NFL Wild Card Round

Are you ready for some football? It's being served up playoffs style this weekend as the road to the Super Bowl kicks off with the Wild Card Round. Four games, three rematches of the final week of the regular season, two days, one blog post that has all the answers.

New York Jets vs. Cincinnati Bengals

It’s as simple as this: the Bengals lost to the Raiders. The Jets, on the other hand, blew out Oakland while Mark Sanchez was eating hot dogs on the sideline. That’s really all I need to know to take the Jets (who don’t even deserve a spot in the playoffs) in this opening round game. That and the fact that the #1 ranked Jets defense is going against an atrocious offense. Carson Palmer is no longer an elite quarterback and he has no weapons other than Chad Ochocinco (who will spend the entire game stranded on Revis Island). The Jets can easily take away the pass and load the box to stop Cedric Benson and Cincinnati’s rushing attack. Something the Bengals do have going for them is a rookie quarterback making his playoff debut on the road. Mark Sanchez showed how susceptible he was to turning the ball over, so New York will be sure to lean heavily on Thomas Jones and the top rushing offense in the league this year. Only Cincinnati’s emotion can get them this win. They have suffered two tragic deaths in their locker room this year, and they will be sure to rally around that with their home fans cheering them on. In the end though, I still like the Jets in this upset.

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys

Stop me when this sounds familiar. The Eagles lost to the Raiders. The Cowboys, on the other hand, blew out Oakland while Tony Romo went through 4 celebrity girlfriends on the sideline (Okay, I made that last part up. But you should all be screaming “STOP!!” by now). You know where this is going. Dallas has also dominated Philly on the field in both meetings this season, including last Sunday when both teams had everything to play for with a division crown and home field at stake. The Dallas defense has been suffocating recently, pitching back to back shutouts to close out the season. The Eagles, meanwhile, are coming off their worst showing since that humiliating loss to Oakland early in the season. The difference here is that Philly only has a chance if they get 2 or 3 big plays from DeSean Jackson and the passing game. They’re a quick-strike offense that can’t run the ball effectively. The Cowboys can run it straight down the Eagles’ throats with three different backs, and Tony Romo is playing as poised as he ever has this late in the season. I think the Cowboys control the line of scrimmage, control the clock, and ultimately control the game.

Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots

These two met once early in the season (also in New England) and the Patriots survived by less than a touchdown in one of Baltimore’s several heartbreaking losses. The Ravens have been up and down all season, losing close games against good teams (though they did take care of the Raiders), but they should have All-Pro safety Ed Reed and disruptive defensive tackle Holoti Ngata back in the lineup this week to shore up a defense that hasn’t lived up to its reputation. The Pats, as has been well documented all week, are without the services of the NFL’s leading pass-catcher Wes Welker, and the Golden Boy Tom Brady is apparently dealing with 6 different injuries at once. However, the Patriots are undefeated at home this season, and Bill Belichick has never lost a home playoff game in the first round. This game is extremely difficult to pick though, so I just have to go with my gut. I’ve gotten an overriding sense all season long that this isn’t the Patriots team we are used to seeing. They don’t seem to have that extra gear this year that they can get into and blow other teams off the field. They refuse to run the ball, and have become too predictable, yet Belichick seems to be too stubborn to change his ways. Their defense has been banged up and struggling all season, and as we saw in Indianapolis, their own coach has no faith in them. At least once in this game the Pats will be faced with a big 3^rd down and Brady will be looking for his favorite target Welker to make the play, only there will be no Welker to bail them out. The Ravens, meanwhile, feel like a team that is much better than their record indicates, and indeed if only a couple plays here and there went their way this could easily be a 13 or 14 win team. I smell another AFC upset brewing in New England.

Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals

In the final Week 17 rematch, the Packers head back to the desert to take on the Cardinals. They’ve already triumphed in Arizona twice this year (albeit one of those games was in the preseason) so you know the unfriendly confines don’t intimidate them. Green Bay has been the hottest team in the NFC over the second half of the season. Their offensive line is holding up better to give Aaron Rodgers time to lead an aerial assault that has shredded opposing secondaries. Ryan Grant complements the passing game with steady, consistent rushing yards to eat up clock and move the chains. Green Bay’s defense has been stifling and Defensive Player of the Year candidate Charles Woodson will make life tough for whichever Cards wideout he covers. However, we all know that Arizona can catch fire at any given moment (See NFL playoffs circa 2009) with veteran gunslinger Kurt Warner and the weapons he has around him. Anquan Boldin’s new injury could hamper their offense though, and there isn’t any one thing that the Cardinals particularly excel at. This is a matchup pitting two dynamic teams that can each dominate a football game, but I have to give the slightest of edges to the team with more momentum right now, the Packers.