ScoopBrady wrote:I've been pumped all week waiting for the Bears game. They haven't won a playoff game in 13+ years and I'm hoping they do it this weekend. I have my playoff tickets and fully expect to be going to the NFC Championship game. Anything less will be a disappointment.
I'll be absolutely stunned if the Bears do
not come out flat as a pancake for the first half of this game, particularly on Offense. I don't think Seattle is all that good, but they will be playing better after struggling through the first part of last week's game. The O seemed to find themselves in the second half. The Bears will have to rely on the special teams above all to bail them out again, the way they have all season. Yes, the defense is very good and can create field position and prehaps points for them, but IMO it is the special teams that will be the difference, by scoring points, eliminating points with blocks on FGs or PATs, changing field position, etc. Maybe in the second half, the offense will get moving, but I will be amazed if that O comes out crisp and sharp at the start of this game. It could be like the Cardinal game all over again, and I don't think it's a stretch to imagine Seattle falling to pieces in the final part of the game. But look out; Grossman could lose this thing if he's not careful.
NE-SD is a tough one for me to pick. Can NE stop that SD juggernaut? Will Rivers crack under the pressure, or pull a Brady and play like he's been there before? He certainly has a lot of security blankets around him to take the pressure off. If the Pats are playing as well as they can, these could be pretty evenly matched teams. They seem to be peaking at the right time, as usual. I wouldn't be surprised to see LT held to few yards until the 4th quarter, when he can go for 85+ and take over the game. If Rivers doesn't lose it by giving up field position or leaving points on the field with turnovers in the red area, I don't know if NE can win.
The Eagles vs. the Saints should be a great football game. The Eagles are actually running the football this year, with McNabb out. Garcia is playing very well, making those receivers look competent or better. They do have a good TE. Their D is capable of being good, but need to play well to shut down the NO O. But that O does have a lot of weapons, and Brees may be as good a QB as there is in the playoffs. With the two-headed running back, they can be tough to stop. The home field advantage in the SuperDome is very real, and I don't know if any other venue will match the energy of that place this weekend. But Garcia won't be phased by that, not one whit. The others on the team? Maybe. The NO D should be helped by it a lot. I think this one will come down to the 4th quarter and be a good, hard-hitting battle throughout.
The Indy-Balto game could be a blowout. I haven't seen the Ravens all year, I don't think, but I'm a huge fan of McNair, always have been. I assume they have a solid, tough running game, and I know that that Indy D is historically bad against the run. I look for just a couple of big plays for the Ravens in the passing game (think that playoff game when they went all the way, when they had that one big play to S. Stewart in the whole game), and for Indy to be frustrated on O. I don't think they can protect Manning against that D, and while Indy may score a couple times, and put some pressure on the Ravens O to move the ball, this one should be all Balto from start to finish, with some big ground numbers for J. Lewis when all is said and done. They've only lost one game at home all year, and it will take a more complete team than Indy to change that.
