I will admit that my specialty of sports analysis does not lie with NFL, but that isn’t going to stop me from making predictions about the first round of playoffs that starts tomorrow at 4:30 with Cincinnati visiting Houston.
A few weeks ago Houston played the Bengals, and TJ Yates led a late drive to win 20-19. The win clinched the Texans’ first playoff berth in franchise history. They haven’t won a game since. Houston is currently using its 3rd QB of the season after both Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart had season ending injuries. Yates is a young talent, but at this point he is a game manager at best. Houston has the best defense in the NFL, two really good running backs, and one of the best receivers 80% healthy. They are plenty talented enough to win tomorrow. The Bengals are a surprise playoff team, led on offense by two rookies: QB Andy Dalton and WR AJ Green. The Bengals do not score a lot of points, and also play pretty solid defense. Cincinnati will likely not score over 24 tomorrow. This game is interesting because Houston is on a losing streak and just seems happy to be in the playoffs for the first time to really do any damage this year, but the Bengals are just an average team that doesn’t beat itself. I think it will be low scoring, and the turnover battle will be huge. I think Yates makes enough bad plays for the Bengals to pull out an ugly 17-14 win.
The Sunday games start with Atlanta visiting the New York Football Giants. The Giants had to win the last two weeks of the season to even get into the playoffs, so they are riding a bit of a hot streak. Eli Manning has an NFL record 15 pass TDs in the 4th quarter this year. He has looked composed and confident late in the season. Will he be able to continue that into a playoff win? I think the Giants pass rush will be too much for an average Falcons offensive line to stop. Look for Pierre-Paul and Tuck to have a big game. If the front four does not get pressure on Matt Ryan, then he has some big targets to throw to and this could turn into a high scoring game. Michael Turner will look to offset the strong pass rush with some draws and screens, but I think the Giants can do a formidable job containing him. I think Matt Ryan will make enough plays at different points in the game to keep the final score close, but I think the Manning to Cruz connection is just too strong right now. NYG 27 ATL 20.
The last game is when Pittsburgh visits the Fighting Tebows in Mile-High. This game has the potential to be very ugly. Pittsburgh’s offense is limping into this matchup. Roethlisberger can barely walk on his bum ankle, Mendenhall is out with a torn ACL, and 2 lineman are questionable. I don’t think this game will be a track meet like the Lions vs Saints game. The only thing saving the Steelers in this one is that the Broncos offense even if fully healthy would struggle scoring against the local college football team. The Steelers will be playing without their starting safety, but I doubt he would have been really needed anyways. This game might be the first to 14 wins the game. The Steelers will really have to try to lose this game. Pittsburgh 23 Denver 10.
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