Tuesday, January 5

2009 NFL Playoffs

2009 NFL Playoffs:

It’s that time of year again. The NFL Playoffs are back and for the first time in a while there is no clear-cut favorite to win it all.

Let’s recap the regular season.

The top seeds in the AFC and NFC got off to a combined 27-0 start only to stumble to a combined 1-5 finish. The Colts look a little better than the Saints do because at least the Colts rested their players in their two losses, where the Saints lost at home to a good team in the Cowboys in a great Saturday Night Matchup, but then put up two stinkers versus Tampa Bay who had 3 wins all season and Carolina who was playing without their top wide receiver.

In the AFC the Chargers, Patriots, Bengals, Jets, and Ravens round out the playoff teams. The Chargers finished strong with a 13-3 record while winning their final 11 games, which earns them a first round bye.

Next the Patriots stumbled into the playoffs with a 10-6 record and with a HUGE loss in Wes Welker who, according to reports, has a torn ACL/MCL http://tinyurl.com/welkerhurt they have a had a very Un-Patriot like season, showing that they cannot beat a good team on the road. They also showed their lack of defensive prowess, which has catapulted them into the playoffs and the Super Bowl in previous years.

The fourth seed in the AFC is Cincinnati. They too have had a very turbulent season suffering deaths to a member of their coaching staff and Chris Henry. These tragic losses have derailed what looked like a promising season with Carson Palmer returning to his old self and having a great season.

The Wild Card teams are the Jets and the Ravens who are linked through coaching. Rex Ryan, the rookie head coach for the Jets lead the Ravens to a 2008 AFC Championship game loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Steelers. The Jets are ranked first in overall defense, while the Ravens struggled on the defensive side of the ball this year, while playing better on offense. Joe Flacco has emerged a very solid young QB in this league.

After the Saints, the remaining NFL Playoff teams are Minnesota, Dallas, Arizona, Green Bay, and Philly. Minnesota wrapped up the two seed and a First round bye despite Brett Favre’s best efforts to blow the season in a similar fashion to last year with the Jets. They lost 3 of 4 games in December only to have a punishing win over a Giants team that wanted to hit the Links early.

Dallas is the “IT” team of the NFC now. After knocking off the then undefeated Saints they put up back to back shutouts on the Redskins and the Eagles, whom they happen to matchup with for the third time this season in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Cowboys are known for a team that struggles in December and a team that can’t handle a snap for a game-tying extra point in the playoffs. Is this the year they finally shake those demons? You’ll have to wait until I get into my predictions.

The Cardinals had a strong season winning a lot of tough matchups on the road. While also losing a few close ones that should have went their way. They have a solid offense and defense. The Cardinals are also the defending NFC Champions so they are battle tested and know how to win in January.

The Wild Card teams are the Packers and the Eagles. The Eagles were playing for the an NFC East Championship, a #2 seed, and a first round and yet they were spanked by Dallas in the final week of the season. That could be a crushing blow to their title hopes. While the Packers were playing for nothing against the Cardinals who were also playing for nothing and beat the Cardinals, does that prove anything? I don’t think so.

Wild Card Weekend:

AFC:

Jets v. Bengals:

The playoffs start with a rematch of the final game of the 2009 regular season. The Jets whooped the Bengals tuchases 37-0. Now the Bengals technically had something to play for, (had they won the game they would have been the 3 seed and hosted the Houston Texans, and then gone to SD for a round 2 matchup) but if they favored a rematch with Jets in round 1 and then travelling to Indy for a round 2 game, they would have just played the game without showing anything to the Jets. Meanwhile the Jets needed to win in order to make the playoffs. In this rematch I like the idea that Cincy didn’t want to show the Jets anything where the Jets showed the Bengals a lot. Everyone is aware of Darrell Revis and his shutdown corner ability. He will be lined up across Chad Ochocinco who was held without a catch this past Sunday. The Bengals however will not go this game without getting the ball to Ochocinco. He will be able to get a few receptions. The way the Jets can be beat is by the Bengals running crossing routes with Laveranues Coles and their tight ends. Cincinnati can set up their passing game with their running game of Cedric Benson, who had over 1200 yards rushing. The Jets on the other hand have the #1 overall defense and looked very strong in that final matchup with the Bengals. However, they are starting a rookie QB who, despite what the media pundits would like you to believe, is not a superstar. He’s had some very weak games. I see him throwing a costly pick and the Bengals being able to move the ball effectively on the ground and pick up a victory. Bengals 20 Jets 14.

Ravens v. Patriots:

In the early game on Sunday the Ravens come to Foxboro for a rematch of a week 4 meeting in which the Patriots prevailed 27-21. In that game the Patriots were held to 85 yards on the ground and only 258 through the air. The Ravens were able to pick up 116 yards on the ground, but had a subpar game through the air. In case you forgot the Patriots won this game because Mark Clayton drop a pass that hit him right in the chest on 4th down, late in the 4th quarter, inside the red zone. If he makes that catch the Ravens most likely win the game. A catch the he makes probably 99 out of 100 times. However, in the rematch the game will be much different. As I mentioned earlier the Pats lost Wes Welker to injury in their finale and will have to rely on Julian Edelman to fill in for Welker. Edelman is a rookie who played QB at Kent State, but looks like a Welker clone. He can run the crossing routes and elude tackles in an eerily similar way that Welker does. The way the Pats win this game is by jumping out to an early lead, blitzing Flacco to get him moving a bit in the pocket to help protect their weak secondary, by converting on third down and by putting up points in the red zone in the second half of the game. They do that and they win, if they don’t and Flacco is able to throw on this secondary and the Ravens can open up their defense because they know the Patriots need to throw the ball it will be a tough day for the Patriots. If the Ravens are successful in beating the Patriots it will be the first time the Patriots lose a home playoff game in the Brady era. I think the Patriots will be able to use Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris to pound the ball into the Raven defense which will open up the throwing lanes for Brady and the Patriots will be successful against Flacco and force him to be uncomfortable in the pocket and the Patriots win the game. Patriots 27 Ravens 14.

NFC:

Eagles v. Cowboys:

This will be the third time these two teams meet with the Cowboys winning the prior two meetings, including a beat-down of the Eagles in the final game of the regular season where the Eagle had a ton to play for. Had the Eagles won on Sunday they would have had the #2 seed and first round bye to rest some banged up players. The Dallas defense has been on fire, they are coming off back-to-back games where they didn’t give up a point, and the game prior to that they ended the Saints perfect season. The Eagles are a team that has been to the playoffs before and done well including a trip to the Super Bowl a few years ago. This is tough one to call. On the one hand you have a team, the Cowboys, who never play well in December and January, but this year they have flipped the script and are playing very well coming into the playoffs. On the other hand we have the Eagles who normally play well in the playoffs but got run off the field in Dallas this past weekend. This game will be very close with the edge going to Dallas. I think Dallas has finally figured out their issues and can make a deep playoff run. Dallas 21 Eagles 20.

Packers v. Cardinals

In the last playoff game this week we have what seems to be a recurring theme this first weekend of the playoffs, a rematch of a game from the final regular season game. This game has the same kind of feeling I got from the Jets-Bengals game. The only difference is in this game no one had anything to play for this past weekend. Once Minnesota won the Cardinals had no chance at the #2 seed so there was no need for them to push for a win. As we all know the Packers ended up winning the game. The Cardinals are coming off a Super Bowl appearance and are playing at home. They have very fast, very talented receivers, even if Anquan Boldin is unable to go, which I think will not be the case. The Packers have a swarming defense, but with Kurt Warner taking the snaps the Cardinals will beat the Packers defense with quick slants. The Cardinals defense will have a tough assignment in trying to stop Aaron Rodgers who is playing very well and his years behind Bret Favre may be paying off. But I like the home team in this matchup. The Cardinals proved last year they are a team to be reckoned with and will show it again this postseason. Cardinals 30 Packers 21

Those are the predictions for round 1 of the postseason. I will be back in a week to go over round 2. And remember in each of the last four seasons a team playing Wild Card weekend has gone onto the Super Bowl. So who will it be this year…..? You’ll have to wait and see.

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