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So below, you will find my version of what is going to happen in this year’s NFL Playoffs, with a brief explanation of each game. 

I welcome discussion and debate as to your thoughts, of course.

NFC Wild-Cards (team in bold wins)

Atlanta Falcons at Arizona Cardinals

Matt Ryan has played great football all season long, and the media has anointed him as the reason for Atlanta’s success, him or Mike Smith that is.  The reason the Falcons will win this game happens to be the REAL reason for their team’s success this year, Michael Turner (the best free agent pick up last year hands down).  He is the leagues second leading rusher and as anyone who knows football will tell you, you can’t win in playoffs without a running game…and guess who doesn’t have one…the Cardinals.

Philadelphia Eagles at Minnesota Vikings

Momentum can be a hell of a catalyst in the NFL and I can’t imagine any team picking up more of it than the Eagles after absolutely destroying the Cowboys to get in the playoffs.  The Vikings have the best RB in the NFL in Peterson and they are playing at home but you have to think McNabb is just too high after a win like that to come back down.

AFC Wild-Cards (team in bold wins)

Indianapolis Colts at San Diego Chargers

Peyton Manning is now back to his old self just as I predicted he would be.  After missing training camp it took some time to get his timing back with his teammates now that he has, look at that 9 straight wins.  Manning is unquestionably the best leader in the NFL and most valuable player to his team, Colts win.

Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins

It should be an interesting game.  The Dolphins solid offense against Ravens solid D and Ravens weak passing game against the Miami’s weak passing D.  Pennington’s accuracy wins out and Flacco’s youth is exposed as the Dolphins win at home.

NFC Divisional Playoffs (team in bold wins)

Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants

The Giants will prove that Plaxico Burress once and for all in a playoff atmosphere that they do not live and die by Plaxico Burress.  Not to mention the combination of Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward will overwhelm the Eagles defense, giving Eli Manning plenty of room to work with, which similar to his brother, is not a good thing for Philly fans.

Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers

Great match-up, this will be the third time these teams have played each other this year, they split the first two.  The difference will be Carolina’s stingy defense at home shutting down Turner’s ability to change the game.  Carolina wins a close one.

AFC Divisional Playoffs (team in bold wins)

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans

Tennessee’s anemic passing offense and inability to come from behind will be end their season as Peyton gets the Colts off to a much needed quick start on the road.  Manning’s team is getting hot at precisely the right time of year.

Miami Dolphins at Pittsburgh Steelers

Despite the Steelers having the more talented team, and probably the best defense in the NFL, a banged up Roethlisberger (including a concussion suffered in their season finale) and a underachieving Willie Parker won’t be able to put up enough points to come away with a victory.  One big play is going to determine this game, don’t be surprised to see it come from Ted Ginn Jr. who has been playing well as of late. 

NFC Championship game (winner in bold)

Carolina Panthers at New York Giants

DeAngelo Williams has become a machine, a touchdown machine to be more precise.  With at least 1 TD in 8 of the Panthers last 9 games (and probably one in their win over Atlanta) he has become automatic.  And in the playoffs big plays, especially in the running game can demoralize a team.  While Jacobs is bound to score, it’s likely to be a 2 yard push into the end zone.  Williams is more likely to be a back breaking 65 yarder following a Giants field goal, the kind of play that can win you a game on the road.  The Panthers make only their 2^nd Super Bowl appearance.

AFC Championship game (winner in bold)

Indianapolis Colts at Miami Dolphins

I feel like every time I get to a Colts game I find myself writing “Peyton Manning” every other word, but guess what, Peyton Manning is that good as far as I’m concerned and yet again he will be the reason the Colts make it back to the Super Bowl as he shreds apart a Dolphins secondary which was untested by the Ravens and Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII

Carolina Panthers vs. Indianapolis Colts (In Tampa, FL)

One of the best offensive rushing teams (Panthers) against one of the worst rushing defenses (Colts) and one of the best passing teams and quarterbacks in the game (Colts/Manning) up against a middle of the pack pass defense (Panthers) it should make for quite an exciting game.  Surprisingly, I would think the score will be lower than you would think.  The Panthers will try and pound the ball and keep possession of the ball while Peyton probably won’t take many home run shots down field and just methodically move the ball.  Time of possession will be important but turnovers will most likely determine the winner and with both teams on the positive side (Ind: +9 Car: +6) one big play this time on the defensive side wins this game.

My Super Bowl pick: Indianapolis Colts

I’m not getting up at 8:30am to get ready for work, it’s not to go running on the damp pavement, like in those Nike commercials either, I’m not even going to leave my house.

You are probably reading this thinking it’s about football, college football to be more specific.  It’s not.  I’m not getting up to watch Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, and Kirk Herbstreit ramble on.  They barely even talk football these days, it’s just feature after feature.  Players who overcame adversity…Coaches who worked their way up and are now in a title hunt…Teams who are talking about why they are going to win this weekend.  OH, you think your team is going to win?  Wow, SHOCKER.  Just show me highlights, tell me who’s playing and what channels I can watch the games on.  I really don’t need to know anything else.  (*sidenote*-remember the days when Sportscenter showed highlights of games, play after play, stat after stat, and interviews with coaches after games.  Features weren’t around and none of the previous day’s games went without highlights.  Now…they skip entire sports sometimes just because.  What the hell happened?!)

The reason I wake up on Saturday mornings is simple, soccer, and not just any soccer but the BEST soccer in the world, European soccer.  Those of you who are soccer fans and I know you are out there, you know what I am talking about. 

Major League Soccer (MLS), the United States professional league just isn’t the same.  That is not to say we have no talent in our country or that the professionals in our country aren’t any good.  The reality of the situation is all the money, all the tradition and all the best players in the world play in Europe and will, forever. 

This isn’t so much an editorial piece as it is a persuasive one, my hope is that those of you who are reading this who don’t watch soccer or care about it, will begin too, here’s why.

There is just nothing else like it, it is truly athleticism in it’s purest form.  Those of you whose perception of soccer has been shaped in the United States just have no idea what soccer is supposed to be, it is NOT the MLS version that’s for sure.  It is for the world’s ultimate athletes. 

You can be short or tall, fast or quick, powerful or graceful, doesn’t matter.  The best soccer players in the world come in all shapes and sizes.  But make no mistake about it, there are no David Wells on the pitch, the average midfielder is going to run 8 miles a game, constant movement with bursts of exceptional speed and power throughout. 

People, especially those unfamiliar with soccer, say “It’s too slow, nothing happens!” to this I respond usually with a roll of the eyes.  There is nothing mundane about watching a European soccer game.  Every single player of the field is absolutely the best in the world at what they do.  The ball is merely an extension of their body, they literally have control over a ball, it’s unbelievable.  Serioulsy, tell me that’s normal? (hint-wait for the replay) 

Try hitting a trash can with a soccer ball in a full sprint from 40 yards away…damn near impossible and yet that is as regular as a hand off to Clinton Portis would be when you are watching Inter Milan @ AC Milan on a Saturday morning.

To understand the beauty of the game and the skill with which it is played at that level you must have an appreciation for what you are watching. 

Honestly, it’s not like watching the NFL, which has a cartoonish quality to it now…We are watching about 6’5” 300 pound monsters hitting each other, What?!  That is huge…go stand in line in Starbucks, Hell, walk through a grocery store…you know what the odds are of finding ONE person over like 6’3” are …not good at all.  I watch every NFL game I can, but I’m not going to lie if in 10 years everyone is 6’10” and 350 pounds it just won’t be fun any more.

Even the NBA has become ridiculous on some level…OH WOW…did you see that dunk by LeBron?!  Yea sure, it’s amazing but if I was 6’8” 250 I could dunk pretty easily too.  I’m not playing down his athleticism by any means, the guy is a FREAK athlete (All-State High School football player)…but at some point you have to lose a little interest in a game that basically real people can’t play. 

My favorite soccer player is Francesco Totti, he is 5’ 11” 170 pounds and 32 years old.   

Manchester United, Roma, Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Ronaldinho, Francesco Totti, Andrea Pirlo, Kaka, Ibrahimovic, Leo Messi look these up, watch some highlights, educate yourself and then tell me you aren’t impressed.  So do yourself a favor and set your alarm clock to 9am this Saturday. 

If you are a player, let’s take Kevin Garnett for example (probably the most intense guy you’ll ever see), your intensity impacts your performance on the court.  If Kevin doesn’t sleep the night before and is so jittery before tip off it looks like he will explode (which is pretty much what he looks like before every game) and 4 minutes into the game when he has blocked 2 shots, picked up a foul, thrown down an alley-oop, and is as into the game as you could get the whistle blows and he has to walk over to the bench sit down and “relax” for a solid 3-4 minutes.  This is not because the opposing coach called a timeout to reset his defense, it isn’t because Doc Rivers saw something he could take advantage of on the offensive end, it is because TV needs to stop the game so they can get some commercials in and make some unnecessary cash.  I’m sorry there is no way you could convince me they need more money. 

Listen, I am not claiming a game should go commercial free or that the game shouldn’t be stopped.  All I am saying is it has gotten completely out of control.  ABC (who owns half the freaken world), the NBA and everyone else who profits from this crap doesn’t need it…they have plenty of money and could easily handle a commercial break once a quarter…with the rest of stoppages in play coming from timeouts.  There is no reason why they couldn’t cut the duration of an NBA game on TV to 3 hours…no reason.  Not to mention the ads that are running have no purpose anyway…do you really not know what Diet Coke is…or that cars are actually for sale in your area?!

And who knows maybe Kevin Garnett will actually benefit from not having to sit down every 8 seconds and perhaps playing for an extended period of time where he can get into a rhythm.  Something that used to happen often in basketball…now its two 3 pointers, timeout…another 3 pointer, then a TV timeout…what the hell kind of a rhythm is that…3 shots took 9 minutes.

by: Domenic Scarano

 Dom thinks it means Kobe….