Jeff Hart: Monday Linkfest for January 16, 2012

By: Jeff Hart | Posted: January 16, 2012

The hotly anticipated match-up between top QBs Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees will now be played this weekend in Sean Payton’s backyard. Both high-scoring favorites and MVP rivals were knocked out of the divisional playoffs; the Saints in a game that was so amazingly good that it made Vernon Davis cry, and the Packers thanks to a performance that requires an itemized list of ways they screwed up.

Here’s 49ers safety Donte Whitner summing up what happens to flashy offenses in the playoffs:

(That’s a legal hit, by the way. At least for now.)

Following the logic of the 49ers and Giants victories, shouldn’t the Patriots be the next team to fall? Don’t be so sure. Prior to vanquishing Tim Tebow and the Broncos, thus killing our pageviews and ESPN’s ratings, we saw the birth of a new trend that might be powerful enough to carry the Pats to the Super Bowl. It’s called Bradying:

My thanks go out to Dane Cook for giving the nation another reason to dislike New England.

The Patriots will face the Ravens in the AFC Championship Sunday, a team who – wait, before I go any further, can someone get me proof of life on the Texans Super Bowl tattoo guy? If anyone comes across a garishly and overconfidently inked lower arm in a Houston gutter, please put it on ice immediately.

Anyway, the Ravens didn’t look all that impressive in their victory over the Texans. Ray Lewis did exchange jerseys soccer style with Arian Foster during the post-game, a classy move that’s hopefully reserved only for games and players of this magnitude.

One reason for the Ravens less than inspiring play might be the distraction of Terrell Suggs’ impending legal battle to secure the rights to Ball So Hard University. The lesson here, NFL players, is to make sure you immediately trademark anything funny you might say in those primetime player introductions.

Finally, on a note completely unrelated to the playoffs, this story on the Kansas City Chiefs front office environment is an absolute must-read. It involves Todd Haley claiming that his personal cell phone was bugged by candy-wrapper obsessed Orwellian Scott Pioli. Does it get weirder? Yes. 

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