NFL Week #18 THE PLAYOFFS

[cheezewiz]

Not sure, but I don't think so, haven't ever heard any noise about it in the press, and with all the NOLA coverage of Chris Ivory, if there were a connection there, it would have been mentioned ad nauseum.

Losing him won't help our cause one bit...dude was a horse when healthy, but apparently, this is why he was undrafted.

I would guess he was undrafted because he played at Tiffin University, which is barely above a high school program. (well, after he got kicked out of Washington State)

 

[Waterpilot]

New York Jets at Indianapolis - Indianapolis. New York is better then last year and Indianapolis is worse. But... It's hard to bet against Payton Manning at home and Mark Sanchez hasn't convinced me that he's that good yet.

Baltimore at Kansas City - Baltimore. Baltimore is just too solid to lose this one.

Green Bay at Philadelphia - Philadelphia. Mostly because of their offensive weapons and they're at home. I'm not sure on Green Bay's health as I know they were really beat up earlier this year. This really is just a guess for me. I'm really anxious to see this one.

New Orleans at Seattle - Seattle We were blown out earlier in the year at New Orleans but... Matt Hassleback threw for more yards against the Saints then any other quarterback this season, and take back a couple of Marshawn Lynch fumbles, maybe things would have been a little closer. Not to mention our best corner was replaced by a rookie after leaving the game with a concussion, and Chris Ivory was not on anyone's Radar at the time.

Reggie Bush hasn't been the same since his injury, Pierre Thomas hasn't played at all really and Chris Ivory (Who really caught us by surprise) is on IR. Julius Jones? Ask any Seattle fan how he did up here...

Which leaves Brees. Arguably the best "weapon" in the league. But... He's playing in a Stadium that is difficult to play in, and in weather that is far from perfect. Once Seattle stops a now non-existent run game we can go to our 7 DB packages and let him throw. He's been throwing more interceptions this year and it's going to be cold, loud, and wet on Saturday which gives us a better chance then in the dome.

Then there is this...

Frankly, I'm looking at this as a bye week for the Saints, with a bit of R&R in the beautiful NW US.

My guess is New Orleans is thinking it too as they had at least twice this year. Once against Cleveland, and once against Arizona where they lost both times.

Finally, New Orleans is playing against a team that won a lottery ticket to play and has nothing to lose in a stadium filled with people who have seen their team getting crushed for the last few years. It will be raucous.

And when Seattle wins, eh... That's pretty much all I've got try and convince myself Seattle has a chance here...

 

[MJ5150]

Good take on the game Waterpilot. It makes sense.

-Mike

 

[Eric Perry]

Indy
Baltimore
Philadelphia
New Orleans


I'm not happy about a single one of my picks, but it is what it is.

 

[Gard]

Cool, just messin' wit ya a bit, as I'm sure you know. It is beautiful here, but unfortunately they won't be visiting the mountains, which is the place to be right now. And usually people don't get hurt in bye weeks, which would be my biggest worry as a Saints fan, especially this year. The whole seeding system is a bit of a mess, no?

Oh hell, we don't need any help getting injuries, we do just fine all by ourselves.



...the seeding system is definitely in need of a bit of overhauling...I'm still trying to wrap my head around a few items, like an 11-5 team traveling to play a 7-9 one...

 

[mrpackerguy]

GB
Indy
Baltimore
NOLA

 

[MJ5150]

I don't have any issues with the current seeding system for the NFL playoffs. Then again, I am a fan of a team that rode the #6 seed to a SB trophy, so keep that in mind.

Not picking on either team, but take Seattle and New Orleans. Regardless of the record, Seattle won their division. The Saints did not. Winning a division should earn you a home playoff game.

What would guys do different? Eliminate the top four spots automatically for division winners? Football is more about winning titles and not number of victories. You don't hear players or coaches in the pre-season talk about trying to win X number of games. The goal is always your division title, conference title, then SB.

-Mike

 

[jp58]

There are more HC's to pick from than those who have been fired.

-Mike

I know that. Holmgren and some others are out there, OC's and DC's too, but the market for an up-and-coming coach is pretty small, and so is the market for an experienced coach. When Billick, Dungy, Gruden, and that "generation" of coaches left, the market really shrank.

 

[MJ5150]

Wow, Pierre Thomas hits the IR too. Julius Jones may carry the load this weekend. That may work out for the Saints as the Seahawks cut him, so maybe he has something to prove.

-Mike

 

[Waterpilot]

Wow, Pierre Thomas hits the IR too. Julius Jones may carry the load this weekend. That may work out for the Saints as the Seahawks cut him, so maybe he has something to prove.

-Mike

It's possible... He ran all over us when he was in Dallas. Up here, he didn't have a very good offensive line in years. But... I think Seattle has the worst ranked run offense in the league and he still wasn't even good enough to keep his spot...

 

[Waterpilot]

...the seeding system is definitely in need of a bit of overhauling...I'm still trying to wrap my head around a few items, like an 11-5 team traveling to play a 7-9 one...

I get it... It is unfair but the Saints aren't the only ones with a better record going on the road this weekend.

 

[basstotheface]

Indy
Baltimore
Philly
Seattle

 

[MJ5150]

Joy in Nashville today: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

-Mike

 

[jp58]

Joy in Nashville today: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

-Mike

Called it. Now on to drafting Mallet or Luck.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Called it. Now on to drafting Mallet or Luck.

And hoping they don't turn out to me MULLET or LACK. I've always kind of liked Tennessee and Fisher in an abstract kind of way. Young, not so much.

 

[jp58]

And hoping they don't turn out to me MULLET or LACK. I've always kind of liked Tennessee and Fisher in an abstract kind of way. Young, not so much.

Vince was heralded by local media and the like for his performance in the National Championship, and he was always compared to Leinhart because of that game. To them, he could do no wrong.

For those of us that saw his flaws as a person and player, we've wanted him gone for ages. It's a happy day in Nashville for sure.

And I agree with you, but someone with Luck's head or Mallet's arm just seem too talented to fail in the NFL.

Also the Panthers have announced that they have the intent to draft a QB 1rst overall, and that it would be Luck if he went pro. I don't understand the logic in grooming Jimmy to be your "qb of the future" and then moving on after one single season.

 

[basstotheface]

Called it. Now on to drafting Mallet or Luck.

You will get Mallet, at best. Probably not Mallet anyways.

 

[basstotheface]

Also the Panthers have announced that they have the intent to draft a QB 1rst overall, and that it would be Luck if he went pro. I don't understand the logic in grooming Jimmy to be your "qb of the future" and then moving on after one single season.

Carolina is a joke. On par in idiocy with that 0-16 Lions team. They not only drafted Clausen last year, but also Tony Pike. Now they plan on drafting another QB, when they have so many other flaws? It almost makes me sad to see a team so bad.

 

[Number27]

Not picking on either team, but take Seattle and New Orleans. Regardless of the record, Seattle won their division. The Saints did not. Winning a division should earn you a home playoff game.-Mike

Says who? If winning your division is so important then why aren't the Raiders in the playoffs? Afterall they went 6-0 in their division.

Shouldn't the best teams get to play in the playoffs? Isn't that what we want? and shouldn't the best of those teams be rewarded for their regular season form with a home playoff game (or bye)? It makes nothing but sense. Instead some lousy teams get rewarded playoff games because of where they play and not how they play (on the west coast).

 

[MJ5150]

Says who? If winning your division is so important then why aren't the Raiders in the playoffs? Afterall they went 6-0 in their division.

Shouldn't the best teams get to play in the playoffs? Isn't that what we want? and shouldn't the best of those teams be rewarded for their regular season form with a home playoff game (or bye)? It makes nothing but sense. Instead some lousy teams get rewarded playoff games because of where they play and not how they play (on the west coast).

Says who? Says the NFL. This is the structure the NFL has been using since forever. Division winners get first round home games. You are rewarded for winning a division title, not just winning a bunch of games. Come on man, you know this.

As lousy as the Seahawks are in your opinion, they did enough to win their division. They did not win a tie breaker or back in like other teams have in the past.

Is the Raiders question a serious one? You obviously need to do more than beat your division opponents to win a title.

What is the point of having divisions then if you're all for letting the top six teams in the playoffs? What if eight teams had records to qualify for the playoffs? What about the two you would have to leave out? Definitely not fair to them.

-Mike