Sports Betting Blog

It didn’t matter whether it was at Mile High Stadium or that the Tebowmania was at it’s highest point of the season. I have to confess that I had a little hope for the Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos as they faced the New England Patriots for the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs. As a 13½ point underdog, anyone could had guessed that winning might had been out of the question for the Broncos, but I had a little hope that they would put a much bigger fight. But to be quite honest, the Broncos never had a chance. It didn’t matter whether it was Tebow or if they had Drew Brees borrowed from the Saints. The Broncos couldn’t keep the Patriots from braking in and reaching Tebow inside the pocket.

The Patriots were a stronger team, more efficient in virtually all statistic values, and at the end, it was almost embarrassing to see how that Broncos never made this a game. On Saturday Night, the Broncos suffered a 45-10 rout as Tom Brady threw six touchdown passes, five in the first half as he guided the Patriots into the AFC Championship Game, and with a single game put an end to the Tebow nationwide frenzy.

The Patriots have now won nine straight games and will now face the Baltimore Ravens for a spot in the Super Bowl Championship Game. The Broncos’ blowout finally put an end to a three game losing streak in the playoffs for the Patriots, two of them at the Gillette Stadium. The Patriots are now just one game away from reaching their 5^th Super Bowl in the last 11 seasons. Brady finished the night with 26 of 34 passing for 363 yards with 6 touchdown passes and one interception. By all means he outplayed Tim Tebow who went 9 of 26 for the game for 136 yards with not touchdowns or interceptions.

The Denver Broncos defense couldn’t cover or tackle All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski all night long, and he managed to tie the record for postseason touchdown receptions with three catches all in the first half. It was just a brilliant performance from Tom Brady. With a performance worthy of a two-time league MVP, Brady finished the regular season with 5,235 yards second in NFL history to Drew Brees’ 5,476 in 2011. The only difference is that, despite finishing second, Brady is still in the Playoffs while the Saints suffered an upsetting lose against the San Francisco 49ers.

Brady’s TDs covered 10, 12 and 19 yards to Gronkowski, 7 to Wes Welker, 61 to Deion Branch and 17 yards to Hernandez early in the third quarter, but it was all done and said way before that. The Broncos never had a chance, but some fans and reporters out there are saying that the Tebowmania is far from over. Sure enough, the Broncos looked nothing like a team that was worthy of being in the Playoffs. They believe that despite Tebow’s poor performance, the Broncos are going to be an effective squad next season, when they can figure out a way to make a game strategy to suit the needs and strengths of their starting quarterback. 

All good things come to an end, they say. But sometimes those endings come under the most unexpected circumstances. Take Aaron Rodgers and the Green Baby Packers, for instance. This squad was on its way to make football history. The Packers were going for their 20^th straight win. Some sports writers will go on to say that they can still make it to the postseason, dominate their conference and take their second Super Bowl ring in a row. One thing is evident: the streak has ended and so has the Packers chances to certainly secure a spot among the finest football franchises ever. Then again, head coach Mike McCarthy doesn’t seems to be too worried about a thing.

It seems that for this one, Aaron Rodgers took a day off. The Packers franchise quarterback  completed only 17 of his 35 attempts for 235 yards and a touchdown, and he also scampered 8 yards for another touchdown with 2:12 left in the game. But it was not enough to keep the now, 13-1 Packers from recovering an onside kick that could had pushed things into overtime.

According to their coach, the Green Bay Packers were not looking for perfection. They were more focused on reaching the playoffs with the home team advantage and getting this straighten out so that he could get Aaron Rodgers and Co. right on track for another title. Then again, Kyle Orton got on his way. He finished the game with 229 yards in 23 of 31 passing for no touchdowns and no interception, and that was enough to overpower a squad that hadn’t dropt a single game since December of last year. The changes are coming and going over with the Chiefs. The Kansas City Chiefs rallied behind interim coach Romeo Crennel for a shocking 19-14 victory on Sunday. This is the end of a 19-game winning streak. It is the end of a streak that started ever since the Packers last defeat on Dec. 19, 2010 by the New England Patriots.

The Packers were suffering behind some injuries that could have kept them from making a better performance against the Chiefs. The Packers were playing without leading receiver Greg Jennings and top rusher James Starks because of injuries. Despite the fall, the Packers can still secure the No. 1 seed in their final two games against Chicago and Detroit, two teams that don’t really look too much like a thread. Then again, neither did Kyle Orton and the Chiefs.

The Kansas City Chiefs were managed to win this game because of a well planned out game strategy. Consider for starters what their defense was capable of. For starters the Green Bay Packers offense came into this game averaging nearly 36 points, but was held to its lowest total since beating the Chicago Bears 10-3 in Week 17 of last year. The scenario was very different from what it currently is right now. The Packers were on a win or go home situation, and they managed to pull if off. Winning that game gave Green Bay a ticket into the playoffs, and got them into the rhythm needed to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.

We all knew that at one point or another, it was all going to come down to this: Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos were not going to keep on pulling off miraculous come from behind wins in the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter. It would be up to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to get the record straight and try to bring an end to what many had called the Tebownian Madness. Slowly but surely, Tom Brady overcame a first quarter slump to sign a 41-23 victory over the Denver Broncos at the Mile High.

It was a slightly peculiar mix. For all we know, Tebow was bringing religion and football into the table in a way that made many feel uncomfortable but even for those out there who don’t really believe, well, Tim Tebow and the Broncos were turning more then just some Christian heads. They were actually pulling off many at least 4 wins against the spread and were putting the Broncos very close to making it into the Playoffs.

And this comes from a team that under Kyle Orton hadn’t really managed to make anything but a somewhat overrated win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Broncos were 4-1 before their BYE week and before John Fox made his move to get Tim Tebow as the starter. And somehow, this wild move, paid off. Sure, they just lost to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, but then again, at 7-2 since Tebow got at the helm, it really seems that whatever it is his prayers are doing, might have been working. Or may we say, might have been working against quarterbacks that are not among the league’s top 10.

The Broncos still have to get it together before they can really secure a spot in the postseason. The Broncos hadn’t dropped a game since before Halloween, and even thought they are still the team ahead of the AFC West, they have two very tough games ahead of them. They first need to face the Buffalo Bills next week. Then they’ve got to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. And that could get really interesting. On the one side, Tim Tebow is going to be facing Kyle Orton for the season finale, the man he came in to replace at Denver. The Chiefs’ on the other hand, couldn’t be more pumped about their most recent win, which officially ended Aaron Rodgers and the Greeen Bay Packer’s 19^th straight wins.

With the win, the New England Patriots secured a spot in the playoffs, won yet another AFC East title and have now recorded their sixth consecutive win for an 11-3 record for the season. Their main man, Tom Brady, finished the game with 23 of 34 passing for 320 yards and two touchdowns. Tim Tebow, on the other hand, finished with 11 of 22 passing for 194 yards. He also ran for 93 yards and two scores but was sacked four times, including a 28-yard loss in the fourth quarter. At the end, the big question is if the Denver Broncos are really going to have what it takes to keep up with the elite level quarterbacks they’ll be facing in the Playoffs. I guess only time will tell

The Seattle Seahawks are working their way into the playoffs in the most bizarre way. And it’s all because of where they have come from. There is no doubt among fans and sports reporters alike: the weakest link in professional football can be found in the Western Division of the National Football Conference.

Just to get you into the right perspective, we have to consider that neither Seattle, the St. Louis Rams, the San Francisco 49ers nor the Arizona Cardinals had a winning season in this 2010. At 7-9 overall and 4-2 record in division play the Seahawks clinched division and made it into the Wild Card Round. That is despite their losing season. In other words, Seattle qualified into the playoffs just because they where the strongest team in the weakest division in professional football. As a matter of fact, the Seahawks could never link more then two wins during the regular season.

And yet, somehow, the Seahawks where able to put in 41 points over the New Orleans Saints, a team that not only holds a 11-5 record for the regular season but is also the Super Bowl defending Champions. So, the Seahawks have become the first NFL team to win a Playoffs game with a 7-9 record as the guys from Seattle completed an epic 41-36 upset against the Saints at the Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington.

The Seahawks’ quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was absolutely outstanding in this Sunday’s game. He completed 22 of his 35 attempts to push the chains 272 yards for 4-touchdown passes and 1 interception. This has been his personal best performance in a playoffs game. Such a great performance that it was good enough to outplay the Saints’ quarterback and Super Bowl MVP, Andrew Brees as he completed 39 of 60 for 404 yards (that’s almost twice as many as Hasselbeck) for two touchdowns and no interceptions.

It seems that everyone in Seattle was capable of getting their act together when it mattered most. As a matter of fact, Hasselback was able to find wide-open players with enormous ease. He sent a pair of touchdowns passes to tight-end John Carlson (even thought this guy only scored one TD in the regular season). He then connected with Brandon Stokley on a 45-yard touchdown right before the halftime break. He then found Mike Williams right after the break to complete a 38 yards on the Seahawks first drive in the third quarter. That was enough to give the Seahawks 31-20 lead over the Saints, and work its way up for an intense finish.

Marshawn Lynch was the man of the hour as he finished off the Saints with an nerve breaking 67 yard run with 3:22 left on the clock for a team with a losing season win its first ever playoffs game. Lynch took on a second down carry breaking off six tackles on his long run as eight different New Orleans players put hands on him. That, and a very stiff arm against cornerback Tracy Porter was enough to complete the longest scoring run of Lynch’s career and the Seahawks pass into the next round.