NFL Playoff Predictions: Wildcard Weekend

After a compelling finish to the NFL season (well, at least in one conference), it is time to evaluate each matchup and make picks.

There are several compelling stories entering this post season:

Both games in the NFC Wildcard are rematches from Week 17, and the Packers and Cowboys blew out the Cardinals and Eagles.

The AFC went down to the wire, with the Steelers and Texans on the outside looking in with 9-7 records.

The Jets started hot, faltered, then finished strong; they too are in a rematch from week 17 with the Bengals.

Tom Brady is denying reports of a broken rib, and will have to find a way to win without favorite target Wes Welker, who tore his ACL and MCL Sunday against Houston.

What will the repercussions be for the Colts and Saints, whose pursuit of perfection were ended and each lost their final two games?

Will Brett Favre go out on top?

Many of these stories will be addressed in the following slideshows, as well as the predictions for each game this weekend.

Be sure to check back in each week for the next round’s predictions!

Begin Slideshow

New York Giants’ Game Plan For The 2010 NFL Draft

This season did not end well for the New York Giants. After a hot 5-0 start against mediocre teams, the Giants have won just three of their last ten games, are eliminated from playoff contention, and are entering a meaningless game with Minnesota on Sunday.

This may be a bit preemptive since the season has not officially ended for Big Blue, but it’s all we have right now.

The following is my take on the top three needs General Manager Jerry Reese should address this coming April in the NFL draft. Of course, these needs may also be met in the off season, but I don’t think any one player would make the difference, unless it is someone like Champ Bailey (like that’ll ever happen).

Which leads me into the first priority for the New York Giants’ staff: find a legitimate cover corner to compliment Corey Webster.

I know most of you will disagree with me because of the talent the Giants have drafted at that position the last couple years, but Aaron Ross’ hamstring injury and the poor late play of Terrell Thomas in the passing game (he is a pretty good tackler and great in run support) have made me think this is still a need.

Bruce Johnson started the season off overachieving, but played horrible down the stretch. With Ross and Webster out against Carolina, the backups made first year QB Matt Moore look like Peyton Manning.

Since they already have some talent at the CB position and are just looking to solidify the depth in the secondary, I can’t justify taking one in the first round. Second round would be ideal, since you can almost always get a steal if you play your cards right.

Crezdon Butler out of Clemson comes to mind. He saw significant playing time all four years at Clemson, and started in every game since he was a sophomore.

The biggest issue with the Giants’ secondary this year was nothing they could control, however. When Kenny Philips went down, the Giants were doomed. If you need any indication of what a play-making safety does for a team, just look at the Denver Broncos.

Brian Dawkins came in and transformed that defense from embarrassing to dominant.

Which is my next point. If Kenny Philips cannot come back from his patella femoral arthritis 100 percent, the Giants need to have a backup plan.

Guys like Tennessee’s Eric Berry and USC’s Taylor Mays look nice, but are not realistic options, since they are most likely first round picks.

Someone who just played very well today in the Rose Bowl for Ohio State is Safety Anderson Russell . He is a big body and is great in run defense, and would be a better backup option than C.C. Brown (who are we kidding, he’s gone next year).

Something I would not be surprised to see at all is Jerry Reese going after the guys in the trenches hard this draft. Both lines are getting old in football years and both suffered injuries to some capacity.

I feel like the first round selection is almost certainly going to be an offensive or defensive lineman, and seeing as how the defensive line played so poorly of late, Reese will probably lean in that direction.

How awesome would it be to see Alabama’s Terrence Cody dominate Texas in the National Championship game, then end up suiting up in Blue come September.

Cody is the 3rd rated defensive tackle by most respected draft experts, and will almost certainly give the Giants a leg up in the NFC East next year. He is 6’4″, 365 lbs (supposedly, most think he’s closer to 380)….’nuff said.

If he were to go in another direction and draft an offensive lineman, a guard is the likely pick. Since they took Will Beatty in last year’s draft and he seems to be the replacement for Kareem Mackenzie, the Giants will need to solidify the inside with a better guard than Kevin Boothe.

Mike Iupati from Idaho is someone who really impressed me in the Humanitarian bowl against Bowling Green. That is the beauty of Bowl season in College Football; you get to see NFL prospects that you never get to see on a day-to-day basis.

Iupati allowed only five quarterback pressures and 0 sacks as a Senior in 807 snaps. He is the No. 1 OG according to… well… everyone.

Obviously there are other needs that should be addressed come April, but these were fresh on my mind. Jerry Reese has proven himself to be one of the premier drafting GM’s—expect nothing less this year.

The 2010 New York Giants have no reason to expect anything less than to win the NFC East, which was the goal coming into this season. As long as everyone comes back healthy, that goal will not change.

P.S. For those of you who read me, I apologize for my recent absence.

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New York Giants’ Loss Effectively Ends NFC East Hopes

Despite Eli Manning having one of the best games of his career, the New York Giants fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 45-38 on Sunday Night Football.

Even with the team scoring 38 points, there were many mistakes on offense that cost the Giants the victory.

Most notable was Hakeem Nicks dropping two definite touchdown passes despite having a pretty good game in his first start over Mario Manningham.

However, he wasn’t the only one getting in the mix of the drops.

Kevin Boss and Steve Smith each dropped big catches, and Manningham doesn’t seem to grasp the idea that the thick white line on either side of the field is bad news.

Maybe he should click his red shoes together and get some answers.

Probably the most costly mistake was the Brandon Jacobs fumble in the first quarter, which was returned for a 60-yard touchdown by Sheldon Brown.

It actually seemed to anger Jacobs, and he got the running game going, but it shouldn’t take a catastrophic mistake to pump you up in a divisional game—especially when that game would put you in sole control of the NFC East.

A recurring question that has been thrown around all year is this: Where has the pass rush gone?

Am I missing something? What in the world is wrong with the defensive line? They were one of the best last year, and the only thing that changed is them adding depth to it in the offseason.

You could make the argument that losing Jay Alford for the season really hurt, but he honestly did not get much playing time in 2008, when the D-line was so dominant.

Getting Osi Umenyiora back was supposed to be the X-factor in a Super Bowl run, but all it did was create a gaping hole in the right side of the run defense and force the coaches to bench him, making him a glorified pass rushing backup.

I thought he was better than Dave Tollefson.

What pains me more than anything is the fact that the run defense has been fantastic the past two weeks, which you would think would allow them to focus on pass coverage. Instead, all teams have done is throw the ball with ease and move the ball despite averaging three yards per carry or less.

I lied. What is even more painful than that is the fact that the Giants outgained the Eagles by nearly 150 yards and still lost. This largely has to do with the fact that the Giants haven’t figured out how to stop DeSean Jackson in his past four games against them.

Jackson burned them on a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown that featured some pretty terrible coverage. Jackson barely had to get five yards off the sideline and even ran backwards to start the play.

Then he burned the safeties on a 60-yard touchdown catch that came one play after a 61-yard touchdown catch to Domenik Hixon. It meant the Giants held the lead all of 15 seconds.

The real problem on this play was that Donovan McNabb had four seconds to throw the ball. In case you didn’t know, that is an eternity for a football play. The pass rush needs to get its act together and fast.

The only positive thing that happened yesterday is that Dallas ensured they would have yet another December without a winning record.

With a game against the Saints next week, the Giants can take the lead in the wild card with a win at Washington and a Dallas defeat.

At this point, a playoff berth is the only thing that can salvage an otherwise disappointing season.

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New York Giants: Eli Manning Gets More Bad News

Eli Manning claims the injury that plagued him for the middle of the season has not affected his play—his play would suggest otherwise.

That being said, this most recent bit of news will have all of Big Blue nation on the edge of their seats the rest of the season.

A stress reaction has developed in the cupoid bone as a result of Manning trying to protect his plantar fasciitis since the injury happened in Week Four.

The Giants are doing everything to protect the foot, making Eli wear protective shoes and telling him to stay off it as much as possible.

This may not mean anything, but what it leads to may be devastating. The stress reaction makes Manning more susceptible to a stress fracture in his foot, which would undoubtedly end his 2009 season.

Manning and the Giants organization are not sharing my concerns. The pair have been optimistic and claim nothing is wrong.

• “It’s one of those things that time and rest is probably the biggest thing,” he said. “Having the weekend and the bye week and off week helped some. Time to rest it is helpful. It is not something I think will linger or bother me.”—Eli Manning.

Eli seems to be the opposite of Ben Roethlisberger when it comes to injuries:

• “It is frustrating, kind of one thing leading to another. When you have to go to the training room and get treatment, it throws your schedule out of whack. It kind of pushes things back. I am a guy who doesn’t like to be in a training room. That’s been probably the biggest annoyance trying to deal with it.”

The next two weeks are the Giants’ season. If they lose just one of them, the season is over. At the very least, the Giants need to go 10-6 to get a Wild Card spot, and it doesn’t feel like a four-game win streak is in the cards if they lose to the ‘Boys.

The last time the Giants played the Cowboys, Manning went off and both Mario Manningham and Steve Smith had career days. The offense needs to step up to make up for the awful play of the defense.

It is incredible how night and day the offense was in the Atlanta and Denver games. In just four days the offense went from looking like a team ready to bounce back and finish strong, to a team who looks ready to pack it in and get ready for next year.

More bad news for a struggling team. One thing to remember is that 2009 is starting to feel a lot like 2007 before the Super Bowl run; the only problem is Steve Spagnuolo is not leading the defense.

Even if the Giants don’t make the playoffs, a sweep of the Cowboys would be nice. A division win could be enough to turn the season around.

Let’s go Big Blue.

 

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New York Giants-Atlanta Falcons: Giants Blow 14 Point Lead, Then Win in Overtime

For the New York Giants, this was about as “must-win” as it gets. The coaching staff had dubbed the last game against the Chargers as a one game season, but the failed victory made this game that much more important.

The team would have found themselves in a world of hurt if they lost yet another game and sunk to 5-5.

With the overtime victory over the pesky Falcons, the Giants find themselves in sole control over one of the two wild card spots.

The Giants were in control of this game for most of it, but the entire team let up just enough to give the Falcons a chance to win the game.

With a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and the playoffs on the line, the wheels came off and the defense let Matt Ryan shred his way back and force the game into overtime.

Eli Manning was brilliant, aside from an interception on the first possession. With the running game failing to get anything going, Gilbride unleashed Manning with full force. He finished the day with this stat line: 384 yards, three touchdowns, 64.1 completion percentage, and a 111.5 QB rating.

With the season on the line the Giants turned to their undisputed franchise leader, and he responded with one of the best games of his career.

The defense played well in the first half, but allowed the Falcons to score 24 points on all four of their possessions in the second half.

The Giants were without defensive captain Antonio Pierce, and when the Falcons made adjustments after half time, the defense was unable to keep up. Luckily, the offense was up to the task.

However, when they needed to get a first down and put the game away with a seven-point lead, the offense sputtered and gave the ball back to the Falcons with over 3:00 left on the clock.

Matt Ryan drove the ball down the field yet again and sent the game into overtime with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez.

With all the momentum swinging to the Falcons, a flip of a coin seemed to take it all away.

The Giants won the toss, got a first down, had a big play to Mario Manningham to the Atlanta 23-yard line, and a field goal from Lawrence Tynes to win the game.

The team will get on a plane to Denver and prepare for a tough road test on Thanksgiving night. They need to win this game to build some confidence and momentum moving forward.

In every season, there is a win that is sometimes considered to be either a turn around game or a significant win that propelled a late season run. At the end of the day, I believe this game will be considered both.

 

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New York Giants Gain Some Serious Ground in Bye Week

The New York Giants finally gained some ground in the NFC playoff picture, and they did so without stepping foot on the gridiron.

Thanks to Atlanta, Dallas, and Philadelphia, the Giants finally got some good news after a terrible month.

As I predicted in my radio show on Blog Talk Radio , the Falcons went into Carolina and lost. Every week my co-host and I do an upset lock of the week, and that was mine.

Carolina is improving every week which helped the Giants this time, but when they face off late in the season, the Giants better be prepared for a dog fight.

The loss places the Giants and Falcons in a tie for the two Wild Card spots along with the Eagles. That makes this week’s matchup with the Falcons that much more important.

With the teams slated evenly in terms of their record, the Giants will need to get a leg up in order to have any hope of making the playoffs.

Not to mention the simple fact that they need to win this game for themselves. Four losses in a row take their toll, but if the Giants can rebound off a bye week, it will be the cornerstone for a strong finish.

It should make for a good game considering the teams are so evenly matched, but the Giants have typically not been very good after bye weeks. Hopefully, Coughlin will make us forget the past.

Coughlin is 2-3 with the Giants after a bye.

With losses by the Eagles and Cowboys, the NFC East just got that much more crowded. Who knew Giants fans would be the happiest we’ve been in the past five weeks when they weren’t even playing?

The Chargers are going through their typical season: start awful and rebound to win their division. After a 2-3 start and the Broncos starting 6-0, the two are now tied for the division at 6-3 (Denver holds the temporary tiebreaker with a win at San Diego).

They handed the Eagles their second loss in a row and forced them into a second place tie with the boys in blue. The two still have a date with destiny to possibly decide the fate of the division when the Giants face the Cowboys and Eagles in two consecutive weeks at Giants Stadium.

The Cowboys also did the Giants a favor by going to Green Bay and basically laying a goose egg on the scoreboard. They got a score in garbage time when the game was already all but over.

Nothing makes me happier then jawing with “Cowboy Fan”, especially when the Giants have already won in Dallas. Their fans will claim they are the better team because they have the better record, but it really upsets them when all I say is “Week Two, argument over.”

Living in Texas, I am force fed Cowboy bologna every week, but when they lose they all disappear. I cannot wait until the ‘Boys go to New York.

I have not yet lost fate in my team, but if they lose this week they can basically kiss the playoffs good-bye.

 

 

 

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New York Giants Gain Some Serious Ground in Bye Week

The New York Giants finally gained some ground in the NFC playoff picture, and they did so without stepping foot on the gridiron.

Thanks to Atlanta, Dallas, and Philadelphia, the Giants finally got some good news after a terrible month.

As I predicted in my radio show on Blog Talk Radio , the Falcons went into Carolina and lost. Every week my co-host and I do an upset lock of the week, and that was mine.

Carolina is improving every week which helped the Giants this time, but when they face off late in the season, the Giants better be prepared for a dog fight.

The loss places the Giants and Falcons in a tie for the two Wild Card spots along with the Eagles. That makes this week’s matchup with the Falcons that much more important.

With the teams slated evenly in terms of their record, the Giants will need to get a leg up in order to have any hope of making the playoffs.

Not to mention the simple fact that they need to win this game for themselves. Four losses in a row take their toll, but if the Giants can rebound off a bye week, it will be the cornerstone for a strong finish.

It should make for a good game considering the teams are so evenly matched, but the Giants have typically not been very good after bye weeks. Hopefully, Coughlin will make us forget the past.

Coughlin is 2-3 with the Giants after a bye.

With losses by the Eagles and Cowboys, the NFC East just got that much more crowded. Who knew Giants fans would be the happiest we’ve been in the past five weeks when they weren’t even playing?

The Chargers are going through their typical season: start awful and rebound to win their division. After a 2-3 start and the Broncos starting 6-0, the two are now tied for the division at 6-3 (Denver holds the temporary tiebreaker with a win at San Diego).

They handed the Eagles their second loss in a row and forced them into a second place tie with the boys in blue. The two still have a date with destiny to possibly decide the fate of the division when the Giants face the Cowboys and Eagles in two consecutive weeks at Giants Stadium.

The Cowboys also did the Giants a favor by going to Green Bay and basically laying a goose egg on the scoreboard. They got a score in garbage time when the game was already all but over.

Nothing makes me happier then jawing with “Cowboy Fan”, especially when the Giants have already won in Dallas. Their fans will claim they are the better team because they have the better record, but it really upsets them when all I say is “Week Two, argument over.”

Living in Texas, I am force fed Cowboy bologna every week, but when they lose they all disappear. I cannot wait until the ‘Boys go to New York.

I have not yet lost fate in my team, but if they lose this week they can basically kiss the playoffs good-bye.

 

 

 

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Breaking News: Giants Place Gerris Wilkinson On Injured Reserve

Yet another fallen comrade has hit the “done for the season” list. He joins a long list of fellow teammates, and the impact of this loss will be felt on special teams.

Wilkinson was a special teams standout and a great backup linebacker. He got some good playing time last year, but with the addition of Michael Boley and the fine play of Chase Blackburn, he was moved down the depth chart.

He led the team with 12 special teams tackles; the Giants will look to replace him this week in practice.

This is yet another disappointing loss to add to the several Giants on IR. He joins Jay Alford, Kenny Philips, and Andre Brown on the list.

The Giants entered the season as arguably the deepest team in the league defensively, but injuries to just about everyone on that side of the ball have dismissed that notion.

The Giants have played poorly on defense in their four-game losing streak, and surely these injuries have something to do with it. It sounds like an excuse because every team deals with injuries, but at some point it has to be accounted for.

Fortunately the Giants got Michael Boley and Chris Canty back on the field against the Chargers. They looked much better but still came up short when they needed a stop.

The Giants replaced Wilkinson with defensive back D.J. Johnson, who was signed off the Denver Broncos’ practice squad.

Johnson played at Missouri before transferring to Jackson State, where he was an All-American. He recorded 10 interceptions in two seasons, along with a forced fumble, blocked kick, and two touchdowns.

He will more than likely compete for the glaring weakness at free safety, that is if Aaron Rouse doesn’t keep playing like he did on Sunday, when he got his first start in place of C.C. Brown.

The Giants will look to regroup during the bye week, as the most important game of the season looms. If the Giants lose to Atlanta, you can basically kiss the playoffs good-bye.

 

 

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Houston, We (I) Have a Solution: Bring In Larry Johnson

Since becoming an FC for the New York Giants, I have rarely stepped outside the boundaries of the Giants and written an objective piece about the NFL. Before that, I wrote several pieces on the NFL, including mock drafts and playoff predictions.

I finally decided to step outside those boundries, as I believe a golden opportunity has been presented to solve the runningback situation in Houston.

As of this morning, Larry Johnson was cut by the Chiefs.

Before they cut ties with the disgruntled runningback who, among other things, referred to his coach with a gay slur, I would never have suggested a trade for this player.

But with a two-time 1700-yard rusher on the waiver wire, the Texans should look no further than this guy to solve their runningback woes.

I know most of you will say I’m a lunatic or something of the sort for suggesting the Texans bring in such a poor character guy; but I have a theory. 

Once Larry Johnson lost his pro bowl offensive line to retirement, his play suffered, and the realization of not being successful began to weigh on his shoulders. He did not take this recent criticism very well, and when the team began to spiral into mediocrity, his play went with it.

My theory is if you give this guy a mediocre contract—it shouldn’t be hard to do—and a good situation where he will actually be counted on, he will return to at least a form that will help the Texans.

Coach Gary Kubiak decided to give his thoughts on the situation:

“When a name like that comes on the free agent market like today, we’ll obviously go back and take a look at him just like any other player,” Kubiak said. “Obviously, he’s been a good player in this league and I’m sure he’ll get a lot of interest from a lot of people.”

Steve Slaton is still a fantastic back, but his fumbling problems continue to hinder the team’s success. I always thought he would be a great third down back in this league, similar to Kevin Faulk for the Patriots.

His incredible season last year had most people thinking he would be a pro bowl running back in the near future. Slaton has returned to Earth and is struggling to find the holes.

The release of LJ could not have come at a better time for the Texans should they choose to sign him. They are entering a bye week, and they could get him two full weeks of practice.

What is comical is I actually figured when LJ lost his fantastic line, his play would suffer.

That being said, I think the Texans’ o-line is pretty good, especially compared to the Chiefs’ o-line. The Chiefs have drafted some pretty good prospects, but they are yet to come together to perform up to their potential.

This is a low-risk, potentially high-reward pick for the Texans. LJ is 29, but he has had a few seasons cut short by injury and is pretty fresh considering the Chiefs rarely used him this season.

I realize the Texans have tried this with two other players in Ahman Green and Chris Brown, who were both cut by their teams after having great seasons. But hey, third time’s the charm right?

The Texans have already picked up some scraps from the Chiefs when the picked up Bernard Pollard. I couldn’t figure out why the Chiefs dropped him, and he has played very well for the Texans thus far.

I feel like this could be the good situation and change of scenery that Johnson needs to salvage his career. It could be a similar situation to Cedric Benson in Cincinnati, where he finally is living up to his first-round potential.

Living in Houston, I know Texans fans are not that excited about the thought of Ryan Moats being the first option. Maybe this will be the spark the Texans need to finally jolt them into the playoffs.

 

 

 

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Trouble For the New York Giants: The Old Eli Manning Has Resurfaced

With all of the obvious problems on defense, one thing that has upset me more than anything the past three games is the old Eli Manning making an appearance.

He has not played very well at all, and what pains me the most is the poor decision making, which was something that we all thought was a thing of the past.

In the game against the Saints, Manning apparently wanted to show off his arm in his home state. He went deep on third down six times, and was 0-for-6 on those downs.

On the first one, he had Domenik Hixon in one-on-one coverage and under threw him, which allowed the defensive back to make a play on the ball. On the second one, he had Steve Smith wide open for a sure touchdown and sailed the ball over his head.

The rest of the game was much of the same story, except for one that should have been pass interference on a pass to Hakeem Nicks.

These plays were frustrating to say the least. The whole season Manning had been taking what the defenses had given him and only taking chances on downs in which they could afford to do so.

In the Cardinals game, Manning made bad decisions throughout the entire game and erased a solid performance by the defense.

The defense only allowed 24 points, but seven of those were set up after Manning threw an interception on their own 20-yard line.

Even when given the opportunity to lead the team back and send the game into overtime, Manning got into Cardinal territory before throwing a pass into double coverage and having it picked off by Antrel Rolle. Hakeem Nicks was wide open on an out route.

One thing that was very frustrating in every loss so far is that the Giants have blitzed just about as much as the other teams, but the opposing QBs are finding the receivers wide open, and Manning is making the wrong decision nearly every single time.

So many times the replay shows a wide open receiver that Manning failed to find. That being said, more often than not the receivers are failing to adjust their routes and get to the open holes in the coverage.

The one thing you could have said about the receivers is that they are precise route runners. Well, sometimes you have to be not-so-precise and just simply have instincts to find the open areas. Right now I don’t feel like the receivers and Manning are on the same page like they were earlier in the year.

The team was simply out coached and ill-prepared on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Eagles seemed to know what to do in every situation. Besides a small number of bright spots, Manning looked awful in his first regular season loss at Philly.

What is even more frustrating about the team is that they seem to be moving in opposite directions with Brandon Jacobs. The more Jacobs improves, the less successful the team has become. For the life of me, I cannot figure it out.

The inefficiencies on defense can be fixed if the defense can just find a way to muster any sort of pass rush. However, that won’t do any good if Manning is still making these types of decisions.

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