Well after 17 weeks of football it is now time for the annual NFL tournament known as the playoffs, playoffs? playoffs? don't talk about, playoffs? Sorry, too many of those Jim Mora commercials have gotten to me.
We will start with Saturday's games, both rematches from Week 17. The Jets after being handed a victory by the Colts, put a whipping on the Bengals Sunday night. Of course they had more to play for and the Bengals 1,300 yard running back was rested but a dominant performance nonetheless. If the Jets can play a similar style game they should win easily. What I mean is have Sanchez throw the ball no more than 14 times and play solid defense. Both will be more difficult this time around as the Jets will travel to Cincy for what should be a wild crowd. Also look for the Bengals to stack the line with up to 9 guys to force Sanchez to throw the ball more. Jets defense may be without its leading tackler David Harris and that is a huge blow. Brad Smith may also be a little banged up but the Bengals will be more prepared for him this time around. If the game is close I do not think that Sanchez can go out and win it as a rookie on the road, the Jets have to hope that the Bengals defense does not show up for a second week in a row.
The Dallas/Philly game presents a very interesting matchup. I, like most people was shocked last week at the performance of the Eagles. Lots of mental errors and lack of execution really throttled them last week. Look for them to clean all that up this week. Dallas right now is riding high and have every reason to. They are clicking on all cylinders and have already beaten the Eagles twice. Eagles have too much speed and talent for them to lose to Dallas for a third time. Dallas' playoff losing streak continues and Wade Phillips is fired on Monday.
Most people are calling Dallas the hottest team heading into the playoffs right now but I feel that that title belongs to the Green Bay Packers. Aaron Rodgers and his offense are playing at such a high level with the offensive line much improved from the beginning of the season. That defense has been good all year and has been better lately with the play of Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews. Arizona is a one-dimensional team and Boldin is hurting right now. They made the run last year without him but I think that Woodson and a saftey can take Fitzgerald out of the game and the Cardinals have nothing else to lean on. Arizona's defense got mauled last week against Green Bay.
Last but not least is the Ravens visting the Patriots. Of course we start with the Wes Welker injury which came at such a bad time because it will keep him out of the playoffs this year and he may not be healthy until midway next year. Julian Edelman is of the same mold but I don't know if Brady has the same trust. Baltimore as always have a stout defense and this year their running game is stronger. Joe Flacco is no longer a rookie and should be able to make plays against a sub-par Patriot defense. This game will be the closest of all but Tom Brady and playing in New England gives the Pats the edge.
Early Super Bowl prediction: Chargers vs. Packers
Other notes:
The Giants made the right move in firing Bill Sheridan. Now Tom Coughlin cannot afford to make the same mistake again with Mike Shanahan now coaching the Redskins. I think that Dick Jauron would be best suited, maybe Romeo Crennel, and read that former Giants linebacker Pepper Johnson could be a candidate as well. The roster also needs to be cleaned up, McKenzie, Seubert, Moss, Robbins, Bernard, CC Brown, Michael Johnson, Danny Clark, and maybe Pierce should all be on their way out with others.
Mets made mistake signing Jason Bay. He will not be able to hold up for more than 2 full seasons in that ball park. You built a pitcher's park hence you need pitching, defense and speed. Jason Bay does not fill any of those needs, neither does Bengie Molina. Minaya should be gone before All-Star Break as the Mets will be fighting off the Nationals to stay out of last place with the Phillies, Braves, and Marlins all having better starting pitching and bullpens.
How bout the Knicks who continue to play well. If this team had PG like Nash or Kidd they would be right there with Atlanta and Miami battling a 4th seed in the East. The more I watch this team the more I think that they need to keep David Lee and acquire a pass-first playmaker. Gallinari is a year away from being a perrenial All-Star.
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