Monday, January 08, 2007

Wild finishes for 2 wild-card games...

Tonight I'll take a look back at the 4 wild-card games from the past weekend, and then we'll peek ahead to next week's divisional playoff games.

A Look Back

  • Indianapolis 23 - Kansas City 8: Contrary to what the 3 interceptions might say, I don't think Manning had a bad game. He meticulously dismantled the KC defense, and when he and Marvin Harrison didn't miscommunicate (in which case the ball wound up in Ty Law's hands), the Indy offense put points on the board. Still, if towards the end of the 3rd quarter the Chiefs still weren't completely out of it, it's because Manning threw those interceptions. In the end, it didn't really matter because the KC offense took 41 minutes to get a first down. Thumbs down to Herm Edwards for not doing what he could to win the game: putting Damon Huard in should've been done at the beginning of the 3rd quarter.
  • Seattle 21 - Dallas 20: How Dallas figured running the ball was the right strategy against a defense that featured a safety and dime back as starting quarterbacks is unbelievable. I would've put Romo in the shotgun and let him air it out against the depleted Seattle secondary. But I hate the Cowboys and the Fat Tuna, so it's all good. Kudos to the Seahawks for hanging in there and showing the character of a championship team. Oh, and as much as I hate the Cowboys and was happy to see them lose, even I felt bad for Tony Romo. That's just sad... poor guy.
  • New England 37 - NY Jets 16: This game was much closer than the score indicates. The Jets moved the ball well against New England. Pennington had a good game and hung in there for the most part. Towards the end of the game, though, the Jets inexperience showed a bit and that's when the Pats' veterans showed they've been there before. Also, that's when Lawrence Maroney finally got going.
  • Philadelphia 23 - NY Giants 20: Boy can heart make all the difference. In the 4th quarter, Eli Manning showed heart in the face of the blitz-heavy Eagles defense, and he overcame a 2nd and 30 to throw the tying touchdown. But then, Brian Westbrook showed even more heart, running through the Giants defense despite suffering from severe leg cramps at the time. Great performance by a great player.
A Look Ahead
  • Indianapolis at Baltimore: Peyton Manning will not throw 3 interceptions again this week. That being said, I don't see the Indy offense putting up too many points either. So the question is this: can Steve McNair and the Baltimore offense (which has been pretty inept this year) put up more points than the Colts. Short answer: no. Indianapolis 24 - Baltimore 16. (Veillotron's pick: Baltimore. Sweet LP's pick: Indianapolis).
  • Seattle at Chicago: Seattle put up a valiant effort last week. They might get a corner back this week, which would help tons. I believe Chicago will not repeat Dallas' mistake and they will attack the Seattle secondary. The only problem is Rex Grossman is so inaccurate, he will still throw 3 interceptions. Still, the Bears defense will hold. Chicago 20 - Seattle 13. (Veillotron's Pick: Seattle. Sweet LP's pick: Chicago)
  • New England at San Diego: Tom Brady is the best quarterback in the league right now. Plus, he always saves his best for the big games. But as good as he will be next Sunday, he will not be able to keep up with Tomlinson and his gang of SuperChargers. Rivers will make a couple of big plays, but LT will run for 150 yards while catching 1 TD pass and running in 2 more. San Diego 34 - New England 31. (Veillotron's pick: New England. Sweet LP's pick: New England)
  • Philadelphia at New Orleans: It's great to see the Saints there. The Eagles will have trouble stopping the Saints' offense. Lito Sheppard is out, and Brees will go up top often and connect a few times. But this is a different Eagles team than the one the Saints faced earlier in the season. They are showing a lot of heart, and with Brian Westbrook taking on a bigger role, they have learned to finish games. This will be a wild one, and it will go down to the wire. Philadelphia 38 - New Orleans 35. (Veillotron's pick: New Orleans. Sweet LP's pick: New Orleans).
I would like to point out, before I go, that I was 4 out of 4 in my predictions last week. The scores were a bit off, but still impressive. Let's see if my brothers beat me this week.

Dwarf out.

4 Comments:

At 8:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think this has become a brother's blog...

 
At 8:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

sorry: brothers' blog

 
At 2:25 AM, Blogger The Dwarf said...

malheureusement, je suis sur Verizon. Mais check this one out Frankie: Samsung SGH-D900. 3.0 megapixel camera, 80mb space, slim as the razor and great freakin' looking.

As for the brothers' blog thing, I'll get Mr. Huy back here in a heartbeat...

 
At 10:16 PM, Blogger Nick said...

Maybe he's moving to LA to coach Beckham!!!

 

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