No matter what team you root for, you have to agree these were 2 great games!  TV ratings were significantly up for both games (good for me in my role as THE Commish – maybe a bigger bonus for more revenue coming in…) and both games really went deep into the 4^th quarter before the games were won.

As for the Hewes Super Bowl trophy competition, here is where things stand with only 1 game left:

• 2011 Winner – 654 points (including an impressive 313 points this weekend)
• Buffalo Bill – a distant second with 629
• Henrico FiveOh – 584 (2^ndmost points over the weekend)
• Comeback Kid – 562 (staying in the race)
• Ben the Butler – 380 (not liking da Bears today)
• Greg the Great – 258 (let’s see his SB45 pick…)
• Pete the Terp – 246 (will the tortoise beat the hare in 2 weeks?)

And, as for the games, here is the post-game analysis:

Green Bay Packers 21, Chicago da Bears 14

Let’s just Cut(ler) to the chase on this one – Jay let his team down.  Have you ever seen a less emotional human being who plays in the NFL?  Off to a rough start and down 14 to a tough Packer D, Jay decided to hang it up for the day.  We all know how Butkus would have approached a “mild MCL sprain” back in his day – you hobble on 1 leg and play better than you did with 2.

So, Cutler goes to the sidelines and lo and behold former Bill Todd Collins comes in to save the day.  He lasts 2 series and leaves with a mysterious ailment (who would have thought Cutler was contagious!), thereby leaving a trip to the Super Bowl in the capable hands of (drum roll, please) – Caleb Hanie.  Who dat?  The 3^rdyear wonder from Colorado State played admirably except for the lousy pick 6 pick by Packer twinkle toes nose tackle B.J Raji (all 327 pounds of him).

Give credit to the Packer D and a resilient Aaron Rodgers, who had his poorest outing of the playoffs.  Ditto on poorest to Cutler…

Pittsburgh D 24, New York Jets 19

A thriller (sorry MJ, but had to borrow that from you).  Perfect setting for a clash of the AFC’s best.  And Ben Roethlisberger saved his best moments for when his team needed him the most.  But the Steeler D gets the W for this one, shutting down the Jets running game (allowing only 68 yards by LT and Shonn).

Rex and the boys will have to find a way to get past this game next year – for the 3^rd year in a row.

Participant Analysis

• Buffalo Bill – held the lead going into the weekend and is still in the hunt, with a second-best 253 points in the 2 games.  He finally got his picks right and that game him an extra 100 points.  Trailing by only 25 points, his pick will most likely be very cautious for the next game.
• Comeback Kid – The Jets?  Almost – and that would have propelled him into 1^st with an 80-point lead had Sanchez put it in the end zone before the final gun.  Instead he finds himself 82 points behind the leader.  Another “upset” pick coming in a couple weeks?
• Henrico FiveOh – don’t people get arrested for what we saw on the football field this past weekend?  He kept pace with a 256-point weekend and is only 70 points behind the leader.  He has been known to come up with some wild SB predictions.  Just don’t submit a partial score…
• Greg the Great – Starting to slip a little more, but he knows as well as anyone that it all comes down to this one last pick (see 1998 results, where he was down 191 points and won the trophy by a margin of 96 points).  Can a Bears fan pick the Packers?
• Ben the Butler – Slipped a little further and needs to get this next one pretty close.  Another Bear fan who will probably have a hard time picking Green Bay.
• Pete the Terp – the tortoise is bringing up the rear at the moment, but is only down 408 points.  A surprise pick and a variance of less than 5 will get him his 1^st trophy on February 6…
• 2011 Winner – Capped off an awesome weekend by taking the lead as we come down the home stretch.  The last time he was in this position (2007) he walked away with the trophy and the expectations are for a repeat.  Ditto for 1994, as well.

There were also some very notable” accomplishments” over the weekend, as well:

• Just falling short of eclipsing the record set in 2000, the average variance for the weekend for all participants combined was an impressive 9.36 points per game!  It was a hard week to distance yourself from the group.
• Comeback Kid set an individual performance records for points in a Conference Championship game, as he did last week.
• No goose-eggs to report for the weekend, marking the 1^st time that has happened in 10 years.

THE Commish will be traveling to Denver this coming  weekend and will not be back in action until Super Bowl Sunday.  Plans are to get out a brief prediction which I’m sure you will all be waiting to peruse before making that final prediction.  This is not about the Lombardi Trophy, it’s about the HSBT!!

From the friendly confines of Columbus, OH (home of the undefeated and #1 college basketball team in the country – probably a jinx), I look forward to SB45.

~~ THE Commish