The 2010-2011 NFL Postseason is upon us. Of the 32 NFL teams only 12 remain standing and can now begin the chase for the Lombardi trophy as NFL World Champions. As always the top 2 teams in each conference will get a 1st round bye. This year, the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, and Atlanta Falcons have the week off as the top 2 seeds in each conference. So lets now take a look at the games set to open the playoffs this weekend starting on Saturday January 8th.
First game up on the 8th will be at 4:30PM (Eastern Standard Time) and will feature the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints. As the wild card team they have to travel to Qwest Field in Seattle to take on the Seahawks. The game will be televised on local NBC affiliates. At this same time last year the Saints got into the playoffs as a wild card team and went on to win the whole thing. New Orleans is a good football team, don't get me wrong, but they don't seem to be as good of a team going into the playoffs as they did last year. New Orleans finished 11-5, good for 2nd in their division, behind the best team in the NFC the Atlanta Falcons. Seattle won the NFC West with a 7-9 record, the only under 500 team to make the playoffs. Taking into account location of the game and the 2 teams involved I'll take the Saints in this one by a touchdown. Winner of this game, whoever it may be, will have to travel the following week to Atlanta to take on the Falcons at the Georgia Dome.
As for the other game taking place on January 9th, it will be the 11-5 New York Jets traveling to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to take on the 10-6 AFC South Champion Colts. That game will kickoff at 8PM and again will be seen on NBC. For those who remember this is a rematch of last years AFC Championship game, which was won by the Colts en route to the Super Bowl. Last year the Jets made the playoffs by winning the final 3 games of the season and getting in on the last week. This year they had some help, in the form of a Jaguars loss in week 16, to get them in. As for the Colts, their season didn't start off so hot, losing the 1st 2 games of the year. They were able to turn the season around and come back to win the division. Winner of this game will have to travel to either New England or Pittsburgh, depending on what happens with the other AFC wild card game. As for this one, the Jets have had the better record and Indy has looked human this season, I take the Jets by 3.
Moving on to Sunday January 9th we have the remaining 2 games of the week. First up is the 1PM game between the 12-4 Baltimore Ravens going to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the 10-6 AFC West Champion Kansas City Chiefs. OF all the 1st round playoff matchups this one seems to be the most physical. Chiefs are good, don't get me wrong. Baltimore still has the most intimidating defense in the NFL. This game is gonna come down to who can hit the hardest and make the biggest impact. I say Baltimore pulls the Upset and wins by 3 in OT.
Now on to the final game of the weekend. It's again on Sunday the 9th and it will be in Philadelphia as the NFC East Champion and 10-6 Eagles host the 10-6 Green Bay Packers. Kickoff is set for this on3 at 4:30 on Fox. As far as records are concerned, this may be the most even matchup. BUt in reality I don't think it's really all that even. Green Bay had a very solid season but they finished 2nd in the NFC North behind the 11-5 Bears. Arron Rogers has done a very good job in Green Bay of helping Packers fans forget about Brett Farve. As for the Eagles, they I feel got in on the strength of an overall solid defense and there 2 big offensive weapons, Michael Vick and DeShawn Jackson. If the Packers were smart kick the ball to anybody else on the field except DeShawn Jackson. If you think it's a good idea to kick to Jackson, ask the New York Giants how that turned out. For the Packers to win this game, they need to try there hardest to keep Jackson away from the ball. But I don't think that is going to happen, Eagles win by a touchdown.
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