A normal man would throw in the towel by now. Final week's prediction nearly all going pear-shaped. Wrong on 3 out of 4 Wild Card Playoff Games. Why stop now? Perhaps Sports Amnesia can set an historic mark for wrong-headedness.
Analyse what?
I'm just going to root for the teams I hate least at this point and frankly, if I had my druthers we'd be seeing a Philly @ Carolina NFC Final and a Ravens @ Steelers AFC Final with an All-Pennsylvania Finale on the mark in conjunction with the Phillies' World Baseball title.
But just because I want it means it probably won't happen. In fact, bet on it not happening. Ideally what I should start doing is picking against my gut instincts, the opposite of whatever I think initially.
Briefly, that wildcard weekend was more shocking than anyone expected. Manning out in OT without a chance to even touch the ball before losing? Boo hoo. The Colts vauted O, buried as it was so deep in its territory so often, failed to do the business when it mattered most and hell, getting held to such a low score by the Chargers Defence is simply absurd. They didn't deserve to advance. Really. And now I am forced to wonder if Dungy retires whether or not all those big name coaches like Cowher and Shanahan and Holmgren would fall all over themselves to coach the Colts and Manning. That's coach integrity for you. Say one thing, do another. But I kind of doubt Dungy will retire on such a sour note.
Would serve everyone right to have the Dumpster Super Bowl; Cardinals v Chargers.
SATURDAY
RAVENS AT TITANS: i agree with anyone who thinks that these two toughest defences are going to shut down the running games of each other and leave the QBs and special teams to make the difference. What does that mean? Rookie against Has-Been-Revived Been?
Ravens D is slightly better at creating turnovers and give up slightly fewer TDs.
Who cares what happened in these previous matchups? This is going to be a slugfest just like the earlier 13-10 match this season, that's all you need to know.
Here's something hidden to root for: Kerry Collins gets knocked out and Vince Young nearly brings Titans back from big deficit to create a nice QB controversy for next season.
Factors: Ravens have momentum. Titans have more experience at head coach and QB.
Prediction: Ravens 17 Titans 16.
Please, please don't give these two a platform anymore...
CARDINALS AT PANTHERS: Ok, nearly the entire world wrote off the Cardinals D and the Jesus Freak QB and yet here they are, on the verge of the NFC Championship game.
Ideally, the two things to consider is Arizona's 0-5 record on the East Coast and getting absolutely rubbished in all of those games. Versus the Panthers' 8-0 record at home, which included a defeat of these very same Cardinals.
Of course, it all means nothing.
Offensively, it's Carolina's running game against Arizona's Jesus Attack. Defensively, a virtual toss-up bar the Cardinal propensity to surrender big passing TDs on the East coast.
Prediction: Panthers 23 Cardinals 17 in Overtime.
SUNDAYS GAMES
EAGLES AT GIANTS: A sure bloodbath. Two cities that hate each other, two defences that can put on some hurting, one defending World Champion the other one of the hottest teams in football. Of course the Colts proved being hot is meaningless in the scheme of the postseason apparently.
No Plax means Eli Manning has no deep threat, go-to-guy to rescue him in what is sure to be a smothering, blitzing Philly defence.
Nice ugly defensive game.
Early on, the Giants are rested but the Iggles can ride a hot McNabb much in the same way the Giants can ride a hot Jacobs on the run. If the Iggles can stop him and force Manning to win it, I say Manning has shot his wad. Maybe even his career wad with that game last season in the Super Bowl. Since he was benched midway through week 12, McNabb has thrown 10 touchdowns with two interceptions, and the Eagles are 5-1.
The Jints are not rolling into the postseason like last year. They're sort of sliding in on the heels of losing three of their last four.
The last time they slid into the playoffs was in 2006, when they lost six of their last eight and ended up losing a first-round game at Philadelphia, 23-20, on a last-second field goal. And that year they at least had a rousing, season-saving 34-28 win in Washington in Week 17.
They have never before lost three of their final four games before opening the playoffs.
This game is a pure toss up. I don't even think homefield advantage matters in this one. Let's not forget thought that the Iggles are only two weeks away from that abysmal performance against the Deadskins and are always a threat to bury themselves with their own mistakes.
Prediction: Iggles 20 Giants 10
CHARGERS AT STEELERS: Chargers are THE hot team going into this weekend but then again, the Steelers haven't played yet and they survived one of the most brutal schedules in the league.
Philip Rivers is 14-0 in December games and he is 3-2 in the postseason not to mention the fact he is at the top of his game at just the right time.
Again, the fact that the Chargers are playing like they should have been all season means this game is probably a toss up.
Dunno how Darren Sproles is going to do against the Steeler defence in the frigid air now that LD alleges he's probably not going to be able to go in a key playoff game for the second year running but this story on Sproles is fascinating or, at the very least, historical:
Well, no one can resist that sort of story, right? We all have a little bit of the scout in us, right? We all want to say we saw Springsteen before he got big, we caught Tom Hanks at a dinner theater, we bought a priceless painting from some street artist before she became famous. So I went to the game and watched a tiny little football player, who looked barely old enough to cross the street without holding hands, play on a high school football field under spotty lights. I saw him disappear and reappear. I saw him split in two and then split in two again. I saw him fly and stretch like a rubber band and transform himself into different shapes. He was remarkable.
I'm certainly going to be rooting for him.
Whilst the Steeler defence is notably difficult to overcome, the Chargers defence has been transformed under Ron Rivera, who took over for the fired Ted Cottrell. James Harrison, Defensive Player of the Year, leads the Steelers. Two brutal defences and I'm going to go out on a limb and state that given two great QBs and two great defences, the winner of this game is going to get to the Super Bowl.
Prediction: Steelers 23 Chargers 20.
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