Playoff Time! Wildcard Picks

It's playoff time!!!

Wild Card Weekend. I love this time of year, and am an extra notch of excited for two reasons: 1) Seattle being the #1 seed in the NFC and having their best shot in franchice history of making the Super Bowl and 2) the excellent assortment of college bowl games these past few days, capped by an excellent title game.

We'll wipe our records clean for the playoffs. But here's the final standings:

Samichlaus
Last Week: 7-9
Season: 130-125

St. Ides
Last Week: 9-7
Season: 125-130

Completely opposite records. But only 5 games apart. However, that 5 games is the difference between winning and losing money on the season. So nice job to my partner, who beat me… This time.. I'll just have to go perfect in the playoffs to even it up.

Thanks for the accolades partner! You made a great run during the second half, and at one point had me giving serious consideration to simply maing the exact same picks as you just to preserve my lead, but where's the fun in that? That's like those guys who constantly rotate pitchers in the fantasy leagues.

Oh, and congratulations to the NFL's MVP Shawn Alexander who narrowly beat Peyton Manning for the honor. Alexander's award insures that Brett Favre will remain the only three time MVP winner for at least another year.

Oh yeah, I wanted to mention that too, thanks for reminding me! Shaun Alexander won the NFL MVP award. Good for him, he deserved it. I also feel extra specially vindicated cause morons like Peter King and Dr. Z were hyping Tom Brady and Tiki Barber (who finished 3rd and 4th behind Alexander and Manning).

Redskins +3.5 over BUCANNEERS
When these two teams played during the regular season, it was a gutsy call by Gruden to go for 2 points at the end of the game that won the game by one point. So these two teams are pretty evenly matched. I'd say the Skins have a slightly better offense, but the Bucs have a more opportunistic defense. Plus, Mark Brunell has been to the playoffs before. Chris Simms is still young, and really in his first extended role as a starting QB. Just because Mark Brunell has been there before doesn't mean he's played well. And I think the Tampa defense can keep the Skins offense in check. Really, their only WR who catches the ball is Santana Moss, and I think Ronde Barber can keep him relatively quiet. Here's a cliché for you: This game will come down to turnovers. I think Simms is probably more turnover prone than Brunell, but only slightly. I don't want to take 3 road teams to win outright, so I'll say the Bucs hang on to win, but just barely. Bucs 20, Skins 18.

I like the Redskins too, but I think the Skins go into Tampa and pull off the upset win. There is no team with more momentum going into the playoffs than the Skins, winners of their last 5 in a row. Their defense is one of the best in the business and will have no problems shutting down the inexperienced Simms. Conversely, St. Ides brings up several good points. The key matchup between Ronde Barber and Santana Moss leans towards Barber, but the real star for Washington will be Clinton Portis. I imagine Portis will bust a few hefty runs, just enough to soften Tampa's defense and give the Skins the win. Washington 24 Tampa Bay 17

PATRIOTS -7.5 over Jaguars
Anonymous pointed out that nobody is giving the Jaguars a chance in this game, and the spread is too big. I think he's simply trying my good ol' "reverse jinx" trick. I'm not biting. They're putting Byron Leftwich back in at QB, and it's not much of a stretch to say he'll be rusty. That rust could result in a turnover or two early which puts them playing from behind all game, and pretty much done. The Jaguars defense didn't impress me much, and some predictions that they'd be a great no-name defense seems a bit off. Plus, people make a big deal about soft schedules of Seattle and Chicago, here's some of the teams the Jags have beaten: Houston (twice), Tennessee (twice), Baltimore, Arizona, the Jets, San Fran, Cleveland, and St. Louis. That's 10 frickin games right there (TEN) that were against pretty bad teams. They did somehow manage to beat Seattle, Cinci, and Pittsburgh, but that was early on, in Weeks 1, 4, and 5. Meanwhile, the Pats have gotten healthy, Dillon and Faulk are back to give their running game some life, and Tom Brady is spouting off about "disrespect" again. Yes, they are the champs until someone else beats them. The Jags don't get it done. Patriots 24, Jaguars 13.

Leftwich seals the deal on this one. If the Jags had any chance of keeping it close, they don't any more. Rest makes rust and Byron's going to look like the Tin Man after the snow storm. I think you're right about Anonymous's "reverse jinx". The point is why? New England is going to dominate this game on both sides of the ball. I'll take the Patriots. Patriots 31 Jaguars 6

Carolina +2.5 over GIANTS
I believe it is the fate of Eli Manning to follow in the foosteps of his brother at this point: look pretty good during the regular season, and then choke in the playoffs. Of course, of late, it's debatable if he's even looked pretty good in the regular season. His accuracy is a bit off. He seems to have the happy feet when he feels pressure. Shockey is banged up. Teams will be stacking the line against Tiki. And then there's their defense. Something like their top 5 linebackers are out, to the point where they signed the 72-year old Roman Phifer. Their only hope is to pressure Delhomme constantly from the ends, something they can do. But DeShaun Foster has looked better running the ball of late, and none of the Giants corners will be able to contain Steve Smith. This could get ugly is the Giants give up an early turnover or two. A lot of Giants fans have been mouthing off saying how they'll kick Seattle's ass in the rematch. Worry about the Panthers first, peoples. Panthers 20, Giants 16.

They signed Roman Pfifer? What, Dick Butkis was unavailable? OK, I like the Giants in this game. Now, I'm not taking anything away from the Panthers, who I like a lot, but the Giants have been literally blowing people up on the line of scrimmage. If there was an MVP award for the second half of the season, Tiki Barber would win it. I have never seen a more dominating second half of a season. With that said, I think the Gints win by a field goal against a very well coached team. Giants 23 Panthers 20

Steelers -3.5 over BENGALS
The Bengals are GETTING points at home in the playoffs?!? That can only mean one thing - Vegas thinks the Steelers are going to SMOKE them. And you know what, I tend to agree. They've gotten hot down the stretch, their defense is playing well, and they want a bit of revenge against the Bengals. The Bengals were confident a few weeks ago, but sort of limped into the playoffs with a couple unimpressive outings. I do like the Bengals offense, but they're still pretty young and inexperienced. And the Bengals defense isn't exactly great. Look for the Bus to carry a few people into the end zone, and for Big Ben to continue to make me regret calling him an over-hyped Trent Dilfer. Steelers 27, Bengals 24.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that Rothelisberger - Dilfer comparison. Whoopsie. I can't believe that the Bengals are going to lose this game, what with the best young quarterback in football. Just a thought: did Boomer Esiason simply forget about Big Ben when he made that analysis? Anyway, I like Pittsburgh a lot but in the end I'm taking the home team and the points: Bengals 24 Steelers 20