Friday, January 07, 2005
John Madden eats the playoffs
First off, I'd like to point out how ironic it is that the two hottest teams in football -- the two teams "nobody wanted to play" in the wild card round -- actually missed the playoffs. Of course, I'm speaking of Buffalo and Carolina; two teams who could have seriously changed the landscape of this post-season. Tough breaks for them.
All bets are off in the NFC as the Eagles still are a mystery. Yes, they played with their B-team this past weekend, but so did Pittsburgh. The difference? Pittsburgh beat the hottest team in the league while the Eagles got throttled by Cincinnati. NFC wild card round looks incredibly unappealing. Best wild card game will be NY Jets @ San Diego.
Predictions.
AFC (your Superbowl champion WILL emerge from this conference)
- wild card round
Indy blows out Denver -- you might be asking why it'll be a blowout after Denver beat Indy in the regular season finale. Three reasons: 1) Last week's game didn't matter to Indy. 2) Indy is at home meaning they won't have to deal with, you know, weather, which is their achilles and the speedsters on the team will fly on the turf. 3) Last year's wild card round. Colts 41 Broncos 10.
San Diego nips Jets -- This is without question the best of the wild card round matchups and promises to be very tight. Both sides match up well in this one, but I'll take the homeside Chargers behind inspired play from Drew Brees who's passer rating this season is akin to Montana and Young. Conversely, Chad Pennington has had his troubles on the road this season. That Charger linebacking core is nails, too.
- Conference semis
New England over Indy -- Just in case everyone forgot, the Patriots are still the Patriots. They be able to do what they've done the last several times they faced Indianapolis: control the tempo and punish them physically. Corey Dillon will have an unreal game in front of the home crowd and, oh yeah, Manning and the Colts will have to deal with the harsh elements.
Pittsburgh over San Diego -- This also promises to be a fantastic matchup should SD escape the Jets. I love the way the Steelers move the ball on the ground and I fully expect them to be able to contain San Diego's passing attack, namely superstud tight end (so grateful that he was on my fantasy team) Antonio Gates.
- AFC championship
New England wins at Pittsburgh -- Everyone will point to the Steelers homefield advantage and the regular season matchup between these two earlier this year which Pittsburgh won in a route 27-3. Two things to consider: 1) Pittsburgh has never been able to reach the Superbowl when they've had homefield advantage throughout the playoffs (mental block). 2) Corey Dillon didn't play in the regular season encounter. His presence could alter the game drastically and there's no team better at making adjustments than the Patriots. P.S. If I had to pick only one quarterback to win my team a game, I'd take Tom Brady. The guy knows how to win.
NFC (whatever, these guys are playing it out for the honor of being 2nd place)
- wild card round
St. Louis has Seattle's number it seems -- The first of the ugly games features two teams may still not fully realize that they made the playoffs. One of the toughest things to do in football is beat a team three times in the same season. If I could say that both teams would lose, I would, but I think St. Louis is in Seattle's head after that week 4 debacle. I'll take the Rams as the only road team to win in the wild card round.
Green Bay over sheepish Minnesota -- Minnesota may be the only team less deserving the St. Louis and Seattle of being in the playoffs. They lost 7 of their last 10 games and, once again, Randy Moss is shelling out his dose of locker room poison. He's the best chance the Vikings have of winning this game. He's also the number one reason why there is dissension in Minnesota. Without even having to mention what the Packers have going for them, I'll take Green Bay comfortably. I'll be surprised if Mike Tice isn't fired as coach after he loses this game. The guy's had a pereniall top three offense ever since he's been there and they've shown no signs of being taken seriously as a contender.
- Conference semis
Philly over St. Louis -- Now it gets interesting. Very interesting. No one knows what the Eagles are all about without Terrell Owens. Sure, the Rams took out Philly's B-team a couple weeks back, but this is the playoffs and Mike Martz is still coaching St. Louis. It'll be an ugly encounter and an experiment of sorts on Philadelphia's end given that they have no first string game play without Owens in the lineup. His absence absolutely kills their passing attack and will put all the more pressure on Donovan McNabb. Defenses will also be able to key in on running back Brian Westbrook. Still, Philly's defense will carry the day and the Eagles will advance to the NFC title game once again.
Green Bay upsets rusty Atlanta -- This is my upset pick of the playoffs (should GB get there). It really flies in the face of logic in as much as Atlanta has the best running game in the NFL and Green Bay couldn't stop Reggie White's frozen corpse from running for 100 yards. However (and this is big) Michael Vick's health is in question. We all know that Atlanta's fate rests on the shoulders of Vick and if his ankle or hip or whatever the hell it may be by the time game time rolls around starts acting up, the Falcons are in trouble. Also, for some reason, Atlanta still doesn't inspire confidence for me.
- NFC championship
Mysterious Philly finds a way over Green Bay -- McNabb & co. get the monkey off their backs and finally advance to the Superbowl after losing in the NFC title game for the past three years. Not a slam dunk, though. Either Green Bay or Atlanta could clip them because, again, no one knows what the offense will be able to produce. Without Owens, this year's Eagles look identical to the three consecutive NFC championship losers. Still... four in a row? Hey, it happened to Buffalo.
Superbowl: Pats over Eagles -- The Pats defense rules the day as Belichek and Brady capture a third Superbowl title in four years. I think with Pittsburgh rolling like they have to a 15-1 record, a lot of people have forgotten exactly how good New England is. Hey guys, the defending Superbowl champs actually improved this season both in record and personnel. If the Eagles have Owens by this game (as some doctors say is possible), it could be a very good game.
For the record, I'd take any one of the four AFC division champions at this point to beat whomever the NFC representative is. That's how big a question mark I think the Eagles offense is.
My playoff power rankings:
1. Pittsburgh
2. New England
3. Indianapolis
4. San Diego
5. Philadelphia
6. Atlanta
7. New York Jets
8. Green Bay
9. Denver
10. St. Louis
11. Seattle
12. Minnesota
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All bets are off in the NFC as the Eagles still are a mystery. Yes, they played with their B-team this past weekend, but so did Pittsburgh. The difference? Pittsburgh beat the hottest team in the league while the Eagles got throttled by Cincinnati. NFC wild card round looks incredibly unappealing. Best wild card game will be NY Jets @ San Diego.
Predictions.
AFC (your Superbowl champion WILL emerge from this conference)
- wild card round
Indy blows out Denver -- you might be asking why it'll be a blowout after Denver beat Indy in the regular season finale. Three reasons: 1) Last week's game didn't matter to Indy. 2) Indy is at home meaning they won't have to deal with, you know, weather, which is their achilles and the speedsters on the team will fly on the turf. 3) Last year's wild card round. Colts 41 Broncos 10.
San Diego nips Jets -- This is without question the best of the wild card round matchups and promises to be very tight. Both sides match up well in this one, but I'll take the homeside Chargers behind inspired play from Drew Brees who's passer rating this season is akin to Montana and Young. Conversely, Chad Pennington has had his troubles on the road this season. That Charger linebacking core is nails, too.
- Conference semis
New England over Indy -- Just in case everyone forgot, the Patriots are still the Patriots. They be able to do what they've done the last several times they faced Indianapolis: control the tempo and punish them physically. Corey Dillon will have an unreal game in front of the home crowd and, oh yeah, Manning and the Colts will have to deal with the harsh elements.
Pittsburgh over San Diego -- This also promises to be a fantastic matchup should SD escape the Jets. I love the way the Steelers move the ball on the ground and I fully expect them to be able to contain San Diego's passing attack, namely superstud tight end (so grateful that he was on my fantasy team) Antonio Gates.
- AFC championship
New England wins at Pittsburgh -- Everyone will point to the Steelers homefield advantage and the regular season matchup between these two earlier this year which Pittsburgh won in a route 27-3. Two things to consider: 1) Pittsburgh has never been able to reach the Superbowl when they've had homefield advantage throughout the playoffs (mental block). 2) Corey Dillon didn't play in the regular season encounter. His presence could alter the game drastically and there's no team better at making adjustments than the Patriots. P.S. If I had to pick only one quarterback to win my team a game, I'd take Tom Brady. The guy knows how to win.
NFC (whatever, these guys are playing it out for the honor of being 2nd place)
- wild card round
St. Louis has Seattle's number it seems -- The first of the ugly games features two teams may still not fully realize that they made the playoffs. One of the toughest things to do in football is beat a team three times in the same season. If I could say that both teams would lose, I would, but I think St. Louis is in Seattle's head after that week 4 debacle. I'll take the Rams as the only road team to win in the wild card round.
Green Bay over sheepish Minnesota -- Minnesota may be the only team less deserving the St. Louis and Seattle of being in the playoffs. They lost 7 of their last 10 games and, once again, Randy Moss is shelling out his dose of locker room poison. He's the best chance the Vikings have of winning this game. He's also the number one reason why there is dissension in Minnesota. Without even having to mention what the Packers have going for them, I'll take Green Bay comfortably. I'll be surprised if Mike Tice isn't fired as coach after he loses this game. The guy's had a pereniall top three offense ever since he's been there and they've shown no signs of being taken seriously as a contender.
- Conference semis
Philly over St. Louis -- Now it gets interesting. Very interesting. No one knows what the Eagles are all about without Terrell Owens. Sure, the Rams took out Philly's B-team a couple weeks back, but this is the playoffs and Mike Martz is still coaching St. Louis. It'll be an ugly encounter and an experiment of sorts on Philadelphia's end given that they have no first string game play without Owens in the lineup. His absence absolutely kills their passing attack and will put all the more pressure on Donovan McNabb. Defenses will also be able to key in on running back Brian Westbrook. Still, Philly's defense will carry the day and the Eagles will advance to the NFC title game once again.
Green Bay upsets rusty Atlanta -- This is my upset pick of the playoffs (should GB get there). It really flies in the face of logic in as much as Atlanta has the best running game in the NFL and Green Bay couldn't stop Reggie White's frozen corpse from running for 100 yards. However (and this is big) Michael Vick's health is in question. We all know that Atlanta's fate rests on the shoulders of Vick and if his ankle or hip or whatever the hell it may be by the time game time rolls around starts acting up, the Falcons are in trouble. Also, for some reason, Atlanta still doesn't inspire confidence for me.
- NFC championship
Mysterious Philly finds a way over Green Bay -- McNabb & co. get the monkey off their backs and finally advance to the Superbowl after losing in the NFC title game for the past three years. Not a slam dunk, though. Either Green Bay or Atlanta could clip them because, again, no one knows what the offense will be able to produce. Without Owens, this year's Eagles look identical to the three consecutive NFC championship losers. Still... four in a row? Hey, it happened to Buffalo.
Superbowl: Pats over Eagles -- The Pats defense rules the day as Belichek and Brady capture a third Superbowl title in four years. I think with Pittsburgh rolling like they have to a 15-1 record, a lot of people have forgotten exactly how good New England is. Hey guys, the defending Superbowl champs actually improved this season both in record and personnel. If the Eagles have Owens by this game (as some doctors say is possible), it could be a very good game.
For the record, I'd take any one of the four AFC division champions at this point to beat whomever the NFC representative is. That's how big a question mark I think the Eagles offense is.
My playoff power rankings:
1. Pittsburgh
2. New England
3. Indianapolis
4. San Diego
5. Philadelphia
6. Atlanta
7. New York Jets
8. Green Bay
9. Denver
10. St. Louis
11. Seattle
12. Minnesota
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