Jacksonville Jaguars/New England Patriots: could the Jaguars upset New England at Gillette Stadium, coming off an insane win over the Steelers that saw a combined 87 points scored, Jacksonville only winning by 3, a quick look at their game stats causing sincere exponential bewilderment? So far it looks like they're playing just a wee bit better than their opponents, no matter who they are, no matter how well they play, the Jags diggin' in deep and doing just enough to squeeze past their competition, the fact that they scored 45 last week inspirationally notwithstanding. New England's beat them in the Wild Card Round, the Divisional Round, and the Conference Championships, but Jacksonville did defeat them a long long time ago in a gritty Wild Card game by a score of 25 to 10. New England's good. They're always good. Year after year after year after year they wind up in the Conference Championships looking as if trying to defeat them is an act of sheer idiocy. Here they are again, one more time, once more, reported infighting generating some scandalous headlines but you can still expect them to confidently tidy things up before the definitive opening kickoff. Letters to the President. They never just blow it, never seem to fall apart, even if they're down by insurmountable odds they find a way to overcome them and stick it to franchises that have never won the Super Bowl. Or won it once after never having really generated much of a playoff legacy. Is another Patriots's win the outcome of this year's postseason, it's looking that way, harrumph? But I think the Jags can find some way to beat them, apart from last week, their defence didn't let in that many points, only the Vikings let in fewer, as mentioned in a post so recently. Maybe they're the ones who can finally resoundingly shut New England down. You never really can tell even if you're not betting Brady. Picking Jacksonville over the Patriots. How sweet it would be.
Minnesota Vikings/Philadelphia Eagles: I did want to see Atlanta playing New Orleans this Sunday, but that doesn't mean Minnesota versus Philadelphia isn't awesome. Wish I could watch the game. Both teams rocked it this year and both have been around forever without ever hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy. I've said it before, it's wonderful that one of them will win, and devastating that one of them will not. But who will that be? Minnesota let in the fewest points but it's not like they let in that many fewer than the feisty Eagles. Philadelphia accumulated many more points but it's not as if the Vikings haven't been scoring just enough to win when playing stiff competition all year. Can the Eagles pull off a Jacksonville and come out firing after not having scored that many the previous weekend, or will the Vikings's defence make an impenetrable stand that refuses to yield the slightest of advantages? It's tough to say, these big time games have a way of screwing with the statistics, the mind, the pressures chaotically eviscerating routines, awestruck intensities generating legendary subplots: of their own. But that doesn't mean it still isn't simply just another game in an extended season that has seen both teams make incredible death defying plays. Routinely. I like the Vikings. There's something about their win last Sunday that makes me think this is their year. I haven't exactly been picking the winners this January, but their win versus the Saints was unexpected to say the least, notably after New Orleans went ahead late in the fourth quarter. It'd be nice to see them win. Hoping it's close either way. Picking, the Minnesota Vikings. Invade, complicate, plunder.
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