NFL Playoff Predicitions - Week Two

Well the Wild Card round is over and the teams most thought would win did just that, although I think it was rather surprising how much the Chargers struggled with Tennessee.


Seattle at Green Bay

The Seattle Seahawks overcame the emotionally charged Washington Redskins, setting up a return trip to Lambeau for coach Mike Holmgren. (Not to mention QB Matt Hasselbeck, who has already told reporters he wants the ball!) Looks like the weather will not play much of a factor and both teams have powerful offenses and good, solid defenses.


Keys: Turnovers. Will the Pack be able to continue to get good production from RB Ryan Grant and will Brett Favre be on target early. If so, the Packers romp. For Seattle, their defensive secondary looked vulnerable against Washington and cannot afford that against Brett Favre. Seattle needs to score early and not let up. If they have the lead going into the 4th quarter, they may get Brett Favre to "press" and force him into some bad passes.

New York at Dallas

The Cowboys will face another NFC division foe in the New York Giants, who seem to finally have a quarterback that has just enough confidence in what he is doing to get the ball in the endzone. And the Giant defense has really become a force. The key will be the running game, and whether Tony Romo can get it done without Terrell Owens. He still has Witten, but Terry Glenn looks shakey and Patrick Clayton is on again/off again.


Keys: Dallas running game and the productivity at wide receiver with Owens out. For New York, it's all about Eli Manning not throwing picks or boad exchanges on the snap. Simple as that.


Jacksonville at New England

Jacksonville defied the odds and won in Pittsburgh twice in a month. They have gained an abundant amount of confidence in their ability to win clutch games now, and this might spell a bit of trouble for New England. The Patriots have ALL the pressure squarely on their shoulders. Thye have homefield advantage throughout and know that anything less than a Super Bowl trophy means the undefeated regular season is to be relegated to meaningless status.

Keys: David Garrard and Jag running game. If Garrard makes ZERO mistakes and the ground game remains effective, the Jags win. For New England it will be all about the defense. Defending the run isn't exactly the Pats strong suit. If they cannot control Jacksonville and get their offense the ball more than once a quarter, we won't see much of Brady.


San Diego at Indianapolis

The defending Super Bowl champion Colts have had a chance to rest and heal. They have been decimated by injuries since week 8 of the season, and look to get back most of their starters on defense, and nearly all on offense. Marvin Harrison should be back, though rusty. They also should have rookie wideout Anthony Gonzales back in addition to most of the offensive line. The defense should have their defensive linemen (sans Freeney) back for the first time in a long while, as well as most all of their secondary. And they'll need everyone, because San Diego is coming. The Chargers are on a roll and their defense is near peak efficiency - except in the secondary. It's just a matter of whether the Colts can give Manning enough time.

Keys: For Indy it's three things. 1) Special teams play. They have been horrid and cannot afford to lose the field position battle. 2) The offensive line needs to give Manning time to go through his progressions, because the Charger secondary is vulnerable. 3) Colts defense must apply pressure to Rivers and match up Bob Sanders on LT. For the Chargers, much the same task. Rivers must have an error-free ballgame and the SD defense must get to Manning and disrupt the timing of the Indy offense.


Predicitions:

Seattle 20 Green Bay 17
N.Y. Giants 27 Dallas 20
New England 30 Jacksonville 24
Indianapolis 34 San Diego 31