Wildcard weekend Saturday round up

NFC - Eagles 14 @ Cowboys 34 -- It's been 14 years but it was worth the wait. The Cowboys finally break their miserable streak and win a post season game. And what a win. The score looks impressive, but even that doesn't do it justice. The Cowboys chalked up 10 more first downs than the Eagles and given the explosiveness of the Cowboys in this game, that's saying something. They executed in all facets of the game and the Eagles didn't. Compare the 3rd down totals for example. Eagles 2/11 (18%), Cowboys 9/16 (56%). As predicted, the Eagles abandoned the run. McCoy and Weaver shared the prize for most carries on their team with 5 each. That's pathetic. The end result is a one dimensional offense that modern defensive co-ordinators have little trouble dealing with. They can dial up the pressure and let their pass rush loose, safe in the knowledge that gap soundness can be relaxed just a touch. The result was four sacks and not a lot of offense from Philadelphia. Their best play was when Michael Vick entered the game and on his first throw he sent a laser pass to Jeremy Maclin, who took it 76 yards for a TD and the longest play in Eagles post season history. And it was a laser. Whatever Vick lost while he was incarcerated, he's gradually getting it back. Next year is going to be a good year for him. Meanwhile, Tony Romo was going wild with 23/35 for 244 yards and 2 TDs. But the real star was Felix Jones. 16 carries for 148 yards and a TD, including a 73 yard dash that is now the longest run in Cowboys post season history. He also made one catch, for 30 yards, which involved tearing off down the sideline at break neck speed before vaulting a poor excuse for a tackle and then tippy toeing a few more yards until he finally went out of bounds. It was, as Sterling Sharpe is fond of saying, 'a thing of beauty'. And so was my pick! AFC - Jets 24 @ Bengals 14 -- Ask yourself a question. Knowing that your opposition for the next game a) has the best (and the only true shutdown) cornerback in the league & b) is very fond of exotic blitzes, and bearing in mind that you have three very good running backs and an O-line that is pretty dominant, would you prefer to run the ball a lot or pass it a lot? If you said pass then you can read the mind of the Bengals coaching staff. And you're also an idiot. The Bengals went 18/36 for 146 yards, 1 TD and 1 Int. They have a perfectly good (possibly even exceptional) 3 man rushing attack and their O-line has man handled people in the run game all year. Yet they are now out of the post season due to their inexplicable desire to be ranked among the more pass happy teams of the pass happy NFL. The Jets are the opposite. You get the feeling that their Head Coach Rex Ryan doesn't care whether it's pretty or not, a win is a win. And that's what they got. It was ugly, brutal, down in the trenches football (love it!) and it did indeed get them a win. Sanchez attempted just 15 passes (less than half as many as Palmer), but he completed 12 and clocked 182 yards (36 more than Palmer) for a TD and crucially, no INT. And as the Bengals stuck doggedly to one back, despite having two others to spare, the Jets shared the wealth between Shonne Greene (21 carries, 135 yards, 1 TD) and Thomas Jones (15 carries, 34 yards, 1 TD). The result was a bruising ground game that went hard for 60 minutes and set up some great play action for Sanchez to exploit. Throw in three sacks for the Jets (to the Bengals 0) plus a forced fumble and an interception for Darrelle Revis, who held Chad Ochocinco to just 2 catches for 28 yards, and you have yourself a recipe for a playoff win. The Jets advance and rightly so. They were the better team, with the better gameplan, and they've earned every last bit of praise that they'll receive in the run up to their next game. Including my thanks for making it 2 out of 2 for my Saturday picks!

Wildcard weekend picks

The time is nearly upon us. The Great prize of the NFL, the SuperBowl, looms ever closer. But even getting there is a challenge in its own right. This week we see 8 teams do battle in the wildcard round and here's my picks: Saturday: NFC - Eagles @ Cowboys -- It's been tough for the Eagles lately, especially against the Cowboys. Their perennial problem of throwing too much reared its ugly head again last week. They just don't seem to have any confidence in the running backs to earn them solid gains on a consistent basis. Which is a shame, because they have Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy, and fullback Leonard Weaver. And that's pretty much a perfect 'West Coast Offense' backfield. Weaver has already shown he can run and pass, so the fact that they under utilize him always seems very odd. Conversely the Cowboys have had a pretty good season. They've banished their December winning woes (at least for one season) and have the luxury of both a versatile attack and a dogged defense. DeMarcus Ware and Jay Ratliff spearhead an awesome unit that seems to get stronger every week. Meanwhile Tony Romo is finding his groove with number one wideout Miles Austin, and he still has Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton as two very reliable second editions. Throw in the three headed rushing monster (Barber, Choice, Jones) and the Cowboys have a huge shout of winning their first post season game since 1996. Given the balance of tools and talent, I think the Cowboys have the edge. Cowboys win. AFC - Jets @ Bengals -- Last Sunday was a massacre. Watching it on TV, I cringed everytime the Bengals offense stepped out onto the field. It was poor. The Receivers couldn't catch, the QB had no time to throw and the O-line was generating zero pressure in the run game. The Jets were a complete contrast. When they took shots down the field, Sanchez had plenty of time. Ok, so the receiving corps didn't exactly cover itself in glory. But the O-line certainly did. They man handled the Bengals D like they were little schoolgirls, chucking them aside at will. If that had been a boxing match, it would have been over by half time. Even if the Bengals hadn't gone down, the ref would have called it. There are only two possible explanations. 1) The Bengals were being cunning, playing poorly to give the opposition a false sense of security and saving their strength and killer tactics for this match, in the knowledge it would be likely to happen, or 2) they just weren't as good as the Jets. I'm pretty much leaning towards 2. It was truly horrific. If the Bengals play like that again this week then they're done. I think it might be a tighter game, but not tight enough for Cincinnati. Jets win. Sunday: NFC - Packers @ Cardinals -- Coming into the playoffs last year, nobody was backing Arizona. Everyone (except maybe Rod Woodson) thought that Arizona were going to be one and done. In the end they went to the Superbowl and only narrowly missed taking home the Lombardi Trophy. So, are they being taken more seriously this year? Erm, actually no. Why? Maybe because their first game this year is against the Packers, who just happen to be on a fantastic run of form and are hotly tipped by some (including me) to make it to the big game themselves. It's a teaser this one. The Cardinals can be a great team both passing and rushing, and their defense is pretty darn good as well. They have playmakers all over the place. But they'll be missing Anquan Boldin and that's a big blow for them offensively. The Packers meanwhile have just as many tools on both sides of the ball. They have arguably the best complete receiving corps in the NFL, their run game has flourished of late, and their defense has settled into the 3-4 scheme. Charles Woodson in particular is a highly capable player who somehow finds himself all over the field making tackles, breaking up passes and forcing turnovers. This game should be a real classic and the winner will have to be taken seriously as a Superbowl contender. And I think that's going to be the Packers. Packers win. AFC - Ravens @ Patriots -- Ugh. With the Colts and the Chargers lying in wait and the winner of the Jets/Bengals game having to pull out all the stops to win, this match has all the makings of a sideshow, just a warm up for football fans. Neither of these teams has excelled this season and few people expect the winner of this one to change that mindset. They just both lack consistency. The Patriots have it worse, as their Mr. Consistency this year, Wes Welker, is now injured. For the Ravens, it's been Ray Rice. What's probably more surprising though is that both teams would normally be much vaunted for their respective defenses. This year, they're laughed at in this area. Some would say that even the Patriots Head Coach doesn't trust his D. And he has a reasonable cause not to. On the opposite side of the field, the once feared Ravens D has shown little of the toughness and ball hawking ability that made it so fearsome. It's been more like a sedate pussy cat than some raging lion this year. And honestly, I don't know where to go with my pick. I like the match up of the Pats O versus the Ravens secondary, but I also like the Ravens rushing attack against the Pats anaemic run defense. Ultimately I think the Pats will struggle more than the Ravens to make crucial first downs. I'm going with the Ravens. Ravens win.

Monday Night Football round up

Monday night has been and gone, kind of, so it's time to recap the Monday night game and check my last pick of Week 14: Cardinals 9 @ 49ers 24 -- Well I'll be damned. You have to love the Arizona Cardinals. One week they basically dominate the Vikings, shutting down Adrian Peterson on the ground and making life a nightmare for QB Brett Favre. Then they come back next week and let Frank Gore tear them apart while Alex Smith picks some holes through the air! For weeks I've been bemoaning the need for Gore to get more action. Well, the call has been answered my friends! 25 carries for 167 yards and a TD is just what the doctor ordered. Tack on 144 yards through the air plus 2 more TD's and we have us a ball game. Of course, the real victors here are the 49ers defense. 2 interceptions and 6 forced fumbles (5 recovered by the 49ers) is quite the tally. Patrick Willis especially stood up to be counted by his team, leading the unit confidently with 9 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. If the 49ers can keep this up they still have an outside shot at making the playoffs (probably through a wildcard). It's unlikely, but not impossible. The question is can they keep this up each week, especially with Philadelphia next on the schedule (!!). As for the Cards, they can probably recover from this and go on to take the division, but Head Coach Ken Wisenhunt must be mad as hell!!! So with that pick gone, it leaves me 11-5 for the week, which I think is my best so far. There were some fundamentally stupid picks this week (Seahawks, Broncos) but you can't argue. If they'd gone right I wouldn't be bitching so hey, ho, and away we go. That now leaves me 78-41 since starting in Week 7. That leaves me with a win percentage of just over 65%. Ok, but must try harder I think. Need to make less stupid picks.