They say that in the playoffs everyone starts over at 0-0.... and given my
picking this year, I can't hope for anything more than to be 0-0 again.
So, let's see if I can redeem myself here in the playoffs.
The NFL playoffs are a beautiful under the new balanced schedule. In the
currrent setup, the entire League is divided into four-team divisions, each
of which plays a nearly identical 16-game schedule. The best team from
each division advances to the playoffs, where head-to-head competition
determines a final winner. Now granted the presence of two
money-generating and interest-generating Wild Card teams is a small flaw in
this ointment, but since it is probably nearly impossible for any Wild Card
team to win three consecutive road playoff games to get to the Super Bowl,
the ultimate outcome isn't that affected. The NFL Playoffs are a
beautiful thing.
Tennessee at Baltimore - Baltimore is the ugly duckling of the AFC, the
Champion of the AFC weakest division, a winner mostly by virtue of defense
and a power running game. The Titans, meanwhile, are the unlucky ones to
win 12 games but be relegated to 5th-seed status by virtue of playing in
the same division as Indianapolis. The Titans are probably one of the
few teams that can also hang with Balitmore's perennially very good special
teams. While the Ravens should stop the Titans' running game, if Steve
McNair can get the passing game on-track against that rough defense,
Anthony Wright probably won't be able to keep up. Bottom line is that I
see a Jamal Lewis fumble costing the Ravens the game. Pick: TITANS
Dallas at Carolina - Speaking of ugly ducklings, this NFC matchup pits
together two teams that would probably have had a very hard time cutting it
in the AFC. Dallas beat Carolina in round one in Dallas, but the Cowboys
have been much worse on the road than at home this year, and Carolina's
defense has, if anything, gotten even better since then. Pick: PANTHERS
Seattle at Green Bay - These teams met much earlier this year with the
Packers just blowing away the Seahawks in their first of many road losses
this year. Since then, the Seahawks were eclipsed by the Rams and ended
up as the last wildcard in the NFC, while the Packers came alive behind
some inspired performances by Brett Favre following the loss of his
father.... which adds up to the Seahawks as the weekend's big underdogs.
But... unnoticed by some, the Seahawks have really come on in December,
losing a heartbreaker in overtime behind a terrible performance by the refs
and losing a heartbreaker in St. Louis after Bobby Engram tripped over a
referee who had fallen down on the field, and playing a very solid game in
San Francisco. Thus, as hard as it is for me to believe that the Packers
could lose two home playoff games in a row, Mike Holmgren should stick it
to his former team this time around. Pick: SEAHAWKS UPSET SPECIAL
Denver at Indianapolis - Two weeks ago, the Broncos absolutely dominated
the Colts in Indianapolis in every way possible, and last week the Broncos
essentially took a bye week by resting their major starters. Thus, the
stage appears perfectly set for us to be tortured another year of moronic
"Peyton Manning can't win a playoff game" commentary - but it is very hard
in this League to beat up on a team twice in their own stadium. Plus, I'm
still convinced that Indy's penetrating style of defense is a good matchip
against Denver's finesse running game - even thought they certainly didn't
show it the first time around. Still, I just see Peyton Manning rising
up in the biggest game in his life and giving Vanderjagt a chance to win it.
Pick: COLTS
JDG
_______________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,
it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03
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