Sports: NFL

[Mossman]

I'm going to stick with the "team that beats the Falcons" mojo and take the Giants next week in the NFC and the Pats in the AFC.

[Rÿchean]

Yeah, I am totally rooting for the Harbaugh rematch, too.

It is probably the best story left of the possible SB match-ups.

Pats vs Giants again? No thanks!

[IAmBatman]

Ravens vs. Giants would also be a rematch (though separated by mannny years. Ray Lewis would be one of few players remaining).

I don't like anybody left in the playoffs, though. I want them all to lose. And I wanted the Pack to lose too! Hard year when I want to root against everyone.

[Dad_Scaper]

Ray would be the only one who played in that game, for either team.

Go Ravens.

[IAmBatman]

Yeah, gotta go pro-Ravens on this one too, all things considered. I don't care for Flacco, though.

[scorpiusx]

Well I'm rooting for the Pats in the AFC game obviously, but I still think that they should be the favorite in that matchup anyway. The Patriots have been hot lately, they've only lost one home game this year, and the Ravens are 4-4 on the road. My prediction is 34-26 Patriots.

Gah....not so sure about the NFC game. Giants are obviously hot right now, but San Fran does have home turf, and if they can score points like they did against the Saints, in combination with that defense and good turnover ratio (+32 in their past 17 games, as opposed to the Giant's +10 in 18 games), I think they have a good chance of (hopefully) stopping this Giants team. I'm going 30-27 San Francisco.

Good luck to all teams.

-scorp

[spidysox]

That was a mighty impressive win by the Giants yesterday. They are scary right now.

Ravens were less than impressive, especially on offense, but are still a tough team. They were fortunate, I believe, to have been going up against a rookie, third string qb yesterday. They may have still won if Schaub were in there, but it would have been even tougher.

So I was 2-2 with my picks. Got both the afc right and both nfc wrong.

Giants at Niners:
Giants may be the most "balanced" team left in the field. I was impressed by the Niners on offense Saturday, but am not sure they can do the same thing against a tough D like NY has. Although the same can be said for the Niners D being much tougher than the Packers so the Giants will have to work much harder as well. This is a tough one to call, but I am going to go with the minor upset and take the Giants in a low scoring, defense game 17-16

Ravens at Patriots:
Well its clearly a contrast in styles with this one. One team with an offensive focus vs. a team with a defensive focus. The key will be whose weaker unit can step up and play well. I was impressed by how well the Pats D played on Saturday (again, taken with a grain of salt as they played that way against a poor offensive unit) and less than impressed with the Ravens offense. If the Pats can stop Ray Rice then they have a shot at slowing the Ravens offense. I'm not sold on Joe Flacco and not sure he can do it on his own. Should be a close game with the Pats pulling it out in the end.
27-20

So that sets up a Patriots vs. Giants rematch in the Super bowl, but with the way things have gone I would not be shocked by anything that happens.

[Rich10]

I was shocked that the Saints lost but that's what happens with 6 turnovers.

The Pats outplayed the Broncos in every aspect of the game.

I just didn't have any rooting stake in Texans/Ravens.

I loved the Giants victory over the Pack. Even with a couple of questionable calls, the Giants won convincingly.

Hopes/predictions for next week: Giants over 49ers. The Giants are hitting on all cylinders at this point. The Niners have a tough defense, but I think that Alex Smith will have trouble with the Giants defense.

Patriots over Ravens. As good as the Ravens defense is, I don't think that they'll slow down the Pats very much and I wouldn't trust Flacco trying to catch up.

[TheEpicAlpaca]

Well hoping that the Giants win they would get a rematch against either the Pats or the Ravens. I think the NFL would want the Giants vs. Pats would bring a lot more publicity to them. Go Giants

[scorpiusx]

Here's the thing. The Saints actually had the #12 Rushing Defense in the regular season, and the 49ers still did a really solid job of running on them. The Giants were ranked #19. Now of course the Giants have been surging and they have likely gotten better, but I think that the 49ers can keep a balanced attack on the Giants throughout. Giants have a good pass rush, but that's not going to be so nifty against Frank Gore. I also feel like the Packers played a really, really bad game at the wrong time. San Fran more than any team in the league doesn't make a lot of costly mistakes. In retrospect, this might actually be a defensive game like spidysox said, but for now I'm sticking with my former score prediction.

-scorp

[nyys]

Originally Posted by nyys

Giants/Saints/Ravens/Pats

Not bad, though the Saints game would not have been the one I picked to get wrong if I knew I was going to go 3-4.

Originally Posted by nyys

I'm going with the Giants this weekend. Damn golden carrot. (34-31)

I went with rust being the reason I though the 49ers would be one and done, figured the Packer offense was too good. Even with the rust factor it came down to what I'm concerned may happen to the Pats eventually. Fail to get the take-aways that the defense thrived on all year since they certainly couldn't stop anyone otherwise.

Originally Posted by nyys

Going with NO over SF. I think if the week off affects any of the teams that had a bye, it's going to be SF. The defense is great, but the offense will suffer more for the time off IMO. NO runs away with it in the 4th quarter when SF gets desperate and starts making poor choices. (36-19)

Oh so wrong on all counts with this one.

Originally Posted by nyys

If Houston had their starting QB I'd think they'd have a chance, but they don't, and I can't see them putting up enough points to get by the Ravens (not that their an offensive juggernaught). (23-13)

I actually think Houston outplayed Baltimore in pretty much every area except for where it counts, the scoreboard. Take away the early turnovers and the points that went with them and it's the Texans coming to New England instead.

Originally Posted by nyys

NE/DEN, do I really need to say? I've always been pretty decent in sniffing out an upset (both ways) with the home team. I saw it coming in both 2001 and 2007 (some times I hate it when I'm right), but with this one there's no scent. Denver will compete, but I think their improbable run is over. (33-13)

Pretty close to dead-on with this one. I'd say most of the country thinks 3 of the 4 games this past weekend were great. In New England, all four made the grade.

[jbbnbsmith]

I'm sort of the glad the Ravens looked as bad as they did Sunday; they tend to play better the week following a crappy game. This will be a tough one, no doubt, but maybe they can pull it off if they get their act together.

Kinda' sad about Green Bay though...but a Harbowl would be fun.