Great weekend of football, not such a great weekend for the Canucks. Mats Sundin is going to need some time to get up to speed. The thing that makes it tough for him is that expectations are in mid-season form while he is in pre-season form. Though most fans are willing to cut him some slack while he knocks off the rust, it's understandable that there is frustration in Vancity as the losses continue to mount in Roberto Luongo's absence. Looks like he'll be back between the pipes later this week, but the Canucks can ill afford to watch Luongo go through a similar reacclimation process.
As for the NFL, a couple of things that caught my eye in the divisional round with the teams that lost:
Philip Rivers: forget what the stat line says, he didn't step up with the spotlight focussed squarely on him. He threw for 103 yards in the first quarter and ended with a 62 yard touchdown once the game was already out of reach. Too bad the game was lost in the meantime. Rivers did not deal with defensive pressure well against the Steelers - he either pulled the ball down too early and conceded a sack or he looked rattled and just threw the ball away. If he wants to take the next step, he'd better learn to deal with pressure in his face in big games.
Eli Manning: Despite last year's Super Bowl MVP trophy, he still isn't in the same class as his brother or Tom Brady. Those two can win games by themselves, making average players play above their normal capabilities. Eli still needs outstanding talent in his receiving corps to win in the playoffs. You might think Plaxico Burress is an idiot, but he's also a game breaker and the Giants missed him badly. With that running game on his side, Eli should have been able get more out of his receivers than he did.
Panthers defense: how do you let Larry Fitzgerald abuse your secondary like that when you don't have Anquan Boldin to worry about? Fitzgerald was quite clearly the biggest weapon on the Cardinals offense, yet he ran uncovered for most of the first half. I'm sure John Fox and company are wondering why they didn't have their best cover guy follow Fitz wherever he went and play zone over top of him as well.
Keep it real and I'll check in later this week.
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