Wildcard Weekend Deep Outs

Wildcard Weekend is in the bag, and judging by my picks in the Dignity Bowl, there were a few surprises. After all, I finished 1-3, and lost to not only my mother, but my girlfriend got in on the action for a side bet, and also beat me. My picks were bested by a mother that made her picks based on cities that were closer to her home in Manitoba, and by a girlfriend who’s strategy was to ‘bet on animal names,’ Seriously. My entire world of handicapping has been shaken like a snow-globe.

It only gets worse for me, too. I am the only writer that is actually trailing our mother after week 1 of the playoffs. I am the laughing stock of the Sports-Opinionated writers, and of the internet community as a whole. I need to pick up the slack next week and get back into this one.

Oh, want one more kick in the ass for me? I had originally selected the Ravens, and at the last minute called into our Dignity Bowl czar and flip-flopped to the Pats. Good lord, I feel like a total loser!

I guess I am!

Overall, Pete and Norma are the only two who were able to keep a record at 0.500. Marty and Ryan both won a single game, and Kim and Maria were shut out.

Pete has a 2 game lead over Maria.
Ryan has a 1 game lead over Kim
Marty is trailing Norma by a single game.

Jets @ Bengals:

Playoff football! Yes! The only thing better is playoff hockey! It’s one and done for 4 teams this weekend. One bad game by a QB, one mis-timed turnover, and your season is done. It’s why these players show up in July for training camps, and why us fans trounce through 17 weeks of regular season football! The Playoffs!

...And man was I ready! I had my beer in hand, my munchies placed on the coffee table, ready to watch the first playoff game of the season! I saw Benson and Palmer cut through the Jets defence for a TD...

....And then it was lights out...

I awoke from my slumber nearly 2 hours later, and to my surprise, the Jets were leading 21-7. What the hell happened to the Bengals while I was in la-la land!

So because of this 2 hour nap, my review of this game is limited. I know that Shane Graham did his best to keep the Bengals from winning, and in the process, solidified the fact he will be kicking in a new city next year. I know Sanchez completed all but 3 of his passes, and one of these was a dropped TD from Braylon Edwards. I know Sanchez took a nice cut at his former college coach (and now Seahawks head coach) Pete Carroll. I know Cedric Benson had a VERY nice TD run. But that is about all I know about the game!

Eagles @ Cowboys:

I managed to stay awake for this one, but also managed to drink an entire bottle of rye while watching it. It really didn’t really matter, though, as this one was over by halftime.

My question going into this game was ‘Which Donovan McNabb would show up?’ If the motivated-to-win Donovan showed up, this was going to be an amazing game. But instead we got the crap-tastic version of a future Hall Of Famer. The one that completes just 3 passes for 39 yards in the first half of action. The one that seems like he is more interested in watching Hockey Night in Canada than playing a playoff game. Speaking of Hockey Night in Canada, because of the blow-out status of this game, it gave us ample opportunity to watch the Flames beat the Canucks.

I have one question, though: Where was Marion the Barbarian, and why was he not even on the field? It was a question that it took until the FOURTH QUARTER for the announcers to answer. He was healthy enough to play, but the coach was keeping him out. I have him in a playoff pool, and was VERY upset by this news.

By winning this game, it sets up Cowboys-Vikings next week, which could end up being the game of the week. Is there a hotter team than the Cowboys? Can they walk into Minny and crush the dreams of the Childress-led Vikings?

I hope so...

Ravens @ Patriots:

As I stated earlier, heading into the weekend, this was the hardest game for me to call. I had thought that the Pats wouldn't be able to get over the loss of Welker, and finally settled on the idea of Julian Edelman filling the role nicely, and the fact that Tom Brady never loses at home.

Boy was I wrong.

The first play from scrimmage was an 83 yard touchdown, and the Ravens never looked back. I guess it didn’t really hurt that Brady turned the ball over 4 times (3 picks and a fumble).

Ugh...Another lost pick and a win by an animal-named team.

Packers @ Cardinals:

This game was over early...or so I thought. With a 31-10 lead early in the third quarter, I had made amends with the fact I was going to lose the third game of the season. Low and behold, the packers decided to come out in the second half and play some football. Basically the entire face of the game changed in the 3^rd when on the ensuing kickoff after a TD, the packers recovered an onside kick, and again put the ball in the end zone to cut the lead to only a single score.

...We had a ballgame.

And a damn good one! Two of the best gunslingers in the league showed off their arms as they sliced and diced the opposition defence. Rodgers and Warner combined for 801 yards, 9TDs, and only a single interception (which was the very first pass attempt of the game).

But after all was said and done, the game was closed off in OT as Aaron Rodgers fumbled the ball into the hands of Karlos Dansby who was able to march into the end zone. A very thrilling end to a very thrilling game.

By far the best game of the weekend.

4 teams awaited the results of this weekend’s games, and as soon as Dansby crossed the goal line on Sunday night, we had the schedule set for the Divisional round of the playoffs.

The weekend starts with the NFC West champs Arizona Cardinals heading to New Orleans (NO -7) to take on the slumping Saints on Saturday afternoon. It is followed by a nightcap of Ravens @ Colts (Colts -6.5).

On Sunday, we are treated to the Cowboys taking their show on the road in Minnesota to take on Brett Favre and the rest of the high flying Vikings (Vikes -2.5). The weekend is closed out with the JETS of New York travelling across the country to visit San Diego (Chargers -7.5).

* Lines are from Bowmans.com, and are preliminary.

Seahawks Commentary:

For those readers that don’t listen to my podcast (iTunes: Ultimate Football Talk), I am a huge Seahawk fan. As I sit and write this column, I am wearing a neon green Seahawks T-shirt. With this said, you may suspect it’s been a very interesting 72 hours for myself, my team, and the entire Seahawk fan base.

It all started on Friday at 11:45am when I received 3 text messages within 5 minutes telling me that the Seahawks had fired Jim Mora Jr.
INITIAL REACTION? Yesssssssssssssssssssssssss!

Next, word broke that they were going to be bringing in Leslie Frazier, the Vikings defensive coordinator for an interview
INITIAL REACTION? ...Interesting....

And finally, it was rumoured that the target was Pete Carroll
INITIAL REACTION? What? No! Really? Huh? C’mon!

72 hours later, I have had time to let it all soak in, and honestly, I still am not sure what to think. I know what Carroll was like the last time he was in the NFL, and it was sub-standard at best, although he had a winning record. Bringing in a legitimate offensive coordinator in Jeremy Bates makes me giddy with excitement. An all college coaching staff though? (Rumour has it that the DC will be New Mexico State head coach DeWayne Walker). That scares me a little bit.

I love the ‘prove them right’ attitude that Carroll will bring to Seattle. Everyone and their dog is telling Carroll that he cannot win in the pros, so I expect him to come out with a spur in his ass. I am not sure how the story will end; all I do know is that I would not want to be that first team to face the new look Seahawks in September 2010.

I am aware that it is going to be a long rebuilding process. Let’s just hope that these are the right people to do it.