NFL Playoff Preview - Wild Card Weekend
Monday, January 03, 2011
The Wild Card match-ups for next weekend’s NFL playoffs are all set and as the infamous boxing ref Mills Lane would say, “let’s get it on!”
(5)New Orleans Saints @ (4)Seattle Seahawks – Saturday 4:30pm (NBC)
All week long we are going to hear about what a disgrace it is that a team with a losing record is in the playoffs. Get over it! The way the system works is, if you win your division you qualify for the postseason. The Seahawks need not apologize to anyone.
Having said that, if both teams play to their potential, New Orleans should have no problem winning this game with ease.
Let’s not forget that the Saints are the defending World Champions. The only thing that could keep Seattle in the game on Saturday would be turnovers.
Drew Brees threw a career-high 21 interceptions this season. Seattle will need him to throw two or three to have a chance to win this game.
The Seahawks have their own issues on offense. Matt Hasselbeck (hip) missed Sunday’s division-clinching win over the Rams giving Charlie Whitehurst the start. Who starts Saturday is anyone’s guess.
The problem is, even when healthy, Hasselbeck was not good in 2010.
To make matters worse, Seattle is one of the worst defensive teams in the entire league. That’s not good when you’re about to face a team like the Saints with the weapons they have on offense.
(6) NY Jets @ (3) Indianapolis Colts – Saturday 8:00pm (NBC)
I can just picture Rex Ryan’s pregame pep talk to his team. “Fellas, I’m looking forward to going toe-to-toe with Peyton Manning and the Colts here tonight. Last year we came in here and got our feet wet before losing to the Colts in the AFC Championship game. Let’s make sure we get off on the right foot tonight because it would be a tremendous feat if we were to win this game! By the way, Sanchez, did anyone ever tell you that you have cute toes?”
All kidding aside, these two teams are very different from the ones that met for the AFC title game last season.
Indy was the AFC’s top seed having rolled through the regular season. This year they needed to win in week 17 to punch their ticket to the postseason. While Peyton Manning is still as dangerous as they come, he does not have all of his weapons. Dallas Clark, Anthony Gonzalez and Austin Collie are all injured and the Colts’ running game has been subpar all season long.
Indy’s defense has also struggled against the run but these Jets don’t dominate on the ground they way that they did a year ago on their run to the AFC Championship game.
LaDanian Tomlinson averaged 87 yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry in the first five games of the season. In the last 10 games he has averaged 48 yards per game and 3.3 yards per carry.
In the passing game, Mark Sanchez started the season on fire throwing 8 touchdown passes with 0 interceptions through his first four games. In his last 11 games he has thrown 9 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. Which Sanchez will show up for this game?
Defensively the Jets aren’t as dominant as they were in 2009 either. Then they allowed an average of just over 14 points per game to their opponents. This year they have given up 19 points per game.
Whichever team can either overcome its own weaknesses or limit their opponents strengths will be on to the divisional round the following week.
(5) Baltimore Ravens @ (4) Kansas City Chiefs – Sunday 1:00pm (CBS)
The consensus here is that the Ravens are the contenders and the Chiefs are the pretenders. A large part of that is due to the fact that Baltimore has been a consistent playoff team in recent years while the Chiefs have not.
Kansas City was tough at home this year going (7-1) during the regular season. The problem is, that one loss took place Sunday when they were destroyed by the Oakland Raiders 31-10.
Former Patriots QB Matt Cassel, who has been so good all year long, was awful Sunday completing 11 of 33 passes for 115 yards, 0 TD’s and 2 INT’s. His quarterback rating was a paltry 19.1!
Still, the Chiefs have a nice 1-2 punch in the running game with Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones which should keep the Ravens defense honest giving Cassel at least a chance to make some plays in the passing game to the talented Dwayne Bowe.
Baltimore is led, once again, by its defense which gave up the third fewest points in the league. Ray Lewis is no spring chicken but he can still flat out play at the age of 35. Ditto for 32-year old safety Ed Reed who had 8 picks in 10 games this season.
The Ravens also have a well balanced offense with Joe Flacco (3497 yards, 25 TD, 9 INT) and Ray Rice (1143 yards rushing).
Can Charlie Weiss (who has one foot out the door for Gainsville, Fla) and Romeo Crennell work their playoff magic once again? If so, the Chiefs could be a live playoff puppy.
(6) Green Bay Packers @ (3) Philadelphia Eagles – 4:30pm (FOX)
Which Michael Vick shows up for this match-up? Will it be the quarterback who was in the running for NFL MVP honors for most of the season? Or will it be the Vick who played horribly in week 16 against the Minnesota Vikings? This will be the most important element of this football game.
Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers may have a lot to do with which Vick shows up on Sunday. Capers’ defense has been fantastic this year giving up just 15 points per game which is second best in the entire league.
Vick replaced Kevin Kolb in the season-opener against Green Bay and passed for 175 yards and 1 TD while running for 103 yards. But the Packers did not prepare to face Vick prior to that meeting.
You would have to believe that Capers’ game plan will involve containing Vick between the tackles and making him try to beat the Packers with his arm and not his legs.
Green Bay will also rely heavily on its quarterback. Aaron Rodgers (3,693 yards, 27 TD, 10 INT) has had little support from his running game this year and that figures to be the case in the postseason as well.
A low scoring rock fight would seem to favor the Packers while a higher scoring game would work in the Eagles favor.
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It