NFL Playoff Thread

This feels like the worst playoff field in a long, long time. There are only three AFC teams I can even conceptualize playing for the conference title, never mind the Super Bowl--Pittsburgh, Baltimore and New England (in that order). The Texans, Bengals and Broncos are among the least imposing playoff teams I can recall.

And there's only two teams in the NFC I think of as contenders--Green Bay and New Orleans.The 49ers are a good story, but does anybody see them playing in Indianapolis? The Lions, as noted today, haven't beaten anybody worth a crap, and neither have the Falcons (3-5 vs. teams .500 o better). And if the Jets realized they were playing tackle football on Victor Cruz' 99-yard TD last week, the Eagles, not the Giants, might have won the NFC East.

Now that I said that, it'll turn into 2008, when a shitty looking team like the Bengals or Giants--or Satan help us all, the Broncos--channels the Cardinals, goes all the way to the Super Bowl and nearly beats the overwhelming favorite.

 

The Niners just remind me too much of the late '90s/early '00s Buccaneers. Even if their defense holds a brilliant offense to one TD, I have little faith their offense can score the 10 or 13 points needed to win.

 

My God, listening to Brian Griffin wax poetic about the greatness of the Giants, I'm starting to think they must have a bunch of Euro-stiffs playing for them.

As Bill Parcells once said - you are what your record says you are and the Giants are one game above mediocre and played in a horseshit division where the best team didn't start acting like the best team until it was too late.

I mean, my God, Eli has had a good year and they have an excellent front four but other than that it is a very mediocre collection of players.

 

I truly believe this Saints team is better than the one that won the Super Bowl two years ago.

It starts obviously with the addition of Darren Sproles and the emergence of Jimmy Graham. And let's not forget to credit the offensive line for the running game. Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans might be the best guard combination in the league.

On defense, the line is miles ahead of where it was two years ago. The pass rush is spotty at times, but the Saints' four-tackle rotation — Aubrayo Franklin, Sedrick Ellis, Shaun Rogers and Tom Johnson — is as good as any in the NFL. And Patrick Robinson — whom I ripped them constantly for drafting in the first round last year — is becoming a flat-out player at cornerback.

All that said, they probably won't even get to the Super Bowl because they'll have to win at least one game outdoors.

 

My playoff tickets vs. Lions are on E-Bay now, if anyone's interested.
(Do a search for lower sections Lions/Saints tickets ... mine are the cheap ones)

Oh, and it will be Saints/Packers in NFC plus New England all alone from AFC after everyone just concedes.

Saints v. Patriots in Super Bowl with Pats favored by 4 and an O/U of 63

Saints win! Saints win!

 

But they have also beaten New England and come very close to knocking off Green Bay and San Francisco. I would not be surprised if they make a run.

 

Giants are playing good football right now, Manning is a top flight quarterback, they just got their best pass rusher back and playing a wild card game isn't the same impediment it once was.

 

The Giants play the Falcons, right?

Along with making a Super Bowl run, they also could be going home in a week as well.

And they played "good footbaLl" the last two weeks against a shitty Jets team that quit on the season and a shitty Cowboys team, who, if they played in any other market other than Dallas, would have been considered what they were - a piece of shit with a shitty choking dog quarterback and an idiot owner.

I'm not saying the Giants can't win a few games, but let's not lose our minds

 

Hey, we're talking about a playoff field where the top teams are all bad on one side of the ball. The Packers, Saints and especially the Patriots are bad on defense. Baltimore is mediocre on offense while San Francisco is just bad. I like Pittsburgh, but I'm not convinced they are healthy enough.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Saints and Packers out of the NFC to win it. But when you look at three of the last four
Super Bowls producing a 10-6 Green Bay team winning it, a 9-7 Arizona team making it and a 10-6 Giants team winning it, then yeah, you tend to look at what "middling" team you think has the best chance at making a run.

And it's remarkable to me that the Giants weaknesses aren't as weak as many of the teams that are better than they are. They are 27th in the league in defense, which is why they are 9-7. But to me, if their defensive line plays to its potential, they can play defense much better than the No. 27 defense.

On the other hand, the Saints and Patriots pretty much play to their potential on defense. Green Bay statistically is a little like the Giants. I think the Packers may be potentially a little better on defense than their stats would indicate.

 

WC Round Winners:

Bengals
Saints

Falcons
Steelers