Wild Card Picks

The NFL regular season is over with and Gabe took home the Picks title for the second year in a row(pretty much by default, since I voided out by two best weeks). That means we get to move on to the meat of the season: The NFL Playoffs.



Here's our takes on this weekend's Wild Card games.(Editor's Note: Gabe's once again M.I.A., so I guess I'm riding solo on this one.)



Jets (+3) at Colts



Dave: Jets - Do you think fate looked down at that Titans-Colts game as Indy was setting up for winning field goal and thought "Oh shit, we're a Titans win away from seeing Jacksonville host a playoff game! Let's go Colts!"? I haven't been sold on Peyton Manning's boys all season. Manning's played like a one-man army from jump street and now they host the worst possible matchup for them. The Colts can't stop the run. The Jets are one of the best rushing teams in football. The Colts are thin at receiver. The Jets have All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. I can't remember the last time Manning made a first round exit, but my money is on it happening this year. Jets pull off the mild upset and win 20-13.





Saints (-10) at Seahawks



Dave: Saints - A small part of me wanted to believe that Qwest Field will be loud and rowdy enough to at least mildly deter the Saints from coming into town and blowing the doors off.....but, even if Drew Brees and company start off slow, the Seahawks don't have enough offense to fend off the Saints for long. I think we are underestimating Seattle here a little, but not to the point where losing by two touchdowns at home is impossible. Saints by 17.





Packers (+2.5) at Eagles



Dave: Eagles - A matchup between two biggest brain fart specialists in the league? I can't wait! Green Bay beat Philly in Philly already this season but that was so long ago, it might as well be biblical. The key for the Packers to beat Philly will be finding a way to shut down or knock out Mike Vick by either putting his lights out or chewing up clock with the running game and keeping Vick and his fast paced offense off the field. I believe in the Packers' chances of doing the former but not the latter. The Eagles have given up the 2nd most passing touchdowns of any defense in the NFC, so this is going to be a shootout. Still, the Eagles can run the ball with Vick or "Shady" McCoy when it matters and the Packers are terrible on the ground. For reverse jinx purposes and my own profound pessimism, I'll take Philly here by 3.





Ravens (-3) at Chiefs



Dave: Ravens - Terrible matchup for Kansas City here. The Chiefs' offensive line struggled protecting Matt Cassell from getting beat up by Oakland last week and Baltimore's defense is much more physical. The only shot Kansas City has is if they get some dumb penalities from the Ravens and their playmakers in the secondary get a few big mistakes from Joe Flacco. Other than that, KC's Cinderella story ends here. Ravens by 13.