Wild Card Weekend

Okay so just disregard the regular season. As any respectable coach would tell you, playoffs are a new season. Everyone is 0-0, and if you lose, you’re going home. I’d like to take that same approach here. After a regular season which I would like to forget, I’m going to use the playoffs as my rebound. Granted I did so poorly because I missed several weeks, but I’m not one for excuses. I was going to refuse to make playoff picks as a “f--- you” to the league for their extremely questionable rules regarding which teams make the postseason. I mean I am livid. The Patriots win their last four games and finish 11-5, and miss out. Yet, the Chargers, who won their last four games to finish just 8-8, not only get in but get to host a wild card game. Not to mention that none of their four victories were over playoff teams, and included was a one point victory over 2-14 Kansas City. But you know what, I’m passed all that for two reasons: 1) I love the NFL, and 2) I am a strong believer in karma. The Pats will get theirs when the perfect storm that I discussed a few posts ago is unleashed.

Cardinals (+2.5) over Falcons

Both the NFC games are completely tearing my insides apart. I don’t know who to pick in either matchup. The Cardinals have looked awful lately. I went to the game they played at New England, and it was a complete joke. It was obvious from the opening kickoff they were missing the cozy desert heat, and wanted no part of that Foxboro winter storm. Also, Michael Turner was second in the league with 1,700 rush yards, and the Cardinals rush defense could be gouged by Rashaan Salaam (so pumped I got that reference in there). But still, who’s to say the Cardinals are going to continue the trend they ended the season on? They really had nothing to play for as they had the division wrapped up, so can you blame them for wanting to get the hell out of Massachusetts? (It was absolutely freezing). The Falcons are just 4-4 away from home, and their less-than-stellar pass defense will have trouble stopping the Boldin-Fitzgerald aerial assault. It’s going to be close and high scoring, but I’ll take the home team and the points.

Indianapolis (-3) over San Diego

Yeah…I’m definitely not as worried about the AFC matchups. Indy has won nine in a row, they have the hilarious Peyton Manning (who I guess is pretty good too as he was named MVP), and they are clicking on all cylinders. San Diego has won four straight, but none against playoff teams. And I don’t want to hear this crap about “well they have a lot of talent and they seem to be gelling at the right time.” There is a reason this team started the season 4-8, and LT is still nicked up. To boot, the Chargers are still coached by Norv Turner. Home field advantage will not be enough, and Indy will win by more than just the last second field goal they prevailed by against the Chargers during the regular season. I fully expect this game to reflect the Chargers season- they’ll make stupid mistakes and underachieve to dig themselves into a hole they can’t get out of. Or maybe they’ll self destruct in the fourth quarter. I don’t know. Don’t worry, they’ll lose one way or another.

Baltimore (-2) over Miami

No reason to think that Baltimore won’t see the same result they did when they throttled Miami 27-13 in week 7. Before they lost to Pittsburgh for the second time, I was going to say that the Ravens season was beginning to look eerily similar to their season the year they won the Super Bowl when they quietly won their last seven games with dominating defense to finish 12-4 (minus Trent Dilfer…er, wait, isn’t that a plus?) Still, the Ravens won 5 of their last six and had some impressive performances. Congratulations to Miami on the best turnaround in the history of the NFL (1-15 to 11-5 division champs), but they’ve done that by being efficient, and they really got the most out of their team. Kudos to Pennington, but the Dolphins benefitted from a weak schedule. Also, two point victories over Seattle and Oakland, a four point win over St. Louis, and a five point win over San Francisco make the Dolphins record better than I believe they actually are, in a year where they lost to non-playoff teams in Houston and the NY Jets.

Minnesota (+3) over Philadelphia

I can’t believe I’m actually picking a Tarvaris-Jackson-led team to win a playoff game, but my hands are tied—just look at what the alternative is. I mean there are so many reasons not to pick the Vikings, for instance the fact that Tarvaris Jackson is the quarterback which I just mentioned. Anyone who saw the end of last week’s game against the Giants would cringe at picking a team coached by the clock management wiz Brad Childress. All that being said, I have faith in the Vikings defense and the league’s leading rusher Adrian Peterson, especially at home where they’ve beaten the Panthers, Giants, and Bears. I also have more faith in a team that’s gone 5-1 in their last six games versus Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb. I don’t care what else the Eagles have done; if you watched what they did in consecutive weeks against Baltimore and Cincy you wouldn’t trust them to beat Virginia Tech. I hope it goes into double overtime and McNabb walks off the field thinking the game ended in a tie.

I know the All-Disappointment team has been a disappointment in itself so far, but don’t fret people it’s on its way.