Skip to main content

Cohen's Wild Card Weekend Continued...

Now for Sunday's action:

RAVENS (11-5) @ DOLPHINS (11-5): A really intriguing matchup between the Ravens and Dolphins. After going 1-15 last season, the Dolphins have turned things around thanks in major part to the craftmanship of Director of Operations Bill Parcellls, who has reenergized the Dolphins with the leadership of coach Tony Sparano and the guts of quarterback Chad Pennington.

One thing the Dolphins have done especiially well this year is finding way to not turn the ball over. All together the Dolphins have only turned the ball over 13 times. It will be interesting to see Miami does against a Ravens defense that has forced 26 interceptions and 13 fumbles this season, clearly the best in the NFL.

The last time Miami and Baltimore matched up, the Ravens ate up the Dolphins wild cat offense, preventing Ronnie Brown from going anywhere, and gobbled up Chad Pennington and his softball passes, as Baltimore won 27-13 in October. How the Dolphins offense moves the ball against the stout Ravens D' will go along way in determining the winner of this game.

As for Baltimore's offense, they have finally received a boost of energy from rookie quarterback Joe Flacco who has thrown for 2,971 yards and 14 touchdowns. Flacco, who is a mobile quarterback, will have to find a way to get away from Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter who had 17 and a half sacks this year for Miami. The Dolphins love to blitz the quarterback, and the rookie will have to find a way to avoid the pressure in a huge playoff game. This one should be very close. PICK: RAVENS 20, DOLPHINS 17.

EAGLES (9-6-1) @ VIKINGS (10-6): No team scares people more this postseason then the Philadelphia Eagles. Since Donavan's McNabb's time out against the Ravens in mid-November, the Eagles have been soaring, winning four of their final five games, including a 44-6 spanking of the Dallas Cowboys last week. McNabb has been playing much better, and as usual Brian Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter have been leading the way for Philly on the ground. If this trio stays hot, they will be hard to deal with at this time of the year.

The Vikings may not be the best team coming out of the NFC North; they have had to rely on journeyman quarterback Gus Ferrotte in the first half of the year before he bowed out due to an injury, and the inconsistent Travaris Jackson. Thus, it will be imperative for running back Adrian Peterson to have a big day against a good Eagles defense in order for Minnesota to win and advance.

Don't bet on it though. The Eagles are just too hot right now, and they should romp big time in this game, even if they just contain Peterson. PICK: EAGLES 21, VIKINGS 13.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jets, Dolphins and Patriots Playoff Breakdown

Here are the formuli that could get the Jets into and out of the playoff party this season: 1) If the Jets win against Seattle and Miami, they win the AFC East based on a better conference record (8-4) than the New England Patriots, even if New England wins out as well. 2) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins win out and finish at 11-5, the Jets would be 10-6, or 9-7, and probably out of the playoffs. Both New England and Miami would make the playoffs, with the Dolphins as a divison winner and the Patriots as a wild card. The Patriots make the postseason if Baltimore loses one of its final two games. 3) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins and Jets split, then the Patriots win the AFC East. The Jets will have to hope that they beat Miami to win that tie-breaker and, further, hope that they have a better conference record than the Baltimore Ravens in order to clinch the sixth seed. 4) If the Patriots and Ravens win out and the Dolphins and Jets split their final two games, then ...
8 comments
Read more

Francisco Lindor Remains Red Hot as Mets Top Phillies

 Francisco Lindor remains the hottest player in Queens right now.  The Mets shortstop blasted two more home runs, including a three-run blast in the bottom of the eighth inning, Monday night to help propel the Mets to a 5-4 win over Philadelphia.   Lindor who typically struggles in the month of April is putting together a heck of a month. Monday's two hit effort was the 10th game in the last 11 where Lindor has recorded a hit. In fact in the month of April alone this year, Lindor was hitting at .311 coming into Monday's action.  On the year, Lindor is batting .284 with five homers and 13 RBI.  Lindor's efforts proved to be prophetic, as the Phillies Alec Bohm crushed a three-run bomb off Edwin Diaz in the top of the ninth to cut the Mets lead to a single run. Fortunately for New York, Diaz was able to shut the door with strikeouts of Trea Turner and Bryce Harper.  New York (16-7) has now won five in a row.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Is Aaron Glenn in Danger of Getting Fired?

 According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio there is a "chance"   that Jets head coach Aaron Glenn could be fired at seasons end.  While Florio doesn't site any sources, the rumor has caught fire the last two days. The question is would it make sense? Let's examine this for a second?  Why it Makes Sense:  Glenn has not been great in his first year as Head Coach of this team. The talent has taken a major step backwards, granted two of those talented players were traded away in Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis and Quinnen Williams to Dallas.  The decision he and GM Darren Mougey made to give Justin Fields a two year deal proved to be a horrible mistake, and Glenn stuck with Fields for far too long before pulling the plug following the Jets loss to the Patriots on a Thursday night in mid November.  Glenn gave now former Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks too much power to run the defense, and the players couldn't stand Wilks. Reports indicated this week af...
Post a Comment
Read more