The second season begins on Saturday. Only eight teams make it into the playoffs. That means 24 fan bases are already miserable. Some have been that way all season. Only one team can win, so in about a month, seven other fan bases are going to be equally miserable. Only one team can win, which makes me realize that being a sports fan is miserable. The odds of your team winning and you being happy are far less than your team losing and you ending up miserable. I guess that’s what makes it so great when your team wins, and the chance of that feeling far overcomes all the misery. Here are my wild-card weekend picks.
Bengals @ Texans-
This is by all means, the least interesting game scheduled, and thank God we get it out of the way first thing. The Texans are in freefall. They only had to win one of their final two games to clinch the #1 seed and home-field advantage, and they laid a turd in both games. The Bengals are the sixth-seed and the good/bad team. Sometimes, they just don’t seem to show up, but when they are good, they are good. Their offense has the potential to be explosive with Andy Dalton and AJ Green, and their defense has been one of the best throughout the season. The real question with this game is whether or not the Houston Texans decide to get off the bus. They need to show something, some resiliency, some fight. Are they going to go softly? Will they put on a shit show on their own field again? I don’t think so.
Pick: Texans
Vikings @ Packers-
This game is all about Adrian Peterson vs. the Packer’s defense. Peterson rushed for more than 400 yards against the Packers this year, including his superhuman performance last week. So, will the Packers be able to contain Peterson and put the game in the hands of Christian Ponder. If this game becomes a shoot-out, the Packers have the advantage by far with Aaron Rodgers under center. If the Packers offensive line can keep Rodgers upright, a tough task against the Minnesota pass-rush, then I think the Vikings are in for a long day. I just wonder whether the Vikings put too much in last week, and now they don’t have enough left in the tank.
Pick: Packers
Colts @ Ravens-
I was going to pick the Colts in this game. Then, Ray Lewis announced that these playoffs would be his last games. No way am I going to pick against that type of motivation. I know the Colts have Chuckstrong, but like the Vikings, I wonder if they put in too much in the last week of the season. Do they have enough left? I think the Ravens are going to pull this one out. I think the Ray Lewis factor is enough to win one game by default. How cool would it be, though, if we had Peyton Manning vs. Andrew Luck in round two?
Pick: Ravens
Seahawks @ Redskins-
The battle of rookie QBs: RGIII vs. Russell Wilson. If only it were that easy. The Seahawks have one of the best defenses in the league, and they have been hot coming into the playoffs. The Redskins won last week to get in, and now are rewarded with home-field in round one. That is important. Seahawks record at home: 7-1, Seahawks record on the road: 4-4. They are just a different team in front of their home crowd. I think the Redskins are going to get out to a big league in front of their home fans, and the Seahawks won’t be able to recover. The Seahawks thrive when teams try and throw against their stout secondary, but the Redskins will keep it on the ground all day and still score.
Pick: Redskins