NFL Divisional Round

We head into the Divisional round of the playoffs with matchups that, at least on paper, look a lot tastier than those last week. I don't see as many lopsided contests, yet I doubt any game will live up to the incredible excitement and dramatic intrigue of the Packers-Cardinals tilt last Sunday. Before diving into the picks for this week, a quick word about the Duel in the Desert from last weekend.

One angle that nobody seems to have covered this week is the final 9 seconds of regulation, after Neil Rackers yanked a potential game-winning field goal. The Packers had the ball at about their own 25 yard line with 2 timeouts remaining and chose to take a knee and go into overtime (Where they lost despite winning the coin toss). What I don't understand is why they didn't take one shot down the field to try and clinch the game in regulation. Think about it. The Cardinals defense couldn't lift a finger to slow down Aaron Rodgers' aerial assault the entire second half. He had already torched Arizona's secondary for 400+ yards and Greg Jennings was making great catches all over the field. Why not heave one downfield for him? A 40 yard gain puts you in field goal range. With 9 seconds and 2 timeouts, there was plenty of time for a hail mary to give Mason Crosby a chance to finish it right then and there. Even if they couldn't get a completion, they may have still gotten a pass interference penalty out of it, producing the same result. I understand the concern of turning the ball over, but an interception that far down the field is not likely to be returned for a score (Most pick-sixes are a result of a defensive player jumping a short route and already having a full head of steam down the field without most opposing players having a lot of space to bring them down). It's better to take a shot down the field and try and win the game on your own terms instead of relying on chance to win a coin toss (Which still couldn't get the Packers the win). Maybe if Green Bay had attempted to go for the win in regulation, they would be the ones moving on to play the Saints this week. Just a thought...now on to the picks!

Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints
The Cardinals are conjuring up images of last year's Super Bowl team with their offensive outburst a week ago. With Beanie Wells giving the Cardinals a decent running game and Early Doucet emerging as yet another weapon at Kurt Warner's disposal, it seems like there's no way a stumbling Saints defense can hold this offense under 40 points. On the flipside, that Cardinals defense looked downright awful against Green Bay, and let's not forget that this Saints offense was on a historic pace before late-season struggles. Those struggles might have been overstated in recent weeks, as New Orleans hasn't won a game in over a month, but I think that boisterous Bayou home crowd will carry them to a victory this week.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Indianapolis Colts
Just like the Ravens' matchup last week, the Colts represent another team that Baltimore almost (And probably should have) beat in the regular season. The Colts, meanwhile, still haven't lost this season with their best guys playing the entire game. Indy knows that they have to stop the run, and will load up the box to try and make Joe Flacco beat them (Something New England failed to exploit). Plus there's the Manning factor, and I think the rest will benefit the Colts, especially their banged up defense. Home field holds here too.

New York Jets vs. San Diego Chargers
At first glance, this game looks like a blowout win for the Chargers. But when you break it down, this is actually the matchup the Jets were praying they got. As Cedric Benson proved last week, the Jets really struggle to shut down the run, but the Chargers are by far the worst rushing team in the league. Philip Rivers has led a devastating passing attack for San Diego, but New York has the league's best pass defense and top cover corner, along with a myriad of blitz packages. On the other side of the ball, the Jets have the league's number one rushing offense, while the Chargers have a less-than-mediocre run defense. The Raider Rule also cannot be applied here, as these teams went a combined 3-0 against Oakland this year. In the end, I believe the difference will be the play of Mark Sanchez. No way the rookie puts up back to back stellar performances on the road in the postseason. He makes a mistake or two and the chargers capitalize for the victory.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings
The Cowboys are the darlings of the league after reversing their December doom this season. The Vikings stumbled to the finish line, as Brett Favre once again played significantly worse late in the year. I've thought all along that this would happen and the demise of Favre would also signal the end of the Vikings' run this season. I predicted before the year started that Minnesota would go 12-4 and win the division but not win a playoff game, and I'm sticking to that hypothesis. I think Dallas gets up early, Favre tries to get the Vikes back in the game on his own instead of using Adrian Peterson, and ends up costing Minnesota the game down the stretch. Dallas moves on.