Raise your hand if you watched the Pro Bowl yesterday. Nobody? Raise your hand if you knew the Pro Bowl was yesterday. Still nobody? Alright, this time raise your hand if you think the NFL should find another way to celebrate its finest players outside of a meaningless game in February in Hawaii.

Assuming that you missed it, the Pro Bowl did in fact happen yesterday. The NFC won 42-30 though the victory holds just about as much relevance as a chimpanzee writing a thesis on molecular biology. Adrian Peterson went nuts (again), Antonio Cromartie had two interceptions (again), and the Patriots representatives got served by the NFC (again).

What are Patriots fans more mad about now; the AFC losing twice in two weeks or the sight of fellow New Englanders basking in 80 degree weather in Honolulu while the Northeast freezes over. I’ll go with the latter. What’s the true value in this game? There’s no blitzing, there’s no effort, and in a desperate attempt to keep ratings fans are now allowed to pick a play. What a bunch of garbage. Show me three hours of the skills competition so I can watch Carson Palmer overthrow receivers and Albert Hanyesworth bench press 400000 lbs. Between that and the old timers game where Michael Irvin attempts to show off and Boomer Esiason shows nothing, I think we can find a compromise for a replacement event.

Hosts: Kevin and Sonny

Kevin and Sonny discuss the AFC and NFC championship game, and also take a look at some of the coach changes in the NFL.

You can subscribe to the Sportable Spot via RSS. (iTunes and Zune links are coming)

Also, remember to go register at our brand new forums if you haven’t already.

 

 Sportable Spot Episode 40 [17:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Now that the playoff seeds are set in stone for the AFC, lets take a look at all the teams and see what’s in store for us as the 2007 NFL playoffs are set to kick off.

New England Patriots: The NFL’s first 16-0 team is riding high, having not lost since about this time last year. They’ll be staying put at Gillette throughout the playoffs and will undoubtedly be tough to beat. If the weather starts to turn frightful in New England, however, look for other teams to have a considerable advantage. The Patriots won’t throw the ball 50 times in sleet and snow, so it’ll turn out to be a battle of running games. The AFC has plenty of fine running backs (Fred Taylor, Joseph Addai, LT, Maurice Jones-Drew) that are all considerably better than Laurence Maroney.

Indianapolis Colts: My oh my, look who has returned. The World Champions from a year ago have returned as the number two seed yet again and, unlike last year, have gotten absolutely no hype whatsoever due in part to the whole “Patriots not losing a game” thing. The Colts have been riddled with injuries all year, having to resort to guys like Crasphonso Thorpe (I know, who?) to play wide receiver and guys who I’ve never heard of on their defensive line. The good news is that they’ll be fully healthy (with the exception of Dwight Freeney) come two weeks from now when they host their playoff game in the sterile environment of the RCA Dome. Nobody’s talking about them but look out for Indy. With Bob Sanders back and the always dangerous Peyton Manning the Colts might quietly put the rest of the AFC to shame.

San Diego Chargers: The first seed from last year returns as the number three seed in a season that was riddled with inconsistency and confusion. How good is this team? Nobody really knows. They still have the best running back in the game (sorry Adrian Peterson) and their defense is one of the best in the NFL. In the playoffs it comes down to a team’s ability to establish the run and stop the run; both things the Chargers do well. Thus the pressure will be on second year starter Philip Rivers who hasn’t had a great season but has come on strong as of late. People talk about teams they do and don’t want to play; can we consider the Chargers one of those teams? They’ve won 10 of their last 12 games. Read the rest of this entry »