NFL playoff preview

Wild card weekend kicks off the 2008 playoffs and we have some good matchups. Each one of the wild card teams is capable of beating the division champions they are playing. Let's start with the NFC wild cards.

Atlanta @ Arizona- Good matchup. These two did not play each other this year. You have the rookie qb vs. the really old qb. Good coaches too. Mike Smith has done wonders with the Falcons and Ken Whisenhunt is making a contender out of an underachieving Cardinals team. There shouldn't be much defense in this one. The Falcons have the 24th ranked d and the Cards have the 19th. With the defenses being a wash, both teams have talented offenses that can light it up. For Arizona, Kurt Warner has had an MVP type season...of course throwing to Fitzgerald and Boldin can give anybody MVP type numbers. Atlanta focuses more on the running game with the talented duo of Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood. I give the edge to Arizona for the following reasons: home field, more experienced, Super Bowl winning qb, as opposed to rookie qb, and slightly better defense...slightly. It's been a good run for the cinderella Falcons but it ends this weekend.

Philadelphia @ Minnesota- Another good matchup but for opposite reasons. These two did not play each other during the regular season. These two teams play great defense...the Eagles rank 3rd in total d and the Vikings rank 6th. Philly has a better pass defense while Minnesota plays better against the run. The keys to this game are going to be the running backs of each team. Philly has "do-it-all" Brian Westbrook and the Vikings have Adrian Peterson, quite possibly the best young back in the league who by the way, led the league in rushing this year. The Eagles will have to rely on McNabb to Westbrook passing while the Vikings will have to rely on Peterson because Tarvaris Jackson is not going to beat this defense! I give the edge to Philly for the following reasons: playoff/Super Bowl experience, their offense matches up better with Minnesota's defense than Minnesota's offense matching up against the Eagles defense. If Philly gets any kind of a lead it's over in that the Vikings aren't equipped to come back. The only X-factor for the Vikings is Bernard Berrian, he is a great deep threat. Philly has no deep threat.

Baltimore @ Miami- This is going to be a low scoring slug fest! They played on 10/19 in Miami and the Ravens won 27-13. The Ravens have the 2nd ranked defense in the league, a defense that is big, nasty, physical and makes plays. They have a rookie qb in Joe Flacco who has a cannon of an arm and the offense has been better recently. The Dolphins have the 15th ranked defense and aren't spectacular on offense either, but they are fundamental and don't make mistakes, they find ways to win. I don't see the wild cat formation working in this one either. I give the Ravens the edge for the following reasons: Defense, Defense, Defense! It's been a great story Miami, but it's over this weekend. Baltimore advances for one more week.

Indianapolis @ San Diego- These two played on 11/23 in San Diego with the Colts winning 23-20. You would think the Chargers had the higher ranked defense but that's not true, the Colts rank 11th while the Chargers rank 25th. However, the Chargers play better run defense, while the Colts are better against the pass. The Chargers have had the Colts number in the playoffs in recent years and they do match up well against the Colts. Both teams and both qb's are hot right now. I think the Colts are going to try and expose San Diego's pass defense, while the Chargers will try to expose the Colts weak run defense. I believe Bob Sanders was hurt the last time these two played and his presence adds a lot to Indy's d. I give the Colts the slight edge for the following reasons: Manning will pick apart San Diego's secondary and the Colts defense will try to shut down LT and force Rivers to beat them, which I don't think he can.

We'll see what happens!

Vols coaching staff

Tennessee has now lured Ed Orgeron away from the Saints to become Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator and...oh yeah...D line coach. Orgeron worked with Kiffin at USC as recruiting coordinator. He was also head coach at Ole Miss for about three unmemorable years. Tennessee is not a hot bed of high school talent, so the Vols will need to recruit outside quite a bit. They also hired Jim Chaney as offensive coordinator. Chaney has recently been with the Rams, but was the offensive coordinator at Purdue during the late 90's...coaching a couple of qb's you may have heard of...Drew Brees and Kyle Orton. Kiffin will be calling the plays, so Chaney may be more of a "consultant". Both good hires in my opinion.

Thoughts on Shanahan's firing

Shanahan needed to go. The Broncos have been consistently mediocre for 10 years. There were a couple of playoff years...2000 and 2005 but otherwise have hovered around 7-9, 8-8, 9-7 every year since Elway retired. He was the most powerful coach in the NFL, no other coach has had as much control over his team as Shanahan has but it hasn't paid off. He drafted poorly, remember Maurice Clarett? He's created a good foundation on offense with Cutler, Marshall, Royal, Sheffler, Clady, Harris but the defense has been atrocious. He has tried through drafting and free agent acquistions to improve the defense but most haven't turned out. Defensive coordinators have come and gone like suitors in a brothel. I don't doubt that he can coach, but his personnel decisions have been for the most part awful. My vote for his replacement is Bill Cowher. Cowher can fix the defense by implementing a 3-4 scheme. The 3-4 is customized to talented linebackers who blitz from all angles. The Broncos could utilize their smaller DE's, Jarvis Moss and Elvis Dumervil as blitzing outside LB's. The 4-3 is great if you have a good D line, but since when has Denver had a good D line? Anyway, Cowher has already turned down the Browns and Jets, so why not the Donks?

College Bowl Picks...

Alright I'm going to make my official college bowl picks for the year. I have to admit, I don't care much for most of them. So, here we go...

Eaglebank Bowl- Wake Forest over Navy
New Mexico Bowl- Colorado St. over Fresno St.
St. Petersburg Bowl- South Florida over Memphis
Las Vegas Bowl- BYU over Arizona
New Orleans Bowl- Troy over Southern Miss
Poinsettia Bowl- TCU over Boise St.- This one is actually worth watching
Hawaii Bowl- Hawaii over Notre Dame
Motor City Bowl- Central Michigan over Florida Atlantic
Car Care Bowl- North Carolina over West Virginia
Champs Sports Bowl- Florida St. over Wisconsin
Emerald Bowl- Cal over Miami
Independence Bowl- Louisiana Tech over Northern Illinois
Papajohns.com Bowl- NC St. over Rutgers
Alamo Bowl- Missouri over Northwestern
Humanitarian Bowl- Maryland over Nevada
Holiday Bowl- Oklahoma St. over Oregon
Texas Bowl- Rice over Western Michigan
Armed Forces Bowl- Houston over Air Force
Sun Bowl- Oregon St. over Pittsburgh
Music City Bowl- Boston College over Vanderbilt
Insight Bowl- Kansas over Minnesota
Chick Fila Bowl- Georgia Tech over LSU
Outback Bowl- South Carolina over Iowa
Capital One Bowl- Georgia over Michigan St.
Gator Bowl- Clemson over Nebraska
Cotton Bowl- Texas Tech over Ole Miss
Liberty Bowl- Kentucky over East Carolina
International Bowl- UConn over Buffalo
GMAC Bowl- Tulsa over Ball St.
Orange Bowl- V Tech over Cincinnati
Rose Bowl- USC over Penn St.
Fiesta Bowl- Texas over Ohio St.
Sugar Bowl- Alabama over Utah
BCS Championship- Florida over Oklahoma- this is the only game that matters folks

My official pre-playoff Super Bowl prediction

I think the AFC has 4 contenders, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Indianapolis and New England (never count them out until they lose!). The NFC has two contenders, New York and Carolina (Dallas has too much clubhouse drama).

One common theme I've seen this year has been the teams that run the ball well, have road-grader style O lines and stout defenses have been the most successful. The Titans, Giants, Steelers and Panthers all fit that mold. I'm predicting a Panthers/Giants NFC Championship and Titans/Steelers AFC Championship.

Carolina- Stout, physical defense, two-headed running back duo with Jonathan Stewart/DeAngelo Williams, and a qb/wr combo in Delhomme/Smith that find ways to get it done.

New York- Fundamental, well-coached team that doesn't make many mistakes. Good defense, great O line. They use 3 running backs- Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw. Eli Manning has really come into his own. I've heard alot about how not having Plaxico is going to affect them. I agree that they could not have won last year without Burress. I don't think that is the case this year. David Tyree and Steve Smith have stepped up and they still have Amani Toomer and Kevin Boss has come into his own as a Tight End...and the running game is better this year than it was last year. Plus, they don't have to play New England this year. They don't need Plaxico to get to the Super Bowl...bottom line.

Pittsburgh- Tough, physical and speedy defense with great pass rush. Great running game. Roethlisberger is one of the better qb's in the game and doesn't have to put up gawdy numbers for the Steelers to win. He has good weapons in Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller.

Tennessee- Best defense in the league this year. Hands down, the best D line with a physical secondary. Great O line with a two headed running back monster of LenDale White and the incredibly fast Chris Johnson. Passing game is a little dicey.

Steelers beat the Titans due to better qb play. The Giants beat the Panthers because the game will be in the Meadowlands.

My Super Bowl pick: Steelers/Giants

Initial reaction to BCS announcements

- Orange Bowl- and I'm talking about the one that has Cincinnati vs. V Tech. Is anyone even gonna watch that game? I don't plan to.

- Rose Bowl- USC/Penn St. USC has an immediate home field advantage. I'm not sure if Penn St. even travels well. USC has the talent on paper but they can't overlook JoePa. Penn St. plays sound, mistake free, fundamental and boring football. If the Trojans show up and play their A game though, it won't be close.

- Fiesta Bowl- Texas/Ohio St. Texas is the more talented team. They play the best defense of anybody in the Big 12 (not exactly saying much). Buckeyes defense will have to be big and force a low scoring game for them to have a chance. If Texas shuts down Beanie Wells and forces Terrelle Pryor to beat them with his arm, Buckeyes could be in trouble.

- Sugar Bowl- Alabama/Utah. Automatic home field advantage for Bama. Not only do they travel well and don't have far to go, Utah does not travel well. I expect to see about 100 Utah fans in attendance tops. I see a similar result to the Georgia/Hawaii Sugar Bowl last year. Bama is going to beat this team up physically and on the score board...and they're faster.

- BCS Championship- Oklahoma/Florida. Oklahoma's defense has not seen an offense with this much speed. Florida is the fastest team in the country and they're hungry. Oklahoma's offense has not seen this good of a defense all year either. The Big 12 has decided that defense is a liability. On the other hand, Florida has seen defenses just as good and much better than what Oklahoma has. Florida's defense has not seen this high powered of an offense...the closest being Alabama and Georgia. My initial thoughts are Florida by about 10-15.

Thoughts on the College scenario

Well, we are all doing what the BCS folks want us to do, talking about the jacked up BCS! Seriously! That is one of their arguments in favor of the current system! It's so screwed up we are all talking about it, so it must be good! There is not a single coherent, well thought out argument that can be made in favor of the current system in college football. I once heard Lee Corso argue in favor of the BCS by basically stating that the men in control want it this way, so we are going to have to deal with it! Great! It's settled! Now with that being said...

- I can't argue with Oklahoma potentially being in the championship game. They are a great team, I cannot see Mizzou beating them this week and I do think a team from that Big 12 South deserves to be there. Do I think Texas Tech and Texas deserve it just as much? Absolutely. How do you figure out a three way tie?

- The real national championship is this weekend in Atlanta between Alabama and Florida. I think Florida wins, and Bama gets the Sugar Bowl. I feel sorry for the other team that gets invited to the Sugar Bowl! I could also see Bama beating Florida...don't be surprised.

- Virginia Tech beats Boston College in the most meaningless conference championship. No team from the Big East or ACC deserve to be in a BCS bowl. I hope they just pit V Tech/BC and Cincinnati against each other in the Orange Bowl.

- USC blows boring Penn St. out of the water in the Rose Bowl.

- I see Ohio St. getting an at-large bid, either the Fiesta Bowl against Utah or the Sugar Bowl against Florida/Alabama.