Who do yall like for the NFL playoffs this weekend?

Ravens
Chargers
Eagles
Panthers

 

The Ravens look very scary right now. The Titans don't. This is why most people think the Ravens will win. QB play will be key on both sides. If Kerry Collins doesn't play well, the Ravens will romp. Over the latter part of the season, he didn't do well. Considering his age, Collins may be hitting the wall. Ed Reed & Co. will be waiting. If Flacco doesn't make mistakes, the Ravens should prevail in a low scoring game. Like in 2000, if the Ravens get ahead, uh oh for the Titans.

Steelers over Chargers. If Roethlisberger doesn't throw the game away, the Steelers will win because they are better. Big Ben is the major question mark and he must keep mistakes to a minimum (which includes holding the ball too long).

Panthers over Cards. Unless the Panthers don't bother to show up, no way they lose. Of the 4 games left, this is the easiest one to call.

Giants over Eagles. If the Giants bring their "A" game, the Eagles won't have enough to beat them. If not, the Eagles have a punchers chance if they stay within one score in the 4th quarter.

 

Playoffs and regular season is a whole different story. Besides it's extremely difficult to beat a team twice in any season... especially a team of the Ravens calibur.

 

Ravens, Steelers, Eagles, Panthers

 

Titans-may have a rare offensive edge over opponent
Chargers-I think they have finally hit a stride, although pittsburgh is tough
Giants-I just don't think philly has enough to hang
Panthers-same as above, arizona cannot stop their running, and carolina will score

 

You guys that think the Eagles will beat the Giants, please explain why. It isn't like they looked awesome beating the Vikings. Without the dumb pick-6 by Tavaris Jackson or the long run late by Westbrook, it would have been a different game. I think if the Giants aren't flat because of the layoff, the Eagles will have a rough time of it. McNabb is going to get smacked around more than a few times and I can see a couple of INTs.

Maybe you just have a hunch about the game?

 

I disagree on the premise of why the media are picking the Ravens. First off, all of the reasons people bring up to support the Ravens: stingy defense, excellent running game, toughness, the Titans have. The Titans have arguably the better defense. The Titans totally owned Ben Roethlisberger, a playoff caliber quarterback and yet Flacco is supposed to come in and do better. Give me a break. The Titans have beaten the Ravens since 2000, 4 out of 6 times. The two losses, 1 point loss in the final minute in 2005 27-26, and in 2000 playoffs. The Titans have owned the Ravens for the most part. They have home field advantage and they have had a week of rest. People clamor about how great Ed Reed and Ray Lewis are, and forget that the Titans have Cortland Finnigan Chris Hope Micheal Griffin and lets see, Keith Bullock Haynesworth Van den Bosch Tony Brown. Our backup got 3.5 sacks Jason Jones is going to be the next big thing in case you haven't heard. The Ravens are a good defense for 3 quarters and that is about it. They are aging. The only chance the Ravens have is if they can run the ball against the Titans. I'd say that's doubtful. The only other advantage the Ravens have is the mental edge and they will be playing that to the tilt, don't worry, but like I said, Ray Ray's shtick is old news.

The reason why the Titans are not getting picked, Skip Bayless said it best, the titans are lick the spurs, they are absolutely boring. The media wants the Ray Ray 3 ring circus.

One more thing people forget about 2000, since everybody brings it up, is that Anthony Mitchell had a 90 yard return in that game. I am not going to say that was luck, but how often does that happen, really? Even in games against the worst teams in the nfl it is near impossible to do. Then the Titans are going down to score and Ray Lewis jumps a route when Eddie George is turning around to run and snatches the ball out of his hands. It was a great play, but this game was far from a blowout.

 

Eagles are playing out of their minds right now and it's all about stretches in the NFL. Also, I really think the Eagles will play more relaxed and they really have nothing to lose especially being on the road. They squeeked into the playoffs. Not many expected them to beat the Vikings on the road. McNabb is playing with confidence. Giants still have a lot to prove and people are expecting them to get to the SB again. I think they may come out a bit stiff and McNabb will control and capitalize on early Giant mistakes.

 

ravens
chargers
giants
panthers

 

If Peterson wouldn't have broke that 40 yard run, it would have been a different game as well. Ifs are possible in all games. I might understand an if if a key player like Peterson or Westbrook went down with an injury or something like that but when it comes to plays on the field there are no ifs about it.

 

I think a healthy Titans Defense gets to Flacco.

Eagles have run out of lives, and Giants won't lose at home to Eagles again.

Arizona has now 3 wins over teams with winning records but all are at home, and none have as a good a running team as Carolina. (Say what you want about Atlanta, but Turner has been inconsistent and shut down before.) Zona is also 0-6 in the Eastern Time Zone. So Carolina.

Pittsburgh's O-line has been inconsistent all year. Their RB's have been beat up all year, and they have ridden their Def and Big Ben here. Despite everything saying that they should beat the Charger, I pick San Diego...because there has to be at least one upset this week. (Since 2002, there has been at least 2 upsets in Divisional Round 4 times. Twice (2002 & 2004) there were no upset)

 

is jake's full of philly fans during the games?

 

Here's my predictions (4-0 last week), in order of my confidence in each pick:

Panthers, Ravens, Steelers, Giants

 

If only Vegas let you bet without a line.

 

Panthers, Titans, Chargers, Eagles

 

They do ... It's called the money line

 

Yes but you dont get paid 1-1 on those

 

If I had gone straight money lines, though, I actually would have come out better than 1-1, given that two of the wins (Chargers/Cardinals) were upsets in Vegas.

On topic, this really is a tough week. Outside of the Panthers, all three of the other games are relative tossups in my view.

 

ravens,chargers,eagles,cardinals