Wild Card Weekend Forecast

Saturday:

Washington Redskins at Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks appear to have the advantage in this game because of their great home-field atmosphere. Unfortunately it appears that may be the only advantage they take into the ballgame. Their only home loss came to New Orleans in mid-October, but you have to go even further back than that to find the last time they had a 100 yard rusher (Week 3 vs. Cincinnati). It will be key for the Hawks to find a balance offensively today because Washington's secondary has been playing about as well as any unit in recent weeks and they don't stand much of a chance if Hasselbeck throws it 40 times. Seattle is a different team at home (7-1), but the Redskins are riding a wave of emotion and have that feel of a team of destiny. In this battle of "12th man's" I give the edge to the one of higher power- Sean Taylor. Todd Collins protects the ball and takes his and his teams Cinderella story to the Lone-star State for a rubber with the Cowboy next week, 20-16 Redskins.

Jacksonville Jaguars at PIttsburgh Steelers

Everybody and their brother has jumped off the Pittsburgh Steelers and onto the Jacksonville bangwagon. I'm not one of those people. Tom Jackson and I may be the only two people in the universe who think Pittsburgh is going to win this game. I understand that Jacksonville went to Pittsburgh and won not even a month ago. That was a great showing, and they are undoubtably among the leagues hottest teams, but lets look at the the key positions and who holds the advantages. At quarterback David Garrard is making his first career playoff start on the road, while Big Benny has already won a Super Bowl. To add to that, while everyone is all over Garrard and his efficiency, Roethlisberger had probably the best season for a quarterback not named Brady or Romo. The Steelers hold a serious edge at wide receiver with Hines Ward, Nate Washington and Santonio Holmes (I'll stop there because I can't name Jacksonville's receivers and I'm too lazy to look them up at this point). Defensively, the Steelers rank numero uno, and while the Jags made mince meat of it a few weeks ago, do you really think Mike Tomlin hasn't made some serious adjustments in the weeks leading up to this game? The nationwide perception of the Steelers has fallen off considerably since they took a beat down in Foxboro (thanks a lot Anthony Smith), but then again, who hasn't this season? I think the Steelers go into this game with a chip on their shoulder and show the world that they will once again be a factor in the AFC race and, with all do respect to Jacksonville, I think they do it emphatically, 27-10.

Sunday

New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I didn't have to look any further than the quarterbacks to decide the winner of this match-up. It kills me how fast the media can change their tune, just look at Eli Manning. The guy played miserable for much of the season, but he plays his best game of the season in WEEK 17 against New England and everyone is again saying that he is a franchise quarterback. The thing the Eli-lovers must have missed was that he threw his only interception of the game on his first pass after New England regained the lead late in the fourth quarter. I still look at Manning and see a quarterback that lacks composure and confidence, but that may just be the classic "Manning Demeanor." Whatever it is, he still turns the ball over too much (20 INT), and completes far too little of his passes (56% completions) for me to consider him a factor. He doesn't handle pressure well and you can bet that Jon Gruden will release the hounds on him today. On the flip side, you have Jeff Garcia. The fact that he is still playing amazes me. He made a few Pro Bowls in San Fran then signed as a free agent savior in Detroit (gulp) and Cleveland (yikes) only to be benched in both places. How many quarterbacks move on to lead a team to the playoffs after being benched in Cleveland and Detroit? Well it's not many, but here is one, and Garcia has done an admirable job. He, unlike Manning, is very calm in the pocket and doesn't turn the ball over, going 11 of the 13 games he started without throwing an interception. He also holds something else that Manning does not, and that would be the control and respect of the men in his huddle. The Giants can talk all they want about how they trust Eli, but just ask Tiki Barber how much respect Eli has in his own huddle. The last big thing Garcia has over Manning is a playoff win. Garcia won a number of them in San Francisco and won one last year for Philadelphia. The funny thing is that his last two playoff victories have come against the G-Men, in 2002 with SF and last year in Philly. After the Bucs take this game 23-14, I would like to know if it will be the first time in history that a quarterback beats a team in the playoffs as the starter for three different clubs.

Tennessee Titans at San Diego Chargers

This game was the hardest for me to pick. I love Vince Young and the aura he brings despite his hideous numbers this season (9 TD 17 INT), and I can't stand Philip Rivers and his trash talking Jay Cutler. I can't decide if the quarterbacks will completely decide this game or have little to do with the outcome. You know both teams will pound the ball, and that makes it hard for me to pick against San Diego because you know that LT will get at least 30 touches today. I think the Titans are better defensively then the Chargers, but if Haynesworth's hamstring is still nagging him, it's hard to believe that they will be able to contain the running game. It seems that all the injuries are building up on the Titans at the wrong time- Young, Bo Scaife, Roydell Williams, and Haynesworth- while the Chargers are completely healthy. Young being a game-time decision makes me want to pick the Titans because you know he will play and I have this feeling that he is going to give us that "put my team on my back and shock the world" performance that he constantly gave at Texas and in his rookie campaign last season, but he has been in and out of games too often lately for me to believe he's healthy enough to put out such an effort. I think the healthier and more experienced home team gets it done today. Mark this down because I can promise you that this will be the only time I ever pick a Norv Turner team to beat a Jeff Fisher team, 28-24 Chargers.

NostraDTMus