Yes, but the week before they played their “one solid game” against the Patriots in the Wildcard round. Thus they did actually show up in the playoffs.
Eliis Dee got my meaning. All the words I used to describe the Ravens-Colts game were one letter shorter than “solid.”
While I see what you guys are getting at, I think this years Pats team is almost light years behind this years Colts team. Something was up with Tom Brady towards the end of this season. I think the Ravens offensive explosion in that game was a fluke.
I totally disagree; the last regular season game the Pats tried to win was a 35-7 clinic with Brady throwing 23 of 26 for 267 yards, 4 TDs and no picks. They looked like a major force heading into the playoffs, but for whatever reason they just didn’t show up against the Ravens. I think they would have beaten the Chargers and could have beaten the Colts if the Ravens hadn’t pushed their shit in in the first round.
(Though the loss of Welker probably changes that.)
I didn’t vote until after the Jets were knocked out, but my answer is “No,” simply because I hate all teams from New York and always want them to lose no matter what.
But as for “reducing the importance” of the Super Bowl if they had made it? Nah. Playoff upsets can and do happen, and wild card teams have made it in before. That’s just the way the playoffs are structured.
The alternative would be either a voting system like college, or simply putting the teams with the best records in each conference into the Super Bowl and skipping the playoffs altogether. I’m sure nobody is seriously suggesting either of these scenarios, but if you’re going to suggest that a SB that doesn’t include the “best” team from each conference is somehow less valid, how else would you propose to do it?
It’s moot now, but…
As a Patriots fan, the Colts and Jets are probably our two biggest rivals right now. The Colts because they’re so good, and because of the Brady/Manning comparisons. The Jets because of a shared history of divisional rivalry, the whole Parcells/Belicheck history, and the geographic rivalry between Boston/New York in general.
So all that said, I went into the game cheering for the Jets, but feeling really ill about it. I would have liked for somehow both teams to be humiliated…
To conclude: Go Saints!
I voted no, but I can’t say I have any strong feelings for them either way.
They aren’t so good that I have grown bitter and hateful toward them (Patriots). Nor are they so good that I like and respect them (Colts). They aren’t/weren’t so bad that I love to see them fail (Raiders/Bengals). They aren’t so bad that I feel pity and would like to see them win (Lions) They aren’t so self centered and egotistical I would like to see them lose on general principal (Cowboys (America’s team my Ass)/Raiders). They aren’t a local rival that I either hate or respect (Raiders/Chargers). And I have no strong connection to NYC. So in the end I voted no because I’m happy to see Manning in the Superbowl again. Not of anything pro/con for/against the Jets.