Cody's Blog

It’s that time again! The 2009-2010 NFL regular season has come to an end and the playoff match-ups have been set. On the AFC side, the Colts own the best record in the NFL while the Chargers come streaking into the playoffs as the hottest team in the NFL. As for the other teams, the Patriots come in as the three seed with a 10-6 record as do the Bengals, while the Jets and Ravens own 9-7 records. On the NFC  side, the Saints own a 13-3 record, but come  staggering into the playoffs with three straight losses after starting 13-0. the Vikings sit at the two seed at 12-4, but they too come staggering in having lost 3 of their last 5 games. As for the rest of the teams, all of them sit at 11-5 except the Cardinals who are 10-6 and won arguably one of the worst divisions in football. Below is my analysis of the Wild-card round of the match-ups.

AFC Wild-Card Round

1:00-Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots – The Ravens have one of the better defenses in football, and should be able to contain the Pats offense pretty well seeing as wide out Wes Welker is out for the year. On the flip side, the Patriot secondary is rather porous and with Derrick Mason and Todd Heap starting to hit their stride, Patriot defensive backs may have a tough time covering them and young, explosive running back Ray Rice. My Pick: I like the Patriots in a very good game 27-23.

4:30-New York Jets @ Cincinnati Bengals – The Jets come flying into the playoffs off of a Week 17 pounding of the Bengals by a count of 37-0. Granted the Bengals sat many of their players, but the Jets still showed that they can pound the ball with Thomas Jones. For the Bengals, the rely a ton on Cedric Benson and if he is having an off day, they probably do not have enough weapons to engineer a victory. My Pick: I like the Jets again, but in a lower scoring contest 21-17.

NFC Wild-Card Round

4:40- Green Bay Packers @ Arizona Cardinals- This again is a rematch game, as the two teams met in the final regular season game; a 33-7 win in dominating fashion by the Packers. Green Bay come in winners of 7 of their last 8 and bring a great offense and solid defense to Glendale. For Arizona, the defense has been playing well and can hold up if a slugfest occurs. On the offensive side of the ball they are one of the best, but need to run the ball more effectively. Beanie Wells seems to be the favored back, and they will need him to come up big in these playoffs. My Pick: My pick is Green Bay survives the heat and comes out of the desert with a win by a count of 34-27.

8:00- Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys- This third Week 17 rematch game features the high flying Eagle offense led by Donovan McNabb versus the stout Cowboy defense led by DeMarcus Ware and Co. In the final regular season game, the Cowboys D held the Eagle offense scoreless to record their second consecutive shutout and a 24-0 win. I do not suspect that another shutout will occur in the second game, and I think that it will be an offensive game. My Pick: I think Dallas finally grabs a playoff win behind another great defensive effort in a 24-14 win.

Make sure to check back next week as I will preview the AFC and NFC Divisional Round games.

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