NFL 09 "Wild Card Weekend" Talkback

[The Penguin]

The play-offs begin today with wild card weekend! The last six Super Bowl winners have come out of this week, leaving the top two seeds in the dust. Will that happen again this year? Several of the division champions this weekend are regarded as underdogs despite playing at home. Could this be the weekend of the wild cards? We find out in about an hour. The winners will have the Titans & Steelers and the Giants & Panthers waiting for them next week.

Wild Card Weekend
Saturday, Jan. 3
Atlanta @ Arizona, 4:30 p.m. on NBC
Indianapolis @ San Diego, 8:00 p.m. on NBC

Sunday, Jan. 4
Baltimore @ Miami, 1:00 p.m. on CBS
Philadelphia @ Minnesota, 4:30 p.m. on FOX

[The Cartoon]

My Predictions:

Game 1 - Falcons
Game 2 - Colts
Game 3 - Dolphins
Game 4 - Vikings

[bigddan11]

The playoffs have begun, and it means there should be lots of fun. Here's my outlook on the Wild Card Weekend matches.


Atlanta may have 11 wins, but they are a mere .500 on the road. Arizona is 6-2 at home, and while they may not have a run game, they still have the best passing team in the league. It should be close, but expect the home team Cards to get their second consecutive win, I'd say by 10 points, and advance to face the NY Giants next week.


The Colts are the hottest team in the NFL, and they proved they had brains by having all their starters play last week for at least one series. The Chargers have won 4 in a row and 5 of the last 6 to make the playoffs. This is the fourth meeting between the two teams in the last two seasons, and the previous three matches have been decided on the last play of the game. The Chargers are the one team that has given the Colts fits, but with Tomlinson injured, even if he does play, I see Peyton and company winning by 6 to advance and facing off against the Pittsburgh Steelers next week.


As happened in the other AFC match, this features a rematch from the regular season. Rookie QB Flacco has a powerful rushing attack, and the Ravens have one of the top 5 D's in the game. Pennington is the NFL comeback player of the year for the second time in his career, and he has one of the most underestimated TE's in Anthony Fasano. The Ravens D should be able to shutdown the 1-2 rushing combo of the Dolphins though and make this arepeat performace from earlier this year as the Ravens win by 13+ points and head to Nashville next week.


Minnesota won the NFC North. Philadelphia made the playoffs with a tie. Still, this match-up is between the two most inconsistent teams in the playoffs. Can Donovan McNabb continue his resurgence since the benching, especially since Westbrook is the healthiest he's been this year, or will Tarvaris Jackson continue to prove his benching was the best move and come back with another 300+ game along with the dangerous Adrian Peterson running? Whichever team reaches 20 points first should win this game. Originally I thought Minnesota would be the team to win, but stats I heard on Sunday morning changed my mind. McNabb is 8-0 against the Vikings, inclufing 4 road wins, and he has never lost a first round playoff game (6-0). Add to it that this is Jackson's first playoff game, which means he's a rookie to the post-season, and we all know those rookie post-season QB's struggle, so I think Philadelphia will prevail.

To summarize:
Arizona wins
Indianaplois wins
Baltimore wins
Philadelphia wins

[Linkpre]

I guess I'm goin' for Carolina to make it to the Super Bowl, considering the Redskins didn't make it this year. Carolina looks like a consitant team, hope they go far.

EDIT: Heh, at least the Falcons are out now. They helped knock the 'Skins out the playoffs.

[DarkGojira]

Cardinals beat the Falcons 30-24.

That 3rd and 16 play from Warner to Spach was just huge.

Great job, Cardinals. You made me proud!

[bigddan11]

(11-6) Atlanta Falcons 24
(10-7) Arizona Cardinals 30
Edgerrin James rushed for 73 yards, Tim Hightower scrambled for 23 and a touchdown, and Kurt Warner was his usual self passing for 271 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception, but the big deal was that Warner wasn't sacked once in the game. Turner rushed for less than 3 yards a carry for only 42 yards, and Matt Ryan looked like the rookie QB he is making his first ever playoff start, with only 199 yards and 2 interceptions. The Cardinals scored on 4 of the 5 Falcons turnovers, and the Cards win their first home playoff game since they were in Chicago despite Fitzgerald leaving the game with an injury.

[DarkGojira]

The Cardinals scored on 4 of the 5 Falcons turnovers, and the Cards win their first home playoff game since they were in Chicago despite Fitzgerald leaving the game with an injury.

Actually, Boldin left the game with an injury.

[bigddan11]

Actually, Boldin left the game with an injury.

Ah. That would explain why Fitzgerald had more yards. I knew it was one of their two big 1000 yard receivers, and I've always thought Fitzgerald was the bigger of the two, which is why I thought it was him.

[Tanooki]

Glad the Cards won that one. The reffing was terrible.

[Draft]

COLTS LOSE!!!

Sorry, had to rub that in because as a Patriots fan, i'm anti-Peyton 4 life.

Also very happy about the Cardinals. Kurt Warner is a god, and I am very suprised that they won against a very good Falcons offense

[bigddan11]

I'm not a Maning fan, but I honestly thought the Colts were the better team and though they should win as they were the hottest team in football. Instead the team that has given them the most problems continues to do so by scoring the final 16 points in the game.

(12-5) Indianapolis Colts 17
(9-8) San Diego Chargers 23
Overtime Final

[Marvin Tikvah]

This is probably the first football game I paid complete attention to in so many months. The game ending in a tie and the overtime had me at the edge of my seat.

It was so great to see my hometown make that victory touchdown.

[Bones Justice]

I didn't really care who won either game but both were entertaining...

I expected the Cardinals to win since they are good at home even if they were playing the "hot" team. Same thing happened with the Seahawks last year against the Redskins. I was surprised by the Cards running game which took a lot of steam out of the Falcon's pass rush. Still, I don't expect the Cards to go far in the playoffs.

Was it me or did the Chargers get a lot of help from the officials at the end of the game? The refs were ignoring Tony Dungy for about ten seconds while he tried to call time-out just before the Chargers' tying field-goal; this was an obvious time to call a time-out but Dungy couldn't even get one ref to look his way. Defensive holding of a lineman on a running play? And it wasn't even a hold. The pass interference call was flimsy, too. The only good call was the face-masking, pretty good eye by the ref to catch that one. I don't mind that the Chargers won but I hate when poor officiating affects the outcome of any game.

[The Cartoon]

Well, I'm 0-2 so far. Still, the Colts always make it far in the playoffs. I was actually really happy to see the Chargers win.

[The Penguin]

Well yesterday did not go as I expected or at least hoped.

Based on how they had been playing, I had been saying for I think weeks that the team playing the Cardinals would have a bye too and it certainly didn't work out that way. I didn't get to see all of this game, but I was surprised at the outcome.

I did watch all of the night game here in Colts country and needless to say I was let down by that result as well. Obviously, we're all disappointed around here, I just hope Dungy doesn't retire.

So Saturday I was pulling for the Falcons and the Colts and they both lost. Hopefully that means things will be better today for the Ravens and my Vikings.

[Mesousa]

I always root for the underdog, so I'm hoping that the Vikings and Dolphins win today.

[Tanooki]

I always root for the underdog, so I'm hoping that the Vikings and Dolphins win today.

If the Vikes are the underdog today, then it's only very slightly. The Vikings' run defense will hold up today, effectively putting a stop to Westbrook's running game. The passing game is a different story. I see McNabb going to town on the Vikes with screen after screen followed by some short lobs to Westbrook. Peterson will have a break out game for the Vikings, but with no passing game to back that up, it won't accomplish much.

As much as I'm torn to say this. Eagles over the Vikes. 20-17.

[krazymed]

Why is a team that is 8-8 HOSTING a playoff game against a 12-4 team that beat them in the regular season? Total BS.

Indy had no running game, and there defense stinks despite the high salaries. And they still had a chance to win the game. Pit or Ten will crush Rivers and Sproles next week.

[ABrown]

Why is a team that is 8-8 HOSTING a playoff game against a 12-4 team that beat them in the regular season? Total BS.

Agreed, but what's even worse is the NFL's overtime rule. Because San Diego won the OT coin toss, they win the game? How is that fair? The NFL should handle OT the way the college game does. Except instead of starting at a predetermined yard line, both teams should kick off. And I'm not just saying this cause I'm a Colts fan. I was against the first team to score rule before the game was even played yesterday.

[The Penguin]

Sorry, had to rub that in because as a Patriots fan, i'm anti-Peyton 4 life.

Well, those of us in Indiana hate you guys too.

Why is a team that is 8-8 HOSTING a playoff game against a 12-4 team that beat them in the regular season? Total BS.

I'm not sure if you're asking or just annoyed by it, but if you're asking, the Chargers were the AFC West Champions and the Colts were a wild card, with the Titans as the AFC South Champions. The wild card teams don't get a home game unless two of them manage to make it to the Conference Championship game.

If you're just annoyed, this happens sometimes. I'm not interested in debating the overall merits, but all the team sports are organized into divisions. I don't think a conference free-for-all is the way to go.