Categories
NFL General

2007 NFL Wild Card Round Picks and Podcast

Now that we’ve gotten that pesky season (and terrible week 17) out of the way, we can look ahead to the playoffs. Vin, Ryan and Trevor take a look at the wild card round, predict the Super Bowl and examine the state of the NFL.

You can download the podcast directly (running time 70 mins) or subscribe to the feed.

If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.

NFL 2007 Wild Card Round 2007 Picks

MATCHUP  Vegas  Vinny  BostonMac  Trevor  Billy
Redskins @ Seahawks Seahawks Seahawks Seahawks Seahawks
Jaguars @ Steelers Jaguars Jaguars Jaguars Jaguars
Giants @ Bucs Bucs Bucs Bucs Giants
Titans @ Chargers Chargers Chargers Chargers Chargers
Prev Week 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Reg Season 160-96 (.625) 169-87 (.660) 154-102 (.602) 81-45 (.643)
Playoffs 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Locks of the Week

[Editor’s Note: This year, we’re making the Locks of the Week a little more interesting as we have a side bet amongst the four experts. The person with the most money at the end of the year in Locks betting takes home all the money. Disclaimer: The amounts discussed are for illustrative and entertainment purposes only. Gambling may be illegal in your locale.]

Vegas Vinny: The start of the NFL playoffs means a fresh start for the degenerate gamblers out there. And that’s good news for me as I lost everything last week on the Steelers. Talk abut a team going cold at the end of the season. I’m tempted to pick against them as my lock of the week but they’re still at home. Even though the Steelers have a very strong possibility of losing to the Jaguars, I’d rather take a home team as my lock. Therefore I’m going to the Bucs. They’re only giving 2.5 points at home and they are a much better team than the Giants who have been inconsistent all season. On top of that, NY is coming off an “almost-win” against the Patriots. What we’ve seen lately is that every team that loses to New England in a tight game spends all their energy against New England and then has nothing left in the tank for the next week. Look at Baltimore. Look at Philly.

The Giants had that game in their grasp and an INT by Eli Manning put an effective end to that game. That brings up another point: Eli Manning is awful. He can look brilliant at times but that’s when Plaxico makes the DBs look silly. Plaxico’s bum ankle coupled with the #1 pass defense in the league means Eli will be flustered all game. I’ll take Jeff Garcia over Eli Manning and I’ll take Garcia/Graham play faking the Giants defenders all day long. I’m feeling good about the Bucs (-2.5).

BostonMac: One of Bill Simmons’ tried and true theories of NFL playoff gambling is to wager against mediocre QB’s on the road. Despite the Redskins’ feel-good Phoenix-like rise from the ash heap of the NFC East to the #6 seed in the playoffs, this is the game on which to test that theory. Strangely enough, the Skins-Seahawks game features two starting QB’s who grew up in neighboring towns to my hometown of North Attleboro, MA (Todd Collins from Walpole and Matt Hasselbeck from Norfolk). Unfortunately for DC-area fans, only one of these is a bona fide NFL quarterback. Congrats to Collins for leading the Skins this far, but this game will belong to Seattle. Qwest Field has become legitimately the toughest place to play on the road in the National Football League, and I don’t see Todd Collins (or even Jason Campbell if he can play) leading Washington to an improbable upset in the Great Northwest. This is the game to wager against the Redskins (one of those just-happy-to-be-here teams) in favor of a team in the Seahawks that has a serious chance to quietly make some noise and maybe even make the NFC Championship. Do yourself a favor and take SEATTLE (-3.5).

Trevor F: I am going to take the points and the Titans (+9). I was really surprised when
the spread came out at nine. The Titans have a stiff enough defense to
keep this game competitive. I look for Young to play in this game and be
effective. Tennessee keeps the game close and ends up losing 24-17. Norv
Turner being on the sidelines doesn’t expose the Chargers yet although I
do think Jeff Fisher has a significant edge in the coaching matchup. Next
week, Turner’s ineptitude will be exposed by Tony Dungy and the Colts.

Billy Fellin: Since my team is in the playoffs I really can’t resist making my lock the Giants over the Bucs. But not just because they are my favorite team. The Bucs have lost 3 of their last 5 and have really struggled down the stretch. While the theory of “good losses” or “moral victories” is a shaky one, the Giants put up one hell of a fight against the Pats in that game. Eli Manning threw 4 Touchdown passes against the Pats, obviously one of his up days, but this was still against the New England Patriots here. The Bucs also run a Cover 2 defense and I see Plaxico Burress having a field day in the middle of the field on those crossing routes that Eli loves to throw to him. The Giants also had the most sacks of any team in the NFL this season and arguably have one of the best front 4 units in the league, led by Osi Umenyoria and Michael Strahan. I think Manning-Burress will exploit the middle of the field, Jacobs will run the ball hard and the Giants’ front four causes all kinds of trouble for the Bucs on offense. I’ll take the Giants in an upset special on the road in Tampa.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *