Are you ready for some FOOTBALL - Playoff Edition

[lord of the mark]

Hail to the Redskins!
Hail victory!
Braves on the warpath!
Fight for old DC!

(gotta keep posting that, its like a lucky thing now)

Incredible defense - esp Marcus Washington, Griffith, Salavea. Harris back from injury largely shutting down Galloway (with help from Taylor before the silly spitting thing) Turnovers. Persistence. Never giving up, even when the offense let them down, etc. Williams and the skins defense deserve a huge round of applause.

Wonder what pittman said that got Taylor to spit? Still it was a stupid thing to do. Credit to the skins secondary that held on WITHOUT Taylor (as the line held on without Wynn) I hope Taylor is not suspended for the Seattle game - that seems unduly harsh.


Offense - was Portis hurt? Seemed that way. Theyve relied on him to open up the pass - this was even more essential against as good a def as Tampa Bay. With him out, Brunell (who isnt quite healthy) couldnt carry the day. They should be better next week.

Tampa Bay defense still gets credit for containing Moss and Portis and Cooley. And Simms showed class.

[OzzyKP]

Well Tampa Bay was the best Defense in the entire NFL. So holding the 'Skins to 120 yards can at least be partly explained away by that. One can assume they'll do much better against Seattle.

Still though, I'm not making any picks in that game. It'll be tough for both teams.

[Lorizael]

As big a Skins fan as I am, I don't think they'll be able to beat Seattle. But they did it before. So I certainly hope they can do it again.

[Jaguar]

I love Joe Gibbs, but even he can't make up for such an insurmountable talent differential.

Seahawks win. I won't call by how much.

[snoopy369]

Second best defense. Bears were the best so long as they played their first team Week 17 shouldn't matter for stat-average comparisons

[OzzyKP]

According to NFL.com, Tampa Bay is listed first, Bears 2nd.

[Sava]

Originally posted by OzzyKP
According to NFL.com, Tampa Bay is listed first, Bears 2nd.

we're talking total yardage...

Bears are still number #1 in points allowed... and over 40 points than the #2 team (Colts)

and overall, the Bears are the better defense... hands down

week 17 the Bears didn't play their first unit and the Vikings ran up a lot of yards which allowed the Bucs to take #1 spot for yardage... Tampa didn't have a meaningless game in week 17

if you think the Bucs have a better D than the Bears, you're a moron

[Berzerker]

the ref was standing right next to the guys when Taylor spit on Pittman, DOH!

Anyway, I'm off on the points but close otherwise.

I had NE 31-14 and Wash 27-17. Tampa D kept it closer than I expected. Let me see, I have Pitt and NYG tomorrow...

[Jaguar]

Calling scores, even sensible numbers like those, is doomed to failure. The best you can generally do with that is call 20-17, or 17-10 if the teams are defense-oriented.

[Berzerker]

picking against the spread aint no different

[Sava]

well, I'm rooting for Carolina today, but I do think the Giants are going to win this game...

but we'll see... if it's a close game, I think that means good thing for DA BEARS... if the Giants dominate the Panthers, it could be trouble for Chicago if New York comes out of this game with a lot of momentum...

but the Vikings did beat the Giants earlier this year... that's something to keep in mind


as for the AFC game... I did pick the Bengals, but of all my picks, this is the one that I feel could easily go either way...

Cincinnati did beat Pittsburgh at home earlier this year... and they did so by limiting the Steeler's rushing attack, forcing interceptions, and putting points on the board. However, the Steelers were able to bounce back from that losing streak against the Bears the next week, stabilize their running game, and win out their games to get into the playoffs.

If Cincinnati can continue to contain the Steeler's running game and force Roethlisberger to pass, then the Bengals are going to be able to get Pittsburgh to play the kind of game they want to play. Pittsburgh's key to winning is slowing the game down with the running attack, keeping control of the ball, and limiting the time that the Bengals offense is on the field. Because if you don't want to get into a shootout with the Bengals offense.

This was a tough one for me. Pittsburgh has more playoff experience, has more momentum, and has a team better equipped to win in the playoffs (defense, running game, efficient QB) as opposed to the Bengals (high powered offense, weak but opportunistic defense).

Damn... I think I just convinced myself to pick the Steelers.

OKAY

I'm changing my pick.... STEELERS

(dammit now watch the Bengals win today )

there will be much askdjlkasdlkajksl and ALL CAPS if I'm wrong

[pchang]

Thanks Sava for dooming my team

[Sava]

[Sava]

Carolina was able to run the ball effectively against the Giant's defense during that scoring drive. NY has a below average defense, but Carolina's running game was 19th this year... very unimpressive.

If NY wins this game, I think the Bears will be able to exploit that weakness in the Giant's defense.

[Sava]

Well, the Giants rush defense is decent actually... (now that I've had a chance to look at some of the numbers and game logs)... I thought it was worse. It's their pass defense that is suspect (except for their pass rush, obviously).