I picked 9 winners out of the final week’s 16 games, so the record for the entire regular season finished at 159 correct and 97 wrong. The playoffs begin this weekend with 4 wild card games – all interesting matchups. Here are my picks:
Cincinnati at Houston – neither of these teams is very experienced in playoff football, and quarterbacks Andy Dalton of the Bengals and T.J. Yates of the Texans are in their first playoff games. I expect this to be a low-scoring defensive battle, and Wade Phillips’ defense will come out on top and lead the Texans to a win at home.
Detroit at New Orleans – I believe the Lions actually have the better defense between these 2 teams, but there’s no way they’ll slow down Drew Brees and the Saints’ passing attack in the Superdome. New Orleans wins big here.
Atlanta at New York Giants – great matchup between 2 teams that feature tough running games. The Giants’ season was a roller coaster ride again, just like last year. After watching them finish the year with impressive wins against the Jets and Cowboys to sneak into the postseason, it looks to me like the Giants are peaking at the right time, just like they did in 2007 when they won the Super Bowl. I’ll go with the G-Men to win at home.
Pittsburgh at Denver – defenses have figured out how to stop Tim Tebow, and the Steelers are one of the few teams who still play hard-nosed defense. This will be a one-sided game with Pittsburgh coming out on top.