Post Game Show

It was a surprising relief that the Bengals held on to defeat the Broncos last night.  The result of the game puts my team, the Patriots, at home as long as they last in the playoffs.  Last year the Patriots had to travel to Denver to play the Broncos and lost.  Manning was brilliant then on a beautiful Denver day with the wild fans supporting him throughout. If the Broncos get to the championship game this year, he will have to play in Boston.  It might be chilly.

Some thoughts on the game last night and the upcoming playoffs.

The Bengals got every break one can get last night.  A facemask resulted in a personal foul negating a long reception which could have reversed the game momentum.  There was at least one offensive holding call which brought back a long Denver gain.  In the fourth quarter when it was Manning time to pass all over the place and carve up the Bungles, it started to pour like a monsoon.  Listen to your friendly blogger: this victory for the Bengals will be the highlight of their season.  I think they will lose to the Steelers next week and go quietly in the playoffs.

Manning looks like he is not himself. I don't get the sense he has too many long throws per game in him.  The Broncos look very beatable and I am not so sure they make it to Boston for the championship game. They will get by the Raiders next week, and consequently they will have a week off, and most of the other teams in the running are pretenders, so they will probably make it to the finals, but no fast track. The Broncos are a diluted version of who they were last year and at the beginning of the season.

The NFC looks very tough and Seattle scary good.  The Packers and Seahawks will play for the right to play the Patriots in the super bowl.

And on another sport note, the Rajon Rondo trade to Dallas gives them subtraction by addition. The whole is not always greater than the sum of its parts.  Sometimes an excellent participant can undermine an entity.  In the communication business when we examine teams in organizations or groups we refer to this phenomenon as "nonsummativity".  In other words, because of multiple factors the whole is unequal to the sum (hence non summative) and is as likely to be negatively nonsummative as positively nonsummative.  Rajon Rondo will not help the Dallas Mavericks win.  They beat San Antonio by a few points in his first game because San Antonio sat out all their studs who were either injured or exhausted because of back to back multiple overtime games.   Last night the Mavericks and Rondo lost to Atlanta.  Of course, I thought McGovern would beat Nixon, but I do not think the Mavs will be better with Rondo.

Last night of Hanukkah. Not too late to illuminate the darkness for those you love.