Wes Welker Inspires a Bonfire and Richard Sherman says "IMDABES": A Super Bowl Preview (sort of)

Four years ago, the New York Jets beat the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs. My 15 year old self watched that game with anxiety in his heart the entire time, pacing the room and yelling instructions at the television throughout the contest. As Tom Brady’s last pass, and last chance for a victory, fell incomplete, he threw the remote at the wall, stormed to his room, slammed the door shut, and flung himself down on the floor. So he sat there…and sat…and sat. And when it got dark he did not get up to turn the lights on. And when his next-door neighbor (and close friend) came to invite him over, he ignored the call.

Yes, just four short years ago, that is how I reacted to New England’s season ending a little earlier than I had hoped it would. Last week, when my beloved Patriots lost in the AFC Championship for the second year in a row, I decided to ground myself in the facts. Fact: The Denver Broncos were a better team than us, no matter how you sliced it. Fact: Tom Brady might as well have been throwing to himself with the lack of receiving threats he had to work with. Fact: The fact that this version of the Patriots even made it so far into the postseason was a downright miracle. When you look at the facts, it’s a little easier to keep yourself out of the bottomless pit of emotions. So yes, I am really smiling in the picture above with my buddy Chris the Broncos fan. Because, hey, what do we have to be ashamed of? Plus, nobody wants to end up like this guy.

Even though I was able to quickly move on from the Patriots’ final loss, there was one thing that I absolutely could not let go of. Entering last Sunday’s AFC Championship, the list of NFL personalities that I irreconcilably hate was as follows:

1.      Bernard Karmell Pollard

2.      Terrell Suggs

3.      Rex Ryan

4.      T.J. Ward

5.      (Sometimes) Kyle Arrington

That was, of course, until this happened:

While coming across the middle early in the game, Wes Welker blasted New England’s best corner Aqib Talib in the side with his helmet. At that time, Talib was doing a pretty good job of slowing down Denver’s top receiver, Demaryius Thomas. It was a dirty hit, with the clear intent of taking Talib out before the play even began. Talib could not return to the game because of injury to his ribs, which allowed Peyton Manning to pass for 400 yards, 134 of those (including a touchdown) going to Thomas. After the game, Bill Belicheck said (unprompted, mind you) that it was “the worst play he had ever seen”, but that he would “let the NFL handle the discipline”. Welker himself claimed that he “wasn’t trying to lay Talib out”, on the play. Because, you know, I accidently ram my head into people’s sides all the time. Seahawks corner Walter Thurmond III, who will play against Welker in the Super Bowl, called the block “uncalled for” and went onto comment about league safety efforts being one-sided in favor of offensive players. The NFL department of officiating has come out this week and admitted that the play was legal under the current rules, but that doesn’t excuse it. In conclusion, I’ll be burning my Welker jersey that I held on to after defending him for leaving New England this off-season. Let’s move on, shall we?

I know you’re wondering what I think about the hottest topic of the past week. Richard Sherman closed out arguably the most exciting game in recent playoff memory, and certainly of last weekend, by deflecting an end-zone pass intended for Michael Crabtree into the waiting arms of his teammate Malcolm Smith. Not very long after that, Sherm had a microphone put in his face by sideline reporter Erin Andrews and you all know what happened next:

What followed was a firestorm of internet know-it-alls calling Sherman anything from a thug to a nigger, all while his defenders pointed out that he is a Stanford grad. Well here’s the thing folks, Richard Sherman is above your judgment and he doesn’t need your defense. As you can see in this Sound FX clip, Sherm was being hyped up by his teammates in the moments leading up to the infamous interview, seconds after he came off of the field. After making the play that would send your team to the Super Bowl, he was understandably excited. Let’s also be clear about one more thing: Sherman’s detractors call him selfish, a distraction from a hard-working team. Erin Andrews didn’t ask about the team, she asked him to walk her through the last play of the game, in which Sherman won a one-on-one matchup between himself and Crabtree, with whom he is certainly not great friends.

And’s let’s not absolve Crabtree of this whole situation. When Sherm approached him, saying “hell of a game” and extending his hands, Crabtree grabbed his facemask and pushed him away (a gesture for which Sherman was fined, by the way). After the game Crabtree took to twitter saying, “Pull up the film of that game and show me where this guy is the best. #fake #fake #fake”. For your information, Crabtree was targeted twice while Sherman was covering him in that game. He had no catches, drew a questionable pass interference call, and had no chance for the would-be game winning touchdown. He didn’t even have the courage to tag Sherman in the tweet. A real class act. Meanwhile, Wes Welker’s helmet is still lodged in Aqib Talib’s ribs. Besides guys, this is all Sherman was trying to say:

You probably couldn’t tell up to this point, but this is actually a Super Bowl preview. And while everyone is gushing over Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, Peyton Manning, and Knowshon Moreno’s tears, the man I have tabbed for Super Bowl MVP is going largely unnoticed. His name: Earl Thomas. His resume: Most recently, he nearly held Jimmy Graham to zero catches in the Divisional Round, something only Aqib Talib has been able to accomplish. Instead, Graham managed one catch for eight yards when the game was already out of reach. Jimmy Graham stands at a muscular 6’’7’. Earl Thomas is a stocky 5’’10’. In that same game, Thomas jumped clear over Graham and extended himself horizontally to deflect a pass. Many eyes will be on Richard Sherman next week, and rightfully so, but the likely key to Seattle’s success against Peyton Manning will be Thomas, who has excellent cover skills, plays the ball well, is strong in run defense, and can blitz when needed.

Speaking of Peyton Manning, you know there’s nothing I love more than detracting from his so-called greatness. Strap in for another installment of me being the only (loud and proud) naysayer among all of the Broncos quarterback’s yes men. Manning set several records this year, most notably touchdowns in a single season (55) which was previously held by Tom Brady (50). Everyone claims that 2013 Peyton is better than 2007 Tom, but when I really put that to the test, Peyton fell short like always. In 2007, Tom Brady completed 398 of 578 passes for 4,806 yards, 50 touchdowns, and just 8 interceptions. In 2013, Manning completed 450 of 659 passes for 5,477 yards, 55 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. This means that Brady actually scored touchdowns at a higher percentage than Manning, while throwing 81 less passes. Not to mention that Peyton preyed on bottom-feeding defenses all season, while Brady saw 4 of the top 5 defensive units in 2007. Let’s not forget that Brady’s starting receivers were Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, and Wes Welker, only one (Moss) of which had double-digit touchdowns. On the other hand, Manning was throwing to Eric Decker (11 tds), Demaryius Thomas (14 tds), Wes Welker (10 tds), as well as tight end Julius Thomas (12 tds). A sharp contrast. So to recap: Manning had more garbage-time touchdowns against bottom-ranked defenses and more help from his friends. Manning also lost three games this year, while Brady went undefeated in his ’07 campaign. However, Peyton does have one big thing in common with his historic rival: he will cap this prolific season with a Super Bowl loss.

Media day has become one of the biggest parts of Super Bowl week in recent years. Reporters, pundits, and apparently Regis Philbin get the chance to ask players just about whatever they want before the Super Bowl. Sometimes substantial storylines are explored; sometimes a guy gets asked who has the smelliest farts in the locker room. Every media member isn’t an Ivy League scholar, okay? If you’re Richard Sherman, media day looks a little something like this:

However, if you’re Marshawn Lynch it probably looks a little more tame, mainly because Lynch hates speaking to the media. He was fined not long ago for dodging the media all season, and on Media Day he walked out early, causing even the Pro Football Writer’s Association to express their frustration with the running back. But honestly, what’s the big deal? A guy like Sherman speaks out and suddenly he’s a thug, Marshawn elects to let his game speak for itself and now he’s a public enemy? We’ve got to make up our minds, people.

Look guys, I’ve been “writing” this article for the past two weeks. I was too afraid to say anything before the AFC Championship game (yes I believe in jinxes), I’ll admit that. I meant to post a recap, but that never happened. I was supposed to publish something before the Pro Bowl, but here we are. So I’m going to stop typing and publish this thing. Maybe a few weeks from now you’ll get a Pro Bowl article. Before we part, Seahawks 22 Broncos 16. Enjoy the Super Bowl!