I can hardly believe there’s only three more weekends of ‘real’ football left, notice I’m not counting the Pro Bowl as actual football.
Preseason predictions: For the record my preseason Super Bowl picks, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, are done. Also for the record, SI’s Peter King predicted the Patriots and Bears. Ha! What an idiot.
Divisional diversity: It rarely works out this way but one team from each of the NFL’s eight divisions fill out the remaining eight-team field.
A word about momentum: Who has momentum? Who cares? Tell me who’s playing well and how the teams match up and I’ll tell you who’s gonna win. Talking about who has momentum is such a beat down.
The NFL’s Divisional Playoffs Schedule
Arizona Cardinals @ New Orleans Saints (-7)
Saturday 4:30 PM ET – Fox
Is Kurt Warner the best playoff quarterback in the history of the NFL? I wouldn’t argue against it.
Last week Arizona eliminated the Packers, who most experts agreed was the best team in the NFC during the second half of the season.
Saints receiver Marques Colston
New Orleans isn’t playing well, and I’m not just talking about their 3-game losing streak when things may or may not have been of the utmost importance at the end of the season, but also struggling against Atlanta and Washington prior to the losing streak. The Saints haven’t played well since facing the Patriots on that Monday night game in November.
Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who sat out last week’s game to nurse a left ankle and knee injury, is expected to return, giving Warner another offensive weapon against a defense that has given up more points than any other team remaining in the playoffs.
Prediction: Arizona 38, New Orleans 34
Baltimore Ravens @ Indianapolis Colts (-6.5)
Saturday 8:15 PM ET – CBS
Ok, so he hasn't played but Colts WR Samuel Giguere is huge.
The Colts chose to rest their starters down the stretch so it’s hard to get a feel on how they’re playing. The Ravens, winners of 6 postseason road games since 2000, will present a formidable challenge with a power running game and a bruising defense that held the Colts to just 17 points in a loss at Lucas Oil stadium in November.
It’s strength vs strength and weakness vs weakness, so I’ll take the guy who threw for over 4,500 yards and 33 touchdowns, and the organization who has a lot to prove after giving up on a perfect season in favor of a better shot at playoff success.
Prediction: Indianapolis 24, Baltimore 13
Dallas Cowboys @ Minnesota Vikings (-3)
Sunday 1 PM ET – Fox
Vikings running back Adrian Peterson
This games got the story lines; Tony Romo vs Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson vs the Cowboys defense and America’s team vs America’s Mall.
The Vikings run defense suffered a huge blow when they lost middle linebacker E.J. Henderson, their leading tackler and signal-caller, to a broken leg in November, forcing Minnesota to rely on their All-Pro defensive lineman Jared Allen and Kevin Williams to create stops and put pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
The Cowboys counter with two Pro Bowl blockers and a healthy stable of diverse running backs that average a playoff-best 4.8 yards per rush.
Dallas’ defense appears to be coming together nicely under the direction of head coach Wade Phillips but shutting down sub-par running backs like Clinton Portis, LeSean McCoy and Leonard Weaver in consecutive weeks doesn’t mean much when the assignment is Vikings’ running back Adrian Peterson.
As strange as it sounds to say, I think Favre will struggle against the Cowboys secondary.
Prediction: Dallas 28, Minnesota 27
New York Jets @ San Diego Chargers (-7)
Sunday 4:40 PM ET – CBS
This is the week we will be reminded of how the Jets backed into the playoffs as the beneficiaries of fortuitous scheduling. The Chargers, winners of 11 straight, will be in control of this game before the sun sets.
Prediction: San Diego 34, NY 10
NFC Championship – Cardinals @ Cowboys
AFC Championship – Chargers @ Colts
