Brick City Boxing

Divisional Playoff Round!

Well 3 for 4 and it took a fluke OT play for my GB pick to be wrong.

We saw the fall of an evil empire in New England, we saw the best performance by a rookie QB in NFL playoff history with Marky Mark Sanchez. We saw a monkey being removed off of a franchise’s back in Dallas and we saw a pin ball game in the desert! You just have to love the playoffs!

I am sure Belichick almost deep down likes that he actually has a challenge ahead of him to get the Pats back prominence, and is actually under scrutiny for a change. I think they may have to take a step back for a year and build this team back up, but you can never count that coach and that QB out. Keep in mind Brady was just back after missing last year with the knee injury, these injuries generally take until the 2nd year to feel right.

The Ravens look like a scary mirror image of the old Ravens in New England. What if I told you they would go to New England and Flacco would only complete 4 passes? What would you predict Pats 44- Ravens 3. How about 33-14 ravens! Bizarre game. But as I said last week, they would go to New England Beat Brady and Moss up, and that is exactly what they did. I said watch 2nd year sensation Ray Rice, all he did was rush for 159 yards and 2 TD’s on 22 carries and a little 83 yarder to open the game and send a message that it would be a long day for the Pats! How about the job John Harbaugh is doing? He seems to really have them playing like they did 6-7 years ago.

How bout them J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets! That was a Rex Ryan Brian Schottenhiemer masterpiece in Cincinnati! Although the stat sheet says the Jets had only 3 sacks, believe me they gave Palmer a beating and fits. Holding him to 50% completions and making Ocho a non factor for the second week in a row. NFL let me introduce Mr. Revis the best shut down corner in the business. How about Shonn Greene (and yes that is how he spells Shawn)? 135 yards and a TD for a rookie RB. How exciting is it for a Jets fan to see that from both their rookie RB and rookie QB? Now if Mr. Edwards decided to contribute to the offense and CATCH some passes they would really be scary!

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Talk about mixed emotions, if you are a Cardinals fan (not the I have EVER met one) but your offense looks like the best offense in the history of sports and your Defense looks like the worst! 51-45! That is a classic game and it was fun to watch, but do you say to yourself we have to score 46 to have a chance to win in New Orleans??
Kurt Warner had an “OK” game 29-33 for 379 and 5TD’s! Man if you give him time he is as good as it gets! By the way super star receiver Anquan Boldin did not even play in this game!! Aaron Rogers in his first playoff game went 28-42 for 422 and 4TD’s 1int. This kid is a star in this league and GB has a bright future at QB with him. I think as I said before the season it usually takes 2 years to fully implement a switch to a 3-4 defense. So we will see if they keep Capers around. I think they should, but you never know after letting up 51 points up.

After waiting for 13 years my Cowboys get the gorilla off their back! And my back! Nothing sweeter than beating Philly 3 times in a row after the 44-6 drubbing they took to eliminate them from playoff contention last year. Romo played great, Felix showed what he can do. Heck even Roy Williams showed up and caught some passes! The way the other 21 starters are playing, if Roy gives you 5 catches for 60 yards, they are just about unbeatable. Anthony Spencer is becoming a star right in front of our eyes. He seems to be in the backfield on every play. They seem to have their minds right and seem to finally understand that you need to find a new level of intensity come playoff time. Congratulations to Wade for getting his first playoff win! He and Garrett are in a zone right now, dialing up perfect schemes and play calls.
Philly, is in a sort of limbo right now where they player s are either too young or too old in my opinion. What do they do at QB? Do they keep Vick? Is it time for Westbrook to pack it in? The fans are calling for Reid’s job? Be careful what you wish for Eagle fans. That was the first time Andy had lost in the first round of the playoffs. You can do A LOT worse than Andy Reid. I think 2 things need to change. They need to get balance in their offense. Andy refuses to believe that running the ball has any value for some reason AND Reid can not be the final say on personnel. I feel like this team was 2 receivers away from greatness for a long time and now that they finally got them in Jackson and Maclin, Westbrook is finished and McNabb is declining. With the young skill players on this team it might be time to get a young QB in there to grow with them. (credit Neal Zell) for that thought.

This weekends games.
Baltimore at Indy:
I think you can take my write up on the Baltimore Pats game and apply it here as well. I think Baltimore is playing at a higher level than Indy and as good as Peyton is, I just think you need some form of running game and they are last in the NFL averaging an awful 80 yards per game on the gound. I think they pay for sending Manning back to pass 40+ times. I think the Ravens run down their throats on offense and send the hounds after Manning just like they did the Pats. This is becoming a passing of the torch post season in my opinion. Flacco has to complete a few more than 4 to win this week and I think he has a solid 13 for 20 200 yard 1TD game and the Ravens win 27-19

Jets at San Diego
The Jets are going to face a team that for my money is the very best in the NFL. I am a huge Philip Rivers fan and hard to doubt a guy that has thrown 62TD’s and 20ints over the last 2 seasons! He is a smart fiery QB and if anyone can overcome the Jets pass rush it might be him. I think the Chargers D can be had somewhat. When they played Dallas and beat them 20-17 in Dallas, I did not come away from that game saying wow what a defense. I thought our game plan was awful on our part offensively. I think Revis will have his hands full this with Vincent Jackson and his 6’5 230lb frame and his ability to jump out of the building to make a catch if need be. Also the other 6’5 kid Floyd AND of course their biggest weapon Antonio gates. This is a case of needing to cut off the head to stop them. If you want to stop them you need to hit and rush and hit again Rivers or it will be a long day. Will Sanchez stay as cool as he was last week in San Diego? I want to pick the Jets I really do, but I can not bring myself to pick against a team on an 11 game winning streak. I think it is close but I have to take SD in a 24-20 game.

Arizona at New Orleans
What is the over/under on this game 75? This could be a replay of that GB game with 2 explosive offenses and mediocre defenses. A lot of people are picking the Cards for the road win. I just believe that the Saints have to play out of their minds to avoid a 4 game losing streak after a 13 game winning streak! Also I think the Green Bay dissection of the AZ defense has given Sean Payton all he needs to see to put together a game plan to score 40+. Arizona is such a weird team, I mean just like last year when they played great in the playoffs after a 9-7 season you just never know what to expect from them. Kurt Warner has become a robot in the playoffs. I am sure Brees is licking his chops too when he sees the AZ defense. I think the Saints show some pride and pull it off 41-31. I hope I am wrong on this one!

Dallas at Minny
Bett Favre was brought to town for this game. They got this far last year with Tavaris Jackson, so to lable the year a success he needs to win this game. Dallas is playing with house money right now and they appear to be a red hot team. When I look at this team just based on the hot team theory I like Dallas. If I look at the game based on match-ups, I like Dallas even more. Wade’s defense gave Favre nightmares in 07 when he was with Green Bay and they were no where near the defense they are now. By the way much has been said about the addition by subtraction of T.O, Punkman Jones and Tank Johnson. Please add 2 more guys to that list Greg Ellis the cry baby who stated that he was thinking of his contract in week 17 when they got blown out in Philly AND maybe the biggest move that has not been talked about nearly enough the departure of Roy “the Liability” Williams! And bringing in Speedy Gerald Sensabaugh to take his place. That move has completely changed the way Wade can do things on defense without having to hide one of the starters. I think with the playoff win under his belt Tony Romo has his coming out party in Minny. I think our D once again gives Brett fits and I think after some early success we shut down Adrian Peterson. Dallas 38-24!

That is it for the divisional round playoff break down. I hope I am right about Dallas and wrong on the other 3!

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