2008 NFL Divisional Playoffs Review

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

I know it’s 2009 but this is the 2008 NFL Football Season so that is what I am calling the playoffs.

General Observations

If someone told me four weeks ago we would be seeing the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship I would have them committed to an insane asylum.

Defense and turnovers win championships and that is certainly what happened in this weekends’ playoff matchups. The Ravens, Cardinals, Eagles, and Steelers all played great defense and generated turnovers that ultimately lead to their taking the next step in the playoffs and a right to play for an entry into Super Bowl XLIII.

Now putting my New England Patriots’ hat on for a moment, I am thrilled we won’t be seeing a Manning in the Super Bowl. I don’t really root for any teams in the playoffs when the Patriots don’t make it I just root against the teams I least want to see in the Super Bowl. The Chargers and Eagles get kudos for knocking off the two teams I least wanted to see.

I still find it a bit whacky to see the Eagles and Cardinals in the NFC Championship game. The Eagles looked awful for a long stretch this year and only made the playoffs because the circus act in Dallas imploded. And the Cardinals? They didn’t look like they could win a game on the road or run the ball late in the season. They’ve done both in these playoffs.

 

Baltimore Ravens over Tennessee Titans, 13-10

This was a game dominated by the defenses. Three turnovers by Titans, two in scoring position, were the difference in this game. I won’t say the Titans outplayed the Ravens because the Ravens earned their turnovers, but if the Titans had scored even field goals instead of giving the ball back to the Ravens, the outcome would likely have been different. After two touchdowns in the first quarter, there wasn’t another score until the fourth quarter.

Both defensive lines played phenomenal games. Unlike their last meeting, Tennessee’s defensive front throttled the Ravens running game. The Ravens did give up a good chunk of running yards in the first half, but two turnovers thwarted Tennessee’s scoring opportunities. Tennessee was badly hampered when their best offensive player, running back Chris Johnson, was injured in the second quarter and never returned to the game. Tennessee also clearly missed Kevin Mawae at center. Haolti Ngata got great penetration most of the game, particularly in the first and fourth quarters.

Probably the most damaging blow to Tennessee, other than injuries, was an interception by Kerry Collins in the second quarter around the Baltimore 32 yard line after having driven from their 1 yard line. That seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game.

For Tennessee this was a huge blow after the great season they had and having home field advantage throughout the playoffs. After blowing out the Steelers at home late in the season I really thought we would be seeing them in the Super Bowl. They certainly looked like Super Bowl contenders. But it wasn’t to be.

MVP: Ray Lewis, LB, Baltimore Ravens

Arizona Cardinals over Carolina Panthers, 33-13

I was stunned by this game. After seeing the Cardinals get blown out by the Jets, Eagles, and Patriots and losing badly at home to Giants, I did not believe they could beat the Panthers in Carolina. Of course six turnovers, 5 interceptions and a fumble by quarterback Jake Delhomme, was the difference in the game.

But the Cardinals offense didn’t rest on their heels. They once again established a running game to ago along with their passing attack and turned those turnovers into points. Larry Fitzgerald had another stellar game with 8 catches for 166 yards and a touchdown. And the defense, like last week, did a great job shutting down the running attack.

The Cardinals have played like a legitimate playoff team and if they continue to perform at this level and do not revert back to their late season swoon, the sky is the limit for this team. It just depends on which team shows up.

MVP: Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals

Philadelphia Eagles over New York Giants, 23-11

I don’t know if it was the wind or not but neither Eli Manning nor Donovan McNabb had a particularly good day. Both were mostly inaccurate with their passes and neither team really established much on offense. The Giants were able to run the ball at times but their inability to do much in the passing game really hurt them. The offenses and the quarterbacks looked average not like to teams meeting in the playoffs.

The defenses did play well and this game came down to turnovers and defense. The Eagles’ defense played just a little better than the Giants’ and McNabb played just a little better than Eli and made a few good throws when the Eagles really needed it. To me the key play in the game was Asante Samuels interception of Eli Manning in the first quarter, giving the Eagles the ball near the goal line and an easy touchdown. Even though it was early in the game and only a 7-3 lead, scores were hard to come by and this gave the Eagles a leg up. Also impressive were two fourth down stops by the Eagles in the fourth quarter.

MVP: Brodrick Bunkley, DT, Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers over San Diego Chargers, 35-24

The Pittsburgh Steelers, leading 14-10 at halftime, controlled the ball nearly the entire third quarter going up 21-10. They just wore out the Chargers defense and the game was all but over after that. The Chargers did a good job of putting up a few scores late in the game but the Steelers were playing loose on defense just chewing up the clock.

This was an extremely impressive effort by the Steelers offensive line. Their defense also played extremely well, holding Darren Sproles, last week’s superstar, to only 15 yards rushing. Most of San Diego’s offensive output came in the fourth quarter when the Steelers were mostly playing prevent defense and the Chargers were scrambling to catch up.

Running back Willie Parker ended up with 146 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, while Big Ben had an efficient, mistake free afternoon at quarterback. He did miss a few deep throws down the field, but he hit a few as well, including one that ended up netting a touchdown after a pass interference call in the end zone.

If the Steelers can continue to play lights out defense, run the ball well, while Ben makes plays with his arm down the field, they will be tough to beat. But they face a nasty defensive team in the Ravens next week, which will be another slugfest.

MVP: Willie Parker, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

 

Offensive Player of the Week: Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals
Defensive Player of the Week: Ray Lewis, LB, Baltimore Ravens
Offensive Lineman of the Week: Jeff Hartwig, C, Pittsburgh Steelers
Special Teams Player of the Week: Santonio Holmes, KR, Pittsburgh Steelers

Playoff Predictions Divisional Round

Will Ed Reed lead his team to victory again? From the AP.

I took my time this week to get my picks in.  Time for heavy thought and deep contemplation of each teams strengths and weaknesses.  I compared rosters and intangibles.  Then I remembered who I was and threw that out the window and decided to just wing it like I usually do.  This week I shan’t be taking all road teams, lesson learned.  Thanks for reminding everyone that you’re a rookie, Matt Ryan, after weeks of fooling the masses.  Thanks to the football gods for having Indy lose the coin flip in OT.  Something really must be done about the overtime system, I get not why the league continues to balk at tinkering with that one.  Oh well, those picks were my bad and I own up to them.  On to the picks!

Baltimore over Tennessee: I’ll be honest, I have no idea how this game is gonna go.  It’s probably going to be one of those 6-3 games and whomever has the ball last will win.  It’ll be a slugfest and a lot of fun to watch if you like defense, as I do.  I’m going to presume that Ed Reed will get at least one interception that helps turn the game, since it appears that he does this weekly these days.  Tenn wasn’t playing their best football down the road and we’ll see if their time off has helped them to right the ship or not.  I’m going with Baltimore because they impressed me last week.  Now watch Flacco remember that he’s a rookie and cost them the game.

Carolina over Arizona: I would LOVE to get this pick wrong.  Arizona rose up and made me pay for picking against them last week, so maybe this week I can inspire them to overcome their road woes to defeat Carolina.  They did play them earlier in the year and jumped out to a big lead on them but then gave up said big lead and lost in a heartbreaker.  These things seem to happen with Carolina for some reason.  You can never say that they’re done in a game and you can’t trust them not to lose one they should win either.  I hate Carolina.  But, as long as they’re smart and keep Delhomme from throwing too many passes they’ll be okay.  He is the one liability they have, the one guy that can foul up and cost them a game when it matters most.  So, Zona, get after him and try to cover Steve Smith and you have a hope and a prayer.  Just a small one though.  Carolina, big.

NY Giants over Philly: This game will be fun to watch, divisional opponents, don’t like each other, tons of history, etc.  And everyone is pointing out that Philly beat the Giants in NY a few weeks ago, which is quite true.  Of course, at the time NY was reeling from the Plaxico “have gun, say hi to the thigh” situation that happened shortly before.  Losing Plax has hurt the Giants, they don’t have a WR that stretches the field the way he did.  But they do have Brandon Jacobs back and healthy, which makes a big difference.  Philly did what they had to against Minny but Minny is not the Giants.  I think it’ll be a close slugfest of a game but that Eli will pull it out over McNabb.

Pittsburgh over San Diego: I’m very torn on this game and I nearly went the other way, but I really like Pittsburgh’s defense more than any other group in this game.  Pitt’s offense is alright, Ben is coming off his concussion and we all know he can throw a stupid ball or five in every single game.  San Diego’s defense is nothing to write home about and their offense is better than they were earlier in the year but Pitt’s D will key on Sproles and challenge Rivers and his receivers to beat them.  Gates is still awesome but banged up as usual and the rest of the WRs have their moment but aren’t worldbeaters.  I prefer Hines Ward to any of them any day.  I think Pitt wins via the turnover.

So that’s what I see happening this week.  We”ll see if we can improve on our 2-2 performance at the very least.  I’ll be back next week but til then, enjoy the games.  Football season is quickly drawing to a close and we’ll all be missing it very soon.

2008 NFL Divisional Playoff Predictions

 

AP Photo

Tennessee Titans over Baltimore Ravens

Everyone seems to have jumped on the Ravens bandwagon since their throttling of the Miami Dolphins last weekend in the Wildcard game. And that is understandable. The Ravens have the toughest, meanest, ball hawkingest defense other than Pittsburgh. They also, finally, have a quarterback that can actually get the offense moving and score some points.

Earlier this year the Ravens lost a close game to the Titans, 13-10. They should have won that game. Here is what I said after that game:

[The Ravens] basically outplayed the Titans for the most part and got robbed on a terrible roughing the passer call on Terrell Suggs near the end of the game that gave Tennessee the opportunity to kick the winning field goal. That awful call and a missed field goal by Matt Stover at the end of the first half basically were the difference in the game. . . The Ravens offensive line also did a good job of not letting the stellar defensive line of the Titans dominate the game. In fact, the Titans defensive ends were mostly a non-factor. Ray Lewis is playing like he did a few years ago. He seems to have found a fountain of youth somewhere. The Ravens defense is tremendous. While this team may be 2-2, I think they will improve over the year. Their biggest weakness is their banged up running backs, no true number one receiver, a banged up Todd Heap, and a rookie quarterback. Their defense will have to make up for their offensive weakness the rest of the year.

So the question is, with the Titans having a banged up defense and center Kevin Mawae possibly out, why in the world am I picking the Titans to win this game? The answer is I don’t really know other than a gut feeling that being at home, with an experienced quarterback, and two solid running backs, should give the Titans a slight edge. The way they dismantled the Pittsburgh Steelers at home late in the season also factors into my thinking. The Titans have some depth at defense themselves and a solid, if bland, offense.

This should be a competitive, closely contested game. The Ravens have an underrated offensive line and their defense could take them to the Super Bowl. If Mawae is out that could be a monster blow the Titans as DT Haloti Ngata is a beast. But I think the Titans will edge the Ravens out at home.

Carolina Panthers over Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals play awful on the road and they face a tougher defense than they did last week. I just don’t see the Cardinals duplicating last week’s effort against the Panthers. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get blown out. But the Cardinals shouldn’t be counted for dead. Even with Anquan Boldin out, if their defense steps up to the plate and they actually try to run the ball a bit, they might cover the spread.

New York Giants over Philadelphia Eagles

New York is not going to lose the Eagles at home. The Eagles barely beat Minnesota last week and they are not nearly as good as the Giants. I see McNabb throwing up a few picks and the Giants winning this one in a blowout.

Pittsburgh Steelers over San Diego Chargers

This is certainly an interesting rematch and it could very well turn into another defensive slugfest like the Steelers 11-10 win earlier in the season. This should be a close competitive game, but if Big Ben doesn’t make the Big Mistakes by holding on to the ball too long and taking sacks, I expect a repeat of the last game with the Steelers scoring a few more points for a close win.

2008 NFL Wildcard Weekend Review

NFL.com

Arizona Cardinals over Atlanta Falcons, 30-24
The matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons was one I looked forward too since these teams have not been in the playoffs recently and both have rather interesting storylines this season. Both teams looked like they belonged in the playoffs and played a hard fought, entertaining game.

Arizona played poorly the last month of the season but they have been good at home this year so going into the game I gave them the edge against a young team with a rookie quarterback. The Cardinals did exactly what I thought they needed to do to win the game. They established at least a semblance of a running game, which helped keep the pressure off Kurt Warner so the offense could move the ball. They abandoned the run in the middle of the game, but as soon as they went back to it in the fourth quarter they once again had better production on offense.

This game, however, came down to what most playoff games come down to – turnovers. Matt Ryan threw two interceptions, which hurt. But the biggest play of the game was when DT Darnell Dockett burst into the backfield causing a fumble on the handoff between Matt Ryan and Michael Turner, which Antrel Rolle returned for a touchdown. Add to that two big offensive plays on passes to Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in the first half, and a safety late in the fourth quarter, and that it was it for the Falcons.

Despite the prolific offense the Cardinals won this game on defense. The defensive line did a great job of bottling up Michael Turner and constantly seemed to be playing in the Falcons backfield. As the commentator noted at one point, it was almost as if the Cardinals defense knew the snap count. But the Falcons offensive line really let them down.

For the Cardinals the key to the game offensively, as noted earlier, was running the ball just enough to keep the defense honest. And a round of applause for Cardinal left tackle Mike Gandy for controlling Pro Bowl defensive end John Abraham for much of the game.

Despite this nice win in the playoffs, I fear the Cardinals are in for a rude awakening when they travel to Carolina. They have played awful on the road this year and they are facing one of the four best teams in football.

MVP: Darnell Dockett, DT, Arizona Cardinals

 

San Diego Chargers over Indianapolis Colts, 23-17 OT

I had a feeling the Chargers would come out of this game with a win, even though I picked the Colts after hearing LaDanian Tomlinson and possibly Antonio Gates would be unable to play. The Chargers proved they belong in the playoffs despite their 8-8 record with a gutsy performance against the Colts. They mostly outplayed the Colts but two costly turnovers almost cost them the game: one when Darren Sproles fumbled the ball out of the end zone at the one yard line taking away an almost definite touchdown, and an interception in the end zone by Philip Rivers.

Despite his fumble, Sproles had an outstanding game replacing LaDanian Tomlinson. In fact, he recorded the third highest total yardage (rushing, receiving, and returns) in NFL postseason history with 328 all-purpose yards. Frankly, though, it was the phenomenal punting by Mike Scifres that was the difference in the game. He continually boomed punts and pinned the Colts back near their goal line, leaving them a very long field to traverse for a score.

I would not call this game a choke by the Colts, even though they tend to do so in the postseason. I didn’t think Manning played a great game, especially when he was out of the pocket. But the Colts inability to establish a running game and very solid coverage of the Colts’ receivers put Manning in very tough spots. And this may be one of the least effective games I’ve seen Colts center Jeff Saturday play. He struggled against DT Jamal Williams. The Colts eventually started double teaming Williams to get the ground game going.

As well as the Chargers played against the Colts, Pittsburgh’s defense is not the Colts defense. I see the Chargers limping out of Pittsburgh licking their wounds worse than they did last time they played.

MVP: Darren Sproles, RB/KR, San Diego Chargers

 

Baltimore Ravens over Miami Dolphins, 27-9

Five turnovers, including an Ed Reed interception return for a touchdown. I really could end the game summary right there because that is it.

Going into this game I thought the Ravens defense would ravage the Dolphins and they did. Haloti Ngata, Ray Lewis, and Ed Reed had their way with the Dolphins and Chad Pennington played a terrible game.

On the flip side, while they played reasonably well, the Ravens offense didn’t do much to help the cause. But they did enough to come out with a win.

Next up are the Tennessee Titans who the Ravens played very well in Baltimore earlier this year, and could have won the game but for a bad face mask call against Terrell Suggs. This time the matchup is in Tennessee and it should be quite interesting.

MVP: Ed Reed, FS, Baltimore Ravens

 

Philadelphia Eagles over Minnesota Vikings, 26-14

Of the Wildcard games this one was the least satisfying. I felt like I was watching a regular season game between two mediocre teams — at least on the offensive side of the ball.

The key difference in this game is Tarvaris Jackson just is not a good quarterback. His interception in the second quarter that Asante Samuel ran back for a touchdown really proved to be the difference in a close game.

Despite his 300 yards passing, I wasn’t too impressed with Donovan McNabb either. He did just enough to get the win, with a lot of help from his defense.

Both the defenses actually played fairly well, but they gave up big plays as well. The Eagles bottled up Adrian Peterson except for a 40 yard run in the second quarter for a touchdown and a 7-6 lead. But otherwise “All Day” was just “One Play” against the Eagles. Of course it didn’t take long for Tarvaris Jackson to chunk up his pick six to Samuels to squander the lead.

The Vikings also bottled up the Eagles Brian Westbrook most of the day. But he is not a player you bottle up for long. He broke off a 71-yard run after catch for a touchdown to make a slim 16-14 lead early in the fourth quarter a 23-14 lead. And that was the game.

I was actually rooting for the Vikings for no particular reason and thought, just maybe, they could pull it out. But with Jackson at quarterback, playing from behind, the Vikings were all but doomed.

No, I don’t think the Eagles will beat the Giants next week. But I hope they do. One Manning down, one to go.

MVP: Michael Westbrook, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

 

Offensive Player of the Week: Darren Sproles, RB/KR, San Diego Chargers
Defensive Player of the Week: Ed Reed, FS, Baltimore Ravens
Offensive Lineman of the Week: Mike Gandy, LT, Arizona Cardinals
Special Teams Player of the Week: Mike Scifres, P, San Diego Chargers

Doug Baker’s 2008 NFL Awards

NFL.com

Instead of having separate articles on my award winners for this year I thought I’d put them in one in article. So here goes for the definitive 2008 NFL Awards.

NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year:
Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings

Adrian Peterson led the league in rushing with 1,760 yards and single handedly saved the Vikings in a few games this season. Without Peterson the Vikings are not in the playoffs and are at best an average team on offense. The necessity of focusing on Peterson in the running game allows the average quarterbacks of the Vikings to have some success in the passing game. And even when defenses do focus on Peterson he still gashes teams in the running game. He has been the most impressive and consistent offensive performer this year.

I know that Peyton Manning won the NFL MVP Award this year, and I think he is deserving of it. For me it was almost a coin flip between these players for the MVP Award but I lean toward Peterson because he has been more consistently good all season long.

I don’t always necessarily give the NFL MVP Award and the Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year Award to the same person but this year I am.

Other nominees for NFL MVP were:

Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis Colts
Matt Cassel, QB, New England Patriots
Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee Titans
Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons
Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
Kurt Warner, QB, Arizona Cardinals

Defensive Player of the Year: James Harrison, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers

James Harrison has been a one man wrecking crew at linebacker for the #1 defense in the league, the Pittsburgh Steelers. He makes the entire defense better, which is scary when you consider the Steelers also have the best strong safety in the league in Troy Polamalu. Ed Reed comes in a close second.

Other nominees included:

Ed Reed, FS, Baltimore Ravens
Kris Jenkins, DT, New York Jets
Albert Haynesworth, DT, Tennessee Titans
Justin Tuck, DE, New York Giants
Antoine Winfield, CB, Minnesota Vikings
John Abraham, DE, Atlanta Falcons
DeMarcus Ware, LB, Dallas Cowboys
Troy Polamalu, SS, Pittsburgh Steelers

Offensive Rookie of the Year:
Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons

There are numerous excellent rookie running backs this year, with Tennessee’s Chris Johnson and Chicago’s Matt Forte standing out. And of course you also have the excellent rookie QB for Baltimore, Joe Flacco. The crop of offensive rookie players this year is outstanding and choosing just one for Offensive Rookie of the Year is very difficult.

I am going with Matt Ryan because he came to a team in complete and total disarray and helped turn the franchise around with his solid play at QB and cool demeanor. The quarterback position in the modern NFL is clearly the most important position on the field. Any team, but especially a young team in disarray like the Falcons, needs a solid building block at quarterback. Ryan has provided that building block, along with RB Michael Turner and WR Roddy White. And let’s not forget first year head coach Mike Smith.

Other nominees included:

Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee Titans
Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore Ravens
Ryan Clady, LT, Denver Broncos
Matt Forte, RB, Chicago Bears
Eddie Royal, WR, Denver Broncos

Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Jerrod Mayo, LB, New England Patriots

If there was a bright spot on the defensive side of the ball this year for the New England Patriots it was the play of Jerrod Mayo at linebacker. I doubt Bill Belichick has ever started a rookie linebacker as head coach, usually preferring veterans. Mayo was nearly the unanimous choice for Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press, which doesn’t sway my opinion, but gives you an idea of how highly regarded he is around the league.

Other nominees included:

Keith Rivers, LB, Cincinnati Bengals
Chris Horton, FS, Washington Redskins

Coach of the Year: Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons.

Mike Smith turned a seemingly moribund, dysfunctional franchise around with the help of outstanding rookie QB Matt Ryan, RB Michael Turner, and a stout defense. Smith had a huge task ahead of him with he took over the Falcons in the wake of the Michael Vick disaster and the cowardly actions of last year’s coach, Bobby Petrino. He had to make the players believe in him and themselves to turn this franchise around. And the Falcons did turn it around and the future looks bright instead of bleak.

Other nominees included:

John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens. Another rookie coach with a rookie QB, Joe Flacco turned a losing team into a winner
Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans. The gutsy move to bench Vince Young in favor of Kerry Collins and getting a home field advantage throughout the playoffs should give Fisher consideration for the award.
Tony Soprano, Miami Dolphins. Soprano and his boss, Bill Parcells, engineered a remarkable turnaround by the Dolphins this year.
Bill Belichick, New England Patriots. Belichick took an injury ravaged team to an 11-5 record, just missing the playoffs. Most teams would have folded given the injuries they suffered this year.

Comeback Player of the Year: Chad Pennington, QB, Miami Dolphins

To me there really isn’t a “comeback” player of the year. Usually this goes to a player who has been injured and comes back and plays well, like Garrison Hearst (broken ankle), or a Tedy Bruschi (stroke). But if there is a comeback player of the year it’s Chad Pennington. He’s overcome shoulder problems, questions about his arm strength, and being jettisoned by the Jets to lead the Dolphins in one of the most amazing turnaround in NFL history, going from 1-15 to 11-5 and AFC East Champions.

Biggest Disappointment of the Year: Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns were supposed to be an offensive juggernaut this year with Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow, Jr. and Jamal Lewis. Instead, Anderson played terribly at quarterback. Edwards seemingly dropped every pass that came his way. Winslow got hurt and became a distraction to the team with his usual whining and complaining. The only staple on the offense was Lewis. As a result, head coach Romeo Crennel is fired.

The second place finish for this award was the New Orleans Saints. Drew Brees had a great year but the team didn’t win many games.

Trend of the Year: The “Wildcat Formation”

Almost every year some type of trend emerges in the NFL. Some trends stick around for a while, like using two running backs instead of one to carry rushing workload. Others pass away quietly, like the run and shoot offense. This year Miami lined up running back Ronnie Brown at QB and used him as dual threat to run or pass, and they used it to great effectiveness early in the season. Given this is a copycat league, of course other teams followed suit with their own variations, some more successfully than others. It’s not really that novel of a concept. Pittsburgh used to run similar offensive sets with backup quarterback Kordell Stewart to capitalize on his speed and quickness.

It appears that defenses mostly caught up to this scheme by the end of the year. I still think teams will run this offense in the future, but maybe not quite as often as the Dolphins did this year.

2008 NFL Football Season: Wildcard Weekend Predictions

 I thought I’d put up my predictions for this weekend’s games in a brief post before the games start.

Arizona over Atlanta

I know Atlanta is favored and over the past few weeks have played much better football than Arizona. Atlanta has a better running game in Michael Turner and their defense has been playing quite well. But I have a gut feeling that Arizona’s offense will match up well against Atlanta and their defense will do just enough for Arizona to come out of the game with a win. The key for Arizona will be to control the pass rush and for Warner to avoid turnovers and establish enough of a running game to keep the Atlanta defense honest.

Indianapolis over San Diego

This is always and interesting matchup and a close game when these two teams collide. I kind of leaned toward a San Diego upset because they have a tendency to play very well against the Colts and they are at home. But with the news that LaDanian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates are both injured and questionable, that’s too much to overcome.

Baltimore over Miami

I think Baltimore’s defense is going to steamroll the Dolphins, or squish the fish. The Ravens’ defense has been dominant this year and have really come on the past quarter of the season. Now that the Ravens have a real quarterback and three solid running backs to control the ball on offense, I think they have the potential to get to the Super Bowl.

Minnesota over Philadelphia

This is going to be another unpopular pick but like the Arizona-Atlanta game, my gut feeling is that the Eagles and McNabb choke, and not, surprisingly, Tarvaris Jackson, who I don’t like as a starting quarterback in the NFL. If Peterson isn’t too banged up and the running game gets established the Vikings should be able to pull out at win at home.

Playoff Predictions & Awards

Brett the Jet left his team upset! Photo from the AP

I guess it’s time to focus on the NFL playoffs, seems like it’s been weeks since I thought about the NFL, but it’s only been a few days.  I guess that’s what happens when you live blog college football for hours on end!  But I’m still in love with the NFL, even if my moron team managed to choke their opportunity to participate in them away.  I’ll start with predictions for this week and then bestow some special awards in celebration of the 2008 season after that.

Wow, we’ll work through this together but I honestly think I might be taking all road teams in the playoffs.  This frightens me more than I can say, but let’s see how it works out, maybe I will talk myself out of somebody.

Atlanta over Arizona: I’m sorry but the Cardinals have not shown me anything to inspire me to consider picking them to win a playoff game, whether they’re at home or not.  They’ve lost to just about every quality team they played; Dallas excepted but I could argue about the “quality” of that team anyway.  Atlanta is a darn good team, much better than I gave them credit for most of the year.  Matt Ryan was the deserving rookie of the year and he might well get some votes for MVP, I couldn’t argue against those who did vote for him.  I expect a heavy dose of Michael Turner to wear down the Arizona defense, such as it is.  If Warner makes mistakes, as he’s prone to do, Arizona is done.

Indianapolis over San Diego: The only team hotter than the Chargers in recent weeks was Indy.  It’s like they came out of nowhere and Manning remembered he was Manning and the rest of the league just laid down before them.  The team that looked old and lost suddenly wasn’t anymore.  Amazing what a franchise QB can do for you, huh?  As to the Chargers, they’ve been impressive in recent weeks but their defense still gives up way too many points for my taste.  I look to Manning to carve them up and waltz out of SD with a victory.

Baltimore over Miami: Yes, this pick scares me.  But Baltimore dominated Miami early in the year and they’re playing just as well as Miami is.  The Dolphins have made me pay for picking against them every time, so I have no confidence in this pick, I just like what I’ve seen out of Flacco (some may remember that I wanted him to be a Buc, sob!).  Pennington and the Fins are a great story but my gut tells me the end is here.  Ugh…I know they’ll prove me wrong!  Oh well, good luck Miami, perhaps I have brought it to you by not believing.

Philadelphia over Minnesota: After I watched Philly destroy Dallas last week, I knew there was no way on earth I was going to pick against them in round one of the playoffs.  They got a favorable match up against Minny too, I don’t see Tavaris Jackson fairing any better against that blitzing D than Romo did.  McNabb seems to be playing with new fire as well, no reason not to think that won’t carry over for another week.  Things get different when Carolina and the Giants hit the mix next week, but for now I say Philly wins, easily.

So that’s where I see the playoffs going this week.  All road wins.  I am royally frightened, but at least I’m taking chances right?  Sure…why not?  Okay, on to the special awards I wanted to highlight.

Worst Performance By A Backup: Tie between the immortal Sage Rosenfels vs. Indy and JP Losman against the Jets.  Both killed their teams with untimely turnovers and ultimately set the playoff stage down the road by sending Indy on it’s winning streak and costing the Pats a playoff spot down the road.  Way to go Sage & JP, you did make an impact on the NFL this season!

Best Performance By a Backup: Kerry Collins, Tennessee.  He took over the team and led them to the #1 seed in the playoffs.  You really can’t ask for more than that.

Worst Drama: The Brett Favre Saga Part 1, retiring, unretiring, trade rumors and finally ending up on the Jets.  I don’t think I went one day without hearing his name for a few months over the spring/summer.  It was insane and annoying and I’m already bracing myself for this year’s version.

Best Drama: The Brett Favre Saga Part 2!  This one hit yesterday, starting the year off on the hilarious note that the Jets players felt he should have been benched in their final game and that he held himself separate from the team all year.  Doesn’t sound like Brett has any friends in that locker room!  That makes Part 3 of the Sage, retire or return?, all the more compelling.  Will Brett want to return to a team that doesn’t want him?  Will we have yet another trade watch?  For once I am actually intrigued by Brett’s off season doings.

Best Suspension: Adam “Pacman” Jones  I love the new commish and his heavy handed approach to things.  The fact that Adam was dumb enough to get drunk and get in a fight when he knew he was being watched like a hawk, well it shouldn’t surprise me but it did.

Biggest Collapse: So many to choose from but I’ll bestow this one upon my Bucs.  They just needed one win in their last 4 games and they’d have been playoff bound, but no, couldn’t be bothered to do that.  Kiffin’s departure, once a sign of doom to me, is now nothing but a shrug the way that defense played in those games.  I don’t know what happened but I do know I didn’t like it.

Most Disappointing Team: This one kinda has to go to Dallas doesn’t it?  I mean, I know I predicted them to go to the Super Bowl and I was sure not alone.   Maybe instead of acquiring all stars Jerry Jones will work on forming an actual team, instead of a bunch of individual jerks?  Eh, maybe not.  Oh well, he can continue to not win then!

Best Moment: 0-16 baby!!!  I know, other people would pick out some wonderful moment, but for me, it was seeing history made.  I couldn’t love Detroit and Marinelli and Millen more if I tried.  Thank you for giving me a little history!

MVP: Gotta go with Peyton Manning here.  He took a team that was pretty much left for dead and drove them all the way to the playoffs.  I gotta think that nobody really wants to play them either.  Honorable mention to Adrian Peterson and Matt Ryan here as well.

LVP: How can you have an MVP without celebrating a least valuable player?  After much thought, and a little help from Crunk, I decided to bestow this award on David Gerrard.  The Jags were supposed to be a major postseason player but they floundered all year.  Gerrard got his big contract and failed to produce at all.  He did have a lot of injuries on O-line to contend with but the Jags should still have been better than they were.

Best Hands: Braylon Edwards.  Every time I saw that guy, he was dropping something.  Then he got snippy and claimed that Cleveland fans didn’t like him since he was from Michigan.  Um, they liked you fine when you were earning your way into the Pro Bowl last year by actually catching the ball, jackass.

Best Benching: Has any team benefited more by losing their starting QB than Tennessee has?  Vince Young losing his mind, or whatever it was he did, led to Tenn turning to Kerry Collins and earning the #1 seed in the playoffs.  It really doesn’t get much better than that…it’s like Bledsoe to Brady without the injury.  Plus we all got to watch Vince on the sidelines and wonder if he was going to do anything crazy.  It was a win win situation.

And finally, it’s time to name my Douchetard of the Year Award.  He’s been prominent on this listing, and I spoiled it in another blog, but the DT of the Year is Brett Favre.  For holding us hostage with his will he or won’t he? retirement; to unretiring; to orchestrating a trade to the Jets; to losing several games down the stretch and missing the playoffs; to the locker room drama that is just emerging…Brett Favre is the most deserving player by far.  The drama that swirls around this guy is just astounding to me, and as I said earlier, we’re not done yet.  I would hope that it would drive him to retirement but then we’ll still be watching for the unretirement, so why bother?  Brett Favre, congratulations, you are my first ever DoucheTard of the Year award.  Keep it up and this award will bear your name for all future winners to admire and enjoy!

Well that’s my look at the playoffs and my look at the year that was.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did and look forward to whatever 2009 brings!