The Sports Monitor

The push for the Super Bowl begins in earnest later today, with more than an outside chance of all four home teams losing this weekend. Will it happen? Take a look below. Saints at Seahawks: The Seahawks are the first team with a losing record to make the playoffs. Does it make them a lock to lose? When the Cardinals made the playoffs two seasons ago, they were considered a lock to lose in the first round. That, of course, didn't happen and they made it to the Super Bowl. I think that's where the parallel ends, even though the Saints have never won a playoff game on the road and are missing two running backs. Drew Brees should have a field day. Saints 34-17. Jets at Colts: This is a rematch of last year's AFC title game. Rex Ryan makes it very easy to root against the Jets in this one. New York has been uneven down the stretch and Peyton Manning has had success against Ryan-coached teams. When it comes down to it, however, I don't see Mark Sanchez making a big...

Random thoughts from Sunday's championship games: The New Orleans Saints have faced two Hall of Fame quarterbacks in back-to-back rounds and still won. They beat up, battered and bruised Brett Favre and the Vikings in the NFC title game and did the same to Kurt Warner and the Cardinals. It's looking more and more likely that the Saints sent both Warner and Favre into retirement. Up next, another Hall of Fame QB, Peyton Manning. I don't think that'll be his last game. The Jets still had a chance to win the AFC title game until Reggie Wayne recovered his own fumble in the fourth quarter. Had the ball bounced the other way, the Jets could be making travel plans for Miami. The Vikings got too cute at the end of regulation trying to confuse the Saints and got burned. The 12-men-on-the-field penalty cost them the game. Well, Favre's interception didn't help either. Vikings RB Adrian Peterson looked like former Steelers RB Tim Worley carrying the football. If I...

It's aggravating looking at the NFL playoff schedule and not seeing the Pittsburgh Steelers on it. The team's defense of their Super Bowl championship ended without a trip to the postseason. The Steelers got their ninth win Sunday, beating the Miami Dolphins 30-24, but they didn't get the help they needed to make a title run. Now, they get to watch the New York Jets in the playoffs. I have nothing against the Jets or their fans, but the Jets don't strike me as a playoff team. It's not bitter energy falsely directed at the Jets because the Steelers didn't get the help they needed to get in. In fact, a team that loses to the Browns, Chiefs and Raiders in the same season shouldn't be considered playoff material, either. No, my beef is with the way the Jets "earned" their trip to the NFL's postseason tournament. To set up their Week 17 showdown with the Bengals, the Jets beat the previously unbeaten Indianapolis Colts. The only prob...