Sarcastiholic

2010 NFL Season – Division Round – Pick Results

I really didn’t think I could do that much worse with my picks in this round of the NFL Playoffs. Just goes to show, that if you put your mind to it, you can really screw up.

0 for 4.

I have to let that sink in for a little bit more…

Ouch. Bad picks all around.

Hats off to those jerks from New York in the big upset of weekend. The New York Jets’ defense kept the mighty Charger offense to just 7 points until the final minutes of the game.

2010 NFL Season – Divisional Round – Cowboys at Vikings

The first game of Sunday will feature the last NFC matchup between the Vikings and the Cowboys. This game really doesn’t give me anyone to root for.

One hand, the Cowboys are probably my least favorite team in the entire NFL. America’s Team? No wonder the rest of the world hates our guts.

On the other are the Minnesota Vikings. As a Bears’ fan I really can’t root for success by these guys and Brett Favre in particular.

This does not mean that I can’t or won’t enjoy this game. They actually match up pretty well. Both teams feature a solid running complemented by a groups of young, and upcoming wide receivers all led by gunslingers at the quarterback position.

Tony Romo’s idol growing up in Wisconsin? Hmm… I guess that would be Favre.

I like the even matchup of the Cowboys’ enormous offensive line against the Vikings’ defensive ability to stop the run and get pressure on the quarterback. That should make for some good battles in the trenches, and that’s where it all starts after all.

Meanwhile, Dallas’ front seven have been playing outstanding football and they will get to tee off against a Vikings team that will need to prove that their line is as good as the pundits have claimed.

The play of the secondary has been the Achilles’ heel of both of these teams throughout the regular season. However, the Dallas secondary has played better over the final games of the season whereas the Vikings have been flat.

Actually, the Vikings have been flat on both sides of the ball for their final games of the regular season and that is not the way you want to enter the playoffs.

Dallas is feeling their oats, and the Vikings are not.

Turnovers will be the key to the game (as they usually are). And staying true to form, I expect Brett Favre to have a meltdown by throwing the ball up for grabs. I also expect for the Dallas defense to swarm on Adrian Peterson and get him to cough up the ball like he often does.

Dallas wins.

2010 NFL Wildcard Pick Results

Most of these games were rematches from Week 17, and the results were pretty much the same – the teams that played in Week 17 came out to play in the playoffs.

Teams that took the week off, played like it.

And I picked like it… 1 of 4 on Wild Card Weekend. That was pretty bad. I’m guessing that a psychic hotline would have come up with a better list of winners than I did.

“Of course I’m taking the Jets! What’re you, a friggin’ idiot? Now about your love-line…”

Jets at Bengals:
The New York Jets came out running the ball and their defense did the rest as they blanketed the Bengals’ passing game keeping them to only 146 yards on 36 attempts. Chad Ochocinco got the luxury treatment on Reevis Island and had only 2 catches for 28 yards (both of which were in the 4th quarter). About the only player that showed up on the Bengals’ side was Cedric Benson who rushed 169 yards on 21 attempts. Unfortunately for the Bengals it was not enough to push them into next week.

Eagles at Cowboys:
The Dallas Cowboys’ defense ripped into the Eagles’ offensive line for a second straight week and their secondary continued to play with abilities that they had not shown all year. Michael Vick made the only big play on offense for the Eagles with a 76 yard TD to Jeremy Maclin. The Eagles threw the ball with McNabb gaining 230 yards on 36 attempts but everyone knew they could throw the ball. The lack of a running game really hurt them while Dallas was able to gain almost two hundred yards on the ground helping them to hold onto the ball for a 20 minute differential in time of possession. The Eagles only rushed for 43 yards (not counting some scrambles by McNabb).

Ravens at Patriots:
Baltimore showed up at Foxboro to play. New England did not. New England won the coin toss, and it was the only thing that went right for them all day. Actually, considering that the Patriots deferred the ball to the Ravens and Ray Rice scored an 83 yard TD on the first play from scrimmage, maybe it can’t be considered a positive at all. On the Patriots’ first offensive possession, Terrell Suggs stripped the ball from Tom Brady and the Ravens ended up scoring another TD on their ensuing possession. Down 24 – 0 at the end of the 1st quarter, the Patriots’ defense was able to hold the Ravens to only 9 points for the remaining 3 quarters but they could never gain control of the game from the Ravens’ defense and rushing attack. Tom Brady was only to muster 154 yards on 42 attempts and the ground game was only able to contribute 64 yards to the game. 3 turnovers by Brady, short fields, and a lack of halftime adjustments gave the Patriots’ their worst playoff performance since the Bears routed them in the Super Bowl twenty-five years ago.

Packers at Cardinals:
The final game of the weekend pitted the Green Bay Packers against the Arizona Cardinals in what turned out to be the shoot out everyone had been waiting for all weekend. While there were never any lead changes in the game, the Packers were able to close the gap after being down 17 – 0 at the beginning of the second quarter and push the game into overtime. Both quarterbacks combined for 9 touchdowns and over 800 yards. Warner had five touchdowns and only 4 missed passes. Obviously, defense wasn’t much of a factor in the game, until the final play in overtime, when Karlos Dansby stripped the ball from Aaron Rodgers and ran it in for the game winning touchdown. A lot of sportwriters are saying that this game sealed Warner’s enshrinement in Canton. I can’t argue against it.

There were a lot of teams that fell flat in the first round of the playoffs but I have to believe that the Divisional games will feature some better matchups. I don’t want to have to shoot my television again because that’s becoming a really expensive habit.

2010 NFL Season - Wild Card - Eagles at Cowboys

The second game of Wild Card Weekend is a rematch of the Eagles and the Cowboys. Rematch, after rematch, after rematch…

I’m taking the Eagles in the upset.

This is mostly based upon my feelings that the Cowboys will continue to choke in the offseason despite their finally getting a winning record in December. Yes, I know their last game was played in January. This was pointed out to Wade Phillips by reporters when he said the same thing.

Bottom line, the Eagles tend to win their playoff games (early rounds) and the Cowboys don’t.

I do have to admit that the Dallas offense is more balanced than the Eagles. Dallas has gotten their running game going with a healthy Felix Jones adding a big play threat to Marion Barber’s punishing running style. And now the Cowboys have found their number one wide receiver in Miles Austin. That’s a pretty good one – two punch. That will make it very hard for the Eagles’ defense to try and focus on one area of the Cowboys’ offense.

I just don’t have any faith in Tony Romo, or I should say that I have complete faith in his playoff record. He’s a good quarterback. He just has never been able to put it together at the end of the season.

That’s okay, though. I really don’t like the Cowboys anyways. I really won’t mind when the Eagles go in and get the win.

Too bad for Wade Phillips though. He’s a good coach but if he doesn’t get this win, Jerry Jones is going to have him dragged through the million dollar parking lot at his new stadium while Donovan and Mama McNabb eat a celebratory bowl of Chunky Soup.

2010 NFL Season - Week 15 Results

My dream for a Super Bowl featuring two unbeaten teams went crashing down around my ears on Saturday night as the Dallas Cowboys beat the New Orleans Saints. Tough one to lose: at home and it helps keep the Cowboys playoff hopes alive.

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts won their Thursday night game, so we still have one unbeaten team left in the NFL this season but it really isn’t the same thing.

The Chicago Bears got pummeled by the Baltimore Ravens. Once again, the mighty Bears’ defense has made a mediocre quarterback appear exceptional as Joe Flacco had the best professional game of his short career as he threw four touchdowns and no interceptions.

I won’t even go into how badly the Bears’ offense played. I just can’t do it.

New England scraped together another division win, and just as important, Miami and the Jets lost. That helps.

Cincinnati put together a good game against the San Diego Chargers but couldn’t hold on for the win in overtime. Best of luck to the Bengals with their emotional loss in San Diego, and in the locker room.

Minnesota is reeling right now after a loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers. Signs of friction between the QB and the head coach? Sweet.