Today I'll put the sportswriter hat on and share my thoughts on the NFL Wildcard Weekend. There are 4 games representing the first round of the NFL playoffs, and all 4 look like quality matchups. Picking the winners is difficult, but I'll take a stab.
Cincinnati @ Houston
Saturday afternoon's game is Cincinnati at Houston. Houston had control over the first seed in the playoffs until they stumbled in their last few games and fell all the way down to the third seed and lost the first round bye.
Cincinnati's been on a roll late in the season and earned their berth in the playoffs with quality wins against Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
Houston has the home field, but needs to rediscover their potent offense from early in the season. If Matt Schaub can find his rythm again and start hitting his talented receivers, and Arian Foster hits his stride and can gash the Bengals on the ground for over a hundred yards, the Texans will win. Otherwise the hot Bengals will steal the underdog victory.
As tempting as it is to predict a Bengals upset, I'm picking Houston. 28-24.
Minnesota @ Green Bay
Saturday night it's Minnesota at Green Bay. Minnesota beat Green Bay at home to edge out Chicago for the last NFC spot in the playoffs. There's no disputing the fact that Minnesota's success comes from a superhuman season by Adrian Peterson, without whom the team would have gone nowhere this season.
Green Bay has the home field, and should dispatch the Vikings on their famous "Frozen Tundra". With Christian Ponder nursing a sore elbow and the elements making a passing game difficult anyway, the Green Bay defense can focus on stopping Peterson. I'm picking the Pack. 35-10.
Indianapolis @ Baltimore
Sunday afternoon is the game I'm most interested to watch, the Colts at the Ravens. Nobody gives the Colts a chance, but then again, nobody's given them a chance all season. The team just keeps on winning anyway, most of the time with dramatic fourth quarter and overtime comebacks.
But the Ravens have their inspirational defensive captain, Ray Lewis, back to sweeten their home field advantage. By most objective measures, the Ravens should outclass the Colts in this game.
I can see a couple of scenarios playing out in this game. The undesirable outcome is that Luck throws a couple of early interceptions that the Ravens turn into touchdowns, putting the Colts into a hole. Then the defense lets Ray Rice run over them while Luck gets sacked a half-dozen times trying desperately to generate a comeback. That's a Ravens blowout.
The other outcome is Andrew Luck protects the football and the Colts stay close well into the fourth quarter. The victor makes a big play late in the game, whether a long pass or a breakaway run or a key interception. And that big play could be made by either team.
I've gotta support my team, despite the fairly long odds. Colts win a tight one late, 31-28.
Seattle @ Washington
This is a pretty good matchup. RGIII versus Russell Wilson, the other two fabulous freshman quarterbacks who with Luck have made the NFL more exciting this year. The Redskins have the home field, while the Seahawks have been hot late in the season.
This seems to be a game that could go either way, and might be the most difficult to pick. If the Seahawks can contain RGIII and get the discipline from their defensive ends to keep him corraled and deny him the outside run, they can win. I perceive Wilson is a better passer, so keeping Griffin away from the big running plays is the key to the game for Seatle.
I'm going to pick the Seahawks. 31-21.
No comments:
Post a Comment