NFL Wildcard Games
January 5th, 2007 by PerryChiefs @ Colts: True, the Colts have the worst run defense in the NFL and the Chiefs have the excellent RB Larry Johnson. However, the Chiefs also have an ailing QB Trent Green and a green playoff team, inexperienced. The Colts can overload their rush defense, and march to the house frequently with their superb Peyton Manning lead offense. Besides, the Colts are playing at home where they are 8-0: Colts
Cowboys @ Seahawks: The Cowboys are healthy, the Seahawks are not. Moreover, the ‘Boys have been playing better away than home. Offensively, the Seahawks are not playing well, even with Hasselbeck and Alexander back from injuries. The ‘Boys offensive is explosive when Romo is playing well, which he is not currently. This is a very tough call. Hasselbeck should be able to exploit the weak Cowboy secondary, therefore: Seahawks
Jets @ Patriots: This is a real tough one to pick, because both are really good teams on both sides of the ball; therefore I’m going to have to go with the more experienced team and the team that has been peaking as the season ends. Patriots
Giants @ Eagles: The Eagles have also peaked, offense, defense and special teams, whereas the giants are all over the place. The question is whether the Eagles can contain Barber; well they did the last two times. With Barber contained, it will all be on Eli – I don’t think he is up to the task. Moreover, the Giants are hurting without Strahan and with Shockey questionable. Last but not least, the Eagles have Akers and Reid. I could be wrong, but I think the Eagles have a shot at the Superbowl, and could beat conservative coach Schottenheimer’s Chargers but not the Ravens I’m afraid. Eagles
The home teams will carry the day!!!
January 5th, 2007 at 9:28 am
7-9. This is why I didn’t win either of two championship games in fantasy football (my third team didn’t even make the playoffs).
Okay, the playoffs:
Kansas City at Indianapolis (4:00 pm, NBC): The Colts are at home, and have one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. However, the Chiefs have a pretty good offense of their own, led by the incredible Larry Johnson. Since Indy can’t stop the run, and K.C. has a lousy pass defense, this could be a shootout. And shootouts favor Manning. My pick: Colts.
Dallas at Seattle (8:00 pm, NBC): Both of these teams are inconsistent, to put it mildly. I’m going to flip a coin here (Seattle gets heads), and pick: the Cowboys.
N.Y. Jets at New England (1:00 pm, CBS): Eric Mangini deserves Coach of the Year. This will be the third meeting between these two, and Belichick is too good a coach to let his disciple get the better of him at crunch time. My pick: Patriots.
N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia (4:00 pm, FOX): This is the easiest one to pick. The Eagles weren’t even supposed to have a winning season, yet here they are! The Gnats were supposed to dominate the NFC East, yet here they are. Sorry Tiki! My pick: Eagles.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:44 am
Kansas City at Indianapolis - Which Colts defense will show up…the one that beat the Bengals, or the one that the Texans beat ? Plus, the Colts still have never won the big game…but I’ll still take the Colts (I’m about this close /–/ to taking the Chiefs, though).
Dallas at Seattle - Dallas is actually the better team. Seattle almost backed into the playoffs. Take the Cowboys.
New York Jets at New England - Chad Pennington may be the Comeback Player of the Year, but the Patriots still have Tom Brady. Take the Patriots.
New York Giants at Philadelphia - Philly won the hotly-contested NFC East, and now they make their mark against the second-least consistent team in this year’s playoffs (behind the Colts). Take the Eagles.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Looks like we will all rise or fall in unison!!!
January 5th, 2007 at 11:34 am
No, not correct! We disagree on the Cowboys-Seahawks game, in that you two are going with the Cowboys. We’ll see tomorrow!
January 7th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
All the home teams prevailed!
Home team advantage probably made a difference in the two close games, Seahawks over Cowboys and Eagles over Giants (Yes!), both decided in the final moments, the first by a flubbed FG to lose the game, the second by a successful FG to win the game. The Colts defense stepped up to facilitate an easy win over the hapless Chiefs, and the Patriots had a surprisingly easy win over the Jets.
I’ll start a new blog for the Division Championship games for next weekend.
January 8th, 2007 at 10:06 am
3-1. If it weren’t for that flubbed snap. If that wasn’t a Vegas snap, I don’t know what was.
Actually, 3 of the 4 games surprised me. The exception, to get that one out of the way, was Giants at Eagles. I knew that was going to be a backyard scrap, and it was.
I figured Kansas City would have given the Colts, who of late couldn’t tackle Dan Gaffney getting his second cuppa at Browseabout
, a better game. 26-8 ? What was that ???
I figured Dallas and Seattle would have been more of a game…but 7-6, with a bobbled snap the difference ? Even if they’d had made the field goal, won 9-7, and had gone on to CHicago, I’d still had been surprised at the final score.
I also was figuring on more of a backyard scrap between the Jets and Patriots, not a 37-16 annihilation.
I will wait for the new blog for my picks, but I will say this…whereas the NFC looks pretty well clear-cut, the AFC is about as clear as mud at this point…
January 9th, 2007 at 6:33 am
By the way, yes, we are licking our wounds after Ohio State got clobbered last night. It seems that their offensive line forgot to show up, and held Troy Smith to 4-of-14 passing and making him look a lot more lot Charlie Frye than the current Heisman Trophy winner.
January 9th, 2007 at 11:00 am
E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES!
January 11th, 2007 at 9:03 am
NFL Divisional Championships
[Note that in dispute I have decided to resign my position as “authorâ€. Therefore I can post only as a “commentâ€. I hope others will join in.]
From now on in the playoffs, coaching expertise and player experience both become extremely important, as all the teams competing are quality teams, any one of which could beat any other on any given day. Here are my picks.
Colts @ Ravens: Brian Billick is a coaches coach, an excellent all around coach who knows how to win, and that will be the main difference for this game. Sure, the Colts defense stepped up last week, but the basic weakness is still there for the Ravens to exploit by an experienced Steve McNair, as the Ravens also put the best defense in the NFL on the field once more. Ravens
Eagles @ New Orleans: By most arguments, the Saints should win this one: The bye week, home field advantage, and a marvelous QB in Drew Brees. But here is where coaching counts again, a playoff novice freshman Sean Peyton against an experienced tried and true Andy Reid. Reid has a well balanced offensive, defensive and special teams combo that could very well get to the Superbowl. Moreover, the Eagles have the versatile, unstoppable Brian Westbrook. Eagles
Seahawks @ Bears: The Seahawks come to Chicago a battered team which nevertheless stepped up toe to toe with the Cowboys last week in a hard fought pressure game from beginning to end. They meet an unpredictable Bears team whose QB has lost self-confidence and whose defense stutters at times. The Bears bye week will work against Grossman as a time out “ices†the kicker, not to mention the home field pressure he will feel. Coach Lovie Smith has not been able to rally this team or QB to be consistent, and now they face the experienced Coach Holmgren/QB Hasselbeck/RB Alexander offense and a decent defense. Seahawks
Patriots @ Chargers: Coach Bill Belichick and wily Tom Brady come to San Diego to a formidable challenge by a superb team, but RB Tomlinson is stoppable, and freshman QB Rivers is untested under playoff pressure. Moreover, an overly relaxed coach Schottenheimer seems incapable of rallying his teams to peak playoff performances. The Pats have been there done that, so I am going with experience here. Patriots
Contrary to last week’s home team blitz, I’m going with 3 or 4 visitors this week, thinking that experience trumps past season’s performance at this stage.
My current view is that the Superbowl will find the Eagles facing the Ravens!
January 12th, 2007 at 10:35 am
For Pat, Devastation and any others who wish to make predictions this week, I’m posting this comment to bring the blog up on the right hand margin. Since I am no longer an author, this is the only mechanism I can use.
January 12th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Sorry you decided to do that, Perry…but we shall proceed !
Colts at Ravens - The Colts return to Baltimore and to some bad blood. None of the players involved really knew about that fateful night in March ‘84, when the Mayflower trucks cleaned house in Owings Mills and drove into the night to Indianapolis…but the fans do. I think the crowd is going to help charge the Ravens (who are the better team anyways) on to victory. Take the Ravens.
Eagles at Saints - The Saints are not a terribly playoff-savvy team, with this round being the furthest they’ve been in their 40-year history. Even though they are the home team, I think the Eagles are the primed team. Take the Eagles.
Seahawks at Bears - Puh-LEEZ !!! Take the Bears.
Patriots at Chargers - Two former Browns head coaches…the last one versus the last great one. Marty has a reputation of not being able to lead his teams through the big games, but with LT and Phillip Rivers having potential career years (and Rivers is just a kid !), the Patriots will go home. Take the Chargers.