NFL Conference Semifinals Here We Come

Last week’s NFL Wild Card round provided a one close matchup and three blowouts, not exactly the most exciting Wild Card weekend I’ve ever seen. The one close matchup though featured two of the NFL’s most controversial quarterbacks in Ben ‘Rapelisberger’ Roethlisberger and Tim ‘The Voice of Christ’ Tebow. The Broncos played the game in reverse order of how they’ve been winning during the regular season by jumping on the Steelers early and then fumbling away a lead late allowing the Big Raper to bring back the Steel Curtain and send the game to OT. He forgot one thing though that on the other sideline Tebow Time was getting ready to make his playoff OT debut. One play in OT, one TD, one Broncos win. Off to New England for a date with the top seeded Patriots for the Tebow show. Man another blog about the NFL and again I’ve managed to allow Tebow to devour my entire first paragraph, oh well he’s a polarizing guy but anywho moving on.

In the other three games the enigmatic Giants easily dispatched the Falcons 24-2, the Texans ran by the Bengals 31-10 for their first franchise postseason win, and the Saints went aerial against the Lions for a final score of 45-28. That leaves us with the following matchups going into the Conference Semifinals: (3) New Orleans Saints at (2) San Francisco 49ers and the (4) New York Giants at (1) Green Bay Packers in the NFC with (3) Houston Texans at (2) Baltimore Ravens and (4) Denver Broncos at (1) New England Patriots. The chalk reigned supreme in the Wild Card round for the first time in a while leading to 4 darn good matchups this weekend. Let’s take a look at each matchup individually and then give you each View from the Couch bloggers picks.

NFC

(3) New Orleans Saints at (2) San Francisco 49ers

The Saints have been hotter than Gisele Bundchen in the past 6 weeks or so with Drew Brees leading the track meet. Their opponent this week, the 49ers, started off strong and stayed strong throughout the entire regular season behind first year head coach Jim Harbaugh and reinvented former #1 overall pick QB Alex Smith. The 49ers adopted a ground and pound approach for this year and it has paid huge dividends leading to a 13-3 record and first round bye. The Saints have an identical 13-3 record but win thru the air not on the ground and in the trenches like the 49ers. The outcome of this game will be determined by whether or not the 49ers can do enough to slowdown the Saints prolific offense. If the Saints can get into the 30s the 49ers will have trouble keeping pace. If the 49ers can keep the Saints in the low 20s however and use Frank Gore, depending on if the healthy Frank Gore shows up, to grind out the clock and put some points on the board at the end of long drawn out drives. Smith isn’t designed to lead a team on a comeback so that’s probably out of the equation. Get ahead early and stay there is the 49ers game plan.

PICKS: Geoff, ZHawk, Lang: NO, Norton: SF

(4) New York Giants at (1) Green Bay Packers

This is a matchup of the Week 13 show down when the Giants nearly knocked off the then undefeated Packers 38-35. The difference is this matchup is in Lambeau instead of at home for the GMen and the GMen also lost their only remaining corner with a pulse in Aaron Ross. The Packers finished the regular season 15-1 with their only blemish coming to a Chiefs team who had no business ruining their perfect regular season. They are led by All World QB Aaron Rodgers (Who’s Brett Favre again?) and a lethal receiving corps. Defensively the Packers have multiple playmakers in OLB Clay Matthews, DT BJ Raji, and CB Charles Woodson but that didn’t stop the Packers from holding down the 32^nd ranked pass defense. That’s good news for the Giants who despite running for 172 yards last week against the Falcons are a pass first team led by Eli Manning who had a career year. The Giants will go as far as Manning and his right arm can take them. Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks should present some problems for the Packers secondary but the key to the Giants passing game is going to be their embattled offensive lines ability to keep the Packers rushers at bay. Offensively for the Packers the key will be getting the ball out of Aaron Rodgers hand early thus negating the Giants stellar pass rush. If the Packers can do that and jump out to an early lead they should have no problem coasting to the Conference Finals. If the Giants on the other hand can get after Rodgers and disrupt his rhythm and timing then ladies and gentleman we’ve got a battle royale on our hands.

PICKS: Geoff, Lang: GB, Norton, ZHawk: NYG

AFC

(3) Houston Texans at (2) Baltimore Ravens

The vaunted AFC North put three teams into the playoffs but only one of them will be playing this weekend: the Baltimore Ravens who had a bye and didn’t have the opportunity to lose last weekend like the Steelers and Bengals. The Ravens earned the AFC North crown and their first round bye and thus get the beat up Texans at home in round 2. The Texans continued their season of firsts for the franchise by getting their first postseason victory during the season when they recorded their first winning record, their first division title, and first postseason appearance. Much of those firsts can be attributed to the emergence of a topflight defense led by great coordinator horrible head coach Wade Phillips. Phillips has turned around the league’s worst defense and made it a top 5 difference-making defense. It also doesn’t hurt to have a guy who is running like his hairs on fire (that one’s for you Richard Pryor) Arian Foster who racked up 154 yards and 2 TDs against a good Bengals defense. The biggest problem the Texans will have in this rematch from earlier in the year when Foster only ran for 64 yards on 15 carries is that T.J. Yates is your starting quarterback. You’re talking about a 3^rd string rookie quarterback on the road. Yates is going to have to throw the ball around a little bit because you know Baltimore is going to stack the box against the run and shade all coverage towards Andre Johnson. The Ravens as always have a strong defense though it’s getting older I expect they’ll do a good job bottling up Yates. Offensively the Ravens will only go as far as Ray Rice can carry them. QB Joe Flacco has been a lightning rod for criticism because a lot of people feel he hasn’t taken steps forward but all he needs to do is protect the ball and make sure Ray Rice gets a million touches. If the Texans can get a few turnovers and hold Rice under 100 yards effectively making Flacco beat them deep they have to like their chances. Rookie WR Torrey Smith will also have to have an eye kept on him because he can easily haul in a 65-yard TD and swing the momentum Baltimore’s way. All eyes are on you to make sure that doesn’t happen Jonathan Joseph.

PICKS: Geoff, Norton: HOU, Lang, ZHawk: BAL

(4) Denver Broncos at (1) New England Patriots

Another week and another team gets Tebowed. Tebow Time is making its first career appearance in round 2 of the playoffs against the top seeded Patriots. These two teams played in Week 15 at Mile High and the Patriots whooped up on the Broncos 41-23 ending the Broncos 6 game winning streak and sending them into a tailspin to end the season. The Broncos still won the putrid AFC West however and then somewhat shocked the world by sneaking by a decimated Pittsburgh Steelers team in round 1. Tim Tebow only completed 10 passes but managed to rack up 316 yards (204 of them to Demaryious Thomas) and 2 scores. He also rushed the ball 10 times for 50 yards and a score. Tebow and the Broncos have unreal momentum not to mention God on their side but the last time they played the offensive juggernaut Patriots they got dismantled. No the Patriots can’t stop anyone thru the air but luckily for them Tebow can’t hit receivers consistently and that was before he, most likely, lost his top target WR Eric Decker after he got hit hard by James Harrison last week (shocker). In that mid December matchup the Broncos ran the ball in the first quarter for over 160 yards but after that they only managed to rack up 80 yards total in the next 3 quarters. The Broncos also jumped out to an early 16-7 lead only to give up 34 straight points to the Pats. The Patriots are led by two-time MVP and three-time Super Bowl Champion QB Tom Brady and the Hoodie. The Patriots are the closest thing to a dynasty that football has seen since the Niners in the late 80s and the Cowboys in the early 90s. Though the Patriots haven’t won a playoff game in 3 years they are focused and ready to derail the Tebow Train and take advantage of their home field advantage throughout. With WR Wes Welker and TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez the Patriots have weapons in all sectors of the field. The emergence of rookie speedster RB Stevan Ridley only adds to Brady’s arsenal. This matchup is a battle of a guy who is riding waves of momentum to this game vs. a quarterback who has seen it all and done it all, and done it well. Unless something crazy happens on Saturday night the Patriots are the stronger team with the more talented roster and appear to have a great shot at moving on to the AFC Conference Final, which would be held at Gillette in Foxboro. The Hoodie is 4-6 lifetime against the Broncos including the playoffs but I don't think he's too worried about that. Before signing off and giving the VfC’s picks on this game I want to mention the Patriots bringing back former coordinator and Broncos coach Josh McDaniels. For anyone who thinks that Belichick did this solely to rattle the Broncos and get a leg up on what they might be thinking about running offensively I have two words for you: grow up. Belichick has never been one to make impulsive moves he brought back McDaniels because the team has heaps of success under his tutelage and with QB Bill O’Brien taking the job at Penn State it made sense to bring back someone who has already had success in the current system.

PICKS: Geoff, Lang, Norton, ZHawk: NE

There you have it folks a breakdown of all 4 matchups that the NFL has to offer this upcoming weekend. The only team that all 4 bloggers agreed would advance appears to be the hometown Patriots. Otherwise we’re all split, which tells me that this matchups are going to be juicy and provide some good entertainment so tune and check em out. Until we cross paths again.

Geoff Jablonski

The BBWAA Still Has No Brain

For any of y'all that have followed my writing over the last 2-3 years you will recognize the next piece because it is an updated version of a previous post from my old blog, but the Baseball Writers Association of America has once again erred on the biggest stage.

We here at Views from the Couch would first and foremost like to congratulate Barry Larkin on his induction to the Pinnacle of baseball success he was a deserving recipient of induction with a lifetime .295 average, three Gold Gloves (when they were actually for the best fielder), 11-time All-Star, over 1300 runs scored and a lifetime OBP over .370.

But we aren't here to slobber over what kind of great shortstop Barry Larkin was (and he was) we're here to talk about the egregious oversight by the BBWAA of leaving Jeff Bagell out of Cooperstown yet again. The only positive is that some of them are starting to see the error of their ways and his total vote % went from 41.7% in 2011 to 56%.

For all baseball fans we need to rehash the kind of player that Bags was, and away we go...

Jeff Bagwell, whose stats are inarguably Hall of Fame worthy was just left off the ballot for absolutely no reason. Here are his numbers along with his most comparable offensive players:

Looking at the statistics the * denotes a Hall of Famer. So 2 of his 10 most comparable players are already in Cooperstown. Then you have to assume Chipper Jones (arguably the greatest switch hitter of all time), Vladdy Guerrero (top 5 RF in the history of MLB) and Frank Thomas (521 career HR, over 1700 RBI and a lifetime SLG% of .555) are locks for the HOF. That makes 5 out of 10 of the most comparable players to Jeff Bagwell will be or are already on plaques. Helton in my opinion is also going to be a HOFer which would make it 60% of peers are going into The Hall.

I also made specific notes of how many years in the league because after Todd Helton steps foot on the field in April, Jeff Bagwell will have played the least out of all of those players, and he is in the top 5 in every one of the offensive categories listed down the board, including inexplicably leading in steals. He bests Cepeda and Stargell in just about every offensive category albeit in two and 6 years respectively. Weird they have a * in front of their name.

Newsflash to everyone: BASEBALL HAD A STEROID ERA, AND DESPITE POPULAR BELIEF EVERYONE DIDN'T USE. *everyone shudder uncontrollably*

There are players such as Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez and many others that played during this era all with Hall of Fame caliber numbers, but here's the difference between those players and Jeff Bagwell: They were all tied in one way or another to performance enhancing drugs, while he was not. And now by some forgone conclusion with the Baseball Writers Association of America they are going to play judge and assume each player is guilty until proven innocent. Well that's a crock of grabage and by this logic NO ONE IN THIS ERA WILL GET VOTED IN FIRST BALLOT.

That Means:

Pedro Martinez, the most dominating pitcher through the Steroid Era is in fact a fraud and does not deserve to get in based on when he played.

Derek Jeter, the posterboy for everything good in baseball doesn't get in despite obtaining just about every Yankee record and leading them to multiple World Championships because he played when the Backstreet Boys made sitting backwards in chairs a hot commodity.

Randy Johnson, the most intimidating pitcher, 300 game winner and arguably best lefty of a decade gets left out.

Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddux? Nope

Albert Pujols? Definitely not.

Do you see what these malignants are doing? How can someone be guilty with vehement denials, no evidence pointing at him and no failed drug tests? Simple: he's not and his career is getting martyred because of some people's ignorance. "Look at me, I wrote about baseball for 10 years, therefore I know all and whatever decision I make is therefore the right decision."

That is the criteria to be able to vote for the Baseball Mecca, is to have written about baseball for 10 years in a newspaper or some sort of mass media outlet. (Alright, the VFC is taking off, all I need is another 9 years or so and I'll get a vote right?)

Somehow because he was a power hitting first baseman when Boyz II Men was on your cassette player, he is all of a sudden guilty of cheating with no evidence against him. I think this is a travesty and would love to hear any BBWAA member's defense against not voting for him. Here is what the BBWAA judges for criteria:

Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.

Playing ability: Top Notch (ranked as the 4th best First baseman OF ALL TIME by renowned baseball statistician Bill James in 2001's "New Historical Baseball Abstract")


Integrity: Never in any scandals (steroids, performance enhancers, or cheating of any kind)
Sportsmanship: Always one of the most respected players by managers and players in era.


Character/contributions: Started a charity in the only city he ever played (15 years in Houston) called Rapid Rehousing to combat homelessness.


OK That's not enough for you, and you're looking for the "black ink" on his resume, or the awards, here ya go.
Highlights

• NL MVP: 1994


• NL Rookie of the Year: 1991


• NL All-Star: 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999


• Gold Glove Award (1B): 1994


• Silver Slugger Awards (1B): 1994, 1997, 1999


• Houston Astros Career Leader in Home Runs (449), RBI (1,529), Walks (1,401), Runs Created (1,715), Sacrifice Flies (102) and Intentional Walks (155).


• Holds Houston Astros single season records for Batting Average (.368 in 1994), On-base percentage (.454 in 1999), Slugging Percentage (.750 in 1994), OPS (1.201 in 1994), Runs (152 in 2000), Total Bases (363 in 2000), Home Runs (47 in 2000), Walks (149 in 1999), Times on Base (331 in 1999), Intentional Walks (27 in 1997) and At Bats per Home Run (10.3 in 1994)


• Baseball statistician Bill James, in his New Historical Baseball Abstract, listed Bagwell as the fourth best first baseman of all time.

I would also strongly suggest you read that clip I put in above about denying steroid use because he talks about working out all the time. When his trainer's told him to stop doing different lifts because it would hinder his flexibility and elasticity in his arm, he didn't listen to them, which is why he couldn't throw at the end of his career. So he worked out and tried to get better naturally and not through a syringe and he is getting penalized for what, working too hard? If you're the BBWAA is this sort of saying, "I want you to be a good player, but not too good, or else I'll personally knock you down a peg".

Simply put, this was one of the good guys in this sport and you just gave him the big F You, I hope you feel good about yourself because I didn't even get the HONOR of voting and I feel like someone just ran over my dog, backed up and ran over it again. I can only imagine how BagPipes and his family feel on what should have been a momentous day. This is a travesty of gargantuan proportions and the Writers should be ashamed of themselves.

Stay Tuned

Norton

Playoff Football Roundup

This past weekend may have had rookie quarterback's making names for themselves and before it's end, Tim Tebow took the virginity of the new playoff rules and pulled a Ben Roethlisberger on them. This is What I took from Wildcard Weekend:

• The Pittsburgh Steelers are a STUPID football team. They came in with the right mind set of making Tebow throw, but when he carved them up in the first half they failed to make an adjustment at halftime. They loaded the box with their DB's and forced Tebow to throw and to his credit he made just about every throw he had to make.


• I hate Ben Roethlisberger. I hate him more just slightly less than LeBron James but I still loathe him with a white hot intensity. That being said, his fedora had a much better game than he did yesterday.


• Tim Tebow threw for 316 yards yesterday. More yards than any game this year against the top rated pass defense in the league. New England's got this...gulp.


• Tim Tebow threw for 316 yards yesterday? John 3:16 reads "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." If that wasn't a sign I don't know what is.


• There is NO DOUBT in my mind that the Giants are going into Lambeau Field next weekend and sticking it to the Packers. The GB offensive line looks like Swiss cheese right now and the Giants front 7 is hella scary.


• We can stop calling Matt Ryan, "Matty Ice" anytime now. He looked more like Matty Perry than a prolific quarterback.


• It's probably about time to give Eli Manning a little more credit. Granted he has a very balanced team, but he is certainly a top 5 quarterback all things considered this year.


• Calvin "Megatron" Johnson is the best Wide Receiver in football, it's not close.


• The only chance that the Broncos can beat the Patriots this week is if the Patriots turn the ball over 2+ times, and I just don't see that happening. Pats roll.


• I usually don't think the referees cost people games but the Lions got jobbed big time right before halftime which would have changed the entire complexion of the game.


• Mike Smith and Marvin Lewis should both get the axe. Marvin Lewis should have his challenge flag revoked and Mike Smith should learn that his team can't get a 4th and 1 in the I formation all damn year.


• The Saints had a tough time with Detroit's defense for the better part of 3 quarters. They will be shut down by San Fran.


• The Texans, despite a rookie QB, are for real and an absolute threat to the Patriots and they will be the team trekking to Foxborough on the 21st of January.

The news that Josh McDaniels may have flown under the radar certainly piqued my interest. for a couple reasons: 1) Did Bill Belichick know that Denver was going to win this game beforehand and that's why he signed him so quickly? 2) Bill Belichick is expecting to go to the Superbowl and he's going to need an offensive coordinator for it.

Bill Belichick knows more than most people on the odds of winning and I bet he knew that Denver was going to win this game, much like I did. He knows that a good offensive coach knows how someone should defend their scheme. So he brought in the man that drafted Tim Tebow and Demaryius Thomas and he will be just as much a defensive assistant as an offensive assistant.

I'm also not sold that he's going to be an "assistant" depending on how far the Patriots go in the playoffs. The unfortunate timing of National Signing Day for college football is during the week leading up to the Superbowl. That means newly anointed Penn State head coach, Bill O'Brien, is going to be tied up trying to restore a once storied franchise and his priorities probably don't lie with the Patriots anymore as he starts the new chapter and his life.

Tom Brady told Tim Tebow during their post-game embrace after the Patriots defeated Denver 41-23, "I'll see you again". Now I ask you, who's the real prophet?

Stay Tuned

Norton

The Time Has Come: The NFL Playoffs Are Upon Us

The NFL season has come to a close with 12 teams moving on and 20 setting up tee times in south Florida. Here is how the AFC and NFC brackets set up going forward into the Wild Card Weekend:

AFC

1.     New England Patriots (13-3)

2.     Baltimore Ravens (12-4)

3.     Houston Texans (10-6)

4.     Denver Broncos (8-8)

5.     Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)

6.     Cincinnati Bengals (9-7)

NFC

1.     Green Bay Packers (15-1)

2.     San Francisco 49ers (13-3)

3.     New Orleans Saints (13-3)

4.     New York Giants (9-7)

5.     Atlanta Falcons (10-6)

6.     Detroit Lions (10-6)

The Patriots, Ravens, Packers, and 49ers will be taking Wild Card Weekend off to party and ‘rest’ while they get ready to defend their turf in round 2. That leaves the other 8 teams across 4 matchups to duke it out for 4 spots in the next round. All the matchups have interesting caveats and are going to be interesting matchups well worth tuning in to. Here at The Couch I’m going to breakdown for you each of those matchups starting in the AFC. Don’t forget all the higher seeds are the home team in the matchups below.

(3) Houston Texans vs. (6) Cincinnati Bengals

This matchup pits two of the leagues top defenses and two rookie quarterbacks against one another. The Texans key acquisition this offseason appears to have been defensive coordinator Wade Phillips who helped turn around the league’s worst pass defense and made it one of the best. Signing #1 corner Jonathan Joseph away from the Bengals didn’t hurt either. Defensively the Bengals have been a revelation a year after being a sieve ranking in the top 10 against both the pass and run. Their forte though is being able to stop the run. This matchup is going to have an immovable object banging up against a giant boulder in the form of the Texans dominant run offense behind all world RB Arian Foster and more than capable backup RB Ben Tate taking on the Bengals stout run defense. If Foster can have a big game, he’s more than capable of putting up 150 yards and 2 scores, it’ll limit the amount of work that 3^rd string rookie QB T.J. Yates needs to do. If Yates can just manage the game and not turn the ball over, he’s only thrown 3 interceptions in the 5 games he’s started, the Texans can let their run game run them right into the AFC semifinals. The Bengals will be leaning on rookie redhead QB Andy Dalton to manage the game and throw a few touchdown’s to last years #4 overall draft pick and absolute beast WR A.J. Green. A low scoring game is probably in the cards.

PICKS: Geoff: Texans, Justin: Texans, Norton: Bengals

(4) Denver Broncos vs. (5) Pittsburgh Steelers

The two quarterbacks in this game have both spent copious amounts of their life under the watchful eye of the media for very different reasons. The Steelers Ben Roethlisberger for not once but twice being accused of raping intoxicated women and the Broncos Tim Tebow for being a devout and extremely vocal soldier in the Army of Christ. How does that relate to this weekend’s matchup in Mile High? It doesn’t at all. Roethlisberger is a two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback who is a top 10 field general when he’s healthy. Key word there: when.  He’s currently not healthy having to sit out week 17 against the Browns, a game the Steelers narrowly squeaked out, with a busted ankle. He says he’ll play this weekend and I don’t doubt him in any way but with RB Rashard Mendenhall being placed on IR this week the Steelers are going into this matchup shorthanded. Luckily for them they drew the weak link in the AFC, the Denver Broncos led by the inconsistent at best Tim Tebow. The Broncos started off 1-4 ditched Kyle Orton as quarterback and inserted Tim Tebow and subsequently won 7 of 8 including 6 in a row but finished the season off headed the wrong direction losing 3 in a row. The Broncos have the NFL’s top ranked running game behind Willis McGahee and Tebow. Tebow can’t throw the ball until the 4^th quarter therefore leaving the Broncos no choice but to run it. The problem with that is that the Steelers are notoriously stingy against the run making this a game where if the Broncos plan to win Tebow’s going to need to throw the pill around a little bit.

PICKS: Geoff: Steelers, Justin: Steelers, Norton: Steelers

Now that we’ve dealt with the two matchups in the AFC let’s take a look at what the NFC has to offer up this weekend.

(3) New Orleans Saints vs. (6) Detroit Lions

The Lions are making their first appearance in the playoffs since the 20^th century, 1999, too bad they are pitted against arguably the NFC’s hottest team. The Saints are buoyed by their juggernaut of an offense led by record setting QB Drew Brees. Brees smashed Dan Marino’s 27-year old single season passing record by close to 400 yards. He broke the record in only his 15^th game and ended up finishing the year with 5,476 yards and led the league in touchdown passes too with 46. The Saints offense finished 1^st in total offense, 1^st in passing offense (obviously), and 6^th in rushing. Their offense has no holes the only problems this team has is on the other side of the ball though the defense gets bailed out on many occasions by the offense’s firepower. Teams are forced to throw early on the Saints because the Saints tend to get out in front early and that allows the secondary to force turnovers. This isn’t a terrible thing for the Lions who are pretty good at throwing the ball themselves. Their third year QB Matthew Stafford finally was healthy for a full year and put up over 5,000 yards and threw for over 40 TDs. The weapon on the Lions offense that the Saints will be hard pressed to stop is WR Calvin Johnson a.k.a. Megatron who finished the year with 1,681 yards receiving and 16 TDs. Look at those numbers again and realize just how good a year he had. Unreal. TE Brandon Pettigrew also grew into his own this year and had 83 recs, 777 yards, and 5 TDs. The Lions don’t have a very good running game but that shouldn’t matter much the Saints are going to turn this thing into a shootout quick. The game will come down to whether or not the Lions can keep pace with the Saints and their up-tempo offense that has been running on all cylinders for 5 weeks or so now.

PICKS: Geoff: Saints, Justin: Saints, Norton: Saints

(4) New York Giants vs. (5) Atlanta Falcons

The final game I’ll be breaking down will be taking place at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands. The Giants are coming into the playoffs after beating the Cowboys 31-14 on Sunday night to snipe the NFC East crown from the ‘Boys. The Giants started off 6-2 fell back to earth but then we’re able to pull it together somewhat down the stretch and win their season finale to get into the playoffs. On the other sideline the Falcons are coming off a somewhat inconsistent season though they appeared to hit their stride towards the end of the year. They are a dangerous team led by QB Matt Ryan, RB Michael Turner, WR Roddy White, and rookie burner WR Julio Jones. Their defense is very stout against the run giving up only 97 yards a game and their pass defense does a pretty good job not giving up too many big plays. They have a solid pass rush behind DE John Abraham. Playing outside of the dome in the cold New York weather won’t be easy however and Ryan won’t have a lot of time to throw the ball either against the Giants vaunted pass rush led by DE Jason Pierre-Paul and DE Osi Umenyiora. Don’t forget about DE Justin Tuck either who’s had a rough year but is always capable of taking over a game. Pierre-Paul had a breakout year registering 16.5 sacks. The Giants secondary is beat up down to their third string in a few spots but luckily for them their rushers’ ability to disrupt the pocket has made it easier for the corners and safeties. 

Offensively the Giants are extremely one-dimensional but that hasn’t been such a bad thing considering Eli Manning backed up all the preseason talk he threw around by putting up just south of 5,000 yards (4,933) and 29 TDs with only 16 interceptions compared to 25 INTs last year. The running game has been brutal due to multiple injuries on the offensive line and a broken foot for starting RB Ahmad Bradshaw. The Giants are gaining just under 90 yards a game on the ground but as long as the running game can be a show me pitch and give Eli a little bit of room to throw then the Giants have a shot. The Giants are also armed with a two-headed receiving monster in Victor Cruz, UMass shoutout, and Hakeem Nicks. Cruz came out of nowhere this year to set a Giants single season receiving yards record with 1,536 yards. Nicks missed a few games but still managed to rack up 1,192 yards. The Giants can throw the ball and their matchup with the Falcons pass defense will probably define the game. If the G Men can’t throw the ball expect the Falcons to run away early if they can throw the ball against the Falcons then I like their odds of hanging with the Dirty Birds.

PICKS: Geoff: Falcons, Justin: Giants, Norton: Giants

That’s it for Wild Card Weekend in the NFL; take these picks to the bank at your own risk. Check back next week for a breakdown of the AFC/NFC 2^nd round matchups. Unit we cross paths again.

Geoff Jablonski

Belichick, Best in Class

Say what you want about the Patriots: Their defense sucks, their arrogant, Tom Brady wears UGGS, whatever, the one thing I am going to say is that they are well-coached. As far as I'm concerned this has been the best coaching job Belichick has done since the first title in 2001.

For all of you that haven't seen Bill Belichick: A Football Life it is like pornography for the gridiron fan. It doesn't matter what team you root, NFL Films (the same crew that puts Hard Knocks together) shows more than just Belichick the coach, but the man behind the headset. There is one scene in particular that has Belichick standing next to Brady and says, "I just can't get this team to play the way we need to play." He may not have the talent on defense that he has in years past but this team does play the way the need to play to win games.

Belichick's genius has been on display full force this year, a few things that have really shined throughout this year were the following:

• During the Denver game the Patriots were flat-out getting their ass beat in the first quarter. No other way around it. Tim Tebow was Jesus-juicing the hell out of the Patriots defense. Belichick who had largely went to the 4-3 defense this year to appease Albert Haynesworth switched back to his roots and the 3-4 and held the Broncos to under 200 total yards the next 3 quarters. For a coach that has had his ability to coach and make the necessary adjustments challenged the last few years he made the neccessary adjustments before halftime and completely scrapped his gameplan. This was essentially the biggest game in the second half of the season for the Patriots and they won it with supreme coaching.


• Devin McCourty an All-Pro in 2010 has turned the "Sophomore Slump" into more of a Collosal Catastrophe. He was going in line to be the ONLY cornerback in the history of the NFL to give up 1000 yards against. Plain and simple, he was getting beat like he stole something. So, Belichick, noticing his young defensive back had no confidence this past week made the move to safety and he got an interception and by and large looked pretty good at the position. This however leaves yet another hole at cornerback.


• Enter Julian Edelman. Julian Edelman as a receiver has been inconsistent at best. But Julian Edelman on defense has been actually quite good. Against the Bills he played more than 95% of the defensive snaps and is probably the best tackler outside of Jerod Mayo on the team. With McCouty looking like Swiss cheese everytime someone throws a ball his way, Belichick has inserted Edelman and it has worked spectacularly.


• Legacy. Belichick acknowledges legacy as well as any coach in the history of the NFL and that is one of the reasons that Tom Brady played this weekend even with a partially separated shoulder. Although he didn't pass Drew Brees the fact that Brady also passed Dan Marino's 27 year passing yardage record, cements his legacy even more than his 3 rings already has. This wasn't the only other milestone on Sunday that was achieved. The Carolina Panther game had just finished and Rob Gronkowski was 17 yards shy of passing Jimmy Graham's record of most receiving yards by a tight end in a season and up by 4 touchdowns he has his backup quarterback throw a back shoulder fade to pick up 22 and the record. He says he doesn't care about stats, but knows that special players/accomplishments deserve the notoriety that all their hard work puts forth.

The defense is at times infuriating at times when they just hemmorage yards. But they have only given up more than 25+ points three and I'll take Brady's chances on putting up 25+ points a game all day and twice on Sunday. The AFC playoff teams aren't better in terms of the points against so much either.

25+ Points against

Baltimore-3

Pittsburgh-2

Houston-4

Denver- 6

Cincinnati-3

All of the other playoff teams with the exception of Pittsburgh have given up 25+ points at least 3 games in the year and the Patriots are the only team not to give up a 30 point game against them. The name of the game is score more points than the opposition not give up the fewest yards per game.

Count me in the Belichick "has a few more tricks up his sleeve"-camp during this playoff run because there is no way that either rookie quarterback could come into Foxborough and beat the Patriots, nor can a hobbled Ben Roethlisberger beat the Patriots twice in one year.

Stay Tuned

Norton