The AFC has been the power conference of the NFL for the past decade. The New England Patriots are one of the charter members of the AFC, and they’ve beaten the best the NFC has to offer three times since 2003. Prepare to make it four.

We can’t really give New England much credit for coming out of the milquetoast AFC East. But the quality of those wins is what counts. New England brought a record-setting offense to the table this year, covering five out of five double-digit spreads before Week 12. Opposing defenses have developed better and better strategies to cope, but the Patriots have yet to be beaten.

The Giants did manage to stay within three points of New England (-13) in Week 17’s 38-35 thriller. But that was Eli Manning and the Giants at their best. The Patriots have a lot more in them to offer, and coach Bill Belichick knows what he’s doing.

The 2008 Spring Training season is coming up fast. Here are some tips for those of you thinking about making the pilgrimage to one of two 2008 MLB season previews- the Grapefruit League.

1. Get to the ballpark early: Arrive before batting practice begins. The players don’t have as much to do then and tend to commiserate with fans. A chain-link fence is typically all that separates fans from competitors, so chat it up and click the shots, shutterbugs.

2. Plan on some night life: Early workouts are 9 a.m. to noon, so much of your days will be free. And come game time, plan on matinees at the park and free nights. It’ll certainly take time for you regular-season folks to acclimate after growing so accustomed to night games.

3. Proper attire: Shorts and T-shirts are required. Sunscreen, too. Expect temps in the 70s and 80s and the humidity to be quite reasonable.

Some teams have been making the trip to the land of Spring Break and Quebecois retirees for decades. The Detroit Tigers, for instance, have made their Spring home in Lakeland, Florida since 1934. So if you haven’t made one of these trips along with them, 2008 is a good time to start.

The story in the NFC is like the book of the AFC movie: same concept, but not quite as enjoyable. The Green Bay Packers are the best team in the senior circuit according to efficiency (and the most profitable at 13-3-1 ATS), but instead of playing the No. 2 Dallas Cowboys for the conference title, they get the upstart New York Giants (+7) after Big Blue bounced Dallas from the playoffs.

The Giants are on a Chargeresque 6-1 ATS run as the team gels under first-year defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Green Bay hasn’t been as stout on defense lately, but the Packers still have a strong front seven to match their imposing offensive line. It’s definitely a better line than what Tampa Bay or Dallas offered, good news for Brett Favre fans. I’m not confident Green Bay will cover; I like the under to make some cold, cold cash Sunday night at Lambeau Field.

San Diego Coach Norv Turner has to be one of the happiest and proudest dudes in the NFL right now. His Chargers (a team he just took over at the start of the season) shocked football fans everywhere. Very few people thought the Chargers could win one playoff game…let alone a game against the defending Super Bowl champions — the Indianapolis Colts. They were the underdogs going into that matchup and they were walking into enemy territory (the RCA Dome). Still, they proved the critics wrong and rallied back from being down four times throughout the game. A gutsy effort? Hell yeah!

“I think we put that thing to rest, that’s done forever,” Turner said of the Chargers’ efforts. “I’ve never been around a more gutsy performance.”

To make matters even more challenging, the Chargers were forced to finish the game without two of their key players — quarterback Philip Rivers and running back LaDainian Tomlinson — who both left with knee injuries. According to the doctors, Rivers injured his medial collateral ligament after completing a 56-yard screen pass to Darren Sproles for a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter (backup QB Billy Volek stepped in and went 3/4 for 48 yards and punched in a 1-yard touchdown to win the game). Tomlinson is nursing a bruised knee and is still listed as questionable, but he’s telling reporters that he’s going to do everything within his power to play on Sunday.

“I think I’ll be ready,” Tomlinson said.

Tomlinson is going to be spending a great deal of time with the team’s trainers this week in order to get as healthy as he can come game day. “I’m going to do whatever I can to be out there,” he said, “and hopefully, I will be. I’ll listen to what they want me to do and work hard, but I think I can do it if I just give it a little rest, too.”

Will Tom Brady and the New England Patriots be ready for the super charged-up Bolts?

The Pats could very well be on their way to their fourth Super Bowl trip in seven years. But first they’ve got to get past the Chargers. (I know…it sounds unbelievable. This one should be a walk in the park for the perfect Pats and most of the sportsbooks have the Pats favored by a couple of touchdowns.) Still…we’re talking about a Cinderella Story in the making. I mean it isn’t entirely impossible for the Chargers to beat the Patriots… no one else has been able to all season…but then we’re talking about the playoffs here. And as we’ve seen…anything can happen in the playoffs.
“It’s a one-game season,” Belichick said. “One team moves on, one team goes home, so I don’t think anything that’s happened in the past has all that much bearing on it. It’s going to be whatever team is able to perform the best next Sunday.”

Best time to get your bets in on next Sundays Patriots vs. Chargers game is right now!

It was a winter wonderland for Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers who proved too hot for a barely lukewarm Matt Hasselback and a frozen solid Seattle Seahawks team (who really didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning it despite being up 14-0 in the first quarter). The Packers won this one easily by a cool score of 42-20, the highest scoring postseason game in Packers history.

Highloights: Ryan Grant recovered from two fumbles, had 201 yards rushing and scored three times. Greg Jennings scored on a pair of TD tosses and Favre tied his personal best for touchdown strikes in a postseason game.

Up next for the Packers is the winner of Sunday’s game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.

Marion Jones falls from grace and lands herself in jail.

At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia U.S. runner Marion Jones made history by becoming the first female athlete to win five medals in a single Games, three of them gold. Fast forward to 2008 and Jones has again made the headlines — this time for lying about her steroid abuse. She’s since been stripped of her medals and her records have been expunged. Today, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas sentenced Jones to six months in jail.

“Athletes in society have an elevated status, they entertain, they inspire, and perhaps, most important, they serve as role models,” Karas said.

The mother of two also received two years’ probation and supervised release, during which time she will be required to perform 800 hours of community service.

“I respect the judge’s order, and I truly hope that people will learn from my mistakes,” Jones told reporters following sentencing.

SportbettingInformation.com wonders if the medals will now go to the rightful athletes who competed and placed at those Olympics…?

The NFL’s senior circuit has repaired its sullied reputation with the revival of the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers. Both should advance to the NFC championship, and it really shouldn’t be much of a contest. But the New York Giants and the Seattle Seahawks have defied expectations all season.

The Giants aren’t even in the same class as Dallas (-7.5) when it comes to productivity. According to the latest efficiency rankings at Football Outsiders, which discount New York’s slow start, the Giants are No. 21 in the league including the playoffs. Dallas is No. 7. New York, quite simply, has been lucky.

No. 5 Green Bay (-8) will enjoy a smaller performance gap against the No. 8 Seahawks, who crushed a weak NFC West for the fourth year in a row. But Seattle will be playing in an unfamiliar environment – say it with me – the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. I’ll take chalk over luck any day.

It wasn’t a high-scoring game but it was a win nonetheless for the San Diego Chargers. Earlier this evening, the Chargers beat the Tennessee Titans 17-6 to advance to the second round of the NFL playoffs — for the first time in 13 long years.

Things weren’t looking too good for the Bolts early on in the game but they somehow found the strength and determination to pull out all the stops in the second half. QB Philip Rivers was 19-of-30 for 292 yards, with one interception. Chris Chambers had six catches for 121 yards, and Vincent Jackson had five for 114. And last year’s NFL MVP running back LaDainian Tomlinson was held to 42 yards.

For Titans fans looking for a comeback by Vince Young…well, there’s always next year. And for the Chargers? Let’s wish them much luck against the defending Super Bowl Champions next Sunday… The Indianapolis Colts.

Ending a playoff drought that goes back to 2001, the N.Y. Giants beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-14 and advance to the second round of the NFL playoffs with a date next Sunday against the (gulp!) Dallas Cowboys.

“Eli had a great game today,” said Giants veteran receiver Amani Toomer. “He took what was out there and didn’t force anything. He doesn’t get real excited; there is more than one way to lead a team … and he showed that today.”

And what did Manning have to say for himself?

“Everybody worked well,” Manning said. “We did a good job with the short passing game. Receivers getting open. Guys stepped up and made big plays in big situations and that’s how we got the win.”

Up next for the Giants are the Dallas Cowboys, led by the red-hot QB Tony Romo. With the win the Giants improved to an 8-1 record on the road and has won every away game since losing their season opener to (gulp!) the Dallas Cowboys. But the Giants are not going to let a blemish like that get them down. No sir…

“We’re going to be ready. We’re fired up to be going to Dallas,” Manning said.

Seattle Seahawks 35, Washington Red Skins 14

Leading up to this game it looked like the Washington Red Skins were going to be story of the NFL playoffs. But you never know what the football gods are going to throw at you come game day.

It took both teams a full three quarters to get some points up on the board but it would be the Seahawks who would score first, putting up 22 fourth-quarter points to beat the Washington Redskins 35-14 in their NFL Wild Card game on Saturday.
“It was a momentum-oriented game,” Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren said. “We had it earlier; in the third quarter, they got it, and when they missed the field goal, we got it back.”

The Redskins looked good in the fourth quarter, posting 14 points and taking a 14-13 lead…for a brief moment in time anyway. But QB Todd Collins missed a golden opportunity in the fourth to capitalize on a TD and kicker Shaun Suisham missed on a field goal. Even with the loss, Collins only had good things to say following the game.

“I think the bonds we’ve developed are pretty deep.”

With the Wild Card win the Seahawks now face the Green Bay Packers in the NFC divisional play-off.

Jacksonville Jaguars 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 29

The Jaguars played some fast and furious ball against the Steelers Saturday and it looked as though they were going to have an easy ride into the second round of the NFL playoffs. But you can never count the Steelers out. Never. The Steelers rallied late in the game as Najeh Davenport’s scored a second 1-yard TD run to give the Steelers a 29-28 lead with about six minutes remaining. But then David Garrard got the team within field goal range and Josh Scobee scored a game-winning FG with 37 seconds left in the game to take the win.

The Jags are the first team to ever beat the Steelers at home twice in the same season.

“They kind of lost their gaps, they thought pass, I was able to get through there,” Garrard said. “I just wanted to get a first down. I did enough to get into field-goal range and that was all I was thinking about.”