If Week 17 wasn’t intense enough, the Wild Card playoff weekend has arrived. Three of the four matchups pit teams that played each other last week. Here are previews of all four of contests.
Saturday, 2:30 p.m. MST
NEW YORK JETS (9-7) at CINCINNATI BENGALS (10-6)
TV: NBC
Why You Should Watch: After stumbling to a 4-6 start, the Jets won five of their final six games to secure the AFC’s No. 5 seed. They sport the league’s best rushing offense at 172.2 yards per game and league’s best defense at 252.3 yards allowed per game. Rookie Mark Sanchez led the AFC with 20 interceptions, throwing 17 of those picks in the team’s seven losses.
After streaking to a 9-3 start, the Bengals lost three of their final four games, but still secured their first AFC North division title in four years. Like New York, Cincinnati has a top-10 rushing offense that averages 128.5 yards per contest. Their defense is right behind the Jets at No. 4 in the NFL, with 301.4 yards allowed per game. Carson Palmer completed 60.5 percent of his passes in 2009. But in limited action against the Jets in Week 17, he was held to 1-of-11 passing for zero yards.
With Cincinnati already in the playoffs, the Jets needed a 37-0 victory over the Bengals in Week 17 at the Meadowlands to set up this Wild Card rematch. The battle now shifts to Paul Brown Stadium, where Cincinnati won six of its eight home games this season. One of those two losses came against the Broncos in Week 1, at the hands of Brandon Stokley’s immaculate deflection touchdown.
Keep An Eye On: RB Thomas Jones, New York Jets. Despite running with 31-year-old bones, the 10th-year pro turned in a career year, notching personal-bests with 331 carries, 1,402 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. He rushed for more than 100 yards in seven games this season. But the Bengals defense and 100-yard rushers did not get along at all in 2009, as only two opposing backs eclipsed the century mark — Browns RB Jerome Harrison and Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles.
Saturday, 6:00 p.m. MST
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (10-6) at DALLAS COWBOYS (11-5)
TV: NBC
Why You Should Watch: For the third time this season and second time in as many weeks, the NFC East rivals will set foot on the same field. Dallas has had Philadelphia’s number in 2009, earning a 20-16 win in Philadelphia and 24-0 win at Cowboys Stadium last week. For Dallas, the stakes are extremely high, as they are looking for their first playoff victory since Dec. 28, 1996. To put time in perspective, Brian Dawkins was in his rookie season.
Both of these offenses thrive on their big-play potential. Cowboys QB Tony Romo threw for a career-high 4,483 yards this season. That effort was helped by his ability to complete 61 passes of 20-or-more yards. Eagles QB Donovan McNabb also profited from the deep ball, throwing for more than 3,500 yards for the second time in his 11 pro seasons. He completed a career-high 55 passes for 20-plus yards.
Keep An Eye On: Romo. While the pressure will be high for McNabb, he has already led his team to nine postseason wins, which marks the most by any quarterback in Eagles history. The same can’t be said for Romo, who is 0-2 career in games where it really counts. Romo’s passing numbers in the playoffs have been less than stellar, as he threw for a combined 390 yards in losses to the Seahawks (2007) and Giants (2008).
Sunday, 11:00 a.m. MST
BALTIMORE RAVENS (9-7) at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (10-6)
TV: CBS
Why You Should Watch: Over the last decade, these two teams have put their best foot forward in the playoffs. The Patriots made five Super Bowls in the 2000s, winning four rings, while the Ravens opened the decade with their first-ever Lombardi trophy. While the two teams have appeared in a combined 22 playoff games since 2000, Sunday will mark the first time in history that they face each other in the postseason.
The Patriots were a perfect 8-0 at Gillette Stadium in 2009, including a 27-21 Week 4 win over these Ravens. They won those eight home contests by an average margin of 18 points. After a quick 3-0 start, Baltimore skidded to a 6-7 finish and needed a road win over the Raiders in Week 17 just to make postseason play.
Keep An Eye On: Ravens Secondary. Terrific Tom Brady has gained that nickname because of his postseason exploits. He has thrown 26 career touchdown passes in the playoffs, but also been victimized by 12 interceptions. The Ravens enter Foxborough, Mass. with a defense that divides its strengths well between the run and pass. Baltimore has held its opponents to a stout 93.6 rushing yards per game. When teams have turned to the air this season, the Ravens have responded with 22 interceptions, which is good for second in the AFC.
Sunday, 2:40 p.m. MST
GREEN BAY PACKERS (11-5) at ARIZONA CARDINALS (10-6)
TV: FOX
Why You Should Watch: After an embarrassing road loss in Week 7 to the then-winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Packers rallied in the second half of the season, winning seven of their final eight games. The last of those victims happened to be the Arizona Cardinals, setting up a Week 17 rematch in Glendale at University of Phoenix Stadium.
While both teams reached double-digit win totals in the regular season, they were each helped by taking care of business against teams below .500. Of Green Bay’s 11 wins, only three came against clubs with winning records — Dallas, Baltimore and at Arizona. Of the Cardinals’ 10 wins, only two came against teams over the .500 plateau — Houston and Minnesota. Of the teams’ combined 21 wins, 12 came against the 5-11 Seahawks, 1-15 Rams, 2-14 Lions and 7-9 Bears.
Keep An Eye On: WR Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals. After back-to-back seasons of 1,400-plus receiving yards, Fitzgerald barely reached the 1,000-yard mark this season. Defenses have keyed in on Arizona’s No.1 target, as he was held to 113 yards receiving over the club’s final four regular season games. But since 2008, as Fitzgerald goes, so do the Cardinals. Including postseason play, Arizona is 18-7 when Fitzgerald hauls in at least one receiving touchdown.
-Chris Gentilviso, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: 2009 NFL Playoffs, Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Wild Card
NO Ricky here or Brown for me. See no value vs what we already have!
FTR
I was 151 and just turned 51 on the 8th>> Time to buy a lotto!
FTR– Tired I am for the night. You go boys!
FTR
Bay, first off i am a huge supporter of us drafting McClain, but at the expense of D.j i dont know. this is the first i have heard of that. that would be a major disapointment. second your not the only one that has been saying we need a power back. alot of my earlier post about the draft i had stated that we should get toby gerhart. but i digress. people already say we have a power back in hillis but to your point McD doesnt play him. as for miami i think if we had the choice id like ronnie brown because i think ricky is going to retire shortly. i even think i heard that he wants one more year and thats it. but dont qoute me on that.
nw3030, you are absolutely correct, I remember a couple of bloggers in the last two weeks who said we should draft Gerhart, so I should of said: Over a month ago I was the first saying we need to draft power backs and of late a couple of folks have backed me up, wanting to draft Gerhart. My bad, I know better than to generalize, thanks for the post.
Anyhow, this is my complete list of our needs for 2010 in order of priority:
A LARGE NT to occupy the middle.
Two BIG DL to stop the run.
A sizable Center and
two BIG Guards to operate the power blocking scheme successfully.
Two STOUT power RB’s.
One DE/OLB to compliment the pass rush opposite of DOOM.
One ILB to stop the run.
One receiving TE with sure hands.
One TALL WR’s.
One full size CB (not a half pint like Phonzy).
We already have a power running back, and we don’t even use him. Why would we use a 1st round pick on Gerhart when we have Hillis and we have more pressing needs?
Gerhart would not be worthy of a first round pick, but is probably worth a second and definitely a steal at third, IMO. Also, don’t forget free agency, we can fill many of our needs there.
doomervilrocks, nobody ever said anything about a first round pick. gerhart will likely fall to the late second early third round. We could very well use one of those picks. and yes we have a power back that for some reason or another doesnt get playing time. so let McD pick his guy and lets pick up some third and shorts.
Bay, i wasnt trying to attack more enforce your point. and is that the order of our needs that need to be addressed? i do think you have it all covered. particularily liked that shot at phonzy. that kid was a mistake. thought McD was moving up to take Maguala!
I just don’t want to use the 10th or 11th pick on a RB like we did last year. If we get him in the 2nd or 3rd round, fine. We just need a lot more before a power RB, like a NT, another pass rusher, a better OL (besides Clady and Harris) and another ILB. I know you said all those things, bay, but those are what I think we need before a power RB.
Absolutely, I said it up top: in order of priority.
We def need to address the middle of the field on both sides of the ball. and i think that we will. Hopefully guard, NT, ILB are all taken care of.
Since McDaniels doesn’t use Hillis and Scheffler, could we trade them and a draft pick or two for Wilfork and mabye something else?
sorry didnt catch that. did you happen to catch my wish list on the prior page. I wish i can say that would be McD priority list. lol
wilfork is a unrestricted free agent. the only way we have to trade for him is if the pats franchise him.
Well, then I hope we sign him before the Pats do.
My order of priority is based on one thing and one thing only, in this league in order to play late in the season, you need first and foremost to be able to stop the run and run the ball, everything else is secondary, IMO, hence my order: D line, O line, RB’s and LB’s. Trust me I give it much thought and that’s the way I roll, LOL.
bay, I think that the LB’s have a lot to do with stopping the run, too. That’s why we need another ILB.
Sorry, bay. I must be reading stuff wrong. You already said that the ILB was for stopping the run. My bad.
doomervilrocks, i think we will make a strong push for him. plus dont be to surprised if the raiders dont sign seymour that he may come her also.
Bay, i agree but i still just cant get away from wanting us to get McClain. every year i watch college football and i get hooked on a player. and this year it is McClain. last year it was Mags from USC. I love how this kid plays! But i do agree with us getting help in the trenches
nw3030:
I also think we should get McClain. He looked really good in the Championship game. The only reason why I wouldn’t want to draft McClain is if Suh was available. LOL
Suh would be awesome. i think berry and suh are cant miss prospects this year. but suh will be gone way early. if we could trade up for him that would be great but really expensive.
Well, I gotta go. See ya guys!
baylinorcrush: I agree with you on your list of needs for 2010. You’re 100% right on the money, to be competative late in the season you have to be able to stop the run. Guys get injured worn down their bodies take a heck of beating throughout the season.
Kind of stinks about Turner and Dennison leaving. More so Turner, I think Dennison is too hooked on the zone blocking scheme so McD may bring in a o-line coach with experience in the power blocking scheme. Still I hoped Moreno would get some more turtoring under Turner. I’m sure there are some other good coaches out there too.
*possibly leaving*
brian_schneider, your right it does stink bout our coaches. I had always liked turner. he always got the best out of our runningbacks. But who knows with switching more to a power scheme the new coaches could give them the same if not better coaching. who knows.