This weekend proved that #thestruggleisreal thanks to the Panthers’ defense, Winter Storm Jonas and Peyton Manning’s arm. Luckily Tom Brady has his gorgeous supermodel wife to console him. The rest of us will have to resort to wine, Sinead O’Connor and this weekend's wrap up.
University of Duquesne learned to never take weather advice from Steve Harvey.
And the winner is,
The LNG Team
NFL (National Football League)
New England Patriots 18 vs Denver Broncos 20
- Peyton Manning prevails in what could be the final battle with Tom Brady. The quarterbacks were tied with a 2-2 playoff record going into this weekend’s game.
- Defense wins championships. Denver defense never let Tom Brady get comfortable, sacking him four times and causing him to throw two interceptions.
- Broncos linebacker Von Miller, had an interception, deflected pass and 2.5 sacks (most sacks in Broncos playoff history). Miller is known for his dance moves after taking down a quarterback (aka a sack).
- New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed the extra point (one point) in the first quarter making the score 6-7. Gostkowski holds the NFL record for most consecutive extra points. This was his first miss since 2006.
- Gostkowski’s miss came into play at the end of the game when the Patriots scored a touchdown with 12 seconds left, making it 18-20. Patriots were forced to go for two-point conversion to tie the game. Had the kicker hit the earlier extra point it would have been 19-20 and they could have kicked the extra point to tie. Instead Patriots had to go for the two-point conversion which was unsuccessful.
Arizona Cardinals 15 vs Carolina Panthers 49
- Panthers dominated the game; they were up 17-0 after the first quarter and never looked back.
- Panthers quarterback Cam Newton threw for four touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns. He is all but guaranteed to be the MVP of the NFL this year.
- Panthers defense mauled the Cardinals offense causing four interceptions and two fumbles.
- Many kids went home happy. Panthers have a tradition of giving the football to a kid in the crowd after scoring a touchdown. Best face ever right here.
The teams will meet in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, February 7th at 6:35 pm (EST) on CBS. Halftime show includes Coldplay featuring Beyoncé.
NBA (National Basketball Association)
- Thanks for coming. Cleveland Cavaliers fired their head coach, David Blatt. The Cavs were in first place in the Eastern Conference with 30-11 record. Blatt was in his second season with the team where he compiled an 83-40 record and took the Cavs to the NBA Finals in his first year. Seems like he’s a winner but Cavs general manager stated "a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision" contributed to the decision to move on. According to some, Cavs star, LeBron James, played a big part in the coaching change.
NCAA Basketball (College)
- Undefeated no more. The last undefeated Division One Men’s Basketball Team, Southern Methodist University (SMU, who was 18-0), lost at Temple, 89-80. Snow shenanigans could have played a part in the loss as the game was delayed due to Winter Storm Jonas. The SMU team bus was stuck in Pennsylvania. The team had to push their bus but also made snow angels to pass the time.
MLB
- A bite of the big apple. Free Agent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, resigns with the New York Mets. His contract is a three-year, $75 million contract that includes ability to opt out after one year. According to the New York Times, his contract is the highest average annual salary of any free-agent position player this off-season.
Overtime
- University of Duquesne beat George Mason University Friday night, 86-75. Little did they know what was in store for them on ride home. The ride from Fairfax, Virginia to Philadelphia took 30 hours after their bus became stranded due to Winter Storm Jonas. What is one to do while stranded? Check out their entertaining twitter activity.
Sideline Stat
- Peyton Manning, 39, becomes the oldest quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl.
Coaches’ Corner
- What exactly is a two-point conversion? A team can opt to go for a two-point conversion after a touchdown (six points) instead of kicking an extra point (one point). The offensive team can either throw or run the ball into the end zone for two points. It doesn’t happen very often as it’s much harder to convert the two-point conversion than the extra kick, hence why it’s two points for the extra effort.