Welcome back, sportz freaks, to another edition of Z Money's Sportz Talk! As is tradition, I take a year off and then come back just in time to make my predictions for the NFL playoffs. Now if only I could get someone to pay me to do this... This is my absolute favorite time of the sports year (with NHL playoffs and March Madness close behind). Nothing quite like the NFL playoffs to get you pumped up for the weekend. I am particularly excited this year, as all twelve teams in the postseason have earned at least ten wins, making this the most legitimate playoff bracket we've seen in quite some time. The slate for these next two days has three very intriguing matchups, and one contest which I will hope to remain awake during. If your team is still in the hunt as of right now, kudos and good luck to you. If you're like me (again) and have no personal interest in the outcomes of the games, then sit back and enjoy! And now, sportz freaks, my predictions for the 2012 NFL Wildcard playoffs!
AFC: #6 Cincinnati Bengals (10-6) @ #3 Houston Texans (12-4)
If this matchup looks familiar to you, that's because the same exact game (seeding, included) took place just last year. And, if you're uninterested in this first game, then honestly I can't say that I blame you. Now , this is not to say that we don't have a pair of pretty good football teams colliding, because we do. In fact, both teams are improved from the squads we saw in last year's showdown.
However, this game features a Houston team which is just in a terrible rut right now, and currently provide me with no real reason to consider them as anything more than one and done this year. A few weeks back, the Texans looked like legitimate Super Bowl contenders. They were 11-1 and in full control of the AFC. Flash forward to now, and it's Denver and New England who have off, and the Texans who are forced to play the extra game. Granted, Houston has had to face a desperate Minnesota and surging Indianapolis team in the last two weeks, but this is a team that has shown us all year that it cannot win the big game (ask Green Bay, New England).
On the other side, the Bengals are playing quite well. They've won their last three in a row and seven out of their last eight. What has to be even more intimidating for the Texans is the fact that Cincy is 6-2 on the road this year, and haven't lost a road game since October 14th. The Bengals have impressed me mightily in the past few weeks, going into hostile Pittsburgh in a huge game for both squads, and edging out the win. They also took care of business at home against the division champs Baltimore to close out the season at 10-6 last weekend. This is a young team that's hungry and also looking for revenge for last year's early exit in Houston.
What I think this game is going to come down to is which team makes less mistakes. Houston started off the year strong defensively, but has been pushed around as of late. Cincinnati, on the other hand, has been solid defensively all year and is playing very well over the last month. However, I think both defenses will come to play, that's not the issue. Where I'm a bit concerned is the play of Bengals' quarterback Andy Dalton. He's young and only in his second year, and has shown much improvement. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done in order to refine his game, however. He makes a lot of mistakes, as was evidenced in the Pittsburgh game a few weeks back, and needed his defense to bail him out. The Texans have the weapons defensively to force mistakes, and Dalton is going to have to be perfect to get by, as the Texans do not turn the ball over very much. I think at home with a raucous crowd, Houston will have just enough to edge the Bengals for the second year in a row, but don't expect much more from this team after that.
Prediction: Foster scores twice, defense stands tall as Texans edge Bengals 20-17.
NFC: #6 Minnesota Vikings (10-6) @ #3 Green Bay Packers (11-5)
Our next contest features a pair of teams who met just one week ago in Minnesota, a game in which the Vikings fought their way into the postseason. Now they get a second shot at their arch rivals, and this time can knock the Pack right out of it. This time around, however, it'll be on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, where the Packers are 7-1 and have not lost since week 1 to the 49ers.
Minnesota is definitely a surprise this year, coming off a dreadful 3-13 performance just a season ago, winning its last four in a row to go to 10-6, just enough to enter the playoffs as the 6th seed in the NFC. The majority of that success can be attributed to the surreal return to form of running back Adrian Peterson. The man tore his ACL at the end of last year and has not only come back and played well, he seems to be even more unstoppable than ever before. Last week, AP marched over 200 yards and fell just shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record en route to helping the Vikes squeak by Aaron Rodgers and company. If he continues on the path he's been on all year when the Vikings head to Green Bay, the Packers could be in a world of trouble.
Before last week's loss, the Packers had won four in a row as well, and nine of its previous ten. The only loss in that span came in week 12 when Green Bay was routed by the (former) Super Bowl Champion New York Giants, 38-10. Since then, Green Bay has seemingly been on a mission and their impressive run was thwarted only by a Minnesota team fighting for its postseason life. Before that, the Pack thumped Tennessee 55-7 in a highly impressive performance on both sides of the ball. The Pack are healthy now, and that could mean bad things for Minnesota.
I think Mike McCarthy is going to be focused solely on stopping Peterson, and with Clay Matthews back in full form, he just might be able to do that. If the Pack can contain AP, it doesn't bode well for the Vikings, as they don't have much in the way of a play-maker outside of Peterson. They lost their top guy in that department (Percy Harvin) to a season-ending injury. If they can't run the ball, the pressure shifts to second-year QB Christian Ponder, who has played well as of late, but looked awful in week 13 at Lambeau, where he threw for only 119 yards and two picks in a 23-14 loss to Green Bay. Add that to a healthy Packers' squad who is hungry and looking for a showdown in San Fran, and I think Green Bay has more than enough motivation to avenge last week's loss and move on to the divisional round.
Prediction: Rodgers runs wild, tosses 3 TD's as Packers down Vikings 31-14.
AFC: #5 Indianapolis Colts (11-5) @ #4 Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
Story-line wise, this game is absolutely jam-packed. Where do I begin? Well, let's start by pointing out the most obvious, which is that Ravens' linebacker Ray Lewis could be playing in his last NFL game, as he announced the other day that he will be retiring once the season ends. That will cap a remarkable seventeen year career in which Lewis earned both a Lombardi trophy, as well as a SuperBowl MVP. He is playing on Sunday for the first time since getting hurt in week 6 against Dallas, and is looking to end his run in the NFL with another championship.
The Colts have quite a story on their hands, as well. Not even mentioning that this team won just two games last season and have scorched that en route to an 11-5 record this year (with a rookie Quarterback), the Colts have done so in a transitional year after releasing Peyton Manning, and an emotional one after head coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with Leukemia back in October. Pagano is well on his way to recovery, and will be back on the sidelines in Baltimore this weekend.
Then, there's always my favorite aspect of a Colts-Ravens game, which is the old Colts-picking-up-their-stuff-and-moving-down-to-Indianapolis story. For those of you unfamiliar with this angle, the Colts, a team formerly of the Baltimore area, infamously left the city in 1972 and relocated the franchise to Indianapolis. It wasn't until 1997 when the Ravens were formed that Baltimore was able to regain a team. The city has been bitter about this incident ever since, and it always adds fuel to the fire when these two clubs meet.
All of the drama aside, we have a white-hot Indianapolis Colts team who has won five of its last six and nine of its last eleven games. They've been led by an outstanding rookie campaign from Quarterback Andrew Luck of Stanford and perhaps a little bit of regular "luck" as well. Fate seems to be on their side right now, and it's extremely tough to argue against the Colts at this point.
The Ravens, on the other hand, have, for lack of a better term, stumbled into the playoffs. They earned a post-season berth weeks ago, but have lost four of their last five since. To their credit, those contests came against three teams currently in the playoffs (Cincy, Washington and Denver), as well as the Giants and Steelers, who are obviously no pushovers. That being said, Baltimore has looked pretty awful in the past month, and has got to get something going if they hope to give Ray Lewis one more shot at glory.
Sunday features three rookie quaarterbacks, one of which definitely has to win. The other is Andrew Luck. Can he make it two for two on the day? I think that the Ravens D will come out to play at home, but they need to effectively use Ray Rice in their offensive scheme. When used properly, the Ravens are unstoppable. Unfortunately, that has not been the case this season and the Ravens have struggled as a result. I would love to see Andrew luck and the Colts take this one and head to Denver where Manning can take a shot at his former club. There is one factor here that I believe will prevent that from happening however, and that is in the defense. We know the Ravens' D is good, no need to go on about them. The Colts, however, are dreadful on the defensive side of the ball. To date, they have given up an average of 24 points a game, and when the Ravens are clicking they can surely boast that type of offensive performance. I'm not sure that a rookie, as good as he is, can go into a hostile Baltimore environment against an emotional Ravens squad and allow his team to score enough points to match that. I think this'll be a dandy, but in the end I believe experience will win out and the Ravens will live to see another day.
Prediction: Twice as Rice: Ray Rice hits pay-dirt twice, Defense stout as Ravens oust Colts 27-17.
NFC: #5 Seattle Seahawks (11-5) @ #4 Washington Redskins (10-6)
Finally, we come to the second NFC Wildcard game between the Seahawks and the Redskins. This is undoubtedly the most difficult game, personally, to predict. We have two unbelievably hot teams going head-to-head.
The host Redskins were 3-6 on November 4th, having just come off an ugly 21-13 loss to Carolina. Washington went on their bye afterward, and haven't looked back since. They have gone 7-0 since the bye en route to a 10-6 record and an East division championship after a thrilling victory over the Cowboys last Sunday Night.
The Seahawks have been just as, if not more impressive over the last two months, as they have won their last five, and seven out of eight, including an absolute drubbing of the 49ers a few weeks ago. Over that span, the Seahawks have been remarkable on defense, allowing just under 14 points a game. But these birds are fierce on both sides, as they have lit up opposing defenses for an average of 34 points a game over their past eight. If not for a Rams-Niners tie, the Seahawks would be division champs and taking the week off. Instead, they head to Washington with a possible rubber match with San Fran looming, should Minnesota also win.
What makes this game incredibly difficult to predict is the fact that, at least offensively, these teams are remarkably similar. Each has a rookie quarterback who can not only throw, but are dangerous on the ground as well. Each has a powerful featured running back who can more than carry their fair share of the load in the ground game. Each has a deep threat play-making receiver who can shift the momentum of the game at any point. This is sure to be one heck of a game.
At first glance, the Seahawks are the easy choice. They have a better record and have looked down right unstoppable in the last five weeks. What scares me about this club, however, is their never-ending struggle to play well on the road. This season, Seattle went an abysmal 3-5 away from CenturyLink Field, and those three wins came against Carolina, Chicago and Buffalo, none of whom made the post-season.
Conversely, the Redskins are just 5-3 at home this season, and aside from a win over Baltimore in week 14, have not played a playoff team since October 14th. They have been on quite a run, but the legitimacy of their victories has to be questioned a bit. And although the Skins can definitely put up points (they're averaging 30 ppg during the 7-game win streak), their defense has not stopped much, as they have given up an average of 20 points a game. Add that to the fact that rookie QB Russell Wilson has been virtually matchup-proof and this makes for a very ugly scenario for the East Division champs. I think the 4:30 start also works in Seattle's favor, as it takes away some of the difficulty of playing on the east coast, and as a result I think the Hawks take this one and head to Atlanta next weekend.
Prediction: Solid day from RGIII not enough to stop surging Seahawks. Seattle wins 34-20.
Well, that does it for this week's edition of Z Money's Sportz Talk. Enjoy the games, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment