Green Bay Packers over the Chicago Bears, 21-14.

Sunday afternoon the Green Bay Packers went to Soldier Field in a great matchup between two teams from the old school black and blue division, the NFC North. Green Bay’s defense was critical throughout the game. So many pay attention to the high powered offense of the Packers, that many tend to forget they were ranked 2nd in the NFL in allowing points scored, 15 ppg. And the defense challenged the Bears QB Jay Cutler the entire time he was in the game, forcing him to make tough throws. Defense is a key component for the Pack, it makes them a double threat, and they can light it up, scoring 24 ppg as well. Although Aaron Rodgers was inconsistent, at times he was awesome, sometimes terrible, the only game he struggled with in the 2011 playoffs, going 17-30, with 2 ints. The Bears D kept them in game. It did appear that Green Bay got a little complacent with a 14-0 lead. Then of course, the 4th quarter got real interesting, with QB Caleb Hanie came in and showed guts (13-20, 153 yards), more than Cutler (6-14, 80 yards) did in his time in the game. Of course, we are aware of the “Did he or didn’t he quit on his team?” by now. In my opinion, he absolutely quit on his team. When his team needed him the most, we got what Cutler gives, bad body language, pouting, sulking and in the end, a knee injury that he just couldn’t play through. Mind you, no shred of ice, crutches, not even a noticeable limp was seen on the sidelines? I understand pain threshold is different for everyone, but a little more is expected from your QB. Gives yet another reason why the public just can’t accept Cutler, another reason he’s disliked by the majority of the public eye. The Packers had a huge win, becoming the 1st 6th seeded NFC team to make the Super Bowl, they should be very proud of their accomplishments. On a side note, my pre-season of the Packers made the Super Bowl. Maybe I’ll bust a move like B.J. Raji in nailing that one!

Pittsburgh Steelers over New York Jets, 24-19.

After their week 15 loss to the Jets, 22-17, many questioned what was going to happen in this game; obviously the Steelers had revenge in mind. Jets QB Sanchez struggled early and often, as Pittsburgh’s defense confused him repeatedly, leading to a halftime score of 24-3. Ben, as always, showing his toughness throughout, it may not be pretty but he gets the job done without fail. Pittsburgh ran the ball at a 4 star level with Mendenhall, for 121 yards, pounding the rock through the Jets defensive line. Then it became the tale of 2 halves, Sanchez settled down, and played much better, ending up completing 61% of his passes. Jets O-line played well, giving him time in the pocket, of course, as expected, only gaining 70 yards on the day versus the top ranked run stoppers in the game. Everytime Pittsburgh need the big play, they came up with it, oftentimes it was a hard fought run, a scrambling Ben finding a man as pressure collapsed on him, or a stupid Jets penalty, anyway you shake it, Pittsburgh got the job done in a chippy game. Even though it seemed the Jets were getting momentum in the 2nd half, the Steelers found a way to break it. Steelers found a way to their 3rd Super Bowl in 6 years, looking for their 7th championship.

Tony Karpinski and VegasTopDogs.com