A Libertarian's Thoughts on Whatever

Friday, January 03, 2003

 
NFL playoffs start tomorrow, and here are my picks for the week:
The Jets are favored at home over the Colts by 6 points. I like the Colts and I hope they win. Manning is a great QB, Harrison is an extraordinary WR, and Dungy has improved the defense significantly. However, both Peyton and Dungy have histories of poor performances in the playoffs. The Jets, on the other hand, played great over the second half of the season. Pennington is Brady part 2, and Curtis Martin just needed to heal to start performing again. The Jets will use their pass-rush to force Manning into a few big mistakes, and Martin will run over the Indy D.
JETS 23, Colts 13
Green Bay is favored by 6.5 points at home over Atlanta. Atlanta has Vick, which makes them dangerous. But Favre is the best QB in the league, and Atlanta doesn't have the weapons to compete. Overuse Vick and you become predictable, don't, and you are relying on crappy players. Add in the warm-weather team playing on the frozen tundra (isn't all tundra frozen?) factor, and it looks like Green Bay by a lot.
PACKERS 30, Falcons 14
Pittsburgh is favored at home by 8 over Cleveland. Both teams finished the season better than they started, and both changed QBs along the way. Both teams tend to play a lot of close games. Pittsburgh has more experience and a better kicker, and will probably win the game. But if William Green can put up another big performance, Cleveland could steal this one. Cleveland beats the spread but loses the game.
Steelers 17, BROWNS 13
San Francisco is favored at home by 3.5 over the Giants. I'm not a fan of either team. San Fran has two pretty good running backs to the Giants one, which I think will help. On the other hand, the Giants have more quality receivers. Giants defense is better overall, but 49ers are better against the run, which is more important now. It will be fairly close, but home-field advantage prevails.
49ERS 20, Giants 14
Maestro 11:59 PM