NFL Playoffs, Day Two

Ray Lewis and the Ravens D will show up big.
(AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Chiefs big winners? "Nevermore," quoth the Ravens


The Kansas City Chiefs have been one of the big surprises of the season. After finishing last season at 4-12, the Chiefs were not the most threatening team coming into this season. They definitely weren't thought to be a team that could take down the Chargers and Broncos in a difficult AFC West. However, despite the low expectations, the Chiefs managed to finish with a record of 10-6, enough to earn them a division title and a home game in the playoffs. Led by a quarterback-receiver tandem of Matt Cassel and Dwayne Bowe and a two-headed monster in the backfield of quick scat-back Jamaal Charles and bruiser Thomas Jones, the Chiefs and head coach Todd Haley have crafted an extremely dangerous team.

The Baltimore Ravens, on the other hand, have not been surprising, but rather they have been exactly what we expect the Ravens to be. This season they posted a terrific 12-4 record to finish even with the Steelers, but lost the division by a one-game tie-breaker. However, Baltimore is still a high-caliber team with that famous defense and consistent offense. They are not flashy in how they win, they just win. They don't allow a lot of points on defense and score enough to win on offense. Simple enough. They don't blow teams out, but you can tell when the Ravens are dominating a game. They do everything necessary to win.

In today's game, we will be seeing the NFL's best rushing offense in the Chiefs (1st in rushing yards) against one of the NFL's best rushing defenses in the Ravens (5th in rushing yards allowed). All signs are pointing to this game being a grinder, one that will be low-scoring with both teams fighting tooth-and-nail to get to the endzone. It will be an interesting one to watch, but ultimately I think the Ravens will play that classic Ravens football to squeak out a win. They won't blow the Chiefs out of the water by dropping 40+ points on them unless they have to. I see the Ravens getting a nice seven- or ten-point lead and playing running the clock and playing for field position.

Ravens 20 - Chiefs 14

Aaron Rodgers is running into the next round.
(AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Packers win, RODGERs that


The Green Bay Packers, as I reminded everyone yesterday, have been my Super Bowl champs from day one of the NFL season. I think that this team has everything it takes to be a Super Bowl team. Aaron Rodgers will be in the same class with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as soon as he gets that ring. Donald Driver is a fighter and Greg Jennings is electric at the receiver position. The Packers' defense is a force to be reckoned with. Clay Matthews could be the best linebacker in the league and Charles Woodson is an ageless wonder. All they have missed this year is a solid running attack with Ryan Grant out for most of the season. Overall, though, this team is the most rock solid team all the way through in the NFC.

Michael Vick is an incredible story. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be Comeback Player of the Year in the NFL this season. But with a banged up Vick, where does that leave the Eagles? It leaves them searching for options. Backup quarterback Kevin Kolb can definitely play, but he changes the entire Eagles team. Vick's identity as a dual threat keeps defenses on edge, so that Philadelphia can do basically whatever they want on offense and they will be able to succeed nine out of ten times. However, with Kolb in the game, the mobility threat is taken away, so that allows defenses to stick with a gameplan. Vick cannot be contained by a gameplan because he is a game-changer, but when he is injured he begins to lose that identity. He cannot take as many risks with his legs and his tackle-breaking ability to avoid getting hurt worse.

I think that is what makes the difference in today's game. Vick will play, no doubt, but he has been knocked around quite a bit in the past few weeks. In the game against the Vikings he was clearly hurting in the final quarter of that game. A solid week of rest in Week 17 could have been what he needed to be back up to speed this week. However, I still think that with the Packers being so solid and Vick's health being slightly in question, the safest bet is to take Green Bay. Their defense is great and Rodgers is absolutely incredible. As long as Rodgers puts the ball where it needs to be, I think the Packers will win this one and send the Eagles home early.

Packers 31 - Eagles 21


p.s. Props to the Seahawks and the Jets yesterday for starting me off with an 0-2 playoff record. Terrific.

p.p.s. Sorry for no NBA post yesterday. I had more homework than I thought.

p.p.p.s. For more senseless babble, follow me on Twitter @Bradley_W_Parks.

NFL Playoffs, Day One

SEEhawk you in the next round, Saints

The Saints will have to deal
with a hostile environment.
(Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

I really don't think anyone will be surprised by me, or anyone else for that matter, picking the Saints to win this game. The defending champs did not have the year everybody thought they would, but still finished with an 11-5 record. Quarterback Drew Brees had another incredible season for New Orleans piling up 4620 yards and 33 touchdowns. The running game was where the Saints really had to scrounge this season with Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas both getting injured early in the season. They relied heavily on rookie back out of Tiffin University, Chris Ivory, who actually managed to accumulate 716 yards and five touchdowns on the ground on just 137 attempts.

The Seahawks, on the other hand, have stumbled into the playoffs by default. I would say that they didn't win the most, but rather lost the least out of teams in the NFC West. However, despite their 7-9 record, the Seattle Seahawks are the NFC West champions and are now hosting the Saints in first week of the playoffs. Quarterback questions have plagued Seattle this season, mostly as of late, as they have had to switch between Matt Hasselbeck and Charlie Whitehurst. Whitehurst was the man to bring home the divisional banner last week against the Rams on NBC's Sunday Night Football with Hasselbeck out due to injuries. However, this week the Seahawks have decided to go with the slightly ailing Hasselbeck over Whitehurst to take on the Saints.

Dan Patrick said on his radio show this week that Seattle will either win this in a close game or get blown out and I must agree with him. Some little part of me says maybe Seattle will sneak up and surprise everybody by winning this game, but I am still going to choose the Saints. The Seahawks showed some small sparks this season and they are playing with the "12th Man" at Qwest Field, but I just don't think that is enough to take down such a dangerous Saints team. As much as I want to go with the demon on my shoulder saying "pick the Seahawks" I cannot give in to that temptation. The Saints are just too good and the Seahawks are just too bad. I'll stick with the defending champions in this one.

Saints 42 - Seahawks 17


*Game at 4:30 P.M. EST on NBC


Peyton still the MANning

Colts fans don't want to see interceptions.
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

The Colts haven't exactly been the Colts of old this season. After 12 games it seemed that Indianapolis may have been missing out on the playoffs for the 2010-2011 season with a record of 6-6. But with the help of four straight wins by them and three straight losses by Jacksonville, the Colts wound up with yet another AFC South title. Quarterback Peyton Manning had back-to-back four-interception games during the 6-6 stretch, but was able to turn it around by only throwing two in the final four games of the season. The Colts' defense has been what we have come to expect them to be, in the middle of the pack in passing defense (13th in passing yards allowed) and very poor at stopping the run (25th in rushing yards allowed). The Colts have next to no rushing game as they are 29th in the league in rushing yards per game. Basically, the Colts live and die by how Peyton Manning plays as he has averaged 2.3 interceptions in their losses compared to just 0.3 in their wins.

On the other sideline, the Jets have not exactly lived up to their expectations put on them by the media but also by themselves. I discussed how their record is deceiving this season in my Week Fourteen post. I mentioned at the end that they needed to be careful in the final stretch of the season in which they had a big win against the Steelers, but almost missed out on the playoffs with losses to Miami and Chicago. The truth is, the Jets aren't the Jets that everyone wants them to be. Quarterback Mark Sanchez has not played well, only throwing for 3291 yards and 17 touchdowns with 13 interceptions and is still nursing a shoulder injury. The Jets have snuck by this season with a strong two-headed rushing attack in Shonn Greene and LaDanian Tomlinson and also their stellar defense (6th in passing yards allowed, 3rd in rushing yards allowed).

In this game, it is somewhat difficult to choose a winner. Both teams have been streaky this season. In the final five games, the Colts finished 4-1 while the Jets finished 2-3. In the middle of the season it looked as if the Jets were locked into the playoffs and the Colts were on the outside looking in. However, now with those final five-game records it seems that the tables have turned. The Colts are the ones riding the hot streak while the Jets are beginning to dip. I think that as long as Peyton Manning plays like Peyton Manning today, the Colts win this one. I do not think, however, that the Jets will go away quietly. This will be a close game, but in the end it is too difficult to go against Manning.

Colts 24 - Jets 20


*Game at 8:00 P.M. EST on NBC


p.s. Last week my record was 12-4 which left my regular season record at 130-86 (.602 winning percentage). Not bad. But much like in the NFL, my record is now 0-0. A new season begins today.

p.p.s. Tomorrow I will preview the Ravens-Chiefs and Packers-Eagles games.

p.p.p.s. I will remind you of my Super Bowl prediction from my first ever B+ Sports post. I still believe we will be seeing the Packers defeat the Colts on February 6.

p.p.p.p.s. I am going to try to write another post later today on my Phoenix Suns and their struggles and how to fix them.

p.p.p.p.p.s. Tomorrow I will be at the Ohio v. Miami basketball game, so I will try to write another post for that game along with my second round of playoff coverage tomorrow.

p.p.p.p.p.p.s. For more senseless babble, follow me on Twitter @Bradley_W_Parks.

Week Seventeen

Owning Up

The unrest inside the Bengals locker room is being thrown into the public eye. Obviously, any team would be upset to have the 4-11 record that Cincinnati has. On their current two-game winning streak the Bengals have exposed where the real problem is on that team: play-calling.

I think it is safe to say that head coach Marvin Lewis will be out at the conclusion of this season. After hearing from countless Bengal fans, most also want offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski to be fired as well. Over the years and years of watching Bengals games, I have noticed a few things about the Bengals offense. The Bengals are at their best when they are pounding the ball with running back Cedric Benson and airing it out deep. During the Bratkowski years, some play-calls are just mind-boggling to me. In long-down situations, the Bengals will get a call of a draw play or a screen pass which is clearly not their game. It is essentially a waste of a down, leading to a lot of punts and sometimes desperation throws leading to interceptions. What Cincinnati needs to do is discover their identity and stick with it. They need to stop trying to make Bernard Scott into LeSean McCoy. That isn't what the team is all about. The Bengals have a traditional offense: an immobile quarterback, bruising running back, and sure-handed receivers. They cannot be turned into an offense like the Philadelphia Eagles. They need to run more like the Atlanta Falcons.

The play-calling is not the only problem. The defense has suffered quite a few injuries in the backfield including Roy Williams, Chris Crocker, Adam Jones, and more. They have gotten burned at the safety position all year. I think, however, with a high draft pick and some new faces on the sideline, the Bengals can return to playoff form.

Predictions


RT @Bradley_W_Parks: B+ Sports Picks: Pats, Jets, Ravens, Chiefs, 49ers, Lions, Jags, Bengals, Texans, Colts, Packers, Bucs, Eagles, Saints


Between last week's picks and the week before, my record was 18-11, pushing my season record to 118-82. Here is what I have for this week's games:


Falcons, Steelers, Lions, Chiefs, Patriots, Saints, Jets, Ravens, Chargers, Packers, Colts, Eagles, 49ers, Giants, Texans, Rams


p.s. For more senseless babble, follow me on Twitter @Bradley_W_Parks.