Earlier today I finished up my run of "playoff revenge" wins in the NFC championship game of the Madden NFL 09 marketing league.  I defeated the Bucs 57-7, so I've now defeated three of the five opponents who beat my during the regular season.  It feels good to get back on track winning games and I'm looking forward to my championship match up against the Indianapolis Colts. 

For me, today's game was one of those great moments as a Madden fan where you feel you just can't do anything wrong.  I started out the game with a drive where I was forced to punt and it ended up inside my opponent's 5 yard line.  His first play from scrimmage I brought a blitz and was fortunate enough to pick up a safety.  It was a telling sign of how the rest of the game would play out.  Near the end of the first half I was up 12-0 and the Bucs were driving deep in my territory.  A touchdown would make it a much closer game, but a pass to the flats went the other way and turned into another 7 points for me.  It's funny how sometimes you're game is just "on."  I was in a huge slump most of the season and am now on fire in the playoffs.  Here are some things that happened in today's game where it was clear I could do no wrong:

- I had 5 interceptions.  4 of them were user picks.  The one I didn't grab myself was the pick 6 near the end of the first half.  My user skills were great in 07 but this year they have been somewhat suspect.  I've worked on it and today it just seemed like I knew where the ball was going every time. 

 
- Ladell Betts was a monster.  My back up running back has been an absolute beast for me in the absence of Clinton Portis.  Portis has been hurt since mid-season, but is now available to use in game.  He's not 100% yet, so I've used him sparingly the last couple of games.  Today Betts averaged 8 yards a carry and even had a 60 yard touchdown run.  He wasn't going to be stopped no matter what.
 

- Garcia's fumbles.  I had Jeff Garcia on the run all day long.  My opponent took off with him a few times to pick up some yards, and when you do that it's no surprise that fumbles will occur.  What was strange today was how the fumbles happened.  Garcia fumbled twice and both times it was right next to the sideline.  There were two plays where Garcia went out of bounds and left the ball inches from being out of bounds.  I've never seen anything like it.  

I do think I outplayed my opponent and I'm a firm believer that if you're doing the right things you sometimes create your own luck.  At the same time it felt like everything I needed to happen did.  For a big part of the year there were small things that didn't go my way.  Now I've had some good fortune three games in a row and have played better than I have all year.  I feel a lot like the New York Giants.  I just hope I can be Eli Manning for one more week and knock of the Colts.  I'll find out soon enough.

-Raczilla