By TLarner
Game of the Week Results:
Chicago 3, Green Bay 10
The Green Bay defense sacked Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler six times, and intercepted him twice as the Packers defeated their NFC North rival. With their playoff hopes on the line, Aaron Rodgers did just enough to take his team to the Wild Card round. Rodgers threw for 229 yards and a one-yard touchdown to tight end Donald Lee in the fourth quarter. He also led the Packers in rushing yards with 21. In addition to his two interceptions, Cutler threw for 168 yards for the Bears. Running back Matt Forte gained 91 yards on the ground, and caught eight passes for 60 yards.
Remaining Scores from Week 17:
Miami 7, New England 38
Tampa Bay 23, New Orleans 13
Carolina 10, Atlanta 31
Minnesota 13, Detroit 20
Oakland 31, Kansas City 10
Cincinnati 7, Baltimore 13
Pittsburgh 41, Cleveland 9
Buffalo 7, New York Jets 38
San Diego 33, Denver 28
New York Giants 17, Washington 14
Dallas 14, Philadelphia 13
Tennessee 20, Indianapolis 23
Arizona 7, San Francisco 38
Jacksonville 17, Houston 34
St. Louis 6, Seattle 16
Wild Card Matchups
Playoffs?! Yes, it is playoff time. The postseason opens with the Wild Card round, and some unsual matchups. A team with a record below .500 made the playoffs for the first time in NFL history. Also, three of this weekend’s four games are hosted by teams with less wins than the visiting team.
New Orleans at Seattle
The Saints, who finished second in the NFC South at 11-5, travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks, who are the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs despite a sub .500 record. The 7-9 Seahawks who the rather weak NFC West with a win over St. Louis in Week 17. For New Orleans, Reggie Bush will start at running back with Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory, and Ladell Betts all on injured reserve. Bush, who has battled back from injury himself this season, has gained 150 yards rushing and 208 yards receiving in eight games. Seattle Head Coach Pete Carroll named veteran Matt Hasselbeck the starter after recovering from a hip injury. Although he is more experienced and has won the last four postseason games at Qwest Field, Hasselbeck has thrown a career high 17 interceptions for the second consecutive season.
Green Bay at Philadelphia
The 10-6 Eagles once again enter the playoffs as the NFC East Champions, while the Packers, also 10-6, won the last playoff spot. These two teams met in Week 1 in Philadelphia, and the Packers won 27-20. However, Kevin Kolb started that game. Michael Vick replaced Kolb after he suffered a concussion, and since then Vick has once again become a phenomenon in the NFL. Although Vick was unable to lead a comeback in Week 1, he has changed the Philadelphia offense, and penciled in his name on the MVP candidate list.. The Eagles have the fifth best rushing offense, averaging 145.2 yards per game, and the second best offense, gaining nearly 390 yards per game. On the hand, the Packers have allowed only 15 points a game, the second fewest in the league. Linebacker Clay Matthews, who has become a feared pass rusher, has recorded 13.5 sacks this season. Aaron Rodgers has the best passer rating among NFC quarterbacks at 101.2. Since the Green Bay bye week in Week 10, Rodgers has thrown 13 touchdowns and only two interceptions.
New York Jets at Indianapolis
Rex Ryan has his Jets, 11-5 and second in the AFC East, back in the playoffs in a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game against AFC South Champion Indianapolis, 10-6. After leading the Indianapolis Peyton Mannings 17-6, Manning threw a touchdown to receiver Austin Collie right before the half to steal the momentum, and threw two more second half touchdowns as the Colts won 30-17. In that game, the Colts outgained the Jets on the ground, which will be another pivotal stat in this year’s game. New York has the fourth best rushing offense, averaging 148.4 yards per game behind back LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene. Indianapolis isn’t known for their ability to run the ball, but the Colts have averaged 149 yards per game rushing in the last three weeks. The Colts can boost the best passing offense in the league, gaining 288.1 yards per game through the air. However, the Jets do have corners Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie.
Baltimore at Kansas City
The 12-4 Ravens will travel the Kansas City to face this year’s surprise team, the 10-6 Chiefs. Yes, after winning only 10 games combined in 2007, 2008, and 2009, the Chiefs are back in postseason action. Baltimore brings one of the top run stopping defenses to the home of the best rushing offense in the league. While the Ravens give up only 93.9 yards per game on the ground, Kansas City averages 164.2 yards rushing with the NFL’s second leading rusher, Jamaal Charles. Charles, who has an outstanding 6.4 yards per carry average, has gained 1,467 rushing yards this season. He will have his work cut out for him, challenging defensive lineman Haloti Ngata, linebacker Ray Lewis, and safety Ed Reed, who can make plays stuffing the run and defending the pass. Although he has played in only 10 games this season, Reed has eight interceptions, one shy of his career best. Offensively, Ray Rice leads the team in rushing and is second with 63 receptions, one less than receiver Anquan Boldin.
Predictions (Home team in italics)
New Orleans over Seattle
Philadelphia over Green Bay
Indianapolis over New York Jets
Baltimore over Kansas City
Have NFL Splinters? Share them here.
Matt Hasselbeck is officially the Bishop in Caddyshack.
Saying “you can’t bet against Manning at night” isn’t good enough anymore. His team stinks. They have two ends who can rush the passer, two receivers who can get deep and that’s about it. Meanwhile, the Jets spent the offseason building their roster for this game specifically — if they blow it, they’d be remembered as the biggest collection of frauds and posers in recent New York sports history. And this is a city that has the Mets.
The pick: Jets 34, Colts 20
New Orleans’ defense is horrible. I know it is obvius after yesterday, but they’re really bad. Forget the whole team trying to tackle Marshawn Lynch and looking like pop warner kids, how many borken pass coverages were there where Matt Hassleback just had to get the ball there without it hitting the ground first?
What the heck was up with the Colts’ timeout with about 40 seconds to go? What would be the point of stopping the clock for the other team?
Peyton was asking the same thing on the sidelines when that TO was called.
Why couldn’t Peyton & gang get just one more 1st down, if not a TD, on their last drive to use more clock?!?!? Not only did they leave Viniateri with a 53 yarder, but the gave the Jets at least an extra minute.
Why couldn’t the Colts not-so-special teams limit the ensuing kickoff return to 20 yards instead of 45?!?!?!
We may have seen the last of Indy in the playoffs for awhile. His cast may be limited by injuries, etc, but Manning needed to win this game to reinforce his legacy. He’s got a sub .500 playoff record.
Jeremy Schapp asked a good question about the Seahawks’ win: Does this indict or vindicate the playoff system where divisional winners get in? I guess it vindicates that choice because who can say now that Seatlle didn’t deserve to play. I personally feel a bit silly because I’ve been questioning it. I still kind of feel like there is something wrong with a 10 win team traveling to a 7 win team to play in the first round. How about let the divisional winners in but once all six teams are solidified, ranking them based on their records?
Because Baltimore looks so [darn] obvious in this one, I may have drifted toward the Chiefs if not for (A) coaching dissension (I hate distractions come playoff time); (B) Dwayne Bowe’s health (by all accounts, iffy); (C) the way Oakland’s front seven manhandled them last Sunday (a thorough whupping); and (D) their 2010 schedule of creampuffs, which is mindboggling if you stare at it long enough. Do you realize they played Carolina seven times? Fine, it just seemed like it. I can’t see the Chiefs hanging unless it’s one of those goofy “Flacco throws a red-zone pick, McGahee coughs up a goal-line fumble, McCluster breaks a kickoff, Charles breaks a 75-yard run”-type games. Besides, doesn’t a Round 2 with Jets-Patriots and Ravens-Steelers feel almost preordained?
The pick: Ravens 24, Chiefs 10
I like Rodgers a little more than Vick. That’s really it. Everything else feels like a crapshoot: two banged-up teams, two explosive passing offenses, two teams that wear green and love to commit dumb penalties, two coaches capable of a perplexing decision at any given time. That brings me to my one bold prediction for the weekend: Who better to break our virginity with the new overtime rules than Andy Reid and Mike McCarthy? Doesn’t it have to play out that way? Throwing those semi-confusing overtime rules at Reid and McCarthy is going to be like cramming a hunk of peanut butter on the roof of a dog’s mouth. I can’t wait.
The pick: Packers 40, Eagles 34 (OT)
Bill … ha! Great comment … that deserves one of the all time helmet stickers!!!
Maybe the only way it could get more interesting is if Les Miles and Lovie Smith were coaching in the game. Well … Lovie will get his chance to screw up next week.
Hey T – you ended your Colts-Jets rundown with a pretty big “However” concerning the Jets’ fantastic corners. I didn’t watch the game, so how much did those guys factor into the few points Peyton and the Colts scored?
Anyone catch Merril Hoge on ESPN??? Nothing says “Geek!” more than a windsor tie not as wide as your own head. Somebody needs to clue him in. One too many concussions??
This season has certainly come full circle. At the beginning, everyone seemed to be picking Green Bay as a shoe-in for the Super Bowl. Most questioned Vick for Kolb. Then GB struggled a bit, Vick took flight. Here we are on Sunday night after all of the Wild Cards and Green Bay prevails over Philly. Just last week they were possibly out of the playoffs.
Looks like Bill S. showed up TLarner with the picks, although for some reason he (Bill) didn’t bother to pick in the Seattle-New Orleans game. I guess we’ll have to assume he would’ve got that one wrong. Who didn’t?
Speaking of Seattle, last week I asked the question: Who’s the worst team in this year’s playoff, Seattle or Chicago? I guess it’s not Seattle, so it must be Chicago, right? Does this mean Seattle might go to the NFC Championship.
So, who the hell is the best team in the NFC? Green Bay? Atlanta? Do any of them compare to the top three in the AFC (New England, Pittsburgh, Baltimore)? Are we gonna have ourselves an ugly Super Bowl?
I’m rooting for a New England-Seattle Super Bowl…the first time in professional sports history that a team plays for a championship against an opponent who won half as many games as they did.
Ha – great point Chas.
What does it mean when the only home team to win is the one with a losing record?
Looks like Bill S. needs to do a better job of staying updated with the site.
If you’re considering Chicago to be the worst team left in the playoffs, you might also want to consider the Jets, who lost to the Bears near season end when they really needed to win.
Uh … on Casual Friday I predicted the Seachickens would beat NO. Now what baffles me is that Seattle is a 9-10 point underdog at Soldier Field vs Bears next Sunday. They beat the Bears early in the season … but that was indeed when duh Bares were at their season lowpoint. I’d a put the spread at Bears -3.
Best team in NFC? On a neutral field, I’d say it’s the Packers … they are probably the most talented, but they can shoot themselves in the foot with silly penalties and conservative play-calling … whiich almost cost them yesterday. And I’d say they compare fairly well to AFC’s best, although I’d give the Pats an edge.
Does anyone know somebody that guessed Seattle would beat New Orleans?
Heard an interview today where Jim Caldwell blamed Indy’s loss on the Pickin Splinters front page jinx. 🙂