The day is finally here…Super Bowl Sunday!  As sports fans, its the single most exciting annual sporting event!  Its become more than just the game…its the pregame, the analysis, the halftime show, the commercials and the celebration of a great year in football.

But in the end only one team will be crowned World Champs!  So who do you think it will be…Giants or Patriots?  I’m predicting Giants 24-17.

So give your Super Bowl XLVI stream of thoughts here!  Give us your predictions, thoughts on the game, commercials and everything in between!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!!

For Fanspeak’s FULL Super Bowl 46 Coverage including Trivia, Blogs, Super Bowl Facts, Prop Bets & MORE, visit our Super Bowl XLVI Page!  

.

Kansas’ Reign At The Top Could Be Short Lived:

The Jayhawks were just named the number one team in the nation, but that didn’t stop Kansas State from absolutely dominating them last night. Kansas had no answer for the Wildcats guard Jacob Pullen, who had 38 points. The Jayhawks will probably fall pretty far in the polls for two reasons. One, the Wildcats owned them the entire night and beat them by 16 points. This wasn’t some close lose in the final minutes of the game, but rather an overall shellacking. The second thing that is going to hurt Kansas is the fact that Kansas State isn’t even ranked right now. Now there is little doubt that K-State has some talent, they just haven’t been able to put it together this season, and had gotten beaten up in conference play. Now though the Wildcats upset their in-state rival, and gave themselves a signature win to build on for a possible tournament bid.

Franchise Tags Start Coming Out:

Both the Patriots and the Eagles have already used their franchise tags, and the Jets may not be too far behind. The Patriots struck first as they placed the tag of All-Pro guard Logan Mankins. Despite their usually being a different pay scale, for the purpose of franchise tags the salary of the top 5 offensive linemen are taken into the average, regardless of position. The Eagles did the expected and tagged Michael Vick, who will now come with more than a $16 million price tag. Now these were no brainer decisions, as neither the Patriots or the Eagles wanted to let these guys walk, and now they ensure that they control these players rights. With Vick now being formally tagged, you can pretty much guarantee that Kevin Kolb will be traded this offseason (when the new CBA is signed). The Jets case is a bit more interesting.

The Jets appear close to tagging inside linebacker David Harris. While there was a good bit of speculation surrounding the Jets tagging Harris, it also ensures both of the Jets top receivers, Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards, will be unrestricted free agents. While Harris is a key member of the defense, Holmes and Edwards are a very good starting combo for the Jets. Considering how ‘streaky’ (to put it nicely) quarterback Mark Sanchez has been, New York can’t afford to watch both of their receivers walk. Even losing one of them would be a major blow to the Jets passing attack, which means New York will have to scramble to lock them up when the new CBA is signed.

Twins Finally Land Pavano: While it has been rumored all offseason that the Minnesota Twins wanted to resign Carl Pavano, it began to seem less and less likely as the weeks dragged on. While some teams were filling their holes in their rotation with other options, there are still a number of teams that could have used Pavano at the top or middle of their rotation. The Twins though made the most sense, since they didn’t have to give up a compensation pick for him, and had yet to fill his spot in the rotation. A two year $16.5 million deal is pretty reasonable for Pavano, and below what a number of starters were getting on the open market. With resigning Jim Thome and Pavano the last two weeks, the Twins have ensured themselves a team capable of getting to the postseason (though both the Tigers and White Sox improved). If they do make it they now have to find a way to advance past the 1st round.

Brady To Have Surgery on His Foot: Although Tom Brady had played a good part of the season on a fractured foot, it was generally thought that the injury was minor and could heal on its own. Brady himself said on Monday that he didn’t think he would need any offseason surgeries. That apparently changed, as he will now be undergoing a foot surgery to repair the injury. Whether or not it was planned the entire time, or if Brady re-aggravated the injury in the Jets game (might be time to invest in the offensive line) is unclear at this time. The operation doesn’t sound serious, though Brady will probably not be a 100% for mini-camps (if there are mini-camps). He should be back in good time for training camp and the start of next season.

Jets Hold On To Knock Off The Patriots: After their blowout loss to New England a month ago, I don’t know how many people thought they could pull off the upset, but that is exactly what the Jets did. It was a great all-around game from the Jets. Their defense had Tom Brady confused all day, and they came up with a number of big plays to stop the Patriots offense. The Jets running game picked up the tough yards when they needed them the most, including their final touchdown. The Jets receivers made a number of big plays, finding holes in the Patriots coverage, and making incredible catches. Last but not least, Mark Sanchez played one of his best games and led the Jets to victory.

New England now has some questions to answer this offseason, as this is the second straight year a Wild Card team came into New England and upset the Patriots in the playoffs. It is also the second straight year that a defense made Tom Brady look very average in the playoffs. While you can’t really blame that on Brady, someone needs to see that the Patriots never adjusted to what the Jets were doing on defense. The Patriots wide receivers just couldn’t get open against the Jets star defensive backs, and with a consistent pass rush Brady didn’t have the time to allow for big plays to develop. It was obvious that the pass rush and press coverage affected Brady’s timing, as a number of his passes were just uncatchable.

The Jets now head up to Pittsburgh, where they upset the Steelers last month. At the time though they didn’t have to face Troy Polumalu, and as any team will tell you, playing the Steelers in Pittsburgh during the playoffs is quite a bit different than during the regular season. The Jets for their part have already gone on the road twice to win so this will be nothing new, but it won’t be an easy game. A lot of the game will depend on which Mark Sanchez shows up to play. If it is the quarterback who was in New England last night, the Jets have a chance, but if its the quarterback who has been inconsistent thus far into his career then the Steelers should win.

Bears Crush Seattle To Advance To The Championship Game: While the final score was 35-24, the Bears truly dominated this game from start to finish. The Seahawks mounted a small comeback, but were lucky to make it as close as they did. The Bears ended any hope of a Cinderella run, by the 7-9 Seahawks, and they did so in impressive fashion. Jay Cutler accounted for 4 touchdowns, as he threw for two and ran for two as well. The Chicago defense dominated the game, up until the end when the let their foot off the gas a little bit. Seattle just couldn’t get anything going on offense. And on defense it seemed as though Cutler and the Bears were always a step ahead, calling the perfect play.

Chicago now welcomes the Green Bay Packers for the NFC Championship Game next week. While the Bears and Packers split their season series, it is hard to not like the Packers in this game. Aaron Rodgers was basically perfect in Atlanta, so I don’t know if going on the road is really going to affect him this week. The Packers also have a top notch defense that attacks the quarterback. If the Bears offensive line doesn’t hold up, it is hard to see Cutler being able to match Rodgers drive for drive. The Bears are at home, and they too have the defense to disrupt an offense so I wouldn’t count them out just yet.

By Guest Blogger John Manuel:

I am happy with my Alma mater Maryland’s selection of Randy Edsall as its head coach. Edsall had success at UConn with developing decent talent, in College Park he will be able to work a better recruiting base. Coach Friedgen left him with good talent to start with and the return of defensive coordinator Don Brown is a big bonus. As for Mike Leach, I am now not shocked he wasn’t the choice. Nobody else has really looked at him and with violations just imposed on Texas tech and with his pending lawsuits, he was a risk. Plus if he won quickly at Maryland, would he have stayed long term? I am doubting that, and would guess he would have jumped to the next big time program offer he got. Best of luck to Ralph Friedgen, and thank you for bringing the program back. We sucked when I was there under Mark Duffner, as I can remember bailing at halftime every Saturday to go back to the tailgate in the parking lot.
It was great to see the caps win the 2011 winter classic at Heinz Field. Although I had to rewatch the game on NHL network since I was particularly out commission by New Year’s night. Sid the kid getting crushed was solid also. Only to top it were the Pens failing to shake hands afterwards. I do hope we get them again come playoff time.

I watched the ESPN documentary on Tim Tebow’s prep for the draft and I hope he becomes a solid NFL qb. I promise I won’t do a Thom Brennaman BCS title game speech about meeting Tim Tebow’s makes you a better man though. It was funny to see Todd Mcshay wrong throughout the show on Tebow. Mcshay blows and I hope Mike Shanahan doesn’t read any of his reports on prospects. That one was for you Kingston.
For all 8 of you who read my past blogs, I talked about my fantasy football arch rival, the Matzie. To no surprise we met in the finals.  I took a 33 point lead into Monday night, but he had Ron Mexico, Lesean McCoy and David Akers. Figured I was cooked, but my dream season culminated with a 1.8 point victory and being crowned champion of the Joe Kelly league once again. Matzie was pissed and since has disappeared on Canton.

Huge playoff battles this weekend. All four are rematches highlighted by the AFC rivalry games. Pittsburgh and Baltimore is always close as I expect a big play from a future hall of famer like Lewis, Polamalu, Reed or Ward to be the difference. I am going with Ray Ray to make it in a 17-14 ravens win helped by a big Suisham miss at some point.

I think the pats handle the jets again. I can’t see Rex Ryan winning a super bowl because I think he is a fool. It won’t be 45-3 but something like 27-13 pats. Brady is playing too well. I think he ended the MVP debate in weeks 16 and 17.

Patriots -6.5 @ Lions- I’m going with the upset pick today that I’m sure I’ll regret by halftime, but I’ll take the Lions getting the points. I know, I know, it is the mighty Patriots going up against the hapless Lions, but Detroit is better than you think. They have been in just about every game this season, and have taken some very good teams down to the wire. Even with their backup quarterback at the helm the Lions can give the Patriots a game. Now I haven’t gone so crazy to believe the Lions will win (though wouldn’t that be sweet), but I think they will keep it close enough to cover. Brady and the Pats might have trouble finding the endzone and I think they will have to settle for a couple of FG’s. Patriots win 27-21.

Saints -3.5 @ Cowboys- Dallas has looked like a brand new team with Wade Phillips out as their head coach, and that is without their quarterback Tony Romo. Backup Jon Kitna has filled in wonderfully, and the ‘Boys are once again a force to be reckoned with. Now it may be too late for their playoff hopes, but Dallas can play spoiler down the stretch. The Cowboys first chance to upset the apple cart will come today, when the Saints come into to town. New Orleans might have 7 wins, but they are far from a lock for the playoffs. They are a game back against the Falcons and essentially tied with the Buccaneers, so a loss today would really set them back. Dallas is never easy to play on Thanksgiving, so I look for this one to be a battle, and a bit of a shootout. I have cautious optimism that the Saints can pull this out and cover the spread, but Dallas should keep it close. Brees prevails in the end, 34-28.

Bengals +9.0 @ Jets- In a rematch of the first round of last years AFC Playoffs, the Jets should have no trouble replicating what they did last season. The Bengals looked to be a force in the AFC this season, building on their success from a year ago, but it is very likely they end up 4th in the North division this season. Despite adding all sorts of talent to their receivers and tight ends, Cincinnati finds a way to lose. Carson Palmer has become incredibly inconsistent, and it is costing the Bengals games. Nine points are usually a big enough spread that you’d consider taking the Bengals, but I don’t see any logical reason why anyone should play them. Sure the Jets have been a bit inconsistent this year, going down to the wire against the Browns and Lions, but I think they win this game easily. Jets 35-20.

Happy Thanksgiving and Enjoy the Games!

1. Steelers- Roethlisberger looked fine in his debut, and Pittsburgh continued to roll. Now with a passing attack to go along with their ground game and defense, I’m not sure how you stop them.

2. Jets- The Jets are 5-0 after their opening week loss to the Ravens, and are showing a tough (albeit not great) D and a strong running game. Sanchez has improved this year, but still has had some bad weeks.

3. Ravens- Baltimore might have two losses, but neither are a blow out and this team is balanced and ready to play.

4. Colts- Indy might have two losses, but they still look like one of the most dangerous teams in the NFL. Manning is having another incredible year and could lead this team back to the Super Bowl.

5. Patriots- New England might only have 1 loss, but I’m still not believing in this team sans Moss. The Patriots look okay now, but can they sustain it?

6. Saints- This isn’t last year’s Saints team, but they still have plenty of offensive firepower, the question going forward is can that defense hold up?

7. Titans- Tennessee has the running game and defense down pat, but they still need consistent performances from their quarterback.

8. Texans- Houston has some holes in their pass defense, but have a fantastic running game and passing attack.

9. Falcons- Atlanta is a very good team, but to be a contender you have got to win some tough ones on the road, and they looked over matched last week.

10. Eagles- Philly has two quarterbacks that could start for most teams in the league, and an impressive offense. The loss of Jackson hurts them though if he is out for an extended period.

11. Giants- New York is hotter than Philly right now, but the Eagles have the more talented team. Either way these two teams should be fighting for the division.

12. Chiefs- The Chiefs came extremely close to beating both the Colts and the Texans, but in the end couldn’t pull it out. Overall they are a good team but still have a few big holes.

13. Packers- Green Bay roster is beginning to look like an infirmary, but they still have Aaron Rodgers at the helm and that will keep them competitive.

14. Dolphins- Miami is 3-2 and has looked pretty good thus far. Their two losses have come to divisional foes and they almost upset the Jets. They are still a developing team, but the future looks bright.

15. Redskins- Washington is 3-3 and have done a good job of playing up to their opponents. Their defense has some major holes in it, and their offense is incomplete, but they are still in games.

16. Bears- Not addressing their offensive line issues this offseason has come back to bite the Bears hard. They have a good defense and a number of playmakers, but their o-line will hold them back.

17. Vikings- It hasn’t been pretty this year in Minnesota, but their defense has held up. The question remains is how will Favre’s arm hold up for the rest of the year?

18. Seahawks- Seattle isn’t the most impressive team in the NFL, but they have put together some nice games. And should remain in the West race.

19. Bengals- Cincinnati needs to figure out what is going wrong, because the talent is there with this team.

20. Broncos- Denver’s offense is looking good, unfortunately their defense can’t really stop anyone.

21. Cardinals- Arizona is relying on an undrafted rookie, but they have the talent around him to pile up a few wins.

22. Buccaneers- Tampa has a bright, bright future ahead of them, but that defense has not been able to stop top notch offenses.

23. Rams- St. Louis lives and dies with Bradford, as he has put together some good games, and some ugly games. They (Bradford esp.) seem to play much better at home, so it will be interesting to see how they end up with their road record for the year.

24. Cowboys- They might only have 1 win, but I wouldn’t count the Cowboys out just yet. They have so much talent, but no discipline or gameplan.

25. Chargers- San Diego’s defense is letting them down big time, and could keep them from a return trip to the playoffs.

26. Lions- Detroit lost another quarterback, but Stafford should be back now. Their defense has some issues, but that offense can score with anyone.

27. 49ers- San Francisco finally got a win, but they still aren’t playing up to their talent.

28. Browns- Cleveland is starting to show some semblance of an offense going forward, now they just need a defense to step up.

29. Jaguars- Jacksonville is 3-3, but with Garrard possibly injured for a couple of weeks (maybe less) their situation is pretty ugly.

30. Raiders- Oakland has some talent they just need to put it all together.

31. Panthers- It looks as though they rushed Clausen, hopefully it doesn’t do long term damage to the kid.

32. Bills- Why this team didn’t improve at quarterback or the offensive line this offseason is beyond me.

Rangers Finish off Rays Behind Cliff Lee: For the second straight postseason, Cliff Lee is proof of why you make midseason trades to help your ball club. Lee went just 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA after the Rangers acquired him, but is now 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA this postseason. Lee twice knocked off the Rays at home, and really is the reason why Texas is moving on to round two. In both games Lee out dueled fellow ace David Price, as the Rangers offense was too much for him to handle. While pitching and defense usually win playoff series, the Rangers offense is capable of disproving that theory. Now Texas has a quick turn around and starts their next series Friday at home against the Yankees. Unfortunately Cliff Lee won’t be on the mound for their first game (and will have to start Game 2 on 3 day’s rest). In a classy move the Rangers celebrated their postseason victory with Ginger Ale out of respect to Josh Hamilton, who has battled alcohol and drug addiction in his past.

Braves Waste No Time Replace Cox with Gonzalez: Gonzalez isn’t much of a surprise as Cox’s replacement, since speculation has been around since he was fired this season by the Marlins. Gonzalez has a long history with the Braves and was Cox’s 3rd base coach earlier in the decade. Gonzalez not only got a raw deal in the way he was fired from the Marlins (basically for benching Hanley Ramirez one game for lack of hustle), but for his entire tenure there. The Marlins run on the league’s lowest payroll, and continuously dump players to remain at that level. Even when they didn’t move players, Gonzalez played every year wondering if the team would have a mid-season fire sale. Now Gonzalez will have big shoes to fill and a number of questions to answer, but he should have the resources to succeed in Atlanta.

Kraft Believes New CBA Possible This Year: It was a positive sign yesterday, even if it was a bit unbelievable, to hear that the owners think that they can reach a new deal this year. That is a lot of work to be done in the next 2 and a half months, but the owners sound like they don’t want to risk a lockout. And in all honesty why would they? Both sides have a reason to come to the table, as a lockout would mean a major loss of money for both sides. The NHL may have needed a lockout earlier this decade, but it also hurt them. While it won’t hurt the NFL as much, it will turn fans away. In this economic climate, the last thing the NFL can afford to do is turn fans away. By the same token the players don’t want to lose a year of their earnings while the CBA is being worked out. While I’m still skeptical they can work out an agreement this year, I think they will have it done by the time the Super Bowl rolls around.

Jets Hold off Favre and the Vikings: The Jets are continuing to show themselves as one of the best teams in the NFL as they knocked off the reinforced Vikings last night 29-20. In many ways it was a classic Jets defensive struggle in the pouring rain as their offense scored just one touchdown. The Jets forced 3 turnovers, including a pick six at the end of the game to seal the victory. The Jets relied on the leg of Nick Folk, who was perfect in the inclement weather conditions, going 5 for 5. It was another big win for New York as they are now 4-1, and look to be in control of that division. The Vikings fall to 1-3, and have to begin questioning what is wrong in Minnesota. Yes it was the Jets defense, and yes Randy Moss isn’t fully worked into the lineup, but they still need to find a way to win. On the positive side they did play a much better 2nd half than their first half. It will be a long week in Minnesota as they desperately need to find a way to be consistent and play a full 4 quarters of football.

Patriots Trade a 4th round pick for Deion Branch: Somehow Randy Moss is only worth a 3rd round pick (with the Patriots giving up an additional 7th in 2012) to Deion Branch being worth a 4th round pick? Branch at one time might have been a top notch receiver who helped the Patriots win Super Bowls, but he has resembled anything close to that of late. He lacks the speed and quickness he used to have, and while he can still help some he isn’t worth the nearly $6 million he will be due to make next year (or the $3 million plus he will make the rest of this year). Yes the Patriots had an extra 4th rounder from the Broncos in the Laurence Maroney trade (they gave up their 6th rounder as well) and multiple additional picks from other trades. But I think New England overpaid here (by a lot). Given how much money he was owed I’m surprised the Patriots had to give up more than a 6th or 7th rounder. While he has some experience with Brady, it has been 4 and a half years since they’ve been together. I think Brady and New England overvalued that history. There were easily other cheaper, younger receivers available for less of a draft pick compensation price. There is way too much of a drop off in value from Moss to Branch for these deals to be motivated by football decisions. New England got their hand caught in the cookie jar by not having enough quality receivers and Tom Brady basically lobbying for Branch.

Giants Knock off Atlanta, Bring an End to Cox’s career: Bobby Cox is one of the all-time great managers in baseball, as he has led Atlanta to multiple playoff appearances and has kept them a contender for the last two decades. Now though his career ends on a bittersweet note at home, as his Braves fall to the Giants 3-2. The Braves played well in the series, but in the end the Giants pitching was just too much for them. San Francisco in an amazing show of sportsmanship, stopped their celebration to honor Bobby Cox last night. While it wasn’t the final tribute Cox or the Braves were hoping for, it was nice that his final game was at home and the Giants showed him the respect he deserved.

The New England Patriots made a bold, surprising and, depending on how it turns out, stupid move yesterday with their decision to trade Randy Moss. While normally I’d applaud a team for cashing in on an older, expensive impending free agent who doesn’t want to be there for a premium draft pick, I usually don’t when it seems to significantly hurt a team’s chances to win. And in this case, I don’t understand how the gain of a third round pick helps make this team any better for a playoff run. Now I realize some Patriots fans are coming to their team’s defense saying that ‘we don’t need Moss, he doesn’t want to be here, he is a problem in the locker room’ (basically the same argument you hear from Skins fans in regards to Haynesworth). But I think they doth protest too much about Moss not being needed.

Had New England made this deal on draft day of Moss for a 2010 3rd rounder, New England fans would have been in an uproar over the loss of their star receiver. Now suddenly 4 weeks into the season it is okay to trade Moss for less value. A 2011 3rd round pick is worth quite a bit less than a 2010 (not to mention the Patriots would have laughed in the face of any team that made that offer). The general rule of thumb is a future draft pick is worth slightly more than that round this year. For example the New England Patriots traded their late 3rd round pick this past season to the Carolina Panthers for their 2nd round pick in 2011. Not only did the Patriots ‘move up a round’, but they also jumped up quite a bit in that particular round. Even before the start of this season you could see that the likelihood was that the Panthers would be a bottom 15 team (now it could end up a top 5 pick in that round) meaning the Patriots would move up basically a round and a half. I don’t see how the Patriots can defend this move now, considering they wouldn’t have begun to entertain trading Moss earlier this offseason. Had they made a trade for a 2010 3rd round pick, not only would they have had that player, but they could have used both their draft and their money saved to address the receiver position.

Now the Patriots are left with a fairly uninspiring receiving corps, led by Wes Welker. Welker has put up big numbers, but he has benefited quite a bit by having Randy Moss on the other side of him. Moss not only commands opposing team’s top corner backs, but usually double coverage as well. The Patriots may have beaten the Dolphins without Moss having a catch, but him occupying Vonta Davis and taking a safety a lot of the time, opened things up for everyone else. While other Patriots receivers Brandon Tate, and Julian Edelman have shown some flashes, that was always with Randy Moss taking away a lot of the coverage. And although I like the promise of those young wideouts (and of rookie Taylor Price as well), they have not been consistent enough to warrant giving up your best deep threat, and only receiver with a height advantage.

Maybe this deal would have made more sense if the Patriots had the defense they had when they won those Super Bowls, or a rushing attack that could lead the league. The deal also would have made some more sense if New England got a player back that could help them this year as well. But as it stands now they gave up their only offensive weapon that really kept defensive coordinators up at night, and went to being more of a short passing team.

Now the Patriots have the weapons to do that, as their backs are good receivers and their rookie tight ends (Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski) have shown a lot of promise, and Welker is great at working underneath. But now they will have to deal with more coverage (and better coverage), and I’m sure Tom Brady will see a lot more blitzes now that no receiver demands double coverage.

I think the Patriots got too cute here and would have been better served either not making the deal or at the very least get a player back (even if it meant taking a lesser draft pick) who could have some impact on this season (as well as future seasons). Even if the player they got back wasn’t a starter, he would have value towards this season. As it stands, New England got a nice pick, but with no internal options to replace Moss they hurt their chances of competing this year and will regret this move.