2016 NFL Playoffs & Superbowl

[extrememarine]

It was very good - very classy and appropriate. Too often, performers try to add their own 'flavor' - the Nation Anthem is not that type of number...

One of the best football game national anthems I have heard or seen performed. My all time favorite singer of the national anthem was/is Kate Smith, she also sang America the Beautiful.

 

[Cav47]

Agree with both of you. Although when I saw the "Hunger Games outfit", I had serious doubts. It was very good.

To another point, I like a non-ad lib version like the one Whitney Houston did a few years ago! Actually a long time ago. She was my favorite in recollection.

Can't say I liked the outfit by Beyoncé. While she is HOT, watching it with the family has me wondering what my 13 yr old daughter is thinking? Wondered if my two younger boys ages 8 and 10 were staring as much as their 16 year old brother and 40 something Dad were?

 

[wheatonFJR]

Congrats to the Broncos defense! Too much for the Panthers..plus too many self-inflicted wounds by Carolina.

Congrats to the winners.

 

[steve_g]

Von Miller is a beast, has to be MVP.

 

[petey]

CONGRATS Broncos....

 

[Pterodactyl]

She did well, but there are many that can sing as well as she.

 

[HotRodZilla]

I just watched Lady Gaga's version. Not bad. Not kooky, like I would have expected. However, the other day I attended a conference that started with a Color Guard Flag presentation and the National Anthem sung by a 9th grade high school girl. She was absolutely amazing!

 

[steveoreno]

Congrats to Peyton and the Bronco's! They deserved it.

 

[ionbeam]

Congrats to Peyton and the Bronco's! They deserved it.

Congrats to Von Miller and the Broncos. At least the Patriots lost to the best, and on Sunday the Broncos were the best again. Watching the 3 point attempt early in the game where the football clanged off the goal post was like deja-vu all over again.

One offense got beaten and the other team's defense scored well (as opposed to the nearly not present Manning offense).

 

[Fred W]

Yes, so now the league's darling (Peyton) can go out on top, though he actually had very little to do with their winning. There are about a dozen other NFL QBs that could have been substituted and still won with that tenacious defense and the Kubiak game plan.

So now we need to wait to see:

1) Peyton's announcement. Will he go out on top? Or will he Farve it for a couple more years?

2) Will the league choose to pursue the HGH trail at the Manning residence in the off season? Will HormoneGate be the news story to keep the NFL in the news in 2016?

3) Will we continue to hear how Cam is the wunderchild, progenitor mold of all future QBs? Season MVP goes down (literally and figuratively) in the hands of the SB MVP.

4) How many other teams' will begin to mold their defenses in an attempt to replicate that Denver D? What they just proved in their last two games is that there isn't an offense in the league that can stand up to that defense.

5) It seems almost like it isn't fair to have a defense that good. What about parity and a leveling playing field?

6) How many new rules will be passed this off season that castrates that kind of intense defensive play? It's a well known fact that fans want to see lots of offense. All the rule changes for the past several decades has been aimed towards high scoring games. We can't have a team being so rough with their opponents. You know... for the good of the game.

(hopefully you get that most of the above is tongue in cheek)

 

[Intech]

I thought Cam had matured. He sure proved that wrong. He acted liked a spoiled kid that didn't get his way. And what was with that fumble??

Congrats to Denver and especially Miller. Well deserved MVP.

 

[CAJW]

I thought Cam had matured. He sure proved that wrong. He acted liked a spoiled kid that didn't get his way. And what was with that fumble??
Congrats to Denver and especially Miller. Well deserved MVP.

Symptoms of Krytonite poisioning?

 

[Burnspot]

I managed to successfully avoid all of the pregame fluff and tuned in just as Lady Gaga was wrapping up; can't comment on the singing. Completely avoided the halftime show, as usual...wasn't interested in any of the performers. I actually had the TV volume off for most of the game (decided it was a good time to do some flight simming).

• The Bronco's D was the one thing I figured could possibly get them past the Panthers...and it did.
  
• Had no expectations of great play from Peyton, but he did ok and didn't make too many mistakes. I expect that he'll now retire on top after a great career.
  
• Congrats to Miller...a well-earned MVP. The entire Broncos D was outstanding despite Talib's penalties early.
  
• Cam was frustrated and it got the better of him towards the end. Yes, I did enjoy that as a diehard Broncos fan.
  
  
  
• It was fun watching our local station (WRAL - Raleigh) dedicate a full hour with a news-team-staffed postgame show. It was very obvious that they had expected a Panthers victory.
  
• I hope Brock Osweiler sticks with Denver, kids got a future. Same goes with Wade Phillips.

 

[Pterodactyl]

Yes, so now the league's darling (Peyton) can go out on top, though he actually had very little to do with their winning.

Manning did exactly what he needed to do not to lose, what more would you need. Many other QBs would have tried to do more and ended up losing the game. A man's gotta know his limits, and in this case it took 16 years of experience to do so. But there is no doubt that the Bronco defense was the deciding factor and appeared to have Newton stunned and confused. Maybe this game is what he needed to mature.

 

[TomInPA]

I can't help but think, what if the Steelers had been at full strength for the playoffs....

They played the Broncos close and it sure looks like any of the AFC contenders could have abused Carolina.

I was so distracted during the game, I mostly missed it and the commercials that went with it.

 

[El Toro]

Jeez, the whining about Manning and the general Monday Morning Quarterback BS is as silly at best, and sour grapes at worst.

The guy went out on top.

The other guy stood on top celebrating his victory in advance until the time when top would be defined.

Let it rest. The Broncos did it. Peyton was the quarterback. Carolina folded up. It was a classic case of premature ejaculation.

My only criticism is in relation to Peyton's announcements that he is going to drink a lot of Budweiser to celebrate. Better to say "I plan to knock back a few cold ones."

FWIW, Budweiser is lousy rice beer. It doesn't even follow the Reinheitsgebot ... and all the little kids that are looking up to him don't need to hear that the way to celebrate is to polish of "Lots of Budweiser" or any other beer for that matter.

Sigh...

 

[Intech]

Peyton is retiring on endorsements. Budweiser must be his latest.

 

[Fred W]

FWIW, Budweiser is lousy rice beer. It doesn't even follow the Reinheitsgebot ...

Budweiser is an excellent rice beer. Do not fool yourself; making beer that weakly flavored, (where it is hard to hide minor faults) and that is as consistent as it is even though it is brewed in 12 breweries across the US with wildly varying water supplies, and with the kind of shelf life that it has, is no easy feat. From a brewing science standpoint, there are few (if any) breweries than can match up to Anheuser-Busch.

I do not happen to enjoy that type of beer as much as other beers with stronger, and more complex flavors, but a large segment of the world population (not just the US) does, as is evidenced by their global sales figures. It is not bad beer.

As for meeting Reinheitsgebot, that is not a gauge of beer quality. It is only an antiquated set of German brewing regulations, literally from from the middle ages, that limits the ingredients that you can use in making beer. You can make swill and have it meet those standards. Or, you can make fantastically delicious beer and because you used any ingredients besides those allowed (water, malted barley, hops, and yeast) it does not qualify.

The original laws did not even explicitly allow yeast (later ones do) because they were not even aware of its presence at that early time, and thought some sort of "magic" of spontaneous fermentation was taking place. Yeah, I'm sure that was some really tasty beer.

 

[Pterodactyl]

We lived in Germany a couple of times for a total of six years and have traveled there dozens of times... I do like German beers. Having said that, the growth of micro brewries has made good beer (IMHO) available throughout North America. However, an American macro-beer such as Budweiser does hit the spot on a hot summer's day when the beer is ice cold. Sad to say, but since I had throat cancer some years ago I have largely lost my enthusiasm for any sort of beer; it just does not taste as well as it used to. Thankfully, my taste for Irish whiskey is undiminished... JSNS.

 

[TomInPA]

And the football thread morphs into a beer fest!