Playoffs?

Well, the playoffs are upon us.

A quick aside: I did attend Dick Vermeil's last game coaching in the NFL. It was a thorough butt-whipping, even if the Bengals took out Palmer - they didn't take out their defense. It certified that Larry Johnson is an absolute beast - he broke the Chiefs single season rushing record - but he only started 9 games. (It's hard to say that he could have kept it up injury free for 16 games, but if he had, he would have broken NFL records for touchdowns and yards in a season, and been the MVP.) Almost a shame that he was so good that people forgot that Priest Holmes had been pretty good the last few years, and no one wants him to come back. Except maybe for insurance/garbage time. I wouldn't mind seeing a Marshall Faulk situation with Holmes as more of a receiver. The best play was a cut back turning nothing into a touchdown with the help of a killer block by Trent Green - that's a big cut back. Too bad Chad Johnson didn't get in the endzone, he really is an elite receiver and will be for a decade.

Back to the playoffs. As predicted here, a full 2 weeks ago, when the wild card spots were still in the air, I correctly picked all 12 playoff teams. I even got the seeding correct on the AFC side.

But after seeing the Steelers get hot and the Bengals D, I'm seeing a 6th seed winner.

AFC Wild Card Predictions:
Jaguars 14, Patriots 24
Steelers 27, Bengals 20

NFC Wild Card Predictions:
Redskins 24, Bucs 23
Panthers 16, Giants 23

The NFC is so tight that anything could happen. Really all 4 of these picks could be wrong. That's why it's the playoffs.