Saturday January 14:
4pm:
Saints at 49ers:
It's a damn shame this is the "hidden" early game....if you ask me this is the most interesting game of the weekend....the high flyers vs the ground and pounders on their home field which you know is gonna be as
slick and slow moving as possible this weekend....time to break this down:
How the Saints got here:
The Saints are truly the perfect dome team....good WRs, balance in the running game, ridiculous QB play, and
just enough on defense to make some plays when needed and slow the other team just enough to out-gun
them, a gutsy and SMART head coach (yes Mike Smith that's an evil eye YOUR way asshat), and I think by now
we all know the Saint blueprint to victory (9-0 at home didn't hurt either)
How the 49ers got here:
As much as the Saints did it on Brees' arm....the Niners did it the EXACT opposite.....good running game,
awesome defense, team toughness and when you only turn the ball over ten times in a season, you're
going to be epic (hell Laflamme turns it over ten times a GAME when he plays me in Madden!!), and frankly
San Fran may have gotten this far IN SPITE of their QB-play, but he's doing a HELL of a job in "David Garrarding"
his way to a career re-birth....
Who will win?
Let's be fair, as much as people goosh and look at the numbers from Brees, this is also a team that lost on the
road IN ST. LOUIS....that's in a dome bitches.....that's pretty bad....this team needs it's home cooking and
crazy crowd noise to disrupt other offenses and give themself a good chance on defense....this field is gonna be
slow and messy, and the Niners are going to pound and pound the Saints...think Marshawn Lynch last year, and
I frankly think the Niners are the better TEAM, and I do think that's gonna be enough in a pretty awesome
clash of styles here and this will be the best game of the weekend for that alone!!!
Winner: 49ers
Game Quality: ****
8pm:
Denver at New England:
The Evil Empire vs the Naive Farm-Boy from Cheers, that's really what people think this is going to boil down to
and this time they might actually be right....the world is watching to see if Tebow can once again turn wobbling
ducks into wine...it's gonna be cold and chilly tonight too....maybe hell is gonna freeze over??
How Denver got here:
Well a wing and a prayer would be a fitting term right??? But we know the story, good defense, tough running
game....a few gifts from God, and a VERY beat-up and depleted Steelers team leads Heaven's Gate into Foxboro
tonight for this one....yeah I'm short-versioning this ......I wrote all this crap last week anyway, well aside from
Tebow 3:16 being born on one overtime long bomb.....
How the Patriots got here:
Much like the Saints, and much Saint-like in the results, the Pats got here on the arm of Tom Brady and a few
good TEs....Brady spreads the ball like no other QB, and with less of a running game then even Brees had, and
scary enough a WORSE defense (so much for Belicheck "molding all these young guys" they keep drafting year
after year), it's been a simple key to success.....ride the best QB in the sport as far as he can take them.....
Who will win?
There's a LOT of pressure on the Pats who haven't won a playoff game since that lil Super Bowl incident....
three bad home losses in a row and New England DOES have something to prove here, even just to themself....
I can't see Tebow being THAT good again....unless this is a sign of the Apocalypse (this is the year for it after all
right??)....and Denver's defense wasn't good enough in Round 1 to stop the Pats offense...it's going to be cold,
but DRY...if the weather was nastier I'd give the Broncos a shot here....I don't think the Pats will blow them
away like they did last time, but they will win this by enough to cover any point spreads you got, and the plucky
lil Virgin QB can go "aw shucks" into the wind and avoid Katy Perry....if he knows what's good for him.....
Winner: Patriots
Game Quality: *** 1/2
Sunday January 15:
1pm:
Houston at Baltimore:
We go from two total opposite teams playing each other on Saturday, to damn near identical twin-type teams playing on Sunday (least in style and approach to the game)...expect a lot of defense and running the ball here, with a few shots down the field and both teams doing their damnedest to protect the QB from themselves as much as from the pass rush....this game could be a LITTLE bit ugly to be honest......
How the Texans got here:
QBs dropping like flies, no Mario Williams....Wade Phillips mid-season surgery...no problem! TJ Yates is making a case to be one of those backup QBs someone takes a chance (and a few draft picks on), the league's best running game and a now healthy and super-dangerous Andre Johnson to stretch the play and more important the Raven weakness....their secondary....a strong defense and good special teams....that gets you into the second round of the playoffs (well that and an EPIC pick-6 by JJ Watt that won that football game last week)
How the Ravens got here:
Can anyone remember such an up and down 12-4 team? Every time you think this team was set and on a roll after a BIG win they came up TINY the week after (beat Pitt, lose to the Titans, beat Houston, lose to Jax, beat Pitt, lose to SEATTLE?, and then the loss where the Chargers exposed that awful secondary I was talking about....), but the Ravens did beat who they needed to beat and managed to get home field and a week off in January.....Joe Flacco was "eh" this year at best....it's sad that 3,600 yards and 20 TDs is considered "average" now....but it is....Ray Rice was solid, but not awesome....and the front 7 was good....but still I do wonder what the Raven identity is....I know what it is on the other seven teams left......
Who will win?
You can tell from above that I'm not high on the Ravens, their offense is still spotty, and the D is flawed in the secondary, despite the front 7....it's going to be key to see who can run the ball on who Sunday also (both teams kept opponents under 100 yards a game for the season)...damn these defenses mirror each other the more you look at it....there's an awful LOT of pressure on the Ravens in this one, since it's expected they will move on, and Houston has NOTHING to lose here....that can make a difference....and push come to shove....I don't trust Flacco at this point in his career, and he's gonna have to make a big play somewhere in this game....usually I like to take 3 of 4 home teams in these games....and here ya go...
Winner: Texans
Game Quality: ** 3/4
430pm:
NY Giants at Green Bay:
Boy oh boy have the Giant fans been chirping about this one.... "we own the Packers"...."Lambeau is a second home"...."look what we did last time there"...."the last time the Packers hosted a home game, we beat them there" ....blah blah fraking BLAH....meanwhile on the other hand....this is yet another chance for A-Rod and the team that won 15 games this year to get a chance to take one more eraser to the name "Favre" from Packer history and archives.....this should be a good one with lots of points and footballs flying through the air!!!
How the Giants got here:
Did anyone bother to tell the Falcons that was a playoff game last week??? That effort was pathetic for a PRE-season game....forget a playoff one....Mike Smith coaching the game like it's Madden 12....QB sneaks up the middle for 3 yard losses instead of field goals....way to kill your team IDIOT....and the Giants took advantage big time of it....
How the Packers got here:
Dominance.....turnovers (on defense), A-Rod being the dominant QB he is, really don't need to say a lot here being 15-1 speaks volumes in itself.....
Who will win?
People keep saying "well the Chiefs jammed the Packer WRs and shut them down".....didn't work too well for Chicago and Detroit did it?? And Greg Jennings is back now....he says hi.....that changes the whole look and feel of this Packer offense, the Packers are healthy and rested (notably, Starks, Jennings and Clay Matthews), and this same team beat the Giants in NJ a few weeks ago....it's been my pattern this year....beat the team on the road and no major changes in personnel (and yes before Manta has a sh!t, the Texans now have Andre Johnson back, they DIDN'T in the first game)....this will be a high scoring one again, but I'm counting on the Packer D to make a few plays to swing this one their way.....
Winner: Packers
Game Quality: ****
Edited by CRASHER, 14 January 2012 - 06:40 PM.
