Just for Sport

I haven’t posted my picks since Week 7 (schoolwork started to catch up to me), and since then I fell from 62-25 (.713) to 150-106 (.586). It’s not as bad as it looks, since I didn’t get my Week 12 picks in on time and went 0-16 that week. Anyway, I ended up tying with my father in our challenge after mounting a five week comeback. These picks have to be right, since we will be using the entire playoffs as a tiebreaker.

NFC Wild Card
#6 NY Giants @ #3 Philadelphia
These two split their regular season matchups, with the Giants winning in Week 2 and the Eagles taking it in Week 15. These teams know each other very well, which means a lot of what happens here will come down to coaching. In that case, I take Andy Reid over Tom Coughlin every time.

#5 Dallas @ #4 Seattle
A few weeks ago, I was pretty sure the Cowboys could go deep in the playoffs. Now it seems like the rest of the league is catching up to Romo, and the Seahawks make for a pretty tough first round opponent. They have what many believe to be the best home field advantage in the league. However, Mike Holmgren showed me something this week: He doesn’t believe in his team. Why else would he talk all week as if Shaun Alexander weren’t playing, and then give him the ball 29 times…and in a meaningless game against the Bucs? Sure, the Cowboys had something to play for and lost to a horrible team, but riding your players hard unnecessarily? This happens at least once every year, and that team invariably loses.

AFC Wild Card
#6 Kansas City @ #3 Indianapolis
This is Indy’s weakest year in a long time, but I can’t see them losing to Herm Edwards in the playoffs. Larry Johnson will certainly tear up that run defense, but Peyton will also carve up the Chief’s secondary. Ty Law can’t cover anybody, and you can bet that even if it is close, Herm will find a way to mismanage the clock and give it to the Colts. By the way, (and I don’t want to overstate this) if Bob Sanders can play, the run defense will be twice as good. I know that’s not saying a lot, but still.

#5 New York Jets @ #4 New England
Once again, these two teams split their regular season meetings. The Patriots fended off a Jets comeback in Week 2, and the Jets took Week 10 in a close one. Here’s my beef: The talking heads still speak of New England as if they were the perfect team. They’ve got terrific chemistry, any ball Tom Brady throws turns to gold, Belichick deserves a Nobel prize, they’ve got loads more class than anybody, etc. In the past year, they’ve shown me none of these qualities. In the first round last year, they kept their starters in a ran up the score against Jacksonville. Then karma caught up to them and they lost to the Broncos. They whined and whined about the Champ Bailey play. Maybe they were justified, but show me how that means they have class. Tom Brady can’t hit an open receiver (it’s not the receivers’ fault, stop giving him a free pass), and in Week 10 the Jets went into Gillette and beat the Pats in a game Belichick desperately wanted to win. And just when you hadn’t heard any whining in a while, all the players got up in arms over an injury to an injury-prone player (Harrison) that happened on a routine play. It’s bad news when that’s what the locker room is trying to rally around. The Jets defense gets it done in this one. Just as I wrote this, some guy on Cold Pizza said the “Jets had no chance to win” and “Tom Brady has been disrespected this year”. Give me a break.

NFC Divisional Playoff
#3 Philadelphia @ #2 New Orleans
Remember back in September, when everybody thought that the Falcons would come into the Superdome and ruin the Saints first home game? Then U2 came in and New Orleans played out of their minds in front of a rowdy crowd. The Saints have ridden that momentum all the way through the season, and Jeff Garcia is not going to be the person to take that away.

#5 Dallas @ #1 Chicago
After Dallas upsets Seattle on the road, they will face the *real* best home field advantage in the league. I’m sure a lot of people have Chicago one and done because of the inconsistent play of Rex Grossman, but the defense and special teams will more than make up for it against Dallas.

AFC Divisional Playoff
#5 NY Jets @ #1 San Diego
Mangini can get the Jets up for the game against New England, but San Diego is too talented to be overcome by willpower alone. The Jets have a good defense, but the Chargers have a lot of weapons; they may not even have to use them all.

#3 Indianapolis @ #2 Baltimore
I’ve been dumping on Steve McNair all year long. I’m still not a believer, but he’s more than able to get it done against this defense. Unlike Kansas City, they have multiple weapons and will be able to drive the ball and keep Manning off the field.

NFC Championship
#2 New Orleans @ #1 Chicago
At different times this season, I have been a believer in each of these teams. I’m not completely sold on the Saints, but I believe in Drew Brees.

AFC Championship
#2 Baltimore @ #1 San Diego
This, I believe, is where McNair falters. San Diego’s secondary has always been suspect, but pressure from the other side of the ball will force Steve into mistakes.

Super Bowl XLI
New Orleans vs. San Diego
It will be a hard fought game, but LaDainian Tomlinson will emerge from his record-breaking season as the Super Bowl MVP. 34-28.