Gentlemen,

Well, it was all going according to schedule until the Bronco-Colt matchup.  Excellent football all weekend and we now know the 4 teams that will be battling for the right to go to SB49.  Here is your weekend wrap-up:

Current HSBT Standings:

• Buffalo Bill – 408 points
• Ben the Butler – 384 (with a weekend high of 296 points)
• Henrico FiveOh – 330
• 2015 Winner – 326
• Comeback Kid – 290
• Greg the Great – 236
• JTB – 193 (with a weekend low of 84 points)
• Pete the Terp – 152

Mathematically, everyone is still very much in the hunt for the trophy, with 55% of the season average points still looking for an owner.  Buffalo Bill has jettisoned to a seemingly unsurmountable lead with only 3 little games remaining, having correctly picked all 4 games this weekend (along with Greg the Great).

Hot off the press (other then Rex Ryan being named the new Head Coach of the Bills), here are the official evaluations of the weekend games from The Commish:

New England 35, Baltimore 31
A classic duel between 2 of the best post-season QB’s on the planet.  Patriot legend Tom Brady came back twice from a 14-point deficit to narrowly win in another Foxboro thriller.  As suggested on this site yesterday, who’s gonna stop Gronk?  The answer – nobody.  He was the difference.

Seattle 31, Carolina 17
Possibly the least exciting game of the weekend, as Cam Newton solidified his stature as a mediocre QB that needs some serious work on his passing style.  The Seahawk’s smothering D made sure that they would win, even without the Beast rumbling throughout the northwest US.  Russell Wilson has shown hints of greatness.  While the scoreboard was close early in the 4th quarter, the game was never really in question.

Green Bay 26, Dallas 21
The Call.  Wow.  Did Dez have possession or not?  A sad way to end the season for the Cowboys.  But it was the right call and the Packers slip into the conference championship, even with a gimpy Aaron Rodgers at QB.

Indianapolis 24, Denver 13
The torch has been handed off.  Andrew Luck simply outplayed his counterpart in a stunning upset.  The Broncos never really got going on offense (not that the Colts D is that tough).  Maybe the Colts are destiny’s darlings this year.

I’ll be following up with you next Saturday (or Sunday morning) with the official analysis of the Conference Championship games.  Sadly, we had 1 participant who failed to submit their Super Bowl Bonus Pick, with all other 7 still having a chance at the extra 100 points.

Have a good week and we’ll talk with you next weekend!

I am,

~~ The Commish