Angry Seafood

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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2008 Playoff Predictions:
Wild Card Round

This weekend kicks off football fans’ favorite time of the year: the playoffs. Who will win? Which teams have a better chance to move on and compete in the biggest game in sports? Will Bryant Gumbel finally get fired?

In addition to my picks and analysis, I am joined by Frogster of The Frog Bog Blog who will also be giving his picks for each game. I face some tough competition as he got more NFL matchups right then eight ESPN ‘experts’ did.

Roll the tape please…

Jacksonville Jaguars at Pittsburgh Steelers

The Jags look scary. Maybe not on paper, especially with that middle-of-the-pack defense but looks can be deceiving. Or can they?

One thing that sticks out at me is how little they force fumbles, twenty-third best in the NFL. Sure they make up for it with twenty interceptions, but when you look at Pittsburgh’s turnover ratio this stat comparison is pretty even. Still, this issue might not be a problem if the Steelers have to throw early and often.

Pittsburgh enters the contest without one of the league’s top rushers in Willie Parker. I’m with the talking heads on this; the Steelers will have a tough time winning without him. They will also have a tough time trying to stop a powerful Maurice Jones-Drew and a rejuvenated Fred Taylor.

Jacksonville wins 31-17, and the Steelers heal up in the off-season for another playoff run in 2008.

*Frogster’s Pick: Jacksonville*

NY Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

All week long Eli Manning has been everyone’s binky. Oh look how well he did throwing four touchdowns against the 16-0 Patriots. They also said how good the Giants look now, a gritty team that fights for wins.

Apparently, everyone forgot all about the second half of the fourth quarter. Eli’s meltdown, Tom Coughlin’s poor game management, and the interception sealed the deal for the Patriots. Once again, in a big game this team wilted under pressure.

These are not your father’s Giants.

On Tampa Bay’s side, I think they will mix up the pass and the run as well as a lot of dumps and screens to counter the Giant’s defensive rush. Surely, Gruden watched the tape of the Patriots offensive line get manhandled and will stop that one-sided pressure New York likes to use.

Once again, the Giants go one-and-out losing to the Bucs 29-14. Coughlin gets fired and becomes the coach of the Dolphins.

*Frogster’s Pick: Tampa Bay*

Washington Redskins at Seattle Seahawks

This game really has me wondering because the teams match up so well and we have a weather influence: 42 degrees F, showers, and winds around twenty MPH. No matter who wins the game, this will be low scoring.

Seattle has been going pass-first in the last few weeks and should continue this week verses a banged-up Redskin secondary. You might even see them try and air it out right away to test both their opponent and how strong the wind is. They will have to because Alexander is a shell of his former self and the team doesn’t trust Morris enough yet to be their go-to back.

A lot of people picked Washington because the team has momentum on its side. Hot teams in December generally do go deep into the playoffs, history bears this out. Not this time with Todd Collins under center, even if Chris Cooley and Santana Moss are his targets. If Moss has a big game though, I think the Redskins have a better chance of winning.

Seattle surprises a lot of people and wins 17-14.

*Frogster’s Pick: Washington*

Tennessee Titans at San Diego Chargers

You won’t remember the Titans for this week’s matchup against the Chargers. Forget playing the game, will they have eleven people to start? Thursday the team learned wide receiver Royell Williams, who is tied for team leader in receptions has a broken leg.

Tight end Bo Scaife suffered a lacerated liver in last week’s game. It is up in the air which quarterback will start: Young or Collins. Tennessee is a good team but they are simply undermanned right now because of the injuries.

But then there is Norv Turner on the San Diego sideline, the potential equalizer. He is 1-1 in the playoffs and the offensive rankings of his teams aren’t as good as his reputation says they are. You could say that at least it’s not Marty, but is it really better?

This week it will be. Chargers win 35-10 and make Turner look good…for now.

*Frogster’s Pick: San Diego*

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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As you sports nuts know next week is the start of the NFL playoffs and since I have been dying to do some sports writing I’m going to start up a new weekly column on Saturday, January 5, 2008 with my second annual postseason predictions and analysis.

Last season I did this on Associated Content (wk one, wk two, championship week, Super Bowl) and ended up with a 7-4 record. Yes, I know, I predicted the Chiefs to beat the Colts, and later the Bears to beat the Colts but I also predicted that a key turnover late in the Dal/Sea game would give the Seahawks the win. Still, 7-4 is pretty damn good I think.

For those of you newish to my writing, I am pretty good with my sports. Check out this insightful article on the 2007 NFL Draft. It even made the front page of the site.

For you fantasy football nuts, I wrote about my attempt to play to lose on purpose in 2006. I also wrote a fun piece on the Five Oddest Players in Baseball.

On a side note, the nickname ‘Tuna’ was given to me by co-workers a few years ago due to the fact I used to eat tuna sandwiches for breakfast daily. With chocolate milk no less. An odd combo I know.

So tune in every Saturday for ‘Tuna on Sports’ beginning next week. Analysis and insight as good as the pros just without all the talking points and focus groups.

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They were not joking when they said the Mitchell Report on steroids in baseball had a veritable All-Star team. Here they are in all their glory. Of course you need back-ups in case any of these guys rips an artery during one of their multiple daily workouts.

Bench:

C: Paul Lo Duca

IF: Rafael Palmeiro
Jason Giambi

OF: Jose Canseco
Gary Matthews Jr.

P: Scott Schoeneweis

humor-blogs.com takes steroids for the side-effects and to be funnier.

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