In More Civil War News - Sherman's March Continues

The Evil Empire marches on. With Tom Brady looking like an unstoppable machine, the Patriots withstood a valiant effort from Jacksonville and advanced to the AFC Championship game. New England will square off against a supposedly depleted Chargers team, although I believe that the bruises sustained by Rivers and Tomlinson will be sufficiently healed by this weekend. Antonio Gates will also be one week healthier.

In NFC news, the Giants upset Nick Lachey and the Cowboys and will travel to Green Bay to face NFL Golden Boy Brett Farve and the Packers in the NFC Championship. Overlooked by most analysts, the NFC Champ could still provide more than a speed bump challenge for New England and its quest for immortality. We obviously have seen that the Giants match up well with New England. However, one team that no one seems to be talking about is Green Bay. With arguably the top cornerback tandem in the league (Al Harris and Charles Woodson), Green Bay should be able to provide tight coverage on Randy Moss. We’ve also seen that New England can be vulnerable to the run, and Ryan Grant is about as hot as any runner in the league right now. In fact, he led all rushers over the last eight games of the regular season and is coming off of a career 200+ yard performance. Brett Favre will keep his team in the game no matter what, although you have to be a little worried about the turnover potential.

Wow, and what a collapse by the Colts. Their defense had no answers for San Diego, even after Rivers and Tomlinson were forced to exit the game. The Colts had two chances to win the game with under three minutes to go, first giving it up on downs near San Diego’s goal line, and then again after having forced San Diego into a three-and-out. The Colts will surely look back on their missed opportunities, including three turnovers deep in San Diego territory, and wonder what might have been. If the Colts had managed a field goal on just one of those possessions, the final result might have been significantly different. The Harrison fumble was especially tough to swallow, since the Colts were looking unstoppable coming out of the gate and could have gone up 14-0. Unfortunately, this year it looks like Peyton Manning will have to settle for a title in the DSRL.

One positive note for everyone who isn't a Patriots fan – at least they didn’t cover the spread, so all those Bostonians lost a ton of money on the game.