Projo Pats Blog

Due to computer problems, I'm unable to file a full version of Football Today -- but I'll be back on Monday. Until then, here are my predictions for the first week of the playoffs, with home teams listed in caps. By the way, last week was my best of the season, a 15-1 record with only Oakland's shocker in Tampa Bay blemishing an otherwise perfect week.

CARDINALS over Falcons: Plenty of points should be scored in this game, pitting the balanced Atlanta offense and the explosive Arizona passing attack against two mediocre defenses in the desert. The Cardinals were brutal late in the season, but they did stabilize the ship a bit by beating Seattle in the last week of the season. The Falcons, meanwhile, won five of their last six games. So why pick Arizona? Because the Cardinals are a better team than they have shown in the second half of the season, and they've always been tough at home, where they were 6-2 this season. Edgerrin James has a chance against a weak Falcons run defense to make some kind of an impact this weekend, and Anquan Boldin's return to the lineup should help Kurt Warner tremendously.

Colts over CHARGERS: The glamour matchup of the weekend pits two streaking teams that boast two of the league's best quarterbacks in a rematch of last season's second-round playoff upset by San Diego. The Chargers' late-season run was aided tremendously by the fact that three of their final four games were against division rivals; they were 3-7 outside the AFC West this season, while Indy was 8-2 outside the tough AFC South. The Chargers have concerns about injuries to LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates; this could leave them more dependant on Philip Rivers -- normally a good thing, except that the Colts' pass defense is its strength. Indy expects Bob Sanders to return on defense. The Colts are the team to beat in the AFC right now -- San Diego just isn't good enough to get the job done.

RAVENS over Dolphins: Tip your cap to both of these teams for the way they rebounded from their disastrous 2007 seasons, and realize that Baltimore is better. The thing that makes the Ravens particularly dangerous entering the playoffs is not their defense -- that has always been good -- but the fact that the offense is really starting to click, thanks to a power running game and a competent quarterback Joe Flacco.

Eagles over VIKINGS: Minnesota didn't give its fans much reason for hope last weekend when they barely beat a Giants team in a home game that saw many of New York's key players pulled early. The Eagles are the Lazarus of the NFL after benefitting from the Raiders' unlikely win in Tampa Bay. Their blitzers should be all over Tarvaris Jackson, and as good as Adrian Peterson is, he can't win this one alone. Philly's weak spot on offense -- the lack of a power running game -- won't hurt them at all this weekend, since no one runs against the Vikings anyway.

 Tags  Football Today

Comments

Pamela Reinsel Cotter said:

OK, Mike. I'm picking the exact opposite in every game. The one with the most wins treats for Starbucks next week, KAY?

Link | January 2, 2009 6:53 PM
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