WATERCOOLER CHAT: NFL PLAYOFF WRAPUP, FAVRE RETIRES…AGAIN, BOWL UPDATE

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, the final week of the season provided fans with hope of the playoffs. Five out of the 12 playoff teams this year are new to the dance and one of the teams has a losing record.

The Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers both took care of business easily against this years bottom feeders. With each earning the victory, the two other teams that have earned a bye week and a home playoff game are the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears. Atlanta 31, Carolina 10. Pittsburgh 41, Cleveland 9.

There were five games that had potential playoff implications that left teams out of the playoffs. The first game had the Indianapolis Colts winning on a last minute field goal over the already eliminated Tennessee Titans. And with the end over end kick that went through the uprights, the Jacksonville Jaguars hopes of making the playoffs died in the 2010 – 2011 season.  There was one other game that had decided the division winner and that was the Sunday night football contest between the Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams. The Rams never got going. They were dropping passes left and right, allowed an awful rushing attack run on them, and allowed the crowd at Qwest Field to stay loud and in the game. The Seahawks kept the Rams out of the endzone and are now the 1st team in NFL history to enter the playoffs with a losing a record at (7-9). Indianapolis 23, Tennessee 20. Seattle 16, St. Louis 6.

Two of the final three games had no meaning to the playoff because the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears. The Bears played hard for the game against their division rival, but Jay Cutler’s two interceptions put Chicago in a tough position to win the ball game. Nevertheless, the Bears locked themselves into the number two seed and because the Packers won their game, the Giants and Buccaneers games became meaningless. Green Bay 10, Chicago 3.

The coaching carousel now is in full swing for the NFL. The Cowboys and Vikings each have made it official that they are keeping their interim head coaches, Jason Garrett, and Leslie Frazier. The Panthers John Fox has been notified that he will not be rejoining the team after his game this weekend. Even after their collapse at the end of season, The Giants decided to hold onto their coach Tom Coughlin along with the Houston Texans deciding to hold onto Gary Kubiak. And Tom Cable in Oakland seems to be on his way out the door.

And the biggest news of all: Brett Favre says he’s done.

In College Football, two BCS bowl games have been played. The Fiesta Bowl featured a matchup of the Oklahoma Sooners and the Connecticut Huskies. The Sooners, who have had a bad stretch of losing their last five bowl games, took care of business. The Huskies, whom many have been argued is worthy of a BCS game after winning the Big East, went down big. Oklahoma 48, Connecticut 20.

The second BCS game played this weekend was the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The game between the TCU Horned Frogs and Wisconsin Badgers started as an unlikely shootout, but quickly slowed down to be a good defensive battle. Wisconsin had the chance to send the game into overtime with under two minutes to go in the 4th quarter, but the TCU defense came up with a big stop to secure the win for the Big East bound team. The loss of Wisconsin capped off an awful day for the Big Ten, which lost all five of its scheduled bowl games for the day. TCU 21, Wisconsin 19.

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