Wildcard Weekend Wrap-Up

Posted on 01/09/2012

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Well, it seems that my crystal ball may have been a bit cloudy…

Let’s start with the NFC picks shall we?

Detroit Lions @ New Orleans Saints
Winner: Saints 45 - 28

I’m proud of my foresight on this one… I predicted that Stafford and Johnson would keep the game close, but that Brees & his weapons would be too much for them in the end. I didn’t think the Saints would have a problem covering the 11 points, and they certainly made me look good.

While Brees didn’t throw for 950 yards, he did put on yet another air show in leading the Saints to a 45 – 28 win. As I posted on Twitter during the game, I believe Darren Sproles is the NFL MVP – Most Valuable Pickup. He and Brees will hook-up on quite a few more big plays before the post-season is over.

With that being said, all is not lost for the Lions. The future is very bright for them. Stafford and Johnson will be putting up some gaudy numbers in the coming years, and the defense is poised to become scary good. As Suh grows up & Fairley continues to develop, there isn’t a QB in the league that will feel safe against the Lions. Keep your head up Detroit.

Atlanta Falcons @ New York Giants
Winner: Giants 24 – 2

Well, I have to tell you… I was right on this front as well as I said:

“I’m giving the edge to New York. They’re playing at home, and Bradshaw and Jacobs will both be suiting up. When those two guys are a go they create a multitude of problems for the opposing D. I think the double-headed running attack will open up the field for Eli to convert on some big plays.”

Brandon Jacobs carried the ball 14 times for 92 yards, Bradshaw had 63 yards on 14 carries, and Eli threw for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns. Don’t look now but the Giants are clicking at the right time. Eli has carried this team all season long, and now that the defense is on a roll the G-Men may be ready to make another run at the Super Bowl.

Okay, now for the AFC side of things. This is where the crystal ball really let me down. Ugh…

Cincinnati Bengals @ Houston Texans
Winner: Texans 31 – 10

I was dead wrong about the Texans. While I still believe that they’re too patched together to make a deep run in the playoffs, the Texans had more than enough to get by the Bengals. However, much like the Lions above, I see a bright future for Dalton and Green in Cincy. At any rate, I thought the Bengals were a smart play as 3 point dogs… I was wrong.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos
Winner: Broncos 29 – 23

Wow. First, yes the Steelers missed Clark. Second, yes the rash of injuries in the opening quarter alone killed them. Third, yes a healthy Big Ben would have made a world of difference…. BUT, if there is any team in the NFL that could have overcome all of that it is the Steelers. After all, they’ve done it before. Right?

With that being said, I’ll never understand why the Steelers didn’t focus on making things much more difficult for Tebow in the passing game instead of devoting every player on the field to stopping the run. The boys up front can stop the run all day. Period. They should have taken a page out of the Chief’s playbook and forced Tebow to work his way through his progressions. It’s a rare day when you see Dick LeBeau get out-coached, but that’s exactly what happened on Sunday. Credit Tebow for taking what the Steelers so graciously gave him… Open receivers all day long.

The loss to the Broncos hurt, but what really killed me was what I saw when the network threw the coverage back to the studio… What did I see? Coach Bill Cowher was “Tebowing”. I almost went through my television. Yes, the loss hurt, but the image below scorched my soul. Cowher is circled in red…

- JM

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