THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!

It is that time of year! Where the starters have been rested, and the remainder of the NFL tries to figure out what went wrong, what their draft strategy will be, and when is the best time to play golf in January. NFL playoff season has returned!

I have to say that I have had a lot of fun doing this weekly pick stuff for the majority of this season. I started at week 3, so I missed 2 weeks at the start of the year, but I still think that I did pretty darn well for myself. I went 146-78 this year. Not bad! I had about a 62% success rating, which isn't half bad! So now I'm going to make a go at the playoffs. So here we go!

AFC:
1st round Byes:
Indianapolis (1 seed)
San Diego (2 seed)

Wild Card Round!
#6 Baltimore @ #3 New England: Baltimore isn't intimidated by anybody. They come at you no matter who you are or what your record is. They just always seem to make it to the playoffs, and then always seem to do well in the playoffs. They don't care if they have to play on the road. The thing that will be the biggest factor here might have nothing to do with the game at all. The weather could be the biggest issue. Also, no Wes Welker for the Pats. That is a HUGE deal. Now they really can focus the majority of their energy trying to stop Randy Moss. I have to admit that I am quite torn here. The Pats play so well in ridiculously snowy weather, but they are without their most dangerous receiver. It's hard to see them winning without Welker. So I suppose I will take Baltimore in the re-match. Though I won't be surprised if New England wins this one either.

#5 New York Jets @ #4 Cincinnati Bengals: I don't think that anybody saw the wk 17 beat down the Jets provided for the Bengals. At the same time, I think that may be the Bengal's best friend right now. They know the things that they have to fix, and it can be hard to come into a game against a team that you just severely beat up with the same intensity that you did the first time, even if it is the playoffs. I think that Cincinnati will be better prepared this time around, and I think they will take the Jets.

NFC

First round byes:
New Orleans (#1 seed)
Minnesota (#2 seed)

Wild card round
#6 Eagles @ #3 Cowboys: This Cowboys team seems to be made of a different metal. But we will see as they come into the playoffs. The Cowboys just haven't been able to win important playoff games, Jessica Simpson or no Jessica Simpson. They also usually let things go in December, but they actually rose to the occasion in this one. Philly is still a good team and knows how to win in the playoffs. It's hard to tell, because it is really difficult, though not impossible as the Steelers proved last year, to beat the same team 3 times in the same season. It just doesn't happen that often, but it does happen. I'm going to go ahead and take the Cowboys, because they seem to be more intense than in years past.

#5 Packers @ #4 Arizona: This should be a really good game with both teams firing on all cylinders. Packers have a great secondary, and the Cards have one of the best receiving cores in the league. Nobody pays attention to the Cards defense, but they are deceptively good as well. I think the question of this game will be who can run the ball the best, and I think that Green Bay has the biggest advantage there. So, I will take the Packers to win this one.

So, in my eyes, the divisional round will look like this.
AFC
Baltimore @ Indy
Bengals @ San Diego

NFC
Packers @ New Orleans
Cowboys @ Vikings.

Let's see how we do! Let me know your thoughts!