NFC Championship: New Orleans Saints @ Chicago Bears

Saints +2
One of the biggest disappointments of my life is that when the Buccaneers finally made it to a Super Bowl they had changed their uniforms. The Orange and Yellow swashbuckling Buccaneer was without a doubt my favorite NFL uniform. That statement reflects that I have not had any major disappointments in my life, that is true, but still, I loved those uniforms. Tomorrow presents an opportunity for a team that has never been to the Super Bowl to make it. While that is exciting in and of itself, that we may get to see the Saints gold and black on Super Sunday has me fired up. I want the Saints to win. I will be cheering for them. I would be pulling for them regardless of the disaster that struck New Orleans and continued to plague the people there. I like them because I love the city of New Orleans. It is a city that I long for at times. Aside from that, their unis are cool and here they are after being such a bad football organization for so long, poised to go to the Super Bowl. Throw in everything else and of course they are America’s team tomorrow.

In regards to the action on the field, here is a stat that reflects just how bad the NFC was this year. The Bears and the Saints are 1 and 2 in the NFC. The Bears opponents had a combined record of 110-146 while the Saints opponents were 118-138. The Bears played in a division where the other teams combined records were 17-31; the Saints’ division went 19-29. The Bears 13 victims this year were 84-124, while the Saints’ 10 wins were 68-92. The Bears defeats came to teams with a combined record of 26-22, while the Saints’ losses were to teams that went 50-46. Lastly, 2 of the Bears 3 losses were to AFC East teams (Patriots and Dolphins) and half of the Saints losses were to AFC North teams (Steelers, Bengals and Ravens). Each lost their season finale and the Saints lost to the Panthers twice and the Redskins once. (The second Panther loss was the Saints’ season finale).

What all these stats add up to is an absolute toss up. The line can be had anywhere from 1 point to 3 points. The weather may be a factor, but Brees played at Purdue and he won’t be fazed by it. Grossman is bad and as long as the Saints don’t let receivers run untouched down the field the Bears offense should be contained. The Bears stout defense has shown some vulnerability of late and the Saints have enough of a mix to cause them trouble. My advice is to take whoever you want to root for and play this game at a low star. The Dean will be decked in Gold and Black and taking the Saints plus whatever points are available and playing it for 2-stars.