After a 17-week, 16-game regular season, the National Football League moves into the playoffs. The last regular season game usually falls on the last Sunday of the year.
In the NBA, a team has to win 16 playoffs game to win to be crowned as World Champions (while this distinction is self-serving, no one disagrees). In the NFL, a team needs to win 2 or 3 games to be crowned as the Super Bowl Champs.
Why 2 or 3 games? Well, round 1 of the playoffs is called the "Wild Card" rounds. Eight wild card teams will compete for the 4 slots of the next round, called as the "Divisional Round". The winners of the Wild Card weekend will face the top teams in their respective divisions, which had a "bye" week (meaning these "bye" teams) will have an extra week of rest than the wild card teams.
The winner of the "Divisional Rounds" will face each other in the AFC (American Football Conference) or the NFC (National Football Conference). This is similar to the Western or Eastern Championships on the NBA. From these championships will come the protagonists for the Super Bowl. Just like in the regular season, the playoffs have weekly interval between games but sometimes, a 2-week break is instituted before the Super Bowl
Unlike the NBA Finals, the Super Bowl is held on a predetermined stadium so there is no home court advantage. This year, it will be held at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which replaced the Meadowlands back in 2009. This is the first time that the Super Bowl will be held in a cold-weather city, in an un-domed stadium. In other words, the weather will probably have a say in the games.
Predictions
The Seattle Seahawks are the favorites to win the XLVIII Super Bowl, which will be held in the newly built MetLife Stadium, which replaced the Meadowlands back in 2009 as the home of the New York Giants and the New York Jets. The other favorites include the San Francisco 49ers, the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos. My heart tells me it'll be the Broncos but my mind says 49ers or Seahawks. As for the defending champion Baltimore Ravens, they didn't make it to the playoffs.
Since the NFL playoffs is a one game, knockout affair, one miscue can lose you the game and for this reason, it makes the games so passionate, intense and exciting. While the score may look one-sided at times, the intensity never wavers until the final buzzer.
Finally, the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints squeezed past the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, respectively, in the first of two wildcard games yesterday. The Chiefs had an 38-10 lead going into the third quarter but injuries to their key starters did them in. Final score: 46-45. The Saints, on the other hand, scored a field goal with 3 seconds left in the game for their 26-24 win.……2013Vuelta a Espana champion Chris Horner's services is now on sale. The 42yo's asking price is now 50% off, from 1.5 million Euros. Yet, there are no takers. However, I believed that some teams out there will eventually sing Chris……FrankGatdula, the organizer and sponsor of the annual Tour ni Frank, said that the longest executive bike race in the country will be held on January 25-26. He also said that a new route will be used for this year.