Friday, January 8, 2010

NFL Wild Card Weekend Picks

So the playoffs are finally here and we're down to twelve teams; the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, and Philadelphia Eagles make up this years pack of twelve competing for a chance at history.

There are a lot of compelling storylines in this years playoffs; 11 of the 12 teams involved have what I personally consider to be "top tier" quarterbacks. I can't remember a year this decade where so many good quarterbacks were involved in the same tournament.

Obviously Manning, Brady, Favre, and Warner are looking to add to their Hall of Fame legacies, a Super Bowl for any of those four could do wonders for their status amidst the greatest of all time. A win for Manning, Brady, or Favre may give them all time #1 status.

On the other end we have Drew Brees, Tony Romo, Donovan McNabb, Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Joe Flacco, and Mark Sanchez all trying to create their own legacy.

We'll find out exactly what happens in a month. For now, here's my wild card weekend picks.

New York Jets @ Cincinatti Bengals - Last week on SNF the Bengals unveiled the most vanilla offense NFL fans have seen since the mid 1950's. This week it won't be the same, but the Jets defense will also be fully charged. The game is going to come down to which USC quarterback can get it done, and I'm going to have to go with Heisman winner.

I'm taking the Bengals at Home.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys - Every wild card weekend has a road team that wins a game, this year it will be the Eagles. Nothing against the Cowboys, but I think that the Eagles are going to turn up their game, and their A game is better than the Cowboy's A game. Unfortunately for the 2009 Eagles, they dug themselves into a hole to proceed through the rest of the playoffs.

I'm taking the Eagles on the Road.

Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots - The Patriots are shell shocked after the Wes Welker injury, and it's common knowledge that Randy Moss and Tom Brady are banged up. That being said the Patriots are really hard to beat at home, and in the entire Bill Belichick era, this team has never been one and done. They have a date set with San Diego.

I'm taking the Patriots at Home.

Green Bay Packers @ Arizona Cardinals - Of all the wild card weekend participants, the Arizona Cardinals are 2009's biggest wild card. If they can get it together they can make another Super Bowl run. I'm not sure if they'll go that far this year, but I think they'll at least make it to the divisional round.

I'm taking the Cardinals at Home.

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