I'm just seeing the amazing news that the NHLPA has blocked the stupid four-conference alignment that the owners wanted for next season. But more on that next time. We've reached the first weekend in January, which can only mean one thing: playoff football! Despite losing last week, Cincinnati and Denver still managed to get the last two spots in the AFC, while Houston, which was locked into the No. 3 seed, decided to go for two to either win or lose the game and avoid an unnecessary overtime before what could've been a rematch with the Titans. Instead, both the Raiders and Tebows both lost, knocking Tennessee out and sending the Bengals to Houston.
Bengals (9-7) at Texans (10-6): Houston-I'm sure you all had this matchup when you made your preseason playoff predictions. Right? The Bengals are in the playoffs for the second time in three years and just the third time since 1990. The Texans, meanwhile, are making the first postseason appearance in franchise history. Not only is this the most unexpected matchup of Wild Card Weekend, it's also the hardest to handicap. It's not as if the Bengals and Texans were both on national television every week.
Here's what I know about the Cincinnati Bengals: Marvin Lewis is their coach, they've got a rookie quarterback named Andy Dalton, and they don't have that nut case Chad Johnson anymore. That's about it. I kind of saw a breakout season like this one coming in Houston, though. Arian Foster and Andre Johnson are complete studs, and that defense is legit. It was also impressive to see the Texans cycle through three different quarterbacks this year (four if you count Jake Delhomme) and not really miss a beat. The Texans won the regular season matchup between these two, and the crowd will certainly play to their favor. Houston does enter the playoffs on a three-game losing streak, but they straightened themselves out last week against the Titans. The Texans are the better team. The first playoff game in Houston since the 1993 season will end with the home team winning.
Lions (10-6) at Saints (13-3): New Orleans-Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time since 1999, the Detroit Lions are in the playoffs! And the Saints, who might be the best team in the NFL right now, have to play an extra game because they finished with a worse division record than San Francisco. That might matter next week, but right now it doesn't. The Saints are unbeatable at home, going 8-0 in the Superdome this season. We all saw what they did against Atlanta (a fellow playoff team) on Monday night two weeks ago. If the Lions had beaten the Packers in Lambeau last week, we would've had a Falcons-Saints rematch, but we'll have to settle for a Detroit-New Orleans Week 13 rematch instead.
This game will be different than the Week 13 matchup, when the Lions got thumped in their first Sunday night game in years. Ndamukong Suh was suspended for that game. As a result, the Saints won 31-17 in a game that wasn't even that close. The presence of Suh gives the Lions a better chance in this one, but I don't think it'll make enough of a difference. The Saints' offense on the Superdome turf looks like somebody really good at Madden being Drew Brees with their video game controller. Last year's embarrassing wild card loss to Seattle is fresh in their minds. The Saints aren't going to lose at home. The Lions' sensational season won't include their first playoff win in 20 years.
Falcons (10-6) at Giants (9-7): Giants-Last week, the Falcons certainly looked like a team that was in no hurry to go back to New Orleans so soon after getting thumped by the Saints. I also give the Giants a ton of credit for actually showing up against the Cowboys and playing like they wanted their season to last at least another week. As a result, we get the first playoff game in the history of MetLife Stadium.
While Cincinnati-Houston is the hardest game to handicap, this one is probably the hardest to pick. They're very evenly-matched teams. The Falcons, who made the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time, have a tremendous quarterback in Matt Ryan, a superb running back in Michael Turner, a Hall of Fame tight end in Tony Gonzalez, big-play receiver Roddy White and future star Julio Jones. The defense, led by John Abraham, Kroy Biermann and Dunta Robinson, is just as good. The Giants, though, have their own version of Julio Jones in Victor Cruz, and evidently there's some sort of NFL rule that at least one Manning has to be remarkable while leading his team to numerous comeback wins en route to a division title. And don't forget about All-Pro defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul.
I love the way the Giants played down the stretch. I'm willing to overlook the four-game losing streak because of the teams they faced. But, the Redskins game aside, the Giants came to play in December, and they're going to be a dangerous playoff team. Ahmad Bradshaw said the Giants will have to be able to run the ball in order to win. He's right. They were able to do it against the Jets. They were able to do it against the Cowboys. They'll be able to do it against the Falcons.
Steelers (12-4) at Tebows (8-8): Pittsburgh-The final matchup of Wild Card Weekend is probably the most one-sided, at least on paper. The Steelers went all out last week trying to get the No. 2 seed, and ended up losing Rashard Mendenhall for the playoffs. Should they beat the Patriots next week (a distinct possibility), that could present some serious problems against Baltimore. But against Denver, not having Mendenhall and having a less-than-100 percent Ben Roethlisberger shouldn't make that much of a difference.
Somehow, despite losing three straight (and thanks to the overall mediocrity of the AFC West as a whole), the Tebows are in the playoffs for the first time in six years. It took a little while, but suddenly everybody figured out Tim Tebow. Make him stay in the pocket. He's not a good quarterback. Denver got thumped in Buffalo, then was held to a field goal by Kansas City. And let's face it, the Bills' and Chiefs' defenses don't exactly resemble the formidable bunch that represents the Steel City. As I've been saying all along, get a big enough lead and actually manage to run the ball in the first three and a half quarters, and you won't have to worry about him in the fourth. Denver's defense might keep it somewhat close, especially if Big Ben is limited, but Tebow's going to be too far behind to do his usual tricks. Against the Steelers' defense, it probably won't work anyway. Pittsburgh is the wild card team with the best chance of doing what the Packers did last year.
Last Week: 11-5
Regular Season: 167-89
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