On Saturday afternoon, The NFL announced the six inductees that will go into the Hall of Fame in 2007 in Canton, OH. They will be inducted in on August 4th, 2007 at 6 PM that will be televised lived by ESPN and the NFL Network.

Without further adieu, here are your six inductees:

• Michael Irvin
• Thurman Thomas
• Bruce Matthews
• Charlie Sanders
• Gene Hickerson
• Roger Wehlri

Congratulations to everyone on their induction.

Here is a video of Michael Irvin’s reaction to being named to the NFL Hall of Fame. It comes to you courtesy of the Mighty MJD, the weekend editor over at Deadspin.

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts defeated the New England Patriots 38-34 to earn a spot in Super Bowl XLI vs the Chicago Bears.

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The Chicago Bears beat the New Orleans Saints 39-14 to win the NFC Championship on Sunday.

Technorati: Super Bowl XLI, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, NFL

Well the weekend is almost upon us and theres been much hype about the upcoming Patriots-Colts game on Sunday that I have to way in with my thoughts and picks. For the record, I went 3-1 last week with my choices, the only one wrong being that I took the Baltimore Ravens. So let’s get to the picks and then some more of my thoughts.

NFC Championship Game-New Orleans Saints vs Chicago Bears:

Chicago’s defense has not shown it was the #1 defense in the NFL in their past 3 games. The New Orleans Saints boast the leagues #1 offense. Sexy Rexy had an ok game last week against the Seahawks but needs to be on top of his game this weekend for Da Bears to have a chance. If Reggie Bush thinks Sheldon Brown of the Eagles hits hard, wait til he gets hit by Brian Urlacher. For the Saints to be successful, Drew Brees will have to find ways to exploit the Bears secondary with his corp of young receivers (Joe Horn is older but may not play due to injury). Reggie Bush can singlehandedly beat the Bears but then again so can Devin Hester do the same to the Saints. For me, my rooting interests are with Da Bears so that I can have a chance in winning some $$$$ in my Fantasy Playoff Football contest.

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AFC Championship-New England Patriots vs Indianapolis Colts:

How many times have we seen this? Pats-Colts for the AFC Championship. 2 times. The result both times, Pats win behind Brady and shut down Peyton. For the Patriots to win, Brady has to keep finding the unknown’s (his WR’s) and the two headed running monster of Maroney and Dillion has to find a way to get by the suddenly improved run defense of the Colts. For the Colts to win, Peyton Manning has to overcome his demons against the Patriots in the playoffs. Look for him to be throwing a lot to Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. Ironically enough if this game comes down to a field goal at the end, remember one thing. The Colts have Vinateri. For me though, I am sticking with my team and going with the Patriots.

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Also this weekend, the Indiana Hoosiers come to the Hartford Civic Center to take on the UCONN Huskies men’s team. The Huskies desperately need a win against the Hoosiers. Not only to get back on the right track but they are lacking a “signature” win. A win that will help them in the RPI. The Huskies are coming off a loss to the Pitt Panthers this week where they were ice cold in the game. A win by the Huskies might restore some faith in the young Huskies. Game time is 3:45 PM on Saturday afternoon and the game is a national game being shown on CBS.

The women’s team at UCONN also has a game this weekend. They will be traveling to New York City to play at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden where they will take on the St. John’s Red Storm on Sunday. This is the first ever appearance for the Huskies at MSG. Hard to believe in all of Geno’s years at UCONN that none of his teams have played there. I am sure the girls will be pumped for this one. The game is also a homecoming for Tina Charles who played in the Bronx at Christ of King. Former UCONN great, Sue Bird is an alumni of Christ of King as well. I am sure UCONN recruit Lorin Dixon, who plays for Christ of King, will be in attendance as well. That game is at 4:30 and is being broadcast locally in CT on CPTV. If your in the City on Sunday and have nothing to do, why not head over to MSG.

Technorati: NFL, NFL Playoffs, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, Indianpolis Colts, Madison Square Garden, UCONN Huskies

Well last week I went 2 for 4 in my playoff predictions which for me is par for the course. The two teams I picked to win lost at the end of their respective games. The Giants lost on a last second field goal by David Akers and well we all know how Dallas lost at the end of their game.

So onward we go with the predictions for this week. Saturday’s games:

Indianapolis Colts vs Baltimore Ravens: Ravens D vs Colts O. If Baltimore finds a way to stop Peyton, it could be a long day for the Colts. Especially if they turn the ball over. With McNair at QB this season, the Ravens haven’t relied on their defense to win games. I’ll take the Ravens in the this one.

Philadelphia Eagles vs New Orleans Saints: The Iggles come into this game still being one of the hottest teams in the NFL. The Saints are led by their All-Pro QB Drew Brees and double threat Reggie Bush. The Eagles are missing Lito Sheppard in the secondary and I think that Brees will be pass happy. Saints win this one.

Sunday’s games:

Seattle Seahawks vs Chicago Bears: Will Sexy Rexy Grossman be ready to play in this one? He has been inconsistent at best this season. Seattle probably won’t have their top receiver, Darrell Jackson, and to me Sean Alexander hasn’t returned to last season’s form after his injury. Brian Urlacher leads the Chicago D and Devon Hester will probably return one punt or kickoff for a TD in this one.

New England Patriots vs San Diego Chargers: The Chargers have the NFL MVP, LaDainian Tomlinson. The Patriots have Tom Brady. The Chargers will have to find a way to stop Brady, who has only lost one time in his career in the playoffs. Shutting down LT will be huge for the Patriots and if they can do this, Shawne Merriman and the San Diego D will have to find a way to shut Brady down. I am going with the Patriots in this one. Just really hard to pick against Brady and Belichick in the playoffs.

If your heading to Gampel Pavilion to watch the Lady Huskies take on the Orangewomen of Syracuse on Saturday, make sure you wear white on the outside. UCONN has designated the game a “White-out”. I’d expect the Lady Huskies to top the 100 point mark again in this one. Mel Thomas will probably have another 20 point game and Tina Charles will have another double-double. The UCONN men will be at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. The Huskies always seem to play well in the City and I expect this trend to continue. My problem though is if it is not a national game, why is the game being played at 9:30 at night. I am sure Coach Calhoun is not happy about this one at all. Good thing, the boys are on break right now.

Technorati: NFL, NFL Playoffs, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers, UCONN Huskies

Well it’s January and besides it being College Bowl Season, it is also the start of the second season of the NFL. It’s time for the 1st round of the 2007 NFL Playoffs. You make it all the way to the Super Bowl and you have a date in Miami in February.

Before I make my predictions, I would like to add a disclaimer. I have sucked at doing predictions on here so I would highly advise not to bet on the games using my advice. Now onto the 1st round predictions.

Saturday’s games

AFC: Indianapolis vs Kansas City. Peyton and the offense will be too much for Kansas City. Larry Johnson will rush for over 150 yards but that won’t be enough to get the job done. I’ll take Indianapolis in this one.

NFC: Seattle vs Dallas. Seattle’s top receiver, Darrell Jackson and most of the offensive line probably will not play in the game. For Dallas, the game will go as Tony Romo plays. I think Romo bounces back and throws for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns. 2 of them to Terrell Owens. I’ll take Dallas in this one.

Sunday’s games

New England Patriots vs NY Jets. The Patriots are usually unstoppable at home during the playoffs since Brady took over at QB. Having no real “weapons” to throw to, the Pats will rely on Corey Dillion and Lawrence Maroney. Pennington has been finding Jericho Cotchery and Laverenus Coles alot lately and I expect him to do the same. But I will take the Patriots in this one.

Philadelphia Eagles vs NY Giants. Jeff Garcia has led the Eagles since taking over for an injured Donovan McNabb and quite successfully I must say. If Brian Westbrook can get going, the Eagles might have a chance. For the Giants, if Tiki does what he did last week, the Giants will win. I’ll take the Giants in this one.

Also on Saturday, we have a little annual battle going on. The Tennessee women come to the Hartford Civic Center to take on the UCONN Lady Huskies. It should be an interesting game. Tennessee had trouble in their big game against UNC earlier this season. UCONN has really only been tested once against Purdue and even that wasn’t that close. The Lady Huskies have struggled lately in the first half but pulled it together late to win. As far as the Lady Huskies go, they need to get Mel Thomas the ball so she can shoot more often. She took only two shots in the game last year. As far as UT goes, Candace Parker will need her supporting cast to step up for the Lady Vols. Mel Thomas and Renee Montgomery both struggled in the game last year so it will be interesting to see how they play. I like the UCONN Lady Huskies in this one in a very tight game. The game is on CBS nationally at 4 PM.

One more UCONN thing here. The UCONN men go down to Baton Rouge, LA to face the Tigers of LSU. More on this tomorrow. One more thing. If you have missed college football bowl games, don’t forget to watch the International Bowl tomorrow. The Cincinnati Bearcats will be taking on Western Michigan. That game is on ESPN2 at 12 noon.

Technorati: NFL, NFL Playoffs, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, NY Jets, New England Patriots, NY Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, UCONN Huskies, Tennessee Volunteers, LSU Tigers, International Bowl

The Pittsburgh Steelers have announced a press conference for 3 PM on Friday afternoon to announce the resignation of their head coach, Bill Cowher. Cowher has been the Steelers head coach for the past 15 seasons.

Since 1969, the Steelers have had the most stable coaching position in the NFL having had only two coaches, Chuck Knoll (1969-1991) and Bill Cowher (1992-2007). Cowher’s career record was 161-99-1 in his fifteen seasons. He won last years Super Bowl in Detroit with the Steelers.

Most media outlets are speculating the reason for Cowher leaving the game is to spend more time with his family. He had a built a house in Raleigh, NC and his wife and daughter have been living there for the season. Cowher is supposed to be working this weekend for one of the networks during the playoffs. This was something he had set up before announcing his decision. Cowher will not be able to coach in the NFL next season as he retires with one year left on his contract. I don’t think he will be out of coaching too long because coaching is in his blood.

The 2007 NFL Pro Bowl Rosters were announced on Tuesday. The game will be played in Honolulu, HI on February 10th at Aloha Stadium.

The AFC leading San Diego Chargers placed 9 players on the AFC roster, including LaDainian Tomlinson, Phillip Rivers, and Shawne Merriman. The NFC leading Chicago Bears placed 7 players on the NFC roster led by their All-World stud linebacker, Brian Urlacher. Only one member of the Bears offense, Olin Kreutz made the team.

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I saw these during the pre-game show of the Cincinnati/Indianapolis NFL game last night. Only Chad Johnson could think of doing this. On the cleats, he took pictures of all of his touchdown catches this season and had them made into cleats. Of course the NFL fashion police made him go into the locker room and change them. I am sure we will be reading about another fine for Ocho Cinco at some point this week.

Technorati: Chad Johnson, NFL, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Ocho Cinco

Vanderjagted: to miss a field goal badly.

Used in a sentence: Martin Gramattica just vanderjagted a kick in the Cowboys-Giants game.