturday to Dallas last night.

The Pope went 2-2 with his Holy Wagers, also correctly picking the upset by the Giants of the Cowboys, thus still netting +1 units for the weekend (see updated season tally in upper left hand corner link).

Instead of comments on games that you most certainly watched and/or read about, I will post what I think is the second best touchdown celebration of the entire season (second to Maurice Jones-Drew, in the post below). Brandon Jacobs takes out his celebratory feelings on the play clock. His weapon? The football:

Holy Wagers - NFL Divisional Round

Holy Wagers have not surfaced since Thanksgiving. Click in the upper left for the Pope's official record. The Pope plans to finish off the football season of Holy Wagers and see where he stands at the end of football, before beginning basketball. The NFL Divisional playoffs are here, and here are the Pope's Holy Wagers (note the new "Confidence" ranking of all 4 games. 4 is the highest confidence of these 4 games, while 1 is the lowest):

Colts -9 vs. Chargers - Peyton and the Colts are mostly healthy, and they just dont lose at home very often. San Diego's defense is nothing special, and on offense, stopping LT will make San Diego's offense sputter (ie. the Titans last week). Stopping LT is never easy of course, but the Colts defense will be up for the challenge. Pope's prediction: Colts 35 Chargers 20 [Confidence 3]

Patriots -13.5 vs Jaguars - The Jaguars are the hottest and most chic team in football. My question to those lovers - who have they beaten? Yes, winning at Pittsburgh twice is impressive. But how good is Pittsburgh? The team that lost to the Cardinals and the Broncos? The Steelers are not good, and the Jaguars arent ready to be a great team yet. Or cover. Pope's Prediction: Patriots 31 Jaguars 17 [Confidence 2]

Packers -7.5 vs. Seahawks - "We'll take the ball and we'll score". No, you want baldy. Its cold at Lambeau, and the Seahawks are abysmal on the road (3-5), while the Packers are great at home (7-1). This could be a close game, but I just dont think the Seahawks can run the ball, which will force a few turnovers in the passing game. Pope's prediction: Packers 28 Seahawks 20 [Confidence 1]

Giants +7.5 @ Cowboys - The Cowboys are a very good football team. But, the Giants have a few things on their side: a) Jessica Simpson b) 4 disruptive pass rushing defensive linemen c) 8-1 on the road this season d) Eli Manning has had two very good games in a row e) the Cowboys looked pathetic in their last game against the Redskins, a similar team to the Giants in many respects and finally d) The Giants this week are the MOST BLESSED WAGER OF THE WEEK. I think this will be the wild upset of the weekend, causing Jerry Jones to have to get 4 offseason BOTOX treatments to cover up this mess. Pope's prediction: Giants 31 Cowboys 28 (OT). [Confidence 4]

Three home favorites and one road dog. Thats a decent guess considering the home team has won about 72% of the divisional round games since 1992 (last year the home teams went 2-2, with San Diego and Baltimore both losing in the AFC). It certainly should be an interesting week of football.

And now (courtesy of Wes Scott) the Pope presents the best touchdown dance of the season, courtesy of Mr. Jones-Drew (in the middle of the video):

Back From Europe - Grab Bag

My apologies for not having posted since mid December. I have been busy with work, then out of the country the past few weeks. A lot as happened as we have started 2008. Here are a few observations:

The Titans made the playoffs but didnt make any "noise" like I predicted below. Despite holding LT and the Chargers to 40 yards rushing, the Titans were defeated 17-6. Two big factors helped us out in getting to the playoffs, the Browns losing to the Bengals in week 16, and the Colts laying down for us in week 17. We held the third tiebreaker over the Browns (record against common opponents - see my post below about help wanted Titans playoffs). The Browns had a much better offense than the Titans, but the bread and butter of this years team was a very physical brand of defense that nobody ran on. Our pass defense was strong as well, including our ability to pressure the quarterback. San Diego eliminated us from the playoffs with 17 points, obviously a victory for the Titans defense. Big offseason to dos: The defense must maintain by signing Haynesworth, Vince Young must continue to develop, and we must get some playmakers at WR.

Notre Dame football recruiting continues to shine, ranking the top class in college football on both rivals and scout.com. At the US Army All American game, which displays most of the top high school football talent in the US each year, Notre Dame had an astounding 14 committments in the game, a record. Highlighted on offense by Dayne Crist, top 5 QB, who connected with two Irish WR committs for 3 touchdowns in the game (Michael Floyd and John Goodman). On defense Darius Fleming (ILB) impressed, as well as less heralded defensive tackle Brandon Newman. We had a major decommittment, however, in Omar Hunter, who will likely sign with Florida, making two committments pulled from ND by Florida in 2 years. Omar is a stud DT, and is a major blow. However, overall talent on the Dline we are getting this year will be huge for our teams future depth. At this point, we need to maintain our current 22 committments, and hopefully add one or two more towards the finish (February 6th, signing day).

The NFL Playoffs are here. Look for my playoff edition of Holy Wagers from the Vatican in a post later today.

Help Wanted: Titans Playoffs

The Titans beat the Chiefs yesterday to get to 8-6, matching last season's win total. 9 wins and some luck made the playoffs in the AFC last season. This year, its going to take 10 wins and some luck, by my estimation. Here is the simple breakdown:

• There are 3 teams in the hunt for 2 playoff spots. The Jaguars (10-4), the Browns (9-5), and the Titans (8-6). The Jaguars are in with one more win or a loss by either of the other teams. The Browns win their final two and they are in.


• The Titans must have the Browns lose to the Bengals this weekend, or 2 losses by the Jaguars, combined with winning the final two games against the Jets and Colts.


• Most likely playoff scenario is the Browns losing to the Bengals and beating the 49ers in their final game, while the Titans win the final two games. Jaguars finish 1-1 or 2-0, and are in the playoffs most likely. The Browns and Titans would be in a tiebreaker situation, as there would be no head to head matchup to use.


• As posted below, the tiebreaker between the Browns and Titans would be AFC Conference record. The Titans are at 5-5 with 2 AFC games remaining, while the Browns are at 7-5 with 1 AFC game remaining (the other being the 49ers)


• If the Browns beat the Bengals, they would be finished with their AFC slate at 8-4. They would clinch a tiebreaker over the Titans if both finished with a 10-6 record, since that would mean the Titans went 7-7 in AFC play.


• Plain and simple, if the Browns beat the Bengals this weekend and the Jaguars win 1 of their final 2 games, the Titans are out of the playoffs. Both are likely to happen.

There is hope for Titans fans, as the Bengals host the Browns in Cleveland this weekend. Also, this is Cleveland, a town that has a history of big time choke jobs and losses. Tennessee has had a lot of good things happening the past two seasons, but making the playoffs would top that list.

The Titans should have no trouble with the Jets this weekend, setting up a New Years Eve must win with the Colts. Sounds tough right? But here is the good part. Indianapolis with a win this weekend against the Texans, will have nothing to play for against the Titans. They will have a first round bye with either a win or a Jacksonville loss. And the Patriots have already sealed up home field advantage and the #1 seed. The Colts will be etched with the #2 seed and will have no need to win, which possibly will give the Titans the edge they need to get into the playoffs.

I have a feeling that we won't be in the playoffs. But if we do make it, we will make some noise, I can guarantee that. By "noise" I mean a win, an upset. Something like going into Pittsburgh or San Diego and winning, then giving the Patriots the game of their lives. Might be wishful thinking. But, its good to know that our QB is a big game player and has been there before in big games.

Titans - Playoff Push

The Tennessee Titans ended a 3 game skid on Sunday beating the divisional opponent Houston Texans 28-20. The Titans got some big plays, and the offense finally put a running and passing effort together. Haynesworth needs to get and stay healthy on defense, which would really allow us to be a top 5 type defense in this league.

Where does this put us with the Playoffs?

The win keeps the Titans in the playoff hunt at 7-5. Its likely going to take 10 wins, maybe even 11, to win the wildcard. With 4 games remaining (Chargers, Chiefs, Jets, @ Colts), the Titans are going to have to win 3 of these 4 games to have a chance realistically, and here's why:

• There are 3 teams right now in the hunt for the 2 wildcards - the Browns, Jaguars, and Titans.


• Check out the tiebreaker procedures for NFL teams in the playoffs here. The Titans likely will not hold the tiebreaker over either, as the Jags will likely have a better divisional record, assuming the Jags beat Houston and the Titans lose to the Colts. If the Jags lose to the Steelers and the Titans go 4-0 then the Titans would have the tiebreaker with a 4-2 divisional record. Titans beating the Colts would give the Titans that tiebreaker over the same record Jaguars. If the Titans go 3-1, losing to the Colts, and the Jags go 2-2, then one of those losses would have to be to Houston for the tiebreaker to go to the Titans. If the Jags beat Houston but lose to Carolina and Pittsburgh, then I believe they would have to go to strength of schedule in a tie with the Titans for a tiebreaker at 10-6. Crazy.


• The Browns have an easy finishing slate, with Jets, Bills, Bengals, and 49ers. If they win out, they would have the tiebreaker over the Titans with a better conference record at 8-4. The Titans would finish 8-4 in conference if they win out, but they would have to defeat the Colts to do so. Lucky here, though, this tiebreaker of 11-5 would also go to strength of schedule. Likely the Jags would be here in a huge 3-way tie. Messy.

Plainly said, the Titans are going to have to win 3 of their final 4 games to have a chance. If they go 3-1, they are also going to need some timely losses from the Browns and Jaguars, so much so that even 4-0 for the Titans could have us on the outside of the playoffs.

Winning against the Chargers this weekend is a must, as the Chiefs and Jets the following two weeks are hopefully winnable games at home. We dont want to go into the final game of the season having to beat the Colts. I will be at the game cheering them on . . .