Chow Time!

Very short and sweet today.  Chow has accepted the position of OC at Utah!  I'm so excited and just can't hide it!  I did the cabbage patch when I heard the news!  Utah's offense will be one to be reckoned with next year!

GO UTES!

Playoffs!

The game I look forward to every time they play is Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh. It is my style of football baby! Lots of hard hits and great defenses with offenses that try to hit just as hard. I love it! reminds me of the good old days of football with the 85 Bears and Ronnie Lott and Lawrence Taylor (before the sex charges) etc. The x factor here is Pittsburgh's offense. If they can have any semblance of a run game, they can win. My pick is the Steelers by 4.

Green Bay at Atlanta is a little interesting. The Falcons are 13-3 but I don't think they are as good as their record. Green Bay is a much better team but has had some let down's and injury problems. However, I think it's Green Bay by 17.

New England and the Jets. This game has become a media frenzy because of Wes Welker's feet comments and the entire Jet's team (including coach Ryan) running their mouths off at the new England Patriots. As Reggie Jackson said on his radio show, "Shut up and play football." I don't see this being a close game anymore. They poked a bees nest and are going to get the swarm. Bill Billichek won't let off the gas pedal now and it's going to get ugly. Patriots by 30.

The Bears and the lowly Seahawks. Honestly, the 'Hawks are big underdogs again this week, but this time I believe! I think the Bears are almost as over rated as the Falcons. And I Hate Jay Cutler, I just don't believe he can take a team to the Super Bowl. It's his first playoff game ever. He'll make enough mistakes to keep the Seakawks in the game and in the 4th quarter, I'd rather have a veteran QB that has taken a team to a Super Bowl than an erratic, mistake making nut job under center. Seahawks by a field goal.

GO HAWKS!

Let's Chow Down!

Utah fans rejoice! Even if it's only rumor, it looks solid. Norm Chow, a University of Utah alum, may be coming home to be the OC. First, let's say why it's rumor. Norm Chow is owed over 1 million dollars from UCLA and is under contract for another year. Also, the highest paid assistant coach on the Utah staff is Coach Sataki at $165,000. So there may be some trouble getting to his pay scale. There is a loophole Utah may be able to exploit though. If Coach Chow gets hired while still under contract from UCLA, UCLA pays the difference between the 2 contracts. So, while Utah isn't making any conference money this next year, they can set up the contract to pay him less this year and have a gradual increase over the next few years and neither party loses anything.

Now lets talk about why it may be a solid story already. First, there has been well documented strife between UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel concerning the offense this year. Rick wanted to institute the "Pistol" and Chow loves a pro style, west coast offense. Secondly, UCLA is rumored to be hiring Mike Johnson, Offensive Coordinator from the 49ers to the same position at UCLA. What that means is the either Norm Chow would have to step down into a position coach, or leave the program. Third, and most distressingly to me, is that BYU is rumored to have contacted Aaron Roderick about an unknown coaching position within it's program. The reason that's distressing to me is that I like Coack A-Rod and think he could do a good job with more experience. As I said a couple weeks ago, I like his play calling until he panics and gets conservative. What better experience could you get than being tutored by someone who has coached at BYU in various positions for over 20 years, than went to USC for 2 national championships, coached in the NFL during the only season Vince Young actually looked like a QB and back at UCLA over the past 3 years? You can't get better than that.

This rumor goes beyond my wildest hopes for what Utah could get as an OC with experience and I really hope it goes down. It would be great for not only the Utah program, but also Jordan Wynn and the rest of the offense as well.

On another note, Utah did hire Tim Davis as the new offensive line coach today. Davis played at Utah and has coached for Nick Saban both in Miami and at Alabama and was at Minnesota this last year. It's a big name hire for a first year Pac-12 school and I'm stoked at the direction of the program.

On another note, I'd love to see what Harvey Langi could do in a pro style offense. Man, GO UTES!

Seahawks and the rest of the playoffs

The Seahawks are in the playoffs and have made history. They are the first team to go into the playoffs with a losing record. Because they won the very weak NFC West Division, they are even hosting a game. So New Orleans is coming in at 11-5 playing at Quest Field against the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks. The Saints are favored by 10.5. If I were a beating man, I'd bet the house that the Saints cover. And cover big.

The Seahawks rank 19th in passing yards, vs the Saints 3rd ranking. They rank 31st in rushing against the Saints 28th. The Seahawks are 28th in total yards vs the Saints at 6th. In scoring, the Saints are 11th in the NFL and the Seahawks rank a lowly 23rd. On defense, the Seahawks allow 25.4 ppg. The Saints only allow 19.2. Honestly, looking at the stats, it might be closer than I originally thought. 35-10 Saints is my new prediction.

The rest of the games I'm just going to call.

The New York Jets are visiting the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are not the same Colts of the last 10 years, but they still have Payton Manning and he will win this game. 24-17 Colts.

Baltimore is going into Kansas City and even though the Chiefs are hard to beat at Arrowhead, I'm going Ravens here, 17-3.

Green Bay is going to Philly and this may be the toughest game of the bunch. The winner is my pick to play in the Super Bowl for the NFC. My pick is the Packers. 31-30, yah, that much scoring and that close of a game.

So, my first pick for the Super Bowl is Green Bay and Baltimore. (I can't pick the Patriots, it's against my religion)