NFL Playoff Preview 2011

Greetings, welcome to 2011, this will be my first post of the new year. I figured I would get in a blog post in before the semester really starts kicking into high gear. Got pretty much a full slate of classes to attend and teach this spring. My thought process on this is twofold. One is that I am ready to get back into the swing of things, get settled in and get one semester closer to finishing my masters degree. On the other hand I really enjoyed my month off from school. I spent a lot of quality time with the family and doing absolutely nothing but enjoying the good life. Did a whole lot of relaxing and unwinding to prepare myself for the grind ahead this year in 2011.

Anyways on to the theme of today's post, the NFL playoffs. We have a full slate of games this weekend to kick us off with, two games on Saturday and two on Sunday. I will give a preview of each and what I see happening in each game. I went through the process of researching about these match-ups, listening to what people had to say, noting any significant injuries and just trusting my gut, which inevitability is what I rely upon.

New Orleans at Seattle Saturday 4:30pm

The high temperature in Seattle for Saturday is 44 with a 40% chance of rain. Typical Seattle I guess. I do not know for sure, never been there. Seattle is a long way away from New Orleans and Qwest Field is known for being kind of loud and boisterous. Do not know how much a factor that plays in this game if the home team is decidedly less proven, less talented, and flat out just not as good. Last line I heard had New Orleans as a 10.5 point favorite, which almost unheard of in the playoffs, showing the discrepancy between the two teams. The Saints are without Chris Ivory and Pierre Thomas, two of their top running backs. I think that plays a factor. If Seattle can keep possession and not turn the ball over than they could keep it close and make it really nerve racking for Saints fans. In a completely biased thought here, I would love to see Seattle knock these guys out so I do not have to hear "Who Dat?!" over and over again, but my gut tells me the Saints and Drew Brees will win in a closer than the experts think kind of game.

New Orleans 27- Seattle 17

New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts Saturday 8:00pm

A rematch of last year's AFC title game. Supposedly the Jets used that loss to the Colts last year as motivation, whatever. Rex Ryan's team has looked soft to me late in the year. The defense does not look as strong as they did last year. Manning figured these guys out last year in the 2nd half of that playoff game and I think he will do it again. Sanchez has played a little bit better than he did last year, cutting down on the interceptions and completing a little bit more of his passes, but I do not think he is good enough yet to spoil one for the home team. Number 18 (Peyton Manning) is one of my favorite guys to watch play and I guess you could say the Colts are my "#2" team that I pull for but there is a big difference between them and my hometown Atlanta Falcons in terms of rooting interests. I think it has partly to do with their uniforms which I love as being simple, basic, and blue. Despite all of the injuries that have occurred to the Colts I think they win this game and this game only in the playoffs barring a blowout of the Jets which then I will allow myself to get sucked in to this flawed team.

Colts 24 Jets 13

Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs Sunday 1:00pm

I just checked the weather for this one, 34 degrees is the high in Kansas City for Sunday according to weather.com. I do not know about you, but that is cold. Which is kind of what you would expect from a team in the midwest playing against a team, the Ravens, which I associate with playing in cold weather. The Chiefs return to the playoffs for the first time since 2006 and I miss seeing them in January. I think it has to do with their uniforms, which I love because they are red and red is tied with blue as being my favorite color. I am sure I am not alone in saying this that I based a lot of whether I liked a team growing up or not by the uniform colors that they had. Oh, you wanted some X's and O's break down in this one, sorry, that will be limited because, wait a minute hold your breath, I never played or coached football, but regardless I find this a very intriguing matchup. The Chiefs can run the ball really well, Jamal Charles had nearly 6.4 yards per carry this year, which is really good. He has a good complement in the veteran Thomas Jones and Matt Cassel has had a nice year this year. Tamba Hali provides a solid pass rush to this young and up in coming defense. However, I think the veteran Ravens are the better team. The questions I have about them are: do they know what their offensive identity is (my solution: run the ball with Ray Rice, throw the ball no more than 25 times, and utilize Rice in the passing game)? The other question I have about them is their defense which is still good but it is not good enough to carry them far into the playoffs. Ray Lewis is not as young as he used to be, but then again who is in this world and they just seem a little vulnerable on that side of the ball. With all that being said, and that was a lot I had to say there.

Baltimore 17 Kansas City 13

Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles Sunday 4:30 pm

The high temperature in Philadelphia for Sunday is 34 degrees. My analysis tells me that that is cold. Weather.com is also calling for some strong wind to be blowing which will only add to the fun of trying to throw the ball around. One thing I will tell you right now, is that you will not find me at a football game with these conditions unless I am in a protected from the cold press box. This is the game that probably intrigues me the most and I have reversed my opinion on this game since Monday. Whatever happens in this game will not surprise me and it will determine the team with whom the Falcons have to deal with next week. A Packers win means they play Atlanta. An Eagles win will more than likely give the Falcons a date with the Saints. This game features the best quarterback matchup of this opening round, in my opinion. Michael Vick versus Aaron Rodgers. My quarterback rankings place Rodgers at 6th in the league and Vick at 8th. Both of these guys can scramble and make plays. I think Vick is going to be a little too banged up and his play of late has reflected that with a lot of interceptions and sluggishness. I also do not like the Philly defense, they give up a lot of points and yards. Andy Reid has had pretty good success in opening round games so that is definitely something to consider. I like the Packers defense a lot here and I think that Aaron Rodgers will get his first playoff win in Philly. Another thing to watch in this game is for one of if not both of the head coaches to make some head-scratching time management move at some point in the game. It may or may not make a difference in the game, we will see. Relied a lot upon the ole gut in this one.

Green Bay 34 Philadelphia 23

Enjoy the playoffs. Until we meet again.

Hugs and hand-pounds everyone.

MB