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Redskins @ Seahawks |
Saturday, 4:30 (Fox) |
TALK SMACK |
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Patriots @ Broncos |
Saturday, 8:00 (CBS) |
TALK SMACK |
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Gerardo
Orlando
Publisher |
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Week Two:
2-2 |
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SEAHAWKS:
This should be a mismatch. Washington needs to find an offense
on the long flight to Seattle. Their defense is tough, but not
tough enough to stop Seattle’s offense. |
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PATRIOTS:
This should be a great game, but the Patriots look as tough as
ever. Their defense is finally healthy again and it shows on the
field. Meanwhile, Tom Brady is, well, Tom Brady. The Pats will
win a close one. |
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COLTS:
Indy should handle the Steelers at home, and this game will be
over early if the Colts can again jump out to a quick lead. Look
for a much closer and tougher game, however, if the Steelers can
take the lead. |
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PANTHERS:
The Bear defense is tough but it’s over-rated. Their offense is
mediocre and Rex Grossman is untested. Meanwhile, the Panthers
are on a roll. The Bears will make a game out of it, but the
Panthers will be in control by the fourth quarter. |
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Jamey Codding
Managing Editor |
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Week Two:
2-2 |
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SEAHAWKS:
I actually think the 'Skins have a shot. Nuts, right? Do I think
they're going to win? No. But I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe I'm
not sold on Seattle, winner of one of the worst divisions in
football, or maybe I like Washington's defense too much.
Regardless, I see the Seahawks winning this one but it won't be
the laugher everyone thinks it'll be. So the 'Skins couldn't
score on Tampa Bay? That's the top-ranked defense in the league.
Seattle can give up some points. Of course, they can score too,
and they'll need a late Shaun Alexander plunge to win this "gimme." |
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BRONCOS:
It has to end sometime, right? Yes, the Patriots are playing
well, and yes they're healthy on defense, but the Broncos are a
damn good football team. Mike Anderson can pound you 25 times a
game, Tatum Bell can take it to the house anytime he gets the
ball, and Jake Plummer's playing the best football of his
career. It'll be a high-scoring affair, and with Corey Dillon
hurting and the game being played at Mile High, I've got to
believe the Broncos have a better shot than people are giving
them. This is the year Plummer matures and Brady tastes defeat.
Ch-ch-changes.... |
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COLTS:
A month ago the Colts were invincible, having a dome-covered
path to the Super Bowl placed in front of them with seemingly no
worthy opponent in sight. But all the adversity they've faced
could have a positive impact on the the team.
They're united now more than ever, and they all want
to win more for their coach than for themselves. Combine that
kind of motivation with all that damn skill and you've got a
dangerous team. They've got the speed to contain Willie Parker,
enough toughness to handle Bettis, and you know they'll score
points. I'm picking the Colts from here on out, no
matter the opponent. |
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BEARS:
My head's telling me Carolina, but my heart keeps saying Bears.
They remind me of one of those teams that defies logic,
that proves good defenses beat good offenses, and
a great defense is damn near unbeatable. The Ravens did it a few
years ago. I know all about Steve Smith, and DeShaun Foster is starting to open
some eyes, but the Bears have the Defensive POY and four more
Pro Bowlers on that side of the ball. If Rex Grossman, Thomas
Jones and Muhsin Muhammad give the D 10 points, that may be enough. NFC
Championship, Bears' defense vs. Seattle's offense. Sweet. |
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David Medsker
Senior Editor |
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Week Two:
2-2 |
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SEAHAWKS:
Washington’s win over Tampa Bay was the mother of all examples
of ‘better lucky than good.’ The run ends here. 136 yards of
total offense? Please. Washington’s defense will be all jacked
up to shut down Shaun Alexander, thus forcing Seattle to beat
them using Matt Hasselbeck. The only problem with that strategy
is that Seattle can and will beat them using Matt Hasselbeck.
Alexander isn’t going to have too much trouble, either. |
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PATRIOTS:
This is really simple: until someone beats New England in the
playoffs, I am going to keep picking them. Denver beat New
England earlier in the year, but not by much, and that New
England team was a shell of the team that they face this week. I
do wish the Pats would quit this whole ‘no respect’ nonsense,
though. It’s beneath them. |
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COLTS:
That was quite a display Pittsburgh put on in Cincinnati last
week. That cross-field flea flicker had to have been devastating
to watch from the Bengals sideline (“Noooooooooooo!”). And while
they’re playing their best ball of the year right now, I still
think Indy has too much to play for. For their coach, for their
run at a near-perfect season, and last but not least, for Peyton
Manning to get the monkey off his back once and for all. |
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PANTHERS:
I lived in Chicago the last time they sent a team with a
big-time defense into the playoffs with a bye week, and promptly
got the living snot kicked out of them by Philadelphia. I expect
the same to happen here. Sure, Chicago manhandled Carolina
earlier in the season, but da Bears simply do not have enough
offensive weapons to combat Carolina’s overall attack. Besides,
it’s Chicago. If they get a World Series and a Super Bowl
championship in the same year, the end, as they say in “28 Days
Later,” is seriously fucking nigh. |
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Jason Zingale
Associate Editor |
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Week Two:
2-2 |
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SEAHAWKS:
If the Indianapolis Colts weren’t around, the Seahawks would
probably be the best team in the NFL. And after last week’s
horrible performance by the Redskins’ offense, I can’t imagine
they’ll have what it takes to outscore Seattle and their deadly
running game. Still, Shaun Alexander could have an off-day, and
if he does, look for Brunell and Co. to pounce on the chance of
stealing a spot in the NFC Championship game. |
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PATRIOTS:
After the Patriots' blistering performance last week in
Jacksonville, it’s hard to imagine that they won’t do the same
thing to Denver. Brady is on a roll right now, and with a
majority of their defense back in the lineup, they shouldn’t
have much trouble disposing of the Jake “The Snake” Plummer and
the Broncos. This could come down to the final minutes of the
game if Denver plays smart, but that just gives New England even
better odds to move on to the next round. |
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COLTS:
With so many good match-ups this week, the Steelers/Colts game
seems to be the least of anyone’s worries, but Pittsburgh has
emerged as a solid team these past few weeks. If they can manage
an early lead, they might just be able to squeeze past the Colts
for the win. Then again, who doesn’t want to see
Indianapolis face off against the Patriots with a ticket to the
Super Bowl up for grabs? Dungy’s team will probably plow right
over the Steelers, but it could be interesting. |
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PANTHERS:
I mentioned last week that one thing separated the Carolina
Panthers from the NY Giants: Steve Smith. Well, Smith had one of
his best games of the year and the Panthers absolutely dominated
New York. The same holds true for their game against Chicago,
and although the Bears have a much stronger defensive unit, look
for Smith to make or break this game. It’s become quite apparent
that Delhomme can no longer depend on his running backs to
shoulder some of the load, so you can bet that he’ll be looking
to Smith to win this one again. |
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John Paulsen
Contributing Editor |
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Week Two:
2-2 |
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SEAHAWKS:
Want to fly cross-country to play the best team in your
conference? That’s the challenge facing the Redskins this week,
after they managed only 120 yards of offense in their win
against Tampa Bay. They’ll fare better on that side of the ball
against Seattle, but they aren’t going to hold the Seahawks to
10 points. Seattle wins. |
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PATRIOTS:
Most people outside of the Northeast are sick of seeing the
Patriots win. They do play the game the “right way” (not unlike
Duke basketball, the Spurs and the Pistons), forsaking personal
ego for the good of the team. This is an extremely tough game to
pick and I think it will come down to the Denver running game
against the Pats run D. New England should have just enough to
get the win on the road. |
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COLTS:
Will the Colts be ready to play after phoning it in the last
month? I think so. The Colts D is going to make running the ball
a little more difficult on the Steelers than the Bengals did.
The bottom line is: if the Colts play well, they’ll win. I think
they’ll play well. |
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PANTHERS:
Don’t get me wrong, Chicago has a great defense, but Carolina’s
is pretty good as well and they’ve got some players on the
offensive side of the ball that can put up some points. I think
Jake Delhomme, Steve Smith and DeShaun Foster will do enough to
get a tough win. |
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Mike Farley
Staff Writer |
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Week Two:
1-3 |
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SEAHAWKS:
The Skins’ luck is about to run out, as their chances of beating
Seattle are about the same as Kurt Cobain singing the national
anthem. They have six victories in a row, including a road win
at Tampa in the wild card round, but their offense was anemic
against the Bucs. This weekend they get to face a Seattle
offense that is well rested and has the NFL’s best running back
in Shaun Alexander. Seattle will be hosting the NFC Championship
game. |
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PATRIOTS:
The Broncos have proven that they can beat the Pats, as they did
earlier in the season. But that was during that stretch when New
England had their second string defense in. Now the Pats are on
a roll after demolishing Jacksonville, and even though Denver
had two weeks off and is about as explosive offensively as any
team in the league, Belichick’s boys will find a way to win and
move on to the AFC Championship. |
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COLTS:
The Colts have it all: offense, defense, a loud home dome, and
the emotional factor of getting behind a coach they all admire
who just lost his teenage son. They surely didn’t win 14 games
by mistake, and are on a mission this year to finally get to the
big show and win it all. The Steelers pulled off an upset
against the Carson-less Bengals on Sunday, but look for a repeat
of their Monday night game against Indy earlier this season when
the Colts dominated. |
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BEARS:
It was painful to watch the Panthers annihilate my Giants on
Sunday, but the G-men were thoroughly out game-planned and just
didn’t show up. Carolina is showing signs of their Super Bowl
season two years ago, but they now have to face a Bears defense
that, compared to the Giants, more closely resembles a brick
wall. Chicago is going to win no matter who the quarterback is,
with their defense possibly scoring all of the game’s points. |
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Red Rocker
Staff Writer |
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Week Two:
2-2 |
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SEAHAWKS:
The spitting incident with Sean Taylor will be a distraction
this week, but not as big a distraction as the fact that Seattle
is a supremely better team playing at home. Shaun Alexander is
the man and will make a very good 'Skins defense look bad.
Seahawks roll. |
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BRONCOS:
Great match-up, maybe even a shootout. While everyone thinks the
Pats are coming on strong just in the nick of time, Mile High in
January is a daunting task. Jake Plummer has more to prove this
post-season than anyone. Vegas has this one right...Broncos win
on a late field goal. |
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COLTS:
Nobody is playing better than the Steelers right now. Their fans
even admit they're a better team than this time last year when
they were 16-1 heading into the AFC Championship game. But the
Colts have too much fire power, way too good a defense, and the
ghost of James Dungy on the sideline. Take the Colts, but I
wouldn't give 9 points. |
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BEARS:
Da Bears a home favorite in the playoffs?! Yep, that's the kind
of year it's been in the NFL. Urlacher and company take care of
business here (in a painfully low-scoring affair) before seeing
their coach turn back into a pumpkin out in Seattle next week. |
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Jason Thompson
Staff Writer |
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Week Two:
3-1 |
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SEAHAWKS:
The Seahawks deserve this win. Okay, so I was wrong about
Washington last week, but I definitely think the Seahawks can
more than shut the Redskins down. Matt Hasselbeck is reason
number one. And let’s not forget the Seahawks’ offensive line is
the tops. If anything, Washington has more than met its match
here and will be shut down fairly early. Don’t expect too close
of a game here, unless I’m completely wrong again and the
Redskins manage to get luckier than they deserve. |
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BRONCOS:
I’m actually going to go against the grain here and give it to
Denver. I don’t see the Pats going all the way this year. I’ll
probably be proven wrong having said that, but I think Denver is
tough enough to keep Brady and co. at bay. Belichick gets points
for doing his usual remarkable coaching thing, but somewhere,
sometime, even that has to give out. I say that time is now and
we’re going to see Denver step to the next game. At least Brady
has all those credit card endorsements to keep him and his team
warm enough until next year. |
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STEELERS:
Like I’d really go against my home team here. I’m already sick
of hearing all the Bengals fans bitch about our boys tearing up
Carson Palmer’s knee, so I’m more than ready to see us take it
to the next level and get past Peyton Manning. Yes, we lost to
the Colts during our first match-up, but I think that’s actually
a good thing. Roethlisberger got to experience Manning up front
and get splattered at the same time, and this time around I
believe the Steelers will come out stronger and more than ready
to take this game. Of course, we could always just break
Peyton’s arms if need be. |
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BEARS:
Here’s another one where I’m torn between the two teams, but at
the end of the day I think the Bears will take it. They’ve had a
really good year and fought hard to get this far. And while
Carolina’s performance last week was pretty tight, I don’t think
they’re going to be able to cough up the goods against Chicago’s
top of the line defense. And even though this is Chicago’s first
playoff in a few years, they should be more than ready to take
the win here and put Carolina to bed once and for all.. |
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Bill Clark
Staff Writer |
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Week Two:
2-2 |
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SEAHAWKS:
The Redskins will have to play three times as well as they did
last week to have a chance in this one. The 'Skins have a great
defense (how else could they have possibly won that game last
week?), but I expect Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck to both
have an excellent day. On top of that, the Seahawks are 8-0 at
home this season, and it'd be a shocker if that streak broke in
the heart of the playoffs. |
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PATRIOTS:
The Patriots' bandwagon is near capacity and I'm part of it.
There is just simply not any reason to pick against one of the
best postseason teams in the history of the league. Detractors
can't even play the weather card this time around since it will
be nice and chilly in Denver -- right at home for New England.
It will be close, but Belichick will outcoach Shanahan to
victory. |
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COLTS:
The biggest question is the emotional state of the Colts, still
reeling from the tragic death of coach Tony Dungy's son. The
team hasn't played a truly meaningful game in over a month, but
I'm hard-pressed to believe that they won't come out guns-a-blazin'
for their coach. I expect Peyton Manning to lead the team to
victory through the air, especially if they can bust a few huge
plays. They'll have to be on the lookout for that Steelers
trickery, however. This will be closer than people may think. |
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PANTHERS:
This is the trickiest game of the weekend and probably the most
evenly matched as well -- at least defensively. Carolina
flat-out owned the G-men last weekend, and I think the momentum
will carry forward as they take on a tough Bears defense. The
Bears offense will have to wake up if they even want to be in
this game as I'm sure Panthers QB Jake Delhomme and WR Steve
Smith have some trickery planned. I'll take Carolina in another
game that could wind up coming down to the wire. |
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R. David Smola
Staff Writer |
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Week Two:
1-3 |
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SEAHAWKS:
Last week I said that Greg Williams’ defense couldn’t play
offense. I lied. This week they face a much more complicated and
productive offense in the Seattle Seahawks. Matt Hasselback and
Shaun Alexander are a part of the NFL’s number-one scoring
offense, and the D ain't too shabby either. Seattle will get it
done this week because the Washington offense really isn’t
participating. The game will be close for a while before the
Seahawks run away with it. |
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PATRIOTS:
Sixteen-time World Heavyweight Champion and wrestling icon Ric
Flair has always said, “In order to be the man, you have to beat
the man. Woooooooo!” Until Tom Brady finally loses a playoff
game or faces Peyton Manning indoors, I won’t pick against him.
At some point, Jake Plummer is going to realize he is Jake
Plummer and do something incredibly risky and even more costly.
The last time they played (week six of the regular season),
Denver won 28-20. New England wasn’t as healthy as they are now.
I like the Pats to stay alive for another week. |
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COLTS:
Pittsburgh can’t score with the Colts, and they won’t be able to
keep the ball away from Manning Incorporated because the Indy
run defense is much improved from last year. In the week 12 Indy
victory (26-7), the Steelers only rushed for 86 yards, forcing
big Ben to throw 26 times. That recipe will be repeated and the
score will be similar. The Colts will welcome the Patriots into
their house for the AFC championship game this year, and Peyton
gets another chance to lose the 500-pound Belichick on his
back. |
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BEARS:
Every logical brain cell tells me the Panthers are going to
advance and dispatch the Bears. Jake Delhomme was sacked eight
times and the Panthers were held to 55 rushing yards in the
Bears 13-3 win over Carolina earlier this year. It would be hard
to imagine the Panthers struggling that much again in the
playoff rematch. Every first-time playoff quarterback has taken
the pipe in the playoffs and Rex Grossman is in his first rodeo.
However, as a life long Chicagoan, I say to hell with logic.
Mushin Muhammad dropped five passes the first time these teams
met and is bound and determined to have the game of his life
under the big spotlight. The Bears spat in the face of every
pundit who said Chicago sucked at the beginning of the year
(paging Dr. Z). They then gave the finger to every expert who
said they couldn’t beat a good team by defeating Carolina and
Tampa in successive weeks. Now every national expert is saying
the Panthers are going to the Super Bowl as if this game is a
forgone conclusion. I say the Bears are now going to moon those
Monday morning quarterbacks and win 5-3 by scoring a safety with
35 seconds left in regulation. |
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