The Monday Touchdown: Offseason Blues

The season is over for the Bengals but it's not over for four teams, two of which beat the Bengals in 2011 (Ravens and 49ers). The coming weekend is my favorite in the NFL and the conference championship games are always intense.

Here are some thoughts on this past weekend's games.

Donte Whitner is in the asskicking business, and brother, business is a-boomin'. Whitner, who "signed" with the Bengals for an awesome three and a half seconds before heading to the 49ers, was a one-man wrecking crew. He knocked Pierre Thomas out of the game early with a vicious hit and then didn't stop.

The 49ers have the hardest-hitting defense left in the playoffs... and I know the Ravens won.

Look, I respect Tim Tebow for his success during the regular season and I think it's awesome that he was able to lead the Broncos past the Steelers, but Denver is out of the playoffs now and it's time to stop talking about him. He is a sub-par passing quarterback that isn't going to be good enough to take the Broncos where they want to go unless he gets much better before next season. During the Saints-49ers game, which was an awesome game, Twitter was blowing up with what Tebow was wearing during warmups.

Come on. It's time to stop now.

To be honest, I think watching the 49ers and Ravens' defenses going head to head would be awesome. It would also be awesome to watch a Patriots-Giants rematch. Either way. The super bowl is going to be exciting.

Which teams do you think would make the most exciting Super Bowl Sunday?

Watching Vernon Davis catch that game-winning touchdown pass in front of a home crowd and then run to the sideline crying as he hugged Jim Harbaugh, his head coach was pretty awesome. Just sayin....

Are you really surprised that the Giants beat the Packers? While I figured the Packers would win, I'm not surprised at all. The Giants are a different team in the playoffs and the Packers weren't unbeatable. The fact that the Giants knocked out the Packers and the Saints were eliminated by the Niners means two of the top three offenses are out of the playoffs. There's only one high powered offense left, Tom Brady and the Patriots, but they are by no means unbeatable.

Does defense really win championships? I think so.

Looks like rookies make typical rookie mistakes. Andy Dalton was introduced the hard way to Ed Reed in Week 11 and Yates met him in the playoffs. People call Reed a future hall of famer for a reason. He was injured at the end of the game, though. He's hopeful that he'll play this weekend against the Patriots and the Ravens definitely need him. Without Reed, Baltimore's defense is different and not in a good way.

After watching the four games this weekend, it because obvious to me that the Bengals weren't ready to compete at this level. Don't get me wrong, they're close.... they're really close, but they're not quite there yet. If they fill the holes on their roster and make the right moves in free agency and in the draft they can be there really soon, but, right now, they're not quite good enough to hang with the likes of the Patriots, Ravens, 49ers or Giants.

They have a bright future, though, and I can't wait for the 2012 season to begin. Let's enjoy the rest of the 2011 season and then hope for a fast but exciting offseason.