Saturday, January 10, 2009

2008 NFL Playoff second round predictions

By Rick Morris

I went 2-2 in the opening round. C'mon, though, in all honesty, did anybody see Michael Turner getting bottled up by the Cardinals, even if they were at home? Of course not!

^ Tennessee 16, Baltimore 10: Why does everyone who mistrusts Kerry Collins overlook the fact that Joe Flacco, while talented, is still a rookie? Double standards never make sense. The Titans are not going to go down easily at home with that defense, which is every bit as good as Baltimore's more-publicized (but older) unit. The key to the game is Albert Haynesworth. If he's healthy, he'll be the key difference-maker for Tennessee. If not, this prediction is probably wrong because Baltimore will be able to run with their three-headed beast.

^ Carolina 30, Arizona 17: OK, Cards, you stifled RB Turner, now do it to the Williams/Stewart combo! The superior diversity of Carolina's offense (especially when Arizona doesn't have a healthy WR Boldin), plus their unquestioned superiority on defense, makes all the difference.

^ New York Giants 27, Philadelphia 16: There's a lot of ga-ga going around about the Eagles being "this year's Giants" because they're getting hot at the right time. Actually, you know who "this year's Giants" are? The Giants.

^ Pittsburgh 20, San Diego 9: A finesse team in the snow sans LT. Could Pittsburgh have had a more made-to-order matchup at home? For anybody citing the Sproles explosion last week as a contrarian point (and I'm on record as saying that he's no worse than the second-most explosive player in the league in space), let's see him do it between the tackles on this defense like he'll be forced to do.

No comments: