Wild Card Thoughts & Divisional Round Predictions

I shockingly went 3-1 in my wild card predictions. I was correct on Dallas, Baltimore, and Arizona. I blew it on Cincinnati. Here are some of my thoughts on the weekend and my predictions for the next round.

Jets - Bengals

- The Bengals can't pass for shit... What happened with Carson Palmer? It was just a short time ago you had Manning, Brady, and Palmer as the top 3 QB's in the league. I don't know if Palmer is now even in the top 15 any more.

- Marvin Lewis wasted his two challenges before the 1st quarter was over. Are you serious guy? The second challenge was on a 15 yard pass he felt Cotchery didn't catch (which he clearly did). Whooooooooo caaaaaaress at that point??!!! You HAVE to save your last challenge for a turnover, a touchdown call, or any other big play that may occur in the 2nd half. Coaches can be great motivators, they can know the game inside and out, but c'mon how about you use common sense every once and awhile. In 2008 BB wasted a challenge on a too many men on the field call against Indy (which he lost). It's 5 YARDS!!! Who caaaaareeeessss????!!! One other thing while I'm on a tangent about coaches, it's a tight game in the 2nd half, it's 2nd and 3 n the play clock is winding down.... WHYYYYY burn a timeout when you can just take a measly 5 yard penalty??? Time outs are so critical. Anyway back to this match up...

- On the flip side Rex Ryan's game plan couldn't have been drawn up or executed more perfectly. Sanchez was incredibly efficient and they ran right down Cincy's throat.

- It pains me to say this but the Jets are a top 4 AFC team at this point. They deserve to be where they are and although the Chargers will probably beat them, the feisty Jets will be a tough out. They got a big break from the Colts but credit goes to the Jets for taking advantage and rallying behind this break.

Cowboys - Eagles

- What's to say here? The Cowboys are the real deal Holyfield and now all you hookers and ho's know how I feel. I think they cruise into Minnesota and put the beat down on the Vikings. I'll call a double digit Cowboy win.

- I like a lot of the pieces the Eagles have but I kind of think it's time to pull the plug on the Donovan McNabb era. There are a few reasons for this. They have DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek, Jeremy Maclin, and LeSean McCoy. If they do it right this core of studs could have a nice 5-7 year window. McNabb has 1 year left on his contract and Kevin Kolb is waiting in the wings. Why not trade McNabb to one of 8,000 teams who could use a QB and get something in return for him? Turn the reigns over to Kolb, who looked good in his two starts early in the year, and move on.

Now who would want McNabb? Hmm... In no particular order Broncos, Bills, Browns, Raiders, Panthers, 49ers, Seahawks, Redskins, Rams... Why not try to get the Bills or Browns 2nd round pick (about #36 overall) for him???

Ravens - Patriots

- Brutal. Just a brutal performance. It's one thing to lose when you know the Patriots played as well as they could but they just didn't show up. Hats off to Baltimore they were flying around on defense. It looked like it was 11 on 15 when the Pats had the ball. I will save more ranting about the Pats for another blog... moving on.

Cardinals - Packers

- This one made me feel smart. Everyone was overlooking the Cardinals but man they play everybody tough. Last season they surprisingly had a pretty nice home field advantage and that held true in this match up.

-The Cards have the most under appreciated player of the past 10-12 years in Kurt Warner. What has this guy done besides pass for 300 yards per game at an unprecedented clip, win playoff game after playoff game, and set super bowl yardage records? Every player, coach, and opponent has nothing but the greatest things to say and utmost respect for him. He was replaced on the the Rams by Marc Bulger, replaced by Eli Manning when on the Giants, and then finally by Matt Leinart with the Cardinals. He didn't, bitch, mope, complain, or hold out. He instead supported his team, worked his ass off, won back his starting job, and took the Cardinals to the Super Bowl. I wouldn't be surprised if he did it again this year. I hope Kurt Warner decides to come back next year too but if he doesn't he's a hall of famer in my mind and I bet he gets into Canton.

...small side tangent... I HATE this bull shit "Yeah he's only good cuz he played with so and so." "Kurt Warner isn't good, he played with Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin." The way I look at it they all played with Kurt Warner, I've never seen a more accurate passer. Regardless it's a stupid argument. I shit you not I watched two episodes of the NFL top 10, one was the most clutch QB's of all time in which Joe Montana was #1. The other was best hands and Jerry Rice was #7. One person complained that Montana shouldn't be #1 because he had Jerry Rice and all that talent around him. On the other episode someone bitched that Jerry Rice didn't have great hands because the ball was always thrown perfectly to him by Joe Montana and Steve Young. God just shut the FUCK up!!!! Stupid stupid stupid argument.... if I had a nickel too for every Pats hater saying that BB is only good cuz of Brady or Brady is only good cuz of the system... When you say Player X is only good because of a system, coach, player, fans, or anything else you are pretty much saying I'm a dumb pussy who just doesn't want to give a guy any credit.

- To all the Packers fans out there... Oooooh weeee Aaron Rodgers is nasty. Mark it down, that man will win Super Bowls... plural, Super Bowls. Look at his numbers versus Favre's. He's already on par with any season Favre had in Green Bay. But shit, regardless of numbers, the guy can just make plays. Give him a better offensive line and he will be incredible.

On to my predictions... again in chronological order...

Arizona @ New Orleans (-7)

That's a pretty tall line for a team that was stumbling down the stretch. You don't think Warner, Fitz, Boldin & company will pass all over the Saints? I know I know... I get a raging clue to Fitz, Warner, and the Red unis which clouds my judgment, but I think this game will be pretty tight. I don't quite expect a track meet like Zona's last game but this should get into the upper 20's or 30's.

One thing I really like for New Orleans is their home field advantage. Not only do they play in a loud ass crazy dome but this region is more wrapped around their Saints than just about any other football team (outside of the Packers) can say.

I think this game goes back and forth and that the Saints normally shitty ass kicker will end it with a game winning field goal. The Saints will win but the Cardinals will cover. New Orleand 34 - Arizona 31.

Baltimore @ Indianapolis (-7)

One thing I am trying to suck less at is choosing to go with my gut instead of being influenced by 'experts' opinions. My gut tells me the Colts will be the rusty, sloppy, tight playoff team they always have been. The rest will hurt much more than help and this game will be something like Baltimore 10 Indianapolis 7 at half time. I think the crowd gets on the Colts and I really wouldn't be shocked to see this being a one score game going into the 4th quarter. My gut though is also saying that Joe Flacco isn't good enough to go into Indy and win this round. The Colts will look pretty crummy for a bit but they will put together enough in the second half to win the game. I will take them to barely cover. Indianapolis 21 - Baltimore 13.

Dallas @ Minnesota (-2.5)

Oh my Gahd is this line serious? I guess it has to be with Minnesota playing at home after a bye. I say take Dallas all day and all night people. They are hot as hell, Favre will throw a pick in a tight situation, and the Minnesota crowd will have a bit of a Red Sox pre-2004 feel of expecting something to go wrong ala Gary Anderson's missed field goal in the 1998 NFC Championship Game... It all looks to me like a pretty handy win by the Cowboys. Dallas 34 - Minnesota 20.

NY Jets @ San Diego (-9)

This is a very tough line in my opinion. I don't think there is any question that San Diego wins but nine is a lot of points. The Jets have been playing great and their fans ought to be proud of the season.

It's all about expectations and performance. When expectations are a bit cloudy - rookie coach and qb - but you are able to sneak into the playoffs and win a game, then shit that's a great year. That's what kind of blows about being a Pats fan these days. Expectations are insane and anything short of a Super Bowl is seen as a failure. The 11/12 year old Joe, fresh off the 1994 Patriots playoff run and amazing 10-6 season, would boot my 26 (almost 27) year old self in the yam bag 12 or 13 consecutive times for being such a spoiled dick NFL fan.

I think flying across the country with a rookie QB, and relatively inexperienced team, against the soaring Chargers, is too tall of a task. Maybe the Jets keep it close for a half but I like San Diego to cover. San Diego 24 - NY Jets 10.