2008 Playoff Predictions:
Divisional Round
The excitement is in the air and besides the airing of that stupid Jeep commercial 12,342 times we should have some great football games. I don’t want to buy a car that attracts wild animals. I don’t care if they can sing. Can they give you a sure bet on the weekend’s games? Well, me neither but at least I don’t have rabies.
This week Rickey from Riding with Rickey jumps into the action with his predictions, joining Frogster from The Frog Blog for his thoughts and picks. Think of us as the welfare version of Jimmy, Howie, and Frank or as Frogster likes to call it, the humor-blogs.com ‘NFL Postseason Pickfest Part Deux’.
So far I am 3-1 after the Wildcard weekend. Frogster is 2-2 and hobbling and Rickey scored a DNP which counts for six loses so he’s 1-7.
There are some tough ones this week as the big dogs come off the porch.
New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys
Like with his brother, I will expect Eli Manning to blow a big game until he wins the last one in the post-season. Tom Coughlin doesn’t have a much better track record either. To be fair, New York does have some injury issues that have impacted their play.
Dallas has a glaring problem with T.O. That high ankle sprain has led the team to call his playing a game-time decision. He will be in that is for sure after practicing Thursday. The Cowboys can do without him for one game though if they need to with Witten, Glenn, and the one-three punch of Jones and Barber. (I say three because Jones isn’t really a one or a two)
Dallas wins 31-17 and is one win away from their decadal appearance in the Super Bowl.
*Rickey’s Pick: Giants 38-28*
*Frogster’s Pick: Giants 28-20*
You guys picking the Giants? Seriously?
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New England Patriots
Can the Jags get up for another physical match-up against a team that will hit harder then Pittsburgh? We will find out Saturday night when the Patriots welcome them to the Razor. We all know this New England team by now. They execute, make few mistakes, and gameplan better then no other.
Jacksonville is one of those teams almost ready to dominate and here is their chance. They will need to be able to control the line of scrimmage. That is not a cliché. It is the foundation of Jack Del Rio’s team playstyle. That quarterback draw that helped win the game last week? Thank the offensive line for that. They drew the play up and the guys in the trenches executed. For the Jags, it starts in the neutral zone.
The Pats win 32-24 but the Jags will have served notice they are no longer pretenders.
*Rickey’s Pick: Patriots 27-24*
*Frogster’s Pick: Jacksonville 28-20*
Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks
This one looks to be an offensive showdown. Two average defenses, good passing offenses could keep the scoreboard guy or girl busier then usual in a post-season game.
Which Favre will show up, the one who was lights out in the first half of the season or the Brett of 2006 which re-surfaced against the Cowboys back in November? That depends on how much pressure is on him. Of course it is cliché week and every quarterback’s weakness is the defensive rush.
Seattle is playing with house money. They got this far with a banged-up team and little in the way of a running game. But this is the NFL of 2008 and the metagame is all about the pass. The Seahawks do have another advantage being that most of their team played in the Super Bowl two seasons ago so their experience and chemistry has gotten them this far.
Green Bay has a little bit more in the tank for this one and they win 35-32.
*Rickey’s Pick: Seahawks 27-10*
*Frogster’s Pick: Packers 28-20*
Indianapolis Colts vs. San Diego Chargers
A prediction I know will be right: it won’t rain. At least not inside.
The Chargers come off an emotional win but face the defending champions, one of those good news, bad news kind of things. Like the Colts a year ago, San Diego rolled into the playoffs thanks to a hot defense and the return of LT’s dominance that began a month ago.
But give the Colts a week off, all their injured players back except Freeney, and the return of their second-biggest offensive threat in Marvin Harrison and you’ve got a tough opponent. Expect Manning to go to his buddy early and often once they run a few handoffs to Addai.
Colts roll on 38-16 and once again face their nemesis, the Patriots in the AFC Championship.
*Rickey’s Pick: Colts 34-9*
*Frogster’s Pick: Colts 28-20*
This is the weekly sports column written by Chris Cameron. You can catch it every Saturday right here at Angry Seafood.
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by The Frog Bog » The Humor-Blogs NFL Postseason Pickfest, Part Deux, on January 10 2008 @ 11:05 pm
[...] You can check Rickey’s picks out here. Chris’ picks are here. [...]
by the frogster, on January 10 2008 @ 11:28 pm
Cool! This is fun!
Yeah, I’m picking Big Blue. I have picked against them all season, but I have a feeling. Of course, way back when, I picked Betamax over VHS. The picture quality was better, if I do say so myself.
Have a good weekend, Chris!
by the frogster, on January 10 2008 @ 11:31 pm
And I’m not “hobbling.” I’m saving my energy for the big 4th quarter push.
by Rickey Henderson, on January 11 2008 @ 10:50 pm
wait, a DNP, equates to a 1-7 record? Shenaigans. What if Rickey told you how much money he had won with that 1-1 record? You know, in Vegas and whatnot? Would that change things just a bit?
by the frogster, on January 11 2008 @ 11:05 pm
How’s the weather in Miami? Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else.
by ChrisC, on January 11 2008 @ 11:08 pm
hehe I was wondering when you would see that. It would change things depending on how much we are talking as in my cut.
by Rickey Henderson, on January 11 2008 @ 11:55 pm
Is it too late to take side bets? For example, the odds of Brett Favre’s arm literally detaching from his shoulder tomorrow afternoon?
by ChrisC, on January 12 2008 @ 11:08 pm
Very impressed by the Jags, they played a hell of a game and like I said in the analysis, this truly is the best team in the AFC after NE and IND and they will fight to become #1. I also like how they didn’t start crap at the end like a lot of teams do in tough games like these. That comes from the top and Del Rio is a class act.
Green Bay spots Seattle a 14-0 lead and wins? Could it be that Seattle is not built for bad weather? Could it be that the Seahawks have no running attack to hold the opposing defense in check? Probably a bit of both.
by Rickey Henderson, on January 12 2008 @ 11:46 pm
yep–the Jags made it a heck of a lot closer than anyone had predicted (except Rickey). Agreed, it was a good, clean game, which is a very welcome sight these days.
Even though Rickey predicted against them, we’re still very happy to see Favre advance to the next round. A Giants/Packers NFC showdown next week should be fantastic to watch.
by ChrisC, on January 13 2008 @ 11:26 pm
After two weeks Frogster is 4-4, I am 5-3, and Rickey is 3-3.
Funny that the quarterback on the other team is the one we should have been focusing on in the Dallas/NY game. And I’m still baffled by the Colts losing.