2013-14 NCAA Bowl Game Predictions (12/31-1/1)

• AdvoCare V100 Bowl: Arizona over Boston College 30-17
• Sun Bowl: UCLA over Virginia Tech 28-20
• Liberty Bowl: Mississippi State over Rice 24-19
• Chick-fil-A Bowl: Texas A&M over Duke 45-24
• Heart of Texas Bowl: North Texas over UNLV 23-20
• Gator Bowl: Georgia over Nebraska 38-17
• Outback Bowl: Iowa over LSU 29-24
• Capitol One Bowl: Wisconsin over South Carolina 34-31
• Rose Bowl: Stanford over Michigan State 34-24
• Fiesta Bowl: Baylor over UCF 52-38

Sports Talk 920's 10 Greatest Packers Games (4-1)

4. 2013 Packers vs. Bears (33-28): Some may say this game is on here way too soon, and maybe it is. In a winner take all as far as the NFC North was concerned this game did not disappoint. In a back and forth battle all game long, the Packers trailed 28-27 late in the 4th. On their final drive they converted three 4th down conversions including a TD bomb on 4th and 8 with under 40 seconds remaining to give the Packers their 3rd straight NFC North Title.



3. 2010 NFC Champ Packers vs. Bears (21-14): Right now yesterday's victory over the Bears feels pretty sweet. That doesn't even hold a candlestick to the 2010 NFC Championship game. This was only the 2nd time the longtime rivals played in the postseason, and the most important ever. It was a true team effort with the game winning TD came from BJ Raji.


2. 2010 Super Bowl XLV Packers vs. Steelers (31-25): 2010 was a year riddled with injures. After week 15 the Packers had a record of 8-6 with a shot at missing the postseason, some even wrote them off. However the Packers got to the big game and looked like they would cruise taking a 21-3 lead, however more injuries to Driver and Woodson and a surge from the Steelers let the game get close at 21-17. The Packers got 10 4th quarter points and went on to win their 4th Super Bowl.



1. 1996 Super Bowl XXXI Packers vs. Patriots (35-21): This was the Packers first Super Bowl victory in 30 years, and holds a special spot in almost every Packer fans heart who was around to witness it. After cruising to get to the Super Bowl, the Packers were locked in a back and battle until eventual Super Bowl MVP Desmond Howard ran back a kick off return 99 yards for a TD. It was their 3rd of 4 Lombardi trophies the Packers accumulated to date.


Games that just missed the cut:

• 1980 Packers vs. Bears (12-6): Marcol turns blocked kick into game winning touchdown
• 1994 Packers vs. Falcons (21-17): Favre runs for winning TD in final seconds
• 1995 Packers vs. Steelers (24-19): Thigpen drops a sure TD pass to give the Pack the win.
• 1996 Packers vs. 49ers (23-20 OT): Jacke kicks 53 yd FG in OT to win it
• 1999 Packers vs. Raiders (28-24): Favre throws game winning TD pass with 10 secs left
• 2000 Packers vs. Vikings (26-20 OT): "He did what!?!"
• 2003 Packers vs. Seahawks (33-27 OT): "We want the ball and we are going to score"
• 2009 Packers vs. Bears (21-15): Rodgers vs. Cutler first matchup
• 2010 Packers vs. Vikings (28-24): Brett Favre's final game at Lambeau
• 2010 Packers vs. Bears (10-3): Packers had to win to get in the postseason.

Sports Talk 920's 10 Greatest Packer Games (10-5)

Back in 2008 NFL Films came out with a 10 DVD set of the Green Bay Packers 10 greatest games as voted on by Packer fans.  I always thought that it was pretty much just Brett Farve's greatest games compilation rather than one of the entire team. I know they were limited on games they could select due to the fact they didn't have complete game broadcasts for some games. (ie: the Ice Bowl) I still think that there are some more significant games that they could of put in that 10 game DVD set. Since that time I always wanted to make a list of my own....well here it is.

10. 2013 Packers vs. Cowboys (37-36): The Packers were in desperate need of a win to keep in the hunt for the NFC North. At first it didn't look like that was going to happen when they trailed at halftime 26-3.  However in the 2nd half QB Matt Flynn lead the Packers to 5 TD drives and came back to win the game 37-36 in one of the greatest comebacks in Packers history.

9. 1989 Packers vs. Bears (14-13): To Packer fans this game is simply known as the "Instant Replay Game." As time expired and the Packers trailing 7-13, Don Majkowski threw a last second TD pass to Sterling Sharpe. At first it was ruled invalid because the refs thought Majkowski threw the ball past the line of scrimmage, but after further review the TD was good and it was the first time the Packers defeated the Bears since 1984.


8. 1983 Packers vs. Redskins (48-47): In this game the Packers faced off in a Monday Night matchup vs. the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Washington Redskins. The game featured a high scoring offensive battle, with 1,025 total yards between both teams. The Packers held off a late charge from the Redskins and went on to win what was the highest scoring Monday Night Football game until 2010.


7. 1995 NFC Div Packers vs. 49ers (27-17): Back in the early 90's the 49ers and Cowboys were the kings of the NFL. In this playoff matchup, it was a changing of the guards. The Packers jumped to a 21-0 lead and never let go, winning the game 27-17. They did go on to lost the NFC Championship game the next week but they showed in this game that they were a Super Bowl caliber team, making their deepest postseason run since 1967.



6. 1993 NFC WC Packers vs. Lions (28-24): The Pack was back in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years and won this one in style. The Packers trailed 17-7 in the third quarter and came back to win the game on a 40 yard TD strike from Favre to Sharpe with just 55 seconds to go in the game.


5. 1992 Packers vs. Bengals (24-23): The game the brought us Brett Favre. He came into the game for an injured Don Majkowski and never looked back. Favre struggled much of this game but despite being down 17-3 going in to the 3rd quarter, Favre connected with Kitrick Taylor for at 35 yd TD with second remaining to give the Packers 24-23. After this game things started to look up for Packers fans.

(To Be Continued)

2013-14 NCAA Bowl Game Predictions (12/28-12/30)

• Pinstripe Bowl: Notre Dame over Rutgers 38-17
• Belk Bowl: Cincinnati over North Carolina 30-24
• Russell Athletic Bowl: Louisville over Miami 41-30
• Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl: Kansas State over Michigan 27-21
• Armed Forces Bowl: Navy over Middle Tennessee 28-24
• Music City Bowl: Mississippi over Georgia Tech 34-20
• Alamo Bowl: Oregon over Texas 38-30
• Holiday Bowl: Arizona State over Texas Tech 45-27

2013-14 NCAA Bowl Game Predictions (12/23-12/26)

• Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl: East Carolina over Ohio 41-28
• Hawai'i Bowl: Oregon State over Boise State 29-24
• Little Caesers Pizza Bowl: Bowling Green over Pittsburgh 31-14
• Poinsettia Bowl: Northern Illinois over Utah State 34-20 

2013-14 NCAA Bowl Game Predictions (12/21)

• New Mexico Bowl: Colorado State over Washington State 27-24
• Las Vegas Bowl: Fresno State over USC 37-31
• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Buffalo over San Diego State 26-23
• New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana-Lafayette over Tulane 34-28

Dallas Cowboys: Playing the Blame Game

The Dallas Cowboys seemed to have total control going into halftime of Sunday's game vs. the Green Bay Packers, leading 26-3.  However in the 2nd half it was a totally different ballgame when the Cowboys got outscored 10-34 and ended up losing the game by 1 point, 36-37 and still remain a game behind the Philadelphia Eagles for the lead of the NFC East.  After such a heart breaking loss many Cowboys fans will look to place the blame on their last rated defense and others on the QB who always seems to get himself in these types of situations, Tony Romo.  I am here to say that they both deserve the blame equally.

In the first half the Dallas Cowboys defense played like a top rated defense rather than the worst, allowing a field goal and 159 yards.  The Packers seemed to have looked lost after the first 2 quarters, and all hope was lost.  Then in the 2nd half it looked like both the Packers offence and Cowboys defense flipped a switch, when the Cowboys D allowed the Packers to score touchdowns on all 5 of their 2nd half drives.  This is one of the worst defensive collapses that I have witnessed in all my years watching football, however the game should not of come down to the defense either, and that's why there still is one other person to blame....

Of course that is Tony Romo.  It seems to me it happens to ofter, Romo gets in these types of situations where all the Cowboys need to do is run the clock out and Romo ends up making the game losing mistake.  Just as often it seems like some Cowboys fans or TV Networks need to pass the buck away from Romo.  The fact is even with the defensive collapse, this offense was playing well enough to put this game out of reach for Green Bay.  However they failed to do so, abandoning the run almost totally running the ball 3 times in the 2nd half. When they had a the ball up 36-31 with 4:17 to go in the game, they decided to run the ball only once and when they had a run play called Romo checked out of it and passed the ball which ended up being the costly turnover that allowed the Packers to score the game winning touchdown.  Why would the Cowboys totally abandon the run like that? They were facing a defense that couldn't stop the run, a defense that let DeMarco Murray to 18 carries and 134 yards. That's 7.4 yards a carry! But instead Romo wanted the ball in his hands and once again threw a costly pick. I don't get why you would trust the guy who has the most interceptions (7) in the 4th quarter when either tied or leading that ended up resulting in a loss.

In the end, the Cowboys will remain to be a mediocre team if they can't accept their weaknesses and adjust their game plan to their strengths.  Romo has to learn to avoid these mistakes, that seem to only happen to him year in and year out.  Their is a reason some label him as a choker and as he proved this past Sunday.  Some times he does deserve it....no matter how bad the defense plays.

Goody's Week 15 NFL Primetime Picks

• New England Patriots over Miami Dolphins 27-20
• Dallas Cowboys over Green Bay Packers 31-20
• Cincinnati Bengals over Pittsburgh Steelers 38-24
• Baltimore Ravens over Detroit Lions 28-24

Goody's prediction record to date: 39-20

Goody's Week 14 Prime Time Picks

• Houston Texans over Jacksonville Jaguars 27-19
• Seattle Seahawks over San Francisco 49ers 31-21
• Carolina Panthers over New Orleans Saints 28-24
• Dallas Cowboys over Chicago Bears 34-20

Goody's Prediction Record to date: 39-16