NFL 2011 Wild Card Playoff Round

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Remember, folks, it's only 36 more weeks until the kickoff of the 2012 regular season.

Lions 41 - Packers 45: Green Bay better franchise Matt Flynn before someone steals him off their bench. You saw what happened to Indianapolis without a competent back-up to Peyton Manning.

49ers 34 - Rams 27: The Niners certainly didn't look happy heading into the locker room and for good reason: they got comfy late in the game and almost blew it. That they know it and are upset is probably a good sign.

Jets 17 - Dolphins 19: Let the dismantling of the New York Jets commence.

Bears 17 - Vikings 13: Damn it! So, close, Jared Allen. Then you would have gotten the cushy studio analyst gig and a half a seaon of a sitcom.

Bills 21 - Patriots 49: Ryan Fitzpatrick, I dub thee the second coming of Derek Anderson.

Panthers 17 - Saints 45: Drew Brees blew away Dan Marino's passing record and Cam Newton blew up the rookie passing records. Who to thank for all this? Ironically, Bill Polian.

Redskins 10 - Eagles 34: So I'm guessing the Dream Team ended up being the Mid-Afternoon Power Nap Team.

Colts 13 - Jaguars 19: Would it be unseemly if Andrew Luck started looking into housing prices in the greater Indianapolis area?

Titans 23 - Texans 22: Okay, what the heck was Kubiak thinking?

Buccaneers 24 - Falcons 45: You lose ten in a row, you gots to go.

Ravens 24 - Bengals 16: If there's a rematch looming in two weeks, you can pencil in Baltimore for the AFC title game already.

Steelers 13 - Browns 9: Yeah, losing your top rusher's going to bite you in the butt during the playoffs.

Chiefs 7 - Broncos 3: Kansas City, just give Romeo Crennel the job already. Imagine what he can do with a healthy team.

Chargers 38 - Raiders 26: I get the feeling this is going to be a very interesting off season for both teams.

Seahawks 20 - Cardinals 23: If I'm a team in 2012, I do not want to play Arizona in overtime.

Cowboys 14 - Giants 31: Congratulations, Tom Coughlin; you live to coach another season.

End of the Regular Season Pick 'Em: Well, this was pretty much down to three people, two of which had the exact same scores and the third didn't make any picks. Oh well:

My record: 3-2

Your records:

Gumbie: 5-0
Jayhawker: 5-0

MilkmanDanimal: 4-1
TheGameguru: 4-1

Elliottx: 3-2
ZellbrigeN26: 3-2
Kush15: 3-2
boogle: 3-2
LeapingGnome: 3-2
tboon: 3-2*
iaintgotnopants: 3-2

Xeknos: 2-3
oldmanscene24: 2-3
garion333: 2-3

* = I see what you did there.

And, without further ado...

My record: 59-26

Your guys' record:

boogle: 65-20

tboon: 60-25
TheGameguru: 60-25

Minase: 59-26

MilkmanDanimal: 58-27

Gumbie: 56-29

garion333: 55-30

oldmanscene24: 54-31
iaintgotnopants: 54-31
LeapingGnome: 54-31

Kush15: 53-32

Jayhawker: 52-33

Xeknos: 51-34

bighoppa: 50-35
Enix: 50-35

Elliotx: 45-39

*Legion*: 40-45

Congratulations, boogle, your ass is officially crowned for the 2011 regular season. Now, as for the playoffs, I figure this year we wipe the boards clean and start anew. To prevent ties when we hit the Super Bowl, I'll be asking for predictions of the final score a la NCAA basketball brackets. So, here's what's on tap for the Wild Card round:

Bengals vs. Texans (Saturday, 4:30 ET, NBC): In spite of the fact that neither team (and one organization) doesn't have a lot of playoff experience if any, I'd say the edge goes to Houston based on defense alone. Texans.

Lions vs. Saints (Saturday, 8:00 ET, NBC): Here's a prediction: it'll be a shoot-out. Detroit has a better defense but I don't see them containing New Orlean's passing game for long. Saints.

Falcons vs. Giants (Sunday, 1:00 ET, FOX): Hmmmm, tough one here. Do you trust New York's sudden burst of momentum or do you trust Atlanta not doing something bone-headed that'll cost them the game? Wait, that was kind of the story going into the Sunday night game, wasn't it? Never mind. Falcons.

Steelers vs. Broncos (Sunday, 4:30 ET, CBS): Easy. Steelers.

Enjoy the PLAYOFFS?!, folks.

Hmm.

Bengals vs. Texans: Going against the grain here and saying Bengals
Lions vs. Saints: Saints. Definitely Saints.
Falcons vs. Giants: Eli is hot now and Metlife is a loud place. Giants.
Steelers vs. Broncos: Even God can't help Tebow here. Steelers.

And here I am wearing my crown this morning getting in 2 rounds.
Picks to come later.
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/ID3Om.jpg)

Whoa, Bill Polian got fired from the Colts.

Bengals vs. Texans: THE POWER OF JAKE DELHOMME COMPELS YOU! THE POWER OF JAKE DELHOMME COMPELS YOU!

Lions vs. Saints: If you played on a neutral field right now, I think the Saints would beat the Packers. They're playing scary good. The bastards.

Falcons vs. Giants: This is a tough one, but I'll go Giants. This is the year I stopped making fun of Eli Manning, and he's been ridiculous late. I always thought he was significantly overhyped in past years, largely because he's been an INT factory throughout his career, but he's been just awesome this year.

Steelers vs. Broncos: This will be very, very ugly for the Broncos; Tebow having to handle all of LeBeau's complex blitzes, having to figure out who is coming and who isn't? Whatever the line currently is, I'm taking the Steelers.

Wildcard: Tampa fans vs. 2011: I have never, ever wanted football season to end before.

Didn't pick any for the regular season, but might as well get in on this playoff madness.

Bengals - Texans are just happy to be in the playoffs finally, make no noise.
Saints - Same as above, RE: Lions.
Giants - I believe in Eli... sometimes... I think...
Steelers - Denver hasn't had any miracles for weeks. I think the run is over.

garion333 wrote:

Whoa, Bill Polian got fired from the Colts.

His son, too.

I'm kind of of two minds on this.

On the one hand, the Polians have drafted like crap for the past few years. I detailed those drafts earlier this season here. It's not a defensible track record.

On the other hand, Bill Polian was a powerful and highly influential person to have in the front office of an otherwise rinky-dink NFL franchise. (I say that as a fan of perhaps the most rinky-dinkiest franchise of them all, though hopefully some Shad Khan money helps change that). Polian gave Indy league-wide influence that their small market franchise had zero business having otherwise. That's not something to give away lightly.

Also, I don't think the Polians are chronically bad drafters. I'm not sure what's up with the funk they've been in - I imagine part of it is just having more than their fair share of bad luck in that span - but I don't think it was an inescapable position. I feared the day the Polians got their asses back on track. As a Jag fan, I'm pretty happy to no longer have that worry, and no longer see the Colts wield such a strong influence on the rest of the league.

Soooo... how does Caldwell keep his job? o_0

jowner wrote:

Soooo... how does Caldwell keep his job? o_0

(UPDATE 2:59 p.m. ET: No decision has been made yet on Caldwell, according to Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star.)

We'll see.

I have cable TV for a few months, so I'm going to watch!

Bengals vs. Texans: They just seem to be a better team.

Lions vs. Saints: My upset pick.

Falcons vs. Giants: They really seem to mean business.

Steelers vs. Broncos: I was going to say that I'll take the opposite of whatever Legion picks, but there's no way I could back the Tebows.

Hmm. It looks like Pitt is playing without Rashard Mendenhall or Ryan Clark. And it looks like Roethlesburger is still gimpy. Even still, I'm not seeing a Broncos victory in the cards. I guess the best I can hope for is that Ayers and Dumervil put a few more bruises on Ben before his trip to M&T.

Just scrolled across EPSN that Raheem was fired.

Texans
Saints
Giants
Steelers

Texans just beat the Bengals in Cincinatti a month ago. Saints and Steelers are better than their opponents. I have no idea on Giants v Falcons, so I just picked one.

garion333 wrote:
jowner wrote:

Soooo... how does Caldwell keep his job? o_0

(UPDATE 2:59 p.m. ET: No decision has been made yet on Caldwell, according to Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star.)

We'll see.

When asked about speculation over his future, Caldwell said:

IMAGE(http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/p/sp/ap/3c/fullj.fb9d18ec6aae2785218685e6fad39adc/ap-201201021216441769112.jpg)

"...."

Here's my speculation on the coaching situation: the Colts just fired their GM. The GM usually makes the coaching hires and fires. Possibly, they don't want to make the call on their coach before allowing the new GM to come in and make the decision.

Here's some deeper, completely unfounded speculation: Normally a GM would come in and want to clean house and hire his own coach. But possibly, the Colts have a GM in mind who might want to keep Caldwell. If that's the case, then I would have to imagine that the potential GM is someone already inside the Colts building, who does support Caldwell. Either that, or for some reason, they think an outsider coming in to the GM spot would possibly want to keep Caldwell (hard to imagine who such a GM would be).

I don't believe the Broncos will beat the Steelers, but it's not going to be a blow-out. Steelers lost their starting tailback to a knee injury, Roethlisberger is unable to move in the pocket (and the Broncos defense will get to him) and their starting safety cannot play due to a sickle cell condition that the altitude makes very dangerous to his life. I figure it'll be something like 13-3 or maybe 17-6.

sheared wrote:

I don't believe the Broncos will beat the Steelers, but it's not going to be a blow-out. Steelers lost their starting tailback to a knee injury, Roethlisberger is unable to move in the pocket (and the Broncos defense will get to him) and their starting safety cannot play due to a sickle cell condition that the altitude makes very dangerous to his life. I figure it'll be something like 13-3 or maybe 17-6.

I figure much the same. Tebow seems incapable of leading the offense against a respectable defense (and Pittsburgh has one of the best in football). Against the Steelers, he couldn't find the endzone if you sewed it in his crotch.

That said, I am not entirely certain that it will be terribly easy for Roethlisburger either. Denver's defense kept them in all six of their streak wins and a gimpy Ben with no Mendenhall means, at least to me, that he'll be eating more than the USDA recommended daily allowance of turf.

edit: my prediction is.... Tebow throws 4 interceptions and Roethisburger goes out of the game in the third quarter after being twisted like a balloon animal.

sheared wrote:

(and the Broncos defense will get to him)

Elvis Dumervil... FROM LOUISVILLE!

I don't know why everybody's putting so much emphasis on Mendenhall. He was almost completely ineffective in all but maybe four games through the entire season.

That said...

Paleocon wrote:

edit: my prediction is.... Tebow throws 4 interceptions and Roethisburger goes out of the game in the third quarter after being twisted like a balloon animal.

This would make my year.

Thin_J wrote:

I don't know why everybody's putting so much emphasis on Mendenhall. He was almost completely ineffective in all but maybe four games through the entire season.

That said...

Paleocon wrote:

edit: my prediction is.... Tebow throws 4 interceptions and Roethisburger goes out of the game in the third quarter after being twisted like a balloon animal.

This would make my year.

Would you like to be added to my newsletter mailing list?

edit: It isn't so much Mendenhall per se as much as it is the idea that the fig leaf of a respectable running attack is removed. This allows the Broncos to come with exotic blitzes on just about every play.

Note, this is an experiment.
Paleocon, Paleocon, Paleocon, Paleocon.

I agree with Paleo. I don't think Mendenhall is a special back at all, but the key cogs to the Broncos defense are light and fast (Miller, Dumervil), and the threat of a brutal pounding run game can help slow that down.

Mendenhall is good for his 4 yards a carry. And with Tebow on the other side, there's not much risk of the Steelers falling behind fast and getting chased out of a ground-pound offense.

*Legion* wrote:

I agree with Paleo. I don't think Mendenhall is a special back at all, but the key cogs to the Broncos defense are light and fast (Miller, Dumervil), and the threat of a brutal pounding run game can help slow that down.

Miller and Dumervil have 21 sacks between them in the regular season. This against some fairly respectable running teams with very respectable O-lines. Considering the damage the Steelers are already coming in with AND the fact that they are playing without a first string back AND that their QB is driving on a donut, I see some really exotic pass rushes coming from that defense all afternoon.

Well as the Chiefs showed, you need not score much to beat them.

As I commented on Twitter: if you gave Denver the ball to start a drive from their 20 yard line, then applied ALL of Tebow's rushing and passing yardage vs KC for the entire game to that one drive, it still would not have been enough to get in the end zone and score the one measly touchdown they would have needed.

*Legion* wrote:

Well as the Chiefs showed, you need not score much to beat them.

As I commented on Twitter: if you gave Denver the ball to start a drive from their 20 yard line, then applied ALL of Tebow's rushing and passing yardage vs KC for the entire game to that one drive, it still would not have been enough to get in the end zone and score the one measly touchdown they would have needed.

lol. One of my very unkind facebook friends just posted "Tebow couldn't find the endzone if you stapled it to his bible".

Bengals vs. Texans
Lions vs. Saints
Falcons vs. Giants
Steelers vs. Broncos

*Legion* wrote:

I agree with Paleo. I don't think Mendenhall is a special back at all, but the key cogs to the Broncos defense are light and fast (Miller, Dumervil), and the threat of a brutal pounding run game can help slow that down.

Mendenhall is good for his 4 yards a carry.

What's the difference between Mendenhall running for 4 yards and Redman running for 4 yards? And, if all they need is a physical running game, they have a 250 pound running back that spent his college career running over people.

iaintgotnopants wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

I agree with Paleo. I don't think Mendenhall is a special back at all, but the key cogs to the Broncos defense are light and fast (Miller, Dumervil), and the threat of a brutal pounding run game can help slow that down.

Mendenhall is good for his 4 yards a carry.

What's the difference between Mendenhall running for 4 yards and Redman running for 4 yards?

One fumbles and gets sat at the end of the Browns game in favor of John Clay, and the other's named Rashard Mendenhall.

Redman has some talent but is far from reliable.

And, if all they need is a physical running game, they have a 250 pound running back that spent his college career running over people.

Mendenhall can pass block. Clay can't. Once Clay is on the field, I stop worrying about the pass.

iaintgotnopants wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

I agree with Paleo. I don't think Mendenhall is a special back at all, but the key cogs to the Broncos defense are light and fast (Miller, Dumervil), and the threat of a brutal pounding run game can help slow that down.

Mendenhall is good for his 4 yards a carry.

What's the difference between Mendenhall running for 4 yards and Redman running for 4 yards? And, if all they need is a physical running game, they have a 250 pound running back that spent his college career running over people.

I think the point is that we don't really know if Redman is good for his 4 yards. All we have is his game against a very suspect Cleveland Browns. He doesn't have the touches to establish much rhythm, so I suspect the Broncs will figure they can stop him with 4 (and send the rest like ankle seeking missiles) until he proves otherwise.

My guess is the Steelers could punt on first down every time and still would have a reasonable chance of outscoring Denver. Tebow has shown zero ability to make tough throws under pressure, and LeBeau is going to confuse the holy hell out of him.

Here's a bold prediction for you: the firing of the Polians' means that Peyton Manning will be back and the Colts will not draft Andrew Luck in order to make Manning happy.

Bengals vs. Texans
Lions vs. Saints
Falcons vs. Giants
Steelers vs. Broncos

Even MORE bold prediction (Like how I did that?)

The firing of the Polians guarantees Andrew Luck will go to the Colts, and Peyton will be traded to.....................

The Washington Redskins. Think of it, it's a team that the Colts only play once every 4 years (Colts vs Redskins next in 2013), so it wouldn't hurt the Colts long term. Redskins need a big time QB. AND, more importantly, it pitts Manning vs Manning twice a year.

IMAGE(http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/8900/dansnyder.jpg)

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