SUPER BOWL PREDICTION

Indianapolis vs NY Giants

...hey I asked for Colts-Bears in '06...

PLAYOFF TEAM PREDICTIONS

AFC
1. Tennessee
2. Baltimore
3. Miami
4. Denver
5. Indianapolis
6. Pittsburgh

NFC
1. NY Giants
2. Carolina
3. Arizona
4. Minnesota
5. Tampa Bay
6. Atlanta

Yeah, I'm picking Miami to win their division and Atlanta to knock out the Cowboys from the playoffs. It was fun while it lasted, Wade. Buying a Super Bowl just doesn't seem to work these days.

Tennessee, Arizona, and New York Giants are locks for their playoff spots.

Baltimore and Pittsburgh will be fighting Sunday for what could be the #2 seed and division title. The loser will likely end up as the #6 seed in the playoffs. The Colts have beaten all other wild card contenders so they can guarantee themselves the #5 seed by winning.

The AFC east is where it gets interesting because right now there is a 3 way tie for 1st and whoever wins the division will be the only AFC East team in the playoffs.

Denver and Arizona should be easy games for whoever is lucky enough to play them in the first round.

WHO CAN CLINCH WHAT SUNDAY?
Thanks to FoxSports.com, here we go...

NFC EAST

New York Giants
Giants have clinched playoff spot and NFC East division title.

Giants can clinch first-round bye with:

1. Giants win/tie, OR ...
2. Vikings loss/tie AND Cardinals loss/tie, OR ...
3. Vikings loss AND Panthers win/tie.

NFC NORTH

Minnesota Vikings
Vikings can clinch NFC North title with:

1. Vikings win AND Bears loss.

NFC SOUTH

Carolina Panthers
Panthers can clinch playoff spot with:

1. Panthers win AND Cowboys loss/tie, OR ...
2. Panthers win/tie AND Falcons loss/tie, OR ...
3. Panthers tie AND Cowboys loss AND Eagles loss/tie, OR ...
4. Falcons loss AND Cowboys loss AND Redskins loss/tie, OR ...
5. Falcons loss AND Cowboys loss AND Bears loss/tie, OR ...
6. Falcons loss AND Eagles loss AND Redskins loss/tie AND Bears loss/tie.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Buccaneers can clinch playoff spot with:

1) Buccaneers win AND Cowboys loss/tie, OR ...
2) Buccaneers win AND Eagles loss/tie.

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals
Cardinals have clinched NFC West title.

NFC eliminated teams: 49ers, Lions, Rams, Seahawks

AFC NORTH

Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers can clinch AFC North title and first-round bye with:

1. Steelers win vs. Ravens Sunday.

Steelers can clinch playoff spot with:

1. Steelers tie AND Patriots loss/tie, OR ...
2. Steelers tie AND Dolphins loss/tie + Jets loss/tie, OR ...
3. Patriots loss AND Jets loss/tie, OR ...
4. Patriots loss AND Dolphins loss/tie, OR ...
5. Jets loss AND Dolphins loss.

Baltimore Ravens
Ravens clinch playoff spot with:

1. Ravens win AND Patriots loss AND Jets loss/tie, OR ...
2. Ravens win AND Patriots loss AND Dolphins loss/tie, OR ...
3. Ravens win AND Dolphins loss AND Jets loss AND Colts loss/tie, OR ...
4. Ravens win AND Dolphins loss AND Jets loss AND Colts clinches strength of victory tiebreaker over Dolphins.

AFC SOUTH

Tennessee Titans
Titans have clinched AFC South division title and first-round bye.

Titans can clinch homefield advantage throughout AFC playoffs with:

1. Titans win AND Steelers loss/tie, OR ...
2. Titans tie AND Steelers loss.

Indianapolis Colts

Colts clinch playoff spot with:

1. Colts win AND Patriots loss AND Jets loss/tie OR 2. Colts win AND Patriots loss AND Dolphins loss/tie OR 3. Colts win AND Dolphins loss AND Jets loss.

AFC WEST

Denver Broncos
Broncos can clinch AFC West division title with:

1. Broncos win/tie, OR ...
2. Chargers loss/tie.

AFC eliminated teams: Bengals, Browns, Chiefs, Jaguars, Raiders, Texans

Kinda early, LN, but I'm on board!

Even as a native New York City boy, that nonsense about the Jets a few weeks ago made me cringe. Favre is ancient and Mangini is as soft as a marshmallow. They're going nowhere fast.

I'd MUCH prefer a Manning vs. Manning Super Bowl, as opposed to Giants-Jets. And I truly believe it could happen this year. Of course, I know you're picking the older brother to win, while I'm going with the young'n.

Superbowl: Steelers v. Giants

That would be a classic, and likely set a record for viewership. It may also lead to a divorce in my house.

Not just your house, Klyd. The Rooney-Mara house, as well .

Giants v Titans.

Colts can clinch the #5 seed Thursday by beating Jacksonville. Don't let their record fool you, Jacksonville always plays the Colts hard.

The Lions gave them a good go on Sunday as well!


Imagine the shame of losing to that lot?


P.S. Apologies to any Lions fans. I genuinely feel for them, going through a season like they are enduring!

As much as the thought makes me want to vomit, I think the Super Bowl will be the Steelers from the AFC. I have to give Pittsburgh their due - they are finding ways to win and have a great defense.

The Giants have had the best season in the NFC, but seem to be faltering recently. I think, in the end, either the Giants or Panthers will wind up representing the NFC.

I really think this is the Colts' year. They have already beaten Pittsburgh once this season and I think they can (and might have to) do it again.

This is a team that can fight through adversity, which is different than the regular season winners postseason losers from about 2000-2005.

Manning has been as good as ever even though the stats don't really show it. I have really become a fan of Peyton this season. Really before I thought he was a great QB and all but I just didn't really care for him. This season he has shown me what he is worth to this team.

The Steelers and the Colts have the best chances of winning the AFC because they know how to pull out close wins and fight through injuries and whatnot.


The NFC is harder to predict but if the Giants can get back on track there aren't too many up there on the same level as them. Carolina is looking good, especially the running game. I don't see Arizona winning a game in the playoffs, Atlanta is a nice story but they probably wouldn't get far. The Cowboys aren't a real contender. They have a lot of talent, but so does San Diego.

How about a Manning vs Manning Super Bowl?

I would rather see Indy go to the Super Bowl than the Steelers, but I have trouble seeing that playing out as realistic. Harrison is banged up, as is Addai. Yes, Manning is getting hot at the right time. But he's not able to shoulder the entire offense as previous playoff seasons have shown. I think Indy's finesse defense will get mauled by a physical offense, whether that is Pittsburgh or New England.

New England is not a physical offense, they have no running game. And they might go 11-5 and miss the playoffs. Also, we beat them earlier this year.

Rhodes has been playing better than Addai all year. Harrison has been off all year and we didn't have him last year for most of the season and did fine. There are plenty other receivers capable of handling the load: Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Gonzalez, and even our running backs.

Pittsburgh is known for it's running game but it has not been a focal point of the offense since Tomlin's arrival. The Steelers o-line is bang up and has been having trouble all year.

That said, the Steelers have a defense that can cause problems for opposing offenses. Their offense is nothing to fear though.


The offenses I see giving our defense trouble are all in the NFC.

I think Atlanta is going to be a handful in the playoffs.

A good young quarterback with a STRONG running attack and very solid defense.

That's a fair point about NE not having a running game. But I don't think any defensive coordinators are losing sleep about the prospect of facing Addai or Rhodes this year. With the exception of their Super Bowl year, when has Manning not underachieved in a big playoff game? He gets happy feet and tries to do too much (every NE playoff game except 2007, 2006 Divisional vs. Pitt, 2008 Divisional playoff game). I like the guy - he's my favorite QB. But he plays differently in the postseason, whatever the reason.

Pittsburgh's offense is not great, I agree. Yet their defense seems to let them hang around and then the offense somehow makes the big plays with the game on the line.

If the playoffs started today, I agree that the two best teams in the AFC are Pittsburgh and Indy. The Jets and Broncos should be one and done, just like Arizona out West. Tennessee will be interesting. I think their opponents will try to stuff the run and dare Kerry Collins to beat them. That's a risky proposition for Jeff Fischer.

Peyton played horribly in the first 3 games before the Super Bowl in the 2006 season. His TD-INT ratio was crazy. He did fine in the Super Bowl though. I don't know, maybe I see it as he's already won the big one so any kind of jitters he has should be gone. Peyton is great at leading this team to improbable victories from behind as evidenced by the AFC Championship game in 06 and early on in this season. I think he got hit with the "Loses in big games" tag and hasn't shaken it off for a lot of people.

Our defense is good enough now that Peyton doesn't need to do it all himself and I think he realizes that. The injury to Marlin Jackson at CB hurt us a lot because he is a physical corner and one of our best defensive players. The only glaring hole I see in the Colts is special teams. Last week Ratliff muffed 2 punts and the Lions recovered both. Chad Simpson was doing well but he had to step into the #2 RB role so he wasn't returning kicks. Bob Sanders will be healthy for the playoffs.

This O-line has Jeff Saturday back, and that's huge. He has to make the protection calls after Manning audibles. The rookies that are filling in have almost a full season of experience now and they are quickly improving.

I think our running game is back on track and Rhodes should be the starter from here on out. I doubt D-Coordinators are losing sleep over Rhodes and Addai but they would be foolish to ignore them because they are both very talented and are dual threats to either run or catch the ball. Addai was a QB in High School and in practice he works with the QB unit a little bit.

Tennessee is a very good team but we'll have to see if Vandenbosh and Haynesworth are available and close to full strength for the playoffs (reports say they should be).

I followed Manning's career quite closely at Tennessee, and I never thought he would be able to win a big game. But his Super Bowl performance in horrid weather conditions against the Bears put that doubt to rest.

But, Goombah's right. He does get the 'happy feet' from time to time and I think he can be rattled.

I know this contradicts when I say I like Manning, but I really do. He was not the MVP of that Super Bowl. He dinked and dunked (with one exception) based on what Chicago gave him. The real MVP in my opinion was Rhodes.

Congratulations to your Colts clinching a playoff spot, LN.

Not contradictory at all, it's the truth. Rhodes should have gotten it, or even Addai.

Thanks, Blib.

I am spoiled, the regular season just seems like a formality.

Because of that comment I've changed my tune... screw your colts!

I know, I know... *Insert Raiders Joke*

I think the poor start to the season was good for the Colts. In recent memory, I cannot recall a time when the Colts were not undefeated or 10-2 in mid-November. They deserve a lot of credit for another 10+ win season after the 3-4 start.

The bad thing is we get to see a lot of Jim Sorgi at QB next week.

...I'll still watch every second of the game. I got Sorgi's autograph at Training camp, along with Dallas Clark and a few others.

Go Steelers!

Cowboys lost to Baltimore...allowed 2 huge runs (70+ and 80+ yards) on back to back possessions with less than 4 minutes to go.

Romo: Jessicaaaaa!

I am a critic of Romo losing big games, but he did everything he possibly could have to bring the Cowboys back in the 4th quarter. Baltimore was tearing up the O-line to get to him but he was still able to complete passes.

The defense was playing well for Dallas but giving up those 2 plays is what lost the game for them. Without that Romo would have led the Cowboys to a win.

Romo played poorly in the first three quarters + of the game. Once the Ravens went up by two scores late, they loosened up and gave him the middle and he took it. He made some nice throws then, but the rookie Flacco was the better QB yesterday. He had a good opportunity to get into fg range at the end of the half, but threw a bad interception that ended up giving the Ravens the lead at halftime.

Those two long, consecutive TD runs were amazing. Both occurred when Dallas needed stops. It was funny that not long before that Deion Sanders, who was a terrible color commentator, was boasting that the Dallas defense believes it should be placed in the class of the Steeler and Raven defenses. The Cowboy defense played well when Romo wasn't, but cracked at the end.

It's interesting to note that the longest opponent TD run in the history of Texas Stadium happened on the last carry by McClain.

I watched #26 (Ken Hamlin?) miss tackles on both runs.

Wasn't it also the 100th or 200th loss or something in the stadium?

I like that this gives the Falcons a chance to take over the last playoff spot.

The Minnesota-Atlanta game will have playoff implications. If Atlanta wins it might help them get in and it might also help the Bears.