nfl weekly predictions: wild card round

washington at seattle

analysis : the redskins are 4-0 since todd collins has become their quarterback [including the game against the bears where he entered with the scoreless], which arguably kept joe gibbs as their coach for at least another year. clinton portis also played well late in the season and looks like the player he was before a stupid 2006 preseason shoulder injury.¹ though the redskins are playing inspired football, they do not have the talent to beat the seahawks in seattle. they have holes at linebacker, which will be exploited by the designed short passes out of the west coast offensive system. save for santana moss [who is probably better at running track than catching a football], they have little speed on offense, especially in contrast to the seahawks' defense.

the pick : seattle

jacksonville at pittsburgh

analysis : the jaguars have already beatdown the steelers in heinz field just three weeks ago, so it follows that they shouldn't have any problems with the steelers this time around. with that being said, the biggest difference will be that overall, the steelers players have more playoff experience. as for their coach, mike tomlin, it will be his first playoff game, so in a way it cancels out each other. on the other hand, the jaguars have fallen short in recent playoff games, but this season they have a quarterback in david garrard who doesn't make too many mistakes, and a defense that is both physical and fast.

the pick : jacksonville

ny giants at tampa bay

analysis : the tom coughlin-eli manning combo is essentially the antithesis of the bill belichick-tom brady combo, which is a bad sign for the giants and its fans. i can already see tom coughlin with an exasperated look on after eli throws a back-breaking interception in the red zone. the biggest obstacle for the buccaneers will be moving the ball on offense, where their playbook basically consist of short passes, one yard runs by earnest graham and the occasional bomb to joey galloway. not really what you'd expect from a jon gruden, a so-called 'offensive genius.' fortunately for the buccaneers, the giants have a penchant of playing poorly late in games and ultimately that will result in multiple confused looks on the faces of tom coughlin and eli manning.

the pick : tampa bay

tennessee at san diego

analysis : the titans do not have many advantages over the chargers, except for the distinct superiority at head coach. jeff fisher is an experienced [and more importantly, successful] coach, as opposed to norv turner, who is one bad season away from working at a bed-and-breakfast for the rest of his life [or until al davis calls and offers him a coaching job]. the chargers will be playing at home, where they have had a good record in recent years. as for the titans, they have already lost to the chargers in tennessee this year, although the chargers were fortunate to win that game. it also seems as though the titans' staff would rather start kerry collins after his performance last week, but are afraid because of what of the naacp may do to them if they don't start vince young. i wouldn't be surprised if the titans start vince young, but after he and the titans struggle, he comes out after 're-aggravating' his injury. kerry collins then enters the game, only to struggle just as much.

the pick : san diego

¹ not only did portis' injury occur in the preseason, it happened as he tackled a defensive player who had just intercepted a pass. this injury caused portis to miss many games and play injured for most of the 2006 season. more notably, because of this injury many fantasy football seasons were derailed as he was a solid first round pick.