NFL Winners & Losers: Divisional Round

1) Eagles @ Giants
Man, the NFL fucked me again! The game I probably wanna see the most will be on at 1pm while I'm at fuckin' work! Bullshit! Good thing the Cowboys didn't make the playoffs because this would be the game we'd be in and I'd be livid right now lol.

Speaking of the Cowboys, me and a few analysts and writers thought the 2008 Cowboys were gonna be the 2007 Giants of this year's playoffs and now it looks like the Eagles are that team. The 2008 Eagles are a 6th seed who got hot late and just won their wild card game and are headed to a #1 seeded divisional opponent that had a less than stellar December finish. Its the 2007 Giants all over again! Everything is there except Jessica Simpson and Cabo lol.

For that reason, and that reason only, I'm gonna actually go with Philly. Not because they just beat this same Giants team a few weeks ago or because they beat the same Vikings team that beat the Giants Week 17 (though the Eagles' win last weekend was more a product of Tarvaris Jackson's ineptness at QB than anything they did), but because of what the 2007 Giants did. Eagles winners, Giants out!

2) Ravens @ Titans
I don't know if anybody else outside the Baltimore locker room noticed this, but the Ravens bye week was in Week 2 meaning they've played 16 straight weeks of football (including last week of course). Its crazy that they are really getting hot now because it seems like they should probably be wearing down. Weird.

Anyway, back in Week 5 these two face off in a 13-10 win for the Titans in Baltimore. Expect this game to be equally low scoring, if not more so. This was a hard one to pick so I sought outside help. Enter Rule No. 1 of Bill Simmon's Playoff Manifesto 4.0 which states, "Never, ever, EVER back a crappy QB on the road."

Now, I'm not saying Joe Flacco sucks, but his number have definitely NOT been impressive and the only reason you hear anything about him being good is because he's just a rookie. If he put up his numbers now in his 3rd or 4th season it would be a whole different story. When it all comes down to it I trust Kerry Collins more than I do Joe Flacco. Titans winners, Ravens out!

3) Chargers @ Steelers
I still can't believe the garbage ass Chargers put out my back-up team last week! The zebras gave it to the Bolts in overtime, but I can't even believe overtime was needed, the Colts should've taken care of them in regulation.

Whatever. Anyway, this should be a good match-up as it was when the Steelers won 11-10, though it should've been 17-10. The Chargers caught a huge break last week by Tomlinson leaving the game early because he has clearly lost a step... or 8. That lil joker Sproles is fast and the Colts weren't ready to face him. You can tell they game planned for a hurt LT rather than a healthy Sproles even though he's burned them before in the past.

The Steelers won't make that same mistake (not to mention the weather and field won't permit it). Their only real problem is gonna be with Ben Roethlisberger and whether or not he's gonna be able to perform after that Week 17 concussion. You've seen the reports of him having headache when putting his helmet on and shit so I honestly think Pittsburgh would be best served if he sat this one out. Byron Leftwich has proven to be a more than capable back-up and has played well every opportunity he's gotten this season. Either way I think the Steelers find a way to win like they always do. Steelers winners, Chargers out!

4) Cardinals @ Panthers
This one will be short and sweet. The Cardinals are 0-5 on the East coast, the Panthers are 8-0 at home. You do the math. Panther winners, Cardinals out!

Record Last Week: 2-2 (.500)
Playoff Record: 2-2 (.500)
Regular Season Record: 116-68 (.630)