Thank the Good Lord for the New York Football Jets. I say this because they were the only team capable of producing a watchable Divisional-Round NFL Playoff game. While the Cardinals, Cowboys and Ravens weren’t up to the task of visiting their respective opponents’ home stadiums, the Jets fearlessly strode into San Diego, bent on proving themselves worthy of a rematch with the Indy Colts, who must be the odds-on favorite to win it all, now that the Chargers have been eliminated.

The re-match of the Week 16 debacle in Lucas Oil Stadium is a compelling one. Rex Ryan will no doubt have his team believing that even if the Colts would have kept their starters in the game back about 3 weeks ago, they would have won anyway. The Jets players are buying what Rex Ryan is selling. That should not be taken lightly by anyone interested in seeing the Indianapolis Colts going anywhere past the AFC Championship game.

Before I get in too deep in my love for all things J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets, I should take a look at some cold, hard stats:

Jets QB Mark Sanchez vs. SD Chargers: 12-23, 100 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 60.1 Passer Rating. Talk about hiding your quarterback. I think I could have done almost as well, given that running game and defense.

The Jets put up 169 yards rushing as a team on Sunday, which doesn’t sound like a whole lot for a team that ranked No. 1 overall in rushing offense during the regular season. But when you put it up against the Chargers’ 61 total rushing yards for the game, it sounds like an awful lot. The Jets were able to control the flow of the game with their rushing attack, popping off almost 4.5 yards at a time.

The Jets’ defense chipped in on the passing game too, holding Phil Rivers to his worst QB Rating of the season at 76.9. While Vincent Jackson got his (7 catches for 111 yards), Jets CB Darrelle Revis kept him out of the endzone and negated his influence on the final score.

It went almost exactly as I thought it would. In fact, I can proudly toot my horn that I went 4-0 this weekend. I finally got around to tallying my total picks record for the year, which added up to be 175-89 (66%). Not bad for the first spin around the ol’ picks wheel. My playoff record may not be as stellar, but I can’t imagine it’s too far off. But I like to think that I sound like I know what I’m talking about.

I can’t take credit for the Vikings-Cowboys prediction that my guy A-Squared did for me this week, but he should be given props for his own brand of clairvoyance, seeing as he predicted a semi-blowout of the Cowboys. It was an all-out ass-whipping, one that every Vikings fan should be proud of given the Purple’s recent history of one-and-dones in the postseason. It was a thorough beat-down of America’s Team. Dallas simply was not ready for the atmosphere. Their defense got picked apart masterfully by Brett Favre and Sydney Rice. The Cowboy offense had no answer to for the pressure applied by the Vikings defensive line. Tony Romo looked flustered, panicked, confused, and ready to go home.

Tony Romo, sometimes you just make it too easy.

How will the Vikings and the Jets fare this week? My late-evening-Monday intuition says that neither will advance, but that could change as the week goes on. I find it hard to imagine the Vikings marching into the first-ever NFC Championship game at the Superdome and walking away with the Halas Trophy. The boost that the Vikings got from their home-dome crowd on Sunday won’t be there to serve as a security blanket for them this weekend. Minnesota hasn’t won on the road since Nov. 1. Their pass defense gave up 275 yards, 4 TD’s and a 107 QB Rating to JAY CUTLER and the Bears only 3 games ago. How can they stand up to the Saints?

The Vikings have played 3 games on the road, in domes, this season: Detroit, St. Louis, and Arizona, who played their game with the roof closed in Pink Taco Stadium or whatever it is. The Vikings fared well against the first two destitute squads, but they got smeared by the Cards, who looked more than inept in getting hammered by this New Orleans team last week. Outside of the first play from scrimmage, the Cardinals couldn’t muster 300 yards of total offensive production and looked like a 2nd-rate team. The Vikings, who are admittedly half the team on the road than they are at home, just don’t stand too much of a chance.

That’s not to say that they won’t win. I’m holding off on my predictions. The Cardinals suffered some critical early injuries in that game, and were already without WR Anquan Boldin. But the Purple will need every inch of every play to beat this team, and given the streakiness of Adrian Peterson and the rest of the offense, look for the Saints to win in convincing fashion against a flawed Minnesota squad.

I will continue to revel in Nate Kaeding’s continued playoff ineptitude. I know it’s blasphemy in some circles for me to root against an Iowa Hawkeye, but that dude was a douchebag when I was in college, and I only hope he continues to show that he just doesn’t have the scrotum necessary to kick in the NFL Playoffs.

Picks to come this week. Much love from FlyingPigskin.com.

contact email: nick.thomas@flyingpigskin.com

VIKINGS HOMER SECTION by Guest Writer – ‘A-SQUARED’

This Sunday’s matchup puts a red hot Dallas Cowboys team up against a medium-chilled Minnesota Vikings team. Dallas has been on fire since their week 15 win over the then-undefeated New Orleans Saints, while the Vikings started the year off winning their first 6 games before suffering their first defeat to last year’s Super Bowl Champion Steelers.  They then won four in a row before finishing the season losing 3 of their last 5.  So some would think the Vikings are limping into the playoffs while the Cowboys are steam rolling ahead at full speed.  Which on the surface looks to be true – but after halftime of the week 16 game against the Bears, the Vikings looked to be their dominant selves as Adrian Peterson ran like a man possessed, taking no prisioners. I say as long as the Vikings O-line plays up to their capabilies and keeps that maniac Demarcus Ware out of the backfield, and if they can keep their two turnover prone stars from turning the ball over, they should win this game.

DeMarcus Ware, professional Bad MF

One thing that scares me is Dallas is the healthiest team in the playoffs while the Vikings will be playing without their middle linebacker EJ Henderson, which is a much bigger blow to the Vikings defense then the media would lead anyone to believe.

Keeping in mind that the Vikings are 8-0 at home and well rested, I say Minnesota wins this game 31-20 in a semi-blowout.

And one more thing – F*ck Tony Romo.

JETS HOMER SECTION

I am proudly picking the Jets to mop the floor with the San Diego Chargers.  New York will be on the road, against a team who has won 11 straight games in as sound a fashion as can be imagined, but will walk away the victor.  Punishing run game.  Punishing defense.  Corners unintimidated by the receivers or the quarterback.  Jets prevail.

I know Chuck Woodson won the Defensive Player of the Year, but Darelle Revis is the best corner in the league, period.

I know, as much as I hate to say it, Philip Rivers has played the best season of his career, and he looks to be improving almost every week.  That is scary to me.  I don’t like that.  But as biased as I am, I do honestly believe that the Jets are more than capable of winning this game.  The one weakness of this Chargers team is their run defense, and the Jets love to run right up the middle, down your throat.  Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene will pound the rock all game long, while Princess Tomlinson sits visored on the bench, probably with one of those Chargers parkas on, even though it will be about 70 degrees out.

Mark Sanchez can complete the 15 or so passes that will be required of him and the Jets will go on to face their rubber-match destiny, the Indianapolis Colts.

RAVENS BANDWAGON JUMPER SECTION

It worked for me last week, so I will go with it again this week.  I thought for sure the Ravens would get exposed last week against New England, even though I was pulling hard for the Baltimore club.  The Ravens came through in electric fashion, brutalizing the Patriots into submission on both sides of the ball.

Ray Rice and Willis McGahee should be able to plow through the Colts offense, and Joe Flacco should be able to feed Derrick Mason and Todd Heap in the redzone.  I think the Ravens can play with Peyton Manning and the Colts’ offense, making life hard for No. 18 before the snap, and for the Indy wideouts after the snap.  I think the Ravens’ special teams and linebackers will benefit from the indoor turf at Invesco Field.  I think Indy has bad karma after folding tent against the Jets.

But despite all this going against Indy, I am picking them to win because I want them to lose.  Just play along.  Colts 28, Ravens 21.

ARIZONA at NEW ORLEANS

It’s an awfully sexy trend among media types to go with the Cardinals in this game (how convenient that so many Homersota media types like AZ, giving the VIkes home field for the theoretical NFC Championship game), but I’m going with the Saints, and here is why: the itch for this team to be playing meaningful football had to be driving the Saints crazy all week, and by the time they take the field, they are going to be frenzied maniacs with a surgically-precise leader at QB.  Yes, N.O. looked lackadaisical against Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Carolina, and that’s because they were.  Now it’s time to flip the switch, and I trust in this Saints squad – that has been quality for a few years now – to do just that.  Saints 34, Cards 23.

contact email: nick.thomas@flyingpigskin.com

I strode proudly into Wildcard Sunday thinking I knew everything. I had missed calling the exact scores of Wildcard Saturday’s games by a total of 7 points. This NFL racket wasn’t over my head, and I was more sure of my picks for Sunday’s game than I was of Saturday’s. The thought flashed through my mind that I need to put some money where my mouth is.  I could make some good cash, and we all could use it.  I knew there was no way that the Patriots lose at home.  I knew there was no way the Cardinals beat the Packers.

This is why you don’t bet the NFL.  The Patriots got handled for the full 60 minutes on their own field, and it’s been all Cardinals for the first half of the afternoon game.  Aaron Rodgers is starting as badly as Tom Brady did, who was picked off three times and lost a fumble early in the first quarter.

I think all the Harbaughs are just a little “off”, but John is starting to grow on me a little.

Baltimore’s game plan was to simply plow through the Patriots’ defense with their stable of running backs, and attack everything on defense.  It was executed with precision, and even though New England was theoretically still alive until late in the game, they never had a chance.  The Ravens jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter, fueled by punishing QB pressure and jumped routes on defense, and by pounding the run game for 234 yards.

CHILDISH AND COWARDLY ‘BLOGGER TRASH-TALKS TO ATHLETE’ SEGMENT

Suck on that, Tom Brady!  Yeah, I picked you to win, but you’re a whiny, femmey c-sucker and you deserve to feel pain and grief because I despise your success and view it as a personality flaw!  Go home to your impossibly hot wife and otherwise utopian existence and cry, you punk bitch!

Oh, Belichick, you want a piece too?  Go take your three Super Bowl rings and stuff them up your ass.  Your creepy smile makes my dog run from the television and kills my houseplants.  I laugh at your unattainable dynastic dominance of the NFL over the past decade!

contact email: nick.thomas@flyingpigskin.com