1.12.2012

NFL Picks Divisional Round

Saturday

New Orleans @ San Francisco

This game features the 2nd best scoring offense in the league against the 2nd best scoring defense, I'll let you guess which one is which. Go ahead, guess ... I'll wait ... Hey I can do this all day pal. Alright, now that we're on the same page let's figure out which team will do what it does best better. They say defense wins championships, but they also say that offense wins divisional round games, granted they don't say it as much, but I've heard it. What this game really boils down to is the fact that Jim Harbaugh wears a pen around his neck, and the only other person I've seen do that is Joan Holloway. Sorry Jim, that's one too many things in common with a busty secretary for my taste.

Saints 24-17


Denver @ New England

In my Week 17 picks I theorized that Tim Tebow's late season slide may have just been him testing our faith before facing the slings and arrows of the playoffs, and then when he got to the playoffs I went ahead and picked against him anyway. I'm sorry Tim, I should never have stopped believing. That being said, it seems like this is surely the end of the Broncos' magical run. Yes, the Patriots have lost their last two home playoff games, and haven't won a playoff game at all since the '07 AFC Championship game, but it's just too far-fetched to believe that Teebs can get the job done again. For Denver to win it would surely take a miracle, and that's impossible ... right?

Patriots 34-23


Sunday

Houston @ Baltimore

Good news for all the West coast party animals out there, if you go hard on Saturday night and sleep till noon on Sunday all you'll have missed is most of the Texans/Ravens game. Bad news, the game will still be on, so you might want to go ahead and sleep till one. The main storyline for this game is the battle of top defenses, but you know what they say, defenses don't win divisional round games. So then it will have to come down to the offenses. Ray Rice and Arian Foster pretty much cancel each other out, and Andre Johnson gives the Texans an advantage at receiver, but I've got a feeling that in his first home playoff game (after 7 on the road) the FlacMan will rise to the occasion.

Ravens 17-10


New York @ Green Bay

The parallels between this Giants team and the Super Bowl winners of '07 are becoming hard to ignore. Both started off 6-2 but struggled in the second half of the season and barely reached the playoffs. Both easily dispatched an NFC South opponent in the wildcard round (24-14 over TB in '07; 24-2 over ATL in '11). Both have a pass rush that has blossomed late in the season and can dominate a game. And finally, both lost a late regular season game 38-35 to the best team in the league only to get a second chance against them a month or so later. Obviously in '07 they capitalized on their rematch and won the Super Bowl 17-14 over the Patriots. So, if this season truly is a doppelganger of their past campaign the Giants will win this game right? Right!

Giants 27-24


No comments: