NFL Wild Card Saturday Recap

First off was the Jets/Cincinnati game on Saturday afternoon. As I expected, the Bengals were just not a team that could compete in the playoffs. The Jets were too physical and beat the Bengals on the ground and with an ultra-efficient passing game. Mark Sanchez made his postseason debut with a 12-15 182 yard performance with 1/0 TD/INT for a passer rating of 139.4. Meanwhile, Carson Palmer was mediocre, going 18-36 for 150 yards and a 1/1 TD/INT and a 58.3 passer rating. I am not blaming Palmer here, the Bengals just do not have any weapons besides Chad Ocho-Johnson and he was covered by Darrelle Revis soooo...

No chance.

The problem I found with Cincinnati this year is that they had a false identity. They were winning games by running the football and plating defense, which sounds good on paper. But they were not good enough of a running team to not balance it out with a passing game, which they had none of this season. The Bengals' defense played well for the most part of this year, but they did not have quality coaches or quality players to sustain such a defense in the playoffs, and they failed.

As for the J-E-T-S, they could be a thorn in the side of the Chargers next week. The way Shonn Greene and Thomas Jones are running the ball and the legit-ness of their Rex Ryan D could present some problems for the NFL's hottest team... Well at least I hope so because it could be a potential blowout.

GAME: New York 24 — Cincinnati 14

This thing has its own fucking aura...

Two weeks ago, Philadelphia was on a roll. The Eagles were on a six-game winning streak and were going into Dallas with a chance to get a first-round bye in the playoffs... Two weeks later, two losses to the Cowboys and Brian Westbrook and co. are making reservations at his Uncle Terry's house for the Super Bowl. It is like Dallas was Philadelphia's kryptonite this season. After losing to Dallas in week 9, the Eagles got stomped in week 17 and got stamped in week 18 by the 'Boys. The only reason Philadelphia was in this game at any point was a fluky 76-yard touchdown pass by Michael Vickski in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7 although the Cowboys were dominating up to that point. Well, they continued to dominate and scored the next 20 points to end the game.

The Cowboys proved why they are Super Bowl contenders this year. The big key being Tony Romo having a good game. The Savior went 23-35 for 244 yards and 2/0 TD/INT and a 104.9 passer rating to dominate the Green Wings. We knew the Cowboys could come out and run the ball (198 yards on the ground) but for this team to go far, Romo will have to make plays like he did the other day.

Even though they showed promise, it was a semi-familiar end for Philadelphia. However, instead of waiting for the NFC Championship game to lose, they did it conveniently for all of the other playoff teams. For years to come, the Eagles will be a legit contender. They actually have weapons now with Brent Celek, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin and a Westbrook replacement in LeSean McCoy. But Philadelphia will have to get younger on defense because they are getting older and they do not have as much talent on defense as one may think...

GAME: Dallas 34 — Philadelphia 14

My predictions were quite good for the Saturday games. Not only did my picks win, but they won how I said they would; the Jets came prepared and the Bengals did not, while Dallas simply just ran over Philadelphia. I had no such luck on Sunday, but on the bright side my Super Bowl champ pick is still on the market...