BIRD SHIT, Saturday, Jan 14, 3pm
Will start with the most difficult game for me to pick this week: The sneaky team vs the dastardly team.
First off, something to note: I’ve noticed an influx of “I think Atlanta’s going to the Superbowl!”s this week. Why and where did this all of the sudden come from? Did people think Detroit was their biggest threat, and now it’s ATL’s NFC to lose with them out of the way? More than likely, it’s everyone drawing a comparison to the Baltimore Ravens team of 2013, for example: We have to pick the off the radar team, or else we look like idiots when they make it.
Seattle’s going to have a much harder time this week. Seattle goes on the road for this one and faces a high powered offense. Now luckly this road game is in Atlanta, which means half the crowd will be Seahawk fans. I’ve come to notice something about the Seahawks though: I never like their defense as much on the fast track. They play well at home, and any comparable stadium. Case in point, last years playoff game, outside against the Vikings. They are not an indoor stadium team.
I’m pretty sure what Seattle Defense is going to show up and what Falcons offense is going to show up. Both will be B+’s. This leads me to my two very basic x factor of this game: Thomas Rawls. He’s been horrible all season, but had his best game last week against the Lions (27 carries, 161 YRDs, 1 TD), so he’s coming in hot. Honestly though, if you’re a lead back in the NFL and those stats are one of your best games, then you don’t deserve to be a lead back.
Rawls as an inconsistent mess, and thus, Atlanta is is going to win this game. It’s really sad that Seattle can’t muscle beat at team like Atlanta, which is so one dimensional, but they can’t. They need their offense to click with their D in this one, and it won’t.
Pick: Falco
DAYS OF THE NEW, Saturday, Jan 14, 7pm
I’m thinking both these teams will be at the Superbowl this year. New England, because they’ll be playing, and Houston because it’s played in their stadium and the kids are going to want to go.
This is the no brainer game. Actually, this game is such a no brainer, that I see it getting messy and being hard to watch. It’s one of those games.
I’d like to first throw the NFL under the bus for having the audacity to book it as the prime time night game, Sat and 7pm. There’s a reason those games have different vibes than noon games: The Crowd is way drunker.
This crowd is going to scare the shit out of the Houston Texans.
I think Brock Osweiler had a good game against a good defense in the Raiders last week. You will call me crazy in saying this, but I think he can run with Brady when he gets hot, which I’m sure he will in this game. The problem is, I think Brady is going to come out hot right away.
The only chance Houston has is literally if Brady gets injured within the first quarter of this game, which they might think about. The last time these teams played each other, Brady was serving a suspension and Houston still couldn’t get their shit together enough to snag the win, or even put up a point. The Pats won 27-0 with their third string QB at the helm.
That’s pathetic, much like the Texans. I have no clue how they could have any confidence heading in to this game. This team needs to go back to the drawing board and hope we forget they exist for awhile, which we will.
Pick: NEWO
YOU’VE GOT MORE COW HERE THAN HERE, Sunday, Jan 15, 3pm
This is the one everyone, including Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will be creaming themselves over.
We are seeing Aarron Rodgers play the best Football of his career. He played an immaculate game last week against the Giants, which is not a religious reference. So, I’d be scared, if I was Dallas, that players like Davonte Adams and Randall Cobb are having good games again. It makes Jordy Nelson being out this week with a broken rib all the more less of an issue.
Even though Cobb and Adams are timeslot forces, and Rodgers is in dead stroke with a lot of experience, I still like Dallas in this game. I think Dallas’s OLine is staunch enough to hold up, and have Zeke run against a Packers front 7 no one really is impressed by.
It’s hard for me to put my eggs in Dak Prescott’s basket for this win, but he’s going to have to win his first playoff game sometime, right? Why not start it off with as big playoff game as he can win?
We might not be realizing that Dak Prescott might in fact be a gamer who rises to a different level for big games. I’m gonna buy in to this. I think he’s the real deal. Nevertheless, extremely interesting game to kick off things on Sunday. Very excite.
Pick: Boys Better.
KC DEVILLE, Sunday, Jan 15, 7pm
I think the most undewelming team that played last week had to be the Pittsburgh Steelers. I mean, how could they NOT win that game last week? The irony is, in a game where Pittsburgh won 30-12, it was actually a pretty close game. Well, it wasn’t that close, but it felt like it was close. It felt like if Ryan Tannehill played and not Matt Moore, the Steelers would have lost that game. Coach Mike Tomlin is probably going to be on the hotseat after this playoff game if they lose in KC. I’m only saying this because the Steelers are such a great Football team on the offensive side of the ball. They have what I would consider to be the best QB/WR tandem in the league, and arguably the best Running Back, behind Ezekiel Elliot. It seems though that despite talent, they remain an undisciplined/underachieving team that skates by on their talent, and not their will to win. I mean, their division only half the time.
Case in point, Assistant Coach Joey Porter going on a drunken Joyride after the big win, and getting a DUI. Porter puts the ASS in ASSISTANT Coach. He got reprimanded last year for fighting on the sidelines with Packman Jones.
All that said, I can’t help but think the Steelers machine is about to blow up this week. Now NORMALLY I wouldn’t go against Big Ben and Co in this situation I question. For starters, KC is the most underrated team in these players, all simply because they have the QB with the weakest arm left in the tournament. The weather report is supposed to be around 30 degrees and a heavy sleet. Historically, this will favor the team with the worse QB. I know this first hand when my Bears played in the NFC Championship against Drew Brees’s New Orleans Saints, and handled them easily. So this favors KC. But then again, the Steelers love this type of weather.
Pick: I give the Cheifs the rub here. Better defense. Better Pizza. Papa Johns.
