Scott’s Divisional Round Picks
Saturday’s Games
Indianapolis at Baltimore (4:30, CBS): Peyton Manning faces off against the best defense in the league. Manning, against a weak Kansas City defense, threw three interceptions in a 23-8 victory against the Chiefs in the wild card round last week. Meanwhile the Colts defense was downright dominant, allowing just 44 yards rushing and 126 yards overall. The focus will be on Manning against Ray Lewis and the Ravens ‘D’ who have led the league in total defense and in turnover margin at +17. With the Ravens at home, I can’t see the Colts repeating their defensive performance of last week, and this Ravens defense has too much for Peyton Manning.
Ravens 28
Colts 17
Philadelphia at New Orleans (8:00, FOX): I broke down this game in a previous column. I think it will be a battle, but it’s hard for me to pick against the Saints for some reason. Hopefully, I’m wrong. Check out my previous column for a position by position breakdown.
Saints 27
Eagles 24
Sunday’s Games
Seattle at Chicago (1:00, FOX): The two worst teams left in the playoffs meet in this NFC divisional showdown. The Seahawks can thank Dallas, Tony Romo specifically, for gift wrapping a win last week, and they may get the same generous treatment this week from Bears’ quarterback Rex Grossman. Think about this: Rex Grossman had a 1.3 QB rating in a game this year, and that wasn’t his lowest rating! He had a 0.0 rating in week 17 against the Packers when he threw one more pass to Packers,3, than he did to Bears, 2. In his ensuing press conference, he claimed that he wasn’t prepared for the game mentally.
One thing you can bank on is the Seahawks being prepared. They have a Super Bowl Champion coach in Mike Holmgren, and the experience of a Super Bowl run last year. However, they’re really just not a good team right now. Bottom line is this: if Grossman can avoid mistakes, and that’s a big if, the Bears’ defense should be able to control the Seahawks lackluster offense.
Bears 20
Seahawks 13
New England at San Diego (4:30, CBS): The most intriguing game of the weekend pairs the most dominant team of the past five years with the most dominant team during the regular season this year. San Diego has been downright awesome this year. Their offense has been spectacular all season with Philip Rivers running the show and L.T. being L.T. The league MVP has had one of the best years in the history of the game. Their defense, led by accused steroid user Shawne Merriman, puts massive amounts of pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
This assumes that Tom Brady actually feels pressure. Be honest, there are times you think the man’s not human. He continues to win year after year despite a cast of characters this year that includes Eagles’ castoff Jabar Gaffney. Oh yeah, Gaffney caught 8 passes for 104 yards last week. Something tells me that had a little something to do with the man throwing to him. The defensive mastermind Bill Belichick continues to put a solid defense out there year after year. This is the toughest game to pick of the week. Can I pick a tie?
Patriots 24
Chargers 23
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Posted on January 11, 2007 by Scott | Filed Under Philadelphia
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nice call on the score of the game, dude. wish you were wrong though.
You and me both, my friend.