Washington Redskins vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Clinton Portis has done an outstanding job of putting the ball on the ground. However, so has Carnell "Cadillac" Williams. Pretty balanced running game. Whose defense is better? Simple: Bucs. The Bucs are number one in the league with fewest yards allowed. This makes the Redskins the underdog. Seeing how the "underdog" Texas upset USC, I'm prediciting the same in this one.
Redskins: 30-21
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New England Patriots
Jacksonville is 12-4 and they are a wild card team. Needless to say, they are definitely mad that they have the fifth best record in the league, and are in the wild cards. Jacksonville can roll with any QB, as proven when Bryon Leftwich went down and David Garraud had to take over. The Patriots have Tom Brady. However, that's not even an advantage anymore as defenses have found plenty of ways to shut him down. This should be one of the most interesting matchups of the Wild Card Weekend. Hard to pick a winner. The Pats are the underdog, but I think the Jags will prove their worth here.
Jacksonville: 35-21
Carolina Panthers vs. New York Giants.
Should be an awesome matchup. Carolina definitely has the edge as they have a solid defense, one that gave the eludable Mike Vick trouble. They also have a good runner in DeShaun Foster. However, the Giants have a Manning...Eli. Eli Manning has consistently improved over the year, leading his team to the playoffs. Many thought the Giants wouldn't even make it this far, and they have. However, the Giants are in HUGE trouble. John Fox, coach of the Panthers, used to coach the defense of the Giants. He was also the one coach that shut down Minnesota's high-powered offense in 2001. Carolina has a definite edge, but I'm feeling the Giants on this one.
NY Giants: 21-17
Pittsburg Steelers vs. Cincinatti Bengals.
Ah...two of my favorite teams on the year meet. Pittsburg is in trouble though. Their QB Big Ben is hurt with a thumb injury, and that should limit their QB. Jerome Bettis is reaching the end of his glory days. The Bengals WRs can outrun the Steelers DBs like Sonic the Hedgehodge. However, there's a problem. The Bengals are a young team. They are not used to this much pressure being on them. Despite their incredible performances, they will have to face the pressure of everyone saying they will lose this game. I guess everyone forgot about the should've-been MVP: Carson Palmer. Palmer has improved so dramatically, it isn't even funny. Eli...take note. This is how you QB your team. With Chadwich Johnson also in the mix...I'm sorry Steelers, you're going to lose this one.
Bengals: 42-21
Those are my picks, whether you like or not.
Posted By: Darryl D. Smith
Friday, January 6th 2006 at 4:38AM
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