Welcome back to the Bleeding Sports Playoff Pick’em pitting the Bleeding Sports Brain Trust – G. Francis against the PickMeister – J. Daniels. The current standing having the Brain Trust leading with a record of 5-3, but the PickMeister is still alive at 4-4. This weekend the nation will find out who will be playing on February 3rd in Glendale, AZ in a little game dubbed The Super Bowl. The weather outside maybe cold, but Bleeding Sports is just heating up. Enjoy the games.
And now to the picks…Enjoy the games boys and girls.
The Bleeding Sports Brain Trust – G. Francis
NEW ENGLAND (-14) over San Diego
Everyone and their mommas were expecting a Colts-Patriots rematch this weekend in Foxborough. The Chargers pulled the upset despite losing Tomlinson, Rivers, and Gates at certain points in the game. Rivers barely practiced this past week, Gates may not play after gutting it out last week and who knows how effective Tomlinson will be. The Chargers only hope is to consistently pressure Tom Brady with Merriman, Phillips and company and hope that the weather is a factor in the Patriots passing game. I would love to the see the upset, but the Chargers offensive stars are just too banged up and I don’t foresee Billy Volek leading the Chargers on another game winning drive. In addition, the San Diego secondary gave up over 400 yards to Peyton Manning and the Colts last week so I can’t think of a compelling argument to suggest that the Chargers will be able to stop Brady, Moss, Welker, Stallworth, Watson, Faulk, etc, etc. Look for the Pats to win big on their way to making history in Arizona.
New York Giants (+7.5) over GREEN BAY
Both the Giants and Packers impressed last weekend in their respective divisional round victories. On Sunday in Green Bay temperatures at kickoff are expected to be below zero, which, make no mistake, will have an effect on both teams. The weather could actually be a bigger disadvantage to Green Bay as Brett Favre will want to throw the ball down field especially to WR Greg Jennings. If the passing attacks are negated, the Giants have the advantage with the running back tandem of Jacobs and Bradshaw and will try to mix up their different running styles to keep the Packer defense off balance. The Giants have won nine in a row on the road and while all the prognosticators are picking Brett Favre to continue his storybook season into Super Sunday, I’m taking the Giants. The Giants have come together as a team and Eli Manning is playing his best football at exactly the time. The Giants will take care of the ball, stop Ryan Grant and head to the Super Bowl for a second crack at New England.
The PickMeister – J. Daniels
San Diego (+14) over NEW ENGLAND
The Patriots once again proved to be the luckiest team in NFL last week. Not in their win against the defenseless Jaguars but in the Bolts ridiculous upset in Indy. But if the Chargers showed anything last Sunday, it was that there backups, including Michael Turner, Billy Volek, and a bunch of no name tailbacks, have the potential to stay in a game. This will obviously be necessary with the status of Tomlinson, Rivers, and Gates all in question. Everybody, including myself, wanted to see the Colts – Patriots matchup this week, frankly because San Diego doesn’t have a chance, especially since their whole team is now injured. But the only thing more ridiculous than this matchup is the spread. The Cheaters haven’t covered any of their insane spreads in weeks, not to mention their 13.5 points last week against a far inferior opponent. Even without Rivers and possibly Gates, if LT plays like he said he will there’s no way the Patriots cover the 2 TD spread. Take San Diego with the points.
New York (+7.5) over GREEN GAY
-4 with the wind chill reaching -24. That’s the forecast for Sunday’s NFC Championship game. But if after listening to these “experts’ for the past week, you would think only the Giants will be battling the cold. “Will Eli and his receivers be able to connect in the cold”, “Can the Giants pass rush overcome the field conditions and get to Favre”, “Will New York’s defense be able to stop Ryan Grant and the Green Bay rushing attack?” Well I got news for these GENIUS “experts”. It’s going to be cold for EVERYONE. So the better questions will be: Will Favre be able to connect with his inexperienced receiving core against a Giants defense who are better against the pass? Can the Packers pass rush get to Eli even though they only had a measly 36 sacks during the year compared to the Giants 53? Will Green Bay’s defense, who give up more rushing yards per game than the G-Men, be able to stop the Giants superior rushing game? With these insane weather conditions, the game is ultimately going to comedown to whoever runs the ball more effectively. And since the Giants are clearly better at keeping the ball on the ground, they should come out of this game on top. “But Ryan Grant has the second most rushing yards in the last half of the season behind only LT!” Oh yea “experts”? Guess who has more team rushing yards the second half of the season. That’s right the G-Men. Take New York with the points.
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