NFL Playoffs - Wildcard Weekend

165-91 on the season, which beats last year's 162-94 record. But none of that matters now...it all goes out the window in the playoffs where almost anything can happen. I was 8-3 in last year's playoffs, and I don't know how I'm going to match that...there are a lot of close looking games this week.

Washington at TAMPA BAY: Their encounter this season was a wild one...a 36-35 Succaqueers win thanks to Jon Gruden's iron balls. Chris Simms threw TD passes to 3 different receivers and was not picked off or sacked, and Mike Alstott ran for two more. Mark Brunell threw 2 TDs and 2 picks, and Portis had 144 yards and a TD. Simeon Rice had 2 sacks, a pick, and 2 forced fumbles. Turnovers cost the Redskins this game so if they can keep the turnovers under control, they should have a decent shot. The Redskins have won 5 in a row going into this one, and Joe Gibbs is 16-5 in the playoffs, 4-0 in wildcard games. I'm going with the Succaqueers to win (and I hope to God that I'm wrong), but will be betting on Washington +2.5 as insurance, and over 36.5.

WAS #11 total offence vs. TB #1 total defence
WAS #9 total defence vs. TB #23 total offence

WAS #13 scoring offence vs. TB #8 scoring defence
WAS #9 scoring defence vs. TB #20 scoring offence

WAS #7 rushing offence vs. TB #6 rushing defence
WAS #13 rushing defence vs. TB #14 rushing offence

WAS #21 passing offence vs. TB #6 passing defence
WAS #10 passing defence vs. TB #25 passing offence

WAS #16 takeaways vs. TB #8 giveaways
WAS #16 giveaways vs. TB #12 takeaways

WAS #28 punt returns vs. TB #25 punt coverage
WAS #2 punt coverage vs. TB #6 punt returns

WAS #11 kickoff returns vs. TB #14 kickoff coverage
WAS #6 kickoff coverage vs. TB #30 kickoff returns

Jacksonville at NEW ENGLAND: Seems the Patriots did the right thing by losing to the fish and choosing Jacksonville as their opponent instead of the Steelers. New England is (get this) the only playoff team with a negative turnover margin (-6). It's safe to say that the Jags are going to win the turnover battle. But I refuse to bet against the quarterback who is 9-0 in the post season, and is at Gillette Stadium, playing against a 12-4 team that has never won in said stadium, and is significantly worse than its record. I'm aware that the Patriots shitty defence will probably end up causing some problems as the game progresses, but that only means it'll be close. Patriots by 7, and over 37.5.

JAX #15 total offence vs. NE #26 total defence
JAX #6 total defence vs. NE #7 total offence

JAX #12 scoring offence vs. NE #17 scoring defence
JAX #6 scoring defence vs. NE #10 scoring offence

JAX #10 rushing offence vs. NE #8 rushing defence
JAX #14 rushing defence vs. NE #24 rushing offence

JAX #19 passing offence vs. NE #31 passing defence
JAX #7 passing defence vs. NE #2 passing offence

JAX #15 takeaways vs. NE #11 giveaways
JAX #3 giveaways vs. NE #31 takeaways

JAX #17 punt returns vs. NE #26 punt coverage
JAX #17 punt coverage vs. NE #16 punt returns

JAX #7 kickoff returns vs. NE #18 kickoff coverage
JAX #26 kickoff coverage vs. NE #15 kickoff returns

Carolina at NY GIANTS: This will be Eli Manning's first encounter with the Panties. Jersey/A's only loss at home this season was in that Minnesota game that saw the Vikings score 24 points with only 156 yards of net offence. It's probably the main reason why Jersey/A's special teams coverage is ranked as low as it is. The game plan for the Panties will be to blitz, blitz, blitz because little Manning seems to like throwing while falling backwards and the Panties' secondary will be there to gobble it up. And seeing as how the Panties run defence is second best in the league, Tiki may be in for less than 200 yards in this one. However, the Panties' 5 losses this season all came as a result of 3 things: the other team running all over them, failing to get their own running game going, and losing the turnover battle. Jersey/A is capable of accomplishing all 3. Jersey/A by 1, and over 43.5.

CAR #22 total offence vs. NYG #24 total defence
CAR #3 total defence vs. NYG #4 total offence

CAR #8 scoring offence vs. NYG #14 scoring defence
CAR #5 scoring defence vs. NYG #3 scoring offence

CAR #19 rushing offence vs. NYG #12 rushing defence
CAR #4 rushing defence vs. NYG #6 rushing offence

CAR #17 passing offence vs. NYG #27 passing defence
CAR #9 passing defence vs. NYG #11 passing offence

CAR #2 takeaways vs. NYG #12 giveaways
CAR #15 giveaways vs. NYG #4 takeaways

CAR #2 punt returns vs. NYG #21 punt coverage
CAR #5 punt coverage vs. NYG #8 punt returns

CAR #26 kickoff returns vs. NYG #20 kickoff coverage
CAR #11 kickoff coverage vs. NYG #3 kickoff returns

PITTSBURGH at Cincinnati: Just a general note here...wildcard teams have never fared well historically...in fact, their record is around .333 or something in the first round, so this is my token pick for the away team in the first round. I'm picking the Steelers because they've already picked up a win at Paul Brown Stadium this year in a 27-14 decision in which Carson Palmer was picked off twice. He threw 3 TDs in the 38-31 Bengals win at Heinz Field and the Bengals defence was able to snag 3 Ben wobblers. But the Bengals defence has allowed almost 31 points a game in its last 7...something's definitely wrong with the defence that was holding teams to single digits in the first few games. Steelers by 7, and under 45.5.

PIT #16 total offence vs. CIN #28 total defence
PIT #4 total defence vs. CIN #6 total offence

PIT #9 scoring offence vs. CIN #22 scoring defence
PIT #3 scoring defence vs. CIN #4 scoring offence

PIT #5 rushing offence vs. CIN #20 rushing defence
PIT #3 rushing defence vs. CIN #11 rushing offence

PIT #24 passing offence vs. CIN #26 passing defence
PIT #16 passing defence vs. CIN #5 passing offence

PIT #11 takeaways vs. CIN #5 giveaways
PIT #7 giveaways vs. CIN #1 takeaways

PIT #3 punt returns vs. CIN #16 punt coverage
PIT #23 punt coverage vs. CIN #31 punt returns

PIT #20 kickoff returns vs. CIN #7 kickoff coverage
PIT #17 kickoff coverage vs. CIN #9 kickoff returns