While the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers are making the most of their weekend off in order to prepare for on Sunday, 6 February, the best of the rest in terms of NFL players are in Hawaii for the annual .
So rather than discussing the NFL's version of an all-star game, I'm going to name my team of the year: one player at quarterback, running back, offensive line, wide receiver, defensive line, linebacker, cornerback, and safety. If I have enough energy at the end, I will even throw in a head coach for my partial team.
Okay, here we go. Form an orderly queue at the bottom of this page to register your complaints. My first pick is bound to provoke a response or two.
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We're down to the final four teams bidding for glory in the NFL and the combatants for the 6 February title showdown in Dallas will be decided this weekend.
On what is always one of the best days in the American football calendar, the NFC Championship Game will feature one of the most storied rivalries in the NFL as the Green Bay Packers visit the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field (what a fitting name for a venue given the magnitude of this game).
Later on Sunday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers welcome the New York Jets to Pennsylvania for what is sure to be a hard-hitting AFC Championship Game. It is fitting in this wildest of NFL seasons that the top seeds in each conference (the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots) are no longer in the playoffs.
Despite some shocks along the way, there is so much tradition and NFL pedigree on display this weekend. The Bears-Packers rivalry dates back to 1921 and they boast 21 NFL titles between them. And no team has won more Super Bowls than the Steelers, who have a record of six wins and one loss in the greatest show on earth.
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There have been several occasions in the past when I have painted New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick as the Alex Ferguson of the NFL.
The three-time Super Bowl-winning head coach is widely considered as a sideline genius and a legend in the making, he does not suffer fools gladly, he could take or leave pre- and post-match press conferences and he is happy to ship out troublesome players who don't fully buy into his system, even if they are the biggest names in the sport.
Ferguson was content to allow the likes of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo to leave Old Trafford, and Belichick made a similar headline-making move this season when he .
Belichick has guided the league-leading Patriots to the quarter-final stage of the NFL playoffs and this Sunday evening he takes on his polar opposite in New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan.
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The flights are booked, the thermals are packed and the research notes are being furiously scribbled as you read this blog - it's play-off time in the and I'm off to Philadelphia for the enthralling first round match between the hometown and the .
This is arguably the pick of the four play-off encounters taking place in the United States this weekend. Both teams are evenly matched with identical records of 10 wins and six losses, and they are packed with offensive weapons that will have points-lovers drooling.
At this stage of last year's NFL play-offs, myself and Greg Brady witnessed . We'll be together again on Sunday night and if we get half as good a game (which we easily will), listeners on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 5 Live Sports Extra will be in for a real treat.
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Hello, I'm Neil Reynolds. I commentate and write about the NFL. I've followed the NFL since 1983 and covered the league as a journalist and broadcaster since 1991. I also played for 10 years in the British American Football League.
