Definitely a great slate of games coming up as we only have eleven great games left before this NFL season is over (of course I don’t count the Pro-Bowl which is a joke). Strangely I find myself liking all chalk this week (which is odd as I usually prefer Dogs) but the quality of wildcard teams this year may be the best we have ever seen when compared to the quality of division winners. Amazingly the combined records of the 4 wildcards is 43-20-1 compared to 38-26 from the division winners without a bye combined. I know it’ll never happen but I’d love the NFL to consider forcing division winners to qualify for something like 10 wins, and if not throw them into the wildcard bin. As much as I don’t root for the Patriots, its really a shame they are sitting at home with an 11-5 record whereas the Chargers (8-8) and Cardinals (9-7) barely don’t have losing records. The NFL still has a much better system than every other sport (except maybe for NCAA Basketball as March Madness is the greatest) so its not a big deal but definitely bugs me to see the best teams not in the hunt.
Atlanta Falcons (-2.5) At Arizona Cardinals — Saturday January 3rd 4:30 PM Eastern
Despite the inexperience at QB and the deadly passing attack of the Cardinals I like Atlanta here because their defense is so much better than the Cards. Throw in Michael Turner who I see as an elite runner, especially against weaker defenses this season, and I think this game could be a blow out if Warner and Fitzgerald aren’t on top of their games.
Indianapolis Colts (-1) At San Diego Chargers — Saturday January 3rd 8 PM Eastern
As good as the Chargers offense looked last night we have to remember they were facing the vaunted Broncos “defense” which was one of the most reliably bad units all year long (30th in the NFL). I do see this game being the most exciting of the weekend as defense takes a back seat to a Peyton Manning/Philip Rivers shoot out. I also think LT has a decent game, but in the end the Colts will take it down in dramatic fashion, hopefully thanks to another coaching blunder by one of my faves Norv Turner.
Baltimore Ravens (-3) At Miami Dolphins — Sunday January 4th 1 PM Eastern
First I have to give BIll Parcells major props as I thought he was insane going to Miami where I saw at least a few years of work to get them into a winning season let alone winning their division and getting a #3 seed in the AFC. It was quite an amazing season but I fear it will end harshly for Fins fans as the Ravens D is probably the most dominating playing this weekend and the Ravens offense has slowly gotten better and better over the year. I expect to see a lot from Parcells and his coaching staff as they pull out all the stops in the bag of tricks but defense, a strong running game, and a solid rookie QB not making many errors is a recipe for the Ravens turning the fins into tuna meat next Sunday.
Philadelphia Eagles (-3) At Minnesota Vikings — Sunday January 4th 4:30 PM Eastern
Its very hard for me to pick a team I remember watching struggle in Cincy just a few weeks ago as they nearly lost to the lowly Bengals, but after seeing them demolish the Cowboys last week its hard to go against them. While I do love Adrian Peterson and think he has a great game, I see the Eagles taking advantage of Tavaris Jackson and I also see Peterson fumbling the ball in an important game scenario. While Peterson had a great year he has of late put the ball on the turf a few too many times and I think the real star that will show up this game will be #36 Brian Westbrook whose versatility combined with an aggresive Philly defense will take this game giving the Vikes the strong signal that they need to upgrade at QB in the off season (Won’t Michael Vick be out of prison by next season? Hmmm)