For football fans, wildcard weekend is one of the greatest
sports weekends of the year. So I thought I’d take a short break
from all the heavy political stuff like CBO scores and debating
health care repeal, to offer predictions on the games.
New Orleans at Seattle
This is the closest thing to a lock of the weekend. New Orleans
isn’t playing as well as they did last year (and Drew Brees has
thrown a surprising number of interceptions), but the 7-9 Seahawks
don’t deserve to be in the playoffs and are outmatched by the
Saints. Prediction: New
Orleans.
Baltimore at Kansas City
Kansas City has a dominant running game, which counts for a lot
in the playoffs, and they’re playing at home, where they were 7-1
this year. So I wouldn’t be shocked to see them win. That said, the
Ravens have a solid running defense and a more experienced
post-season quarterback in Joe Flacco. It’s also worth noting that
the Ravens played in a tougher division than the Chiefs, and that
the Chiefs record was likely inflated by the fact that they got to
play the weak NFC west teams, which accounted for 40 percent of
their wins. Despite the tougher schedule, the Ravens (12-4) came
away with a better record than Kansas City (10-6).
Prediction: Baltimore.
NY Jets at Indianapolis
As a long
suffering Jets fan, this is the game that I’m most invested in.
For me, the key to this game will be the Jets running game. If
Shonn Greene and/or LaDainian Tomlinson have a big day for the
Jets, it will take a lot of pressure off of Mark Sanchez and keep
Peyton Manning off of the field. The Colts aren’t as good as they
were when they beat the Jets in the AFC Championship game last
year, but neither is the Jets’ defense. While Darrelle Revis has
shut down whichever wide receivers he’s covered, the pass rush has
been generally weak this year, and because they’re a blitzing team,
that’s opened up a lot of plays in the middle, which has caused
problems for the Jets against the league’s elite quarterbacks. Give
Manning too much time, and he’ll pick apart the defense, even with
fewer weapons than in past years. I hope I’m wrong, but…
Prediction: Indianapolis
Green Bay at Philadelphia
This is the most difficult game to call. Both teams are pretty
equally matched, and they’ve both been inconsistent and streaky.
It’s hard to say which teams will show up. If Michael Vick has one
of his crazy games, the Eagles should coast to victory. But I’m
going to give the edge to the Packers here, because they ended the
season strong (with a near-win against the Patriots with Matt Flynn
as their QB, a blowout against the Giants and a gut-check defensive
win against the Bears to secure a playoff spot). With Aaron Rodgers
back to health, they seem to be hitting their stride at exactly the
right time. By contrast, the Eagles ended the season with two duds
against the Vikings and Cowboys. Prediction: Green
Bay
