An exciting day of NFL action Sunday capped off the regular season and now playoff preparations begin.
One team considered the underdog in the playoffs would have to be the only team with a record below .500. The 7-9-0 Seattle Seahawks not only made the playoffs, but will host the defending champions on the weekend. The 11-5-0 New Orleans Saints are the favourites coming into this one, despite a lacklustre effort against the Bucs on the final week of the regular season. The Saints' high powered offence will work against the Seahawks, and, like they did earlier in the season when the two team met, the Saints should win easily and start their run to defend their title.
Kansas City hosts Baltimore and this game could go either way. The Chiefs' running game, led by Jamaal Charles, the league's second best running back this season, will match up against the Ravens' stingy defence and Ray Lewis. It will be a matter of which teams strength (Kansas City first in rushing offence, Baltimore third in overall defence) shines through and controls the game. Joe Flacco and Matt Cassel match up evenly as they sit seventh and eighth in quarterback rating and have similar numbers this season. Flacco has a better completion percentage, more yards and more touchdown, but also more sacks, fumbles and interceptions.
The other AFC wildcard match up has the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets going head-to-head. This should make for an exciting game. You can never count out Peyton Manning, despite the Colts' injuries, in the playoffs, but the Jets are better than they have been in recent years. Mark Sanchez has to be ready to step into the spotlight and lead this team. There were expectations coming out of New York and the Colts are in their way. The Jets had one more win in during the regular season, but in the end, the only one that counts is the next one.
Perhaps the most anticipated game this weekend will be the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles. Michael Vick goes up against Aaron Rogers. Both love to pass while both get the green light from their coaches to run at times as well. This should be an offensive battle, but it could likely come down to which defensive unit makes a big play when it counts The Packers gave up the second least points this season and had the second most interceptions. The Eagles gave up 23.6 points per game, but had just one less interception.
The Steelers, Falcons, Bears and Patriots have a week to lick their chops and prepare for the divisional championships, but all four of those teams don't have a clear path to the Conference finals. The winners of the wildcard games will be tough to beat. There are some good teams remaining, and on that note, there were some good teams that didn't make the playoffs.
The Chargers were expected to be contenders this season and at 9-7-0 they missed the playoffs by a game. Philip Rivers edged Manning for passing yards, but that is where it ends. Oakland were 6-0-0 against AFC West teams, but had only two other wins and fell short on their playoff hopes.
In the NFC, the New York Giants were 10-6-0 and good enough to make the playoffs especially since the 7-9-0 Seahawks are in. Tampa Bay also went 10-6-0 this season and are on the outside looking in. Now those people in Tampa Bay and New York know what it feels like to be a Toronto Blue Jays' fan and in a good division. No matter what happens making the playoffs is such a long shot it is hard to find the positives in a season.
Get ready for the weekend. There should be four good NFL playoff games.
