National Championship, NFL Playoffs

I won't say Roll Tide here, being an objective journalist, but I've been an Alabama fan all my life.

Last night's game, Alabama's 37-21 win over Texas in the BCS National Championship game did make me happy.

A couple dozen free wings (courtesy of my Bowl Mania victory), the presence of my girlfriend (visiting Farmington for the first time) and the second Crimson Tide national championship made for a fun evening.

I will say that Colt McCoy's injury was unfortunate. A game of that magnitude precludes any celebration of something that makes the degree of difficulty lessen. You want to be viewed as a great champion, and it's easier to do that when you get the other team's best.

That being said, how about Greg McElroy's toughness as a quarterback? He cracked two ribs against Florida during the third quarter and wore a flak jacket underneath his jersey last night. That's not incredible, and I'm not a trainer, but that made him look like a warrior compared to McCoy, who lost feeling in his shoulder but still was able to move his arms.

McElroy took what's probably an unintentional shot at the Texas quarterback today with this quote:

"I'm just glad that we got through it and we were able to do it without taking too many significant hits on the ribs. But if I had a torn ACL, I'd play in this game. I would do whatever it took to be on the field. I just had to deal with a lot of pain."

I thought both coaching staffs did a poor job of managing the game.

I don't mind a fake punt, but from your own 20? And when it's a one-option, 20-yard pass to a gunner by your punter?

The odds of success/failure in that situation are terrible. I don't mind the aggressiveness, but I want execution and I want a reasonable circumstance. Boise State has been the best team in the BCS Bowl games at this.

Both Mack Brown and Nick Saban, or their offensive play callers, got too conservative at bad times.

After McCoy's injury, I realize that freshman Garrett Gilbert looked scared, but did the Longhorns think they would run against Alabama's defense when they were guaranteeing the Tide of three handoffs per series?

Once Alabama led 24-6 after halftime, its offense went backward. Mark Ingram left for a while, the plays became predictable and the Tide looked like it wanted to run the clock out starting in the third quarter. It figured that Texas' offense struggled so much in the first half that it could sit on its lead, but then Jordan Shipley got loose.

Either way, Saban makes millions, but he's earned his money in his first three years at Alabama. The revenue the team's produced in that span says so.

*****

NFL picks: The playoffs start Saturday with the Bengals-Jets rematch.

Here are my picks along with those of sports editor Darren Vaughan:

NFC
Dallas over Philadelphia
Green Bay over Arizona

New Orleans over Green Bay
Dallas over Minnesota

Dallas over New Orleans

AFC
New England over Baltimore
New York Jets over Cincinnati

Indianapolis over New York Jets
San Diego over New England

San Diego over Indianapolis

Super Bowl: San Diego over Dallas

Darren:

NFC
Dallas over Philadelphia
Green Bay over Arizona

Green Bay over New Orleans
Dallas over Minnesota

Green Bay over Dallas

AFC
Baltimore over New England
Cincinnati over New York Jets

Indianapolis over Baltimore
San Diego over Cincinnati

San Diego over Indianapolis

Super Bowl: Green Bay over San Diego