Jan

13

Sunday playoff predictions

Posted by Michael Sciannamea

January 13, 2008 |

Brett Favre has fun in the snowCongratulations to the Packers and the Patriots on their respective victories yesterday. The Packers won in a surprisingly easy fashion over the Seahawks, despite trailing 14-0 early. Brett Favre was his usual spectacular self, and their running game, led by Ryan Grant with 201 yards, was domiant. The Pack is going to have a lot of momentum going into next week.

The Patriots-Jaguars game was interesting. The Jags had their chances, but some key dropped passes and settling for field goals instead of touchdowns, led to their doom. Plus, they couldn’t come up with one defensive stop when it counted. Tom Brady was also spectacular, and Laurence Maroney looked great running the ball. I still think they’re going to have shore up their defense by the time next week rolls around, because whether they play the Colts or the Chargers, they will need to stop the personal foul penalties.

As for today’s games, I think the Colts should win fairly easily against the Chargers. Phillip Rivers has shown he is not a very talented quarterback, and LaDainian Tomlinson will need to gain at least 150 yards today for his team to have any chance. Added to that is Antonio Gates’ toe injury which will limit his abilities, and it doesn’t look good for the Chargers. Plus, Peyton Manning will have Marvin Harrison back, so that just adds to the Chargers’ defensive woes. This could turn out to be a blow-out. Colts 35, Chargers 20.

As a Jet fan/blogger, one would assume I would automatically pick against the Giants. Not so–I’ve always liked and respected the Giants, because their organization for the most part does it the right way. If only the Jets could have had a quarterback like Phil Simms and a linebacker like Lawrence Taylor in the 80s…

Anyway, I give the Giants a very good shot at beating the Cowboys in Dallas today. The offense has been on a roll the last few weeks, especially the running game, and Eli Manning has looked like the quarterback he was expected to be as well. For the Giants to win, they need to run the ball and keep the Cowboy defense on the field. DeMarcus Ware is dangerous, but the rest of the unit is so-so.

Defensively, the Giants’ vaunted pass rush has to keep Tony Romo from getting to the outside and making plays. Terrell Owens will play today, and the Giant secondary needs to keep him in check. This is going to be an outstanding game. Giants 27, Cowboys 23.


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