Playoffs heat up, CONS champs again Published Jan. 12, 2007 By Pigskin Prognosticator From the land of survivors TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Well, the regular season is over and the true contenders have emerged, at least from the American Football Conference. The National Football Conference is still a little questionable and whoever does win the conference will have to do it handedly for me to give them a shot it the Super Bowl. Indianapolis and Kansas City kicked the playoffs off on Saturday. This game was the complete opposite of what everyone expected. Many experts picked Kansas City to win this game because of the Colts porous run defense, but the Chiefs' Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson only managed 32 yards on 13 carries. Not quite a career day if you ask me, especially when he was expected to top 100 yards easily in this game. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning had a surprising day also. If Indianapolis was going win this game, Manning would have to carry the team to victory. Instead Manning threw three interceptions and one touchdown against the Chiefs. The player who did carry the Colts was rookie running back Joseph Addai. He ran over the Chiefs defense for 122 yards and a touchdown. Addai was the key ingredient to this game because he kept the Colts defense on the sidelines. Jumping to the final game last weekend, the Eagles continued their on their hot streak as they squeezed by the Giants 23-20. Eagles quarterback Jeff Garcia didn't have a huge game against the Giants throwing for a touchdown and 153 yards, but he didn't make any mistakes either. Giants quarterback played better than he has recently, but he did have one costly mistake. During the second quarter of the game Manning was intercepted by Eagles cornerback Shannon Brown. The Eagles would take advantage of this mistake by scoring on a 19-yard field goal by Eagles Kicker David Akers. Essentially, instead of Akers kicking a game winning field goal with three seconds left on the clock it would have been a game tying field goal to put the game into overtime. Not saying the result would've been different, but it goes to show how every play in the game must be executed to perfection during the playoffs. A team who did execute in a critical time was CONS. After being on top of the Pig Prog standings a majority of the season, the past couple of weeks the 1st FS had taken over. With the season on the line and pressure on him, CONS picker Thomas Reese didn't let the pressure get to him and finished strong to take the lead and be crowned Super Prog champions. While we tried to reach Reese for comment, he was not able to return any questions. I'm sure he's on South Beach celebrating his triumphant victory. Don't get to comfortable down there, spring training is right around the corner. This year's win for CONS marks their second championship in two seasons of the Pig Prog. Last season's runner up, MOS, decided not to participate in this year Pig Prog after a bitter lose. This year's runner up was the 1st FS. I talked to the 1st FS picker Tami Viskochil to see if they would be throwing in the towel also. "Considering our inactivation we don't really have a choice, but to drop out," said Viskochil. "Also, I'm retiring in August, but I'm not backing out. If I could participate next year I would and I'd win." I asked her what was her finest moment during the Pig Prog since this is her last year, and an old rivalry still was boiling. "Beating MXS was definitely the highlight of the season," said Viskochil. "It was a great season and I really had a lot of fun." All we have now is seven games left of playoff football and then preparing for next season begins. So hold that championship close CONS because you only have 12 months left with it. The true champion will be crowned next season. Now let's get out there and watch some football!