NFL Divisional Playoffs Sunday Thread

Supporting my Texans by wearing the team colors: blue jeans, white sweater, red flats, and a red scarf.

Go Texans! Let’s do this!

Sounds like quite the ensemble, Sash - now I feel underdressed in my ‘F You Eli’ shirt and track pants.

Danieal Manning sets Houston up in a good spot.

Getting points on the road is big - also a good sign that they got a couple of easy throws for Yates to ease his nerves. He was tight to start the Wild Card game.

I’m going to apologize to all Texans fans out there for betting the under in this game, thus pre-ordaining something like that happening to put the playoffs’ cheapest TD on the board.

Looks like the team hasn’t shaken off that botched punt.

Jacoby is incredibly stupid.

D is playing well aside from the incompetent Kareem Jackson - it’s going to be tough sledding on offense all day.

Phillips is going to have to blitz and risk giving up a bit on the run. The Ravens are throwing deep to set up Rice.

The Ravens D is doing the smart thing. Cover up Dre and make Yates throw 5 yard passes all day.

Kubiak - if you’ve got a backup plan at punt returner…

This is going to get ugly.

Can’t make that throw - he decided on that one in the huddle.

Jonathan Joseph playing his ass off.

This is going about as poorly as it possibly could have. Now Foster is basically out of the game plan and they can mix coverages and blitz Yates like crazy.

James Casey needs to get in the mix. Daniels hand is an issue.

Eff the Texans, I’m rooting for Ricky!

I was watching with my grandparents and had to leave because I was about to start cussing at the TV.

Big 1st down pickup there.

Damn - that better just be a cramp for Foster.

Great throw there! Yates looks OK. It was a bad throw to AJ, true, but man he doesn’t have a hell of a lot to work with.

Great drive by the OL thus far.

AJ is not doing a good job of getting in front of his DB. That was another example of it.

AJ isn’t going to run by a lot of people, so he needs to be doing more with his body. I don’t like throwing a fade there. angle is all wrong and it wasn’t to the right place in the end zone.

Watch how frequently Oher is getting beat by whoever’s in front of him and how little he seems to mind.

Kind of a weird challenge here. I guess he figures nothing to lose at this point in the game and maybe he gives the defense a rest? Seems weird to me.

That was great work by Brown and the guard on that pull.

Duane Brown has been incredible this year.

Show me what ya got, what ya got Raji…

this is not spam, just a quick look at my thoughts for the weekend and my picks

http://scagnetti.tumblr.com/post/15752668027/nfl-divisional-playoff-picks

Nice 1st Down pickup there. These last two drives have been the equivalent of landing hooks to the kidney on the defense. Let’s hope we can wear them down some.

Andre’s starting to pick it up. Haven’t heard Suggs’ name yet.

You really cannot have things like a false start there. That’s going to cost us a shot at a TD.

Sick. Ness. Foster.

I thought that as another false start there!

If we can get in here the this is a football game. Excellent drive. Foster is such a great back. He can do it all.

Hit my Arian Foster over 73 yards rushing and over 3.5 receptions bets in the second quarter - I like it.

It took them a while to do it, but the Texans have accumulated some tough motherfuckers.

What a great drive! This is a game now baby.

Run, Ricky, Run!

What a great catch.

Challenge that - he was on the line. What is the back judge looking at?

this is a bad weekend for Vegas, telling you. who knew this game would see -6 on the O/U AT THE HALF?

Pretty good half for the Texans. Two bad turnovers, but then two great drives. Setting up nicelt for the second half and the offense isn’t backing down an inch.

My big worry for the Texans second half is that Yates hasn’t internalized the ’don’t throw deep unless you know Ed Reed is elsewhere’ rule. His OL is giving him fantastic protection so hopefully he won’t be forced into any mistakes underneath.

I understand the purple tie for Shannon Sharpe, but who told him it was a good look with that jacket?

I’m like 20 for 20 on cracking up at the crying Romolicious chick on the NFL Fantasy commercial.

Texans fans - does Manning ever do punt returns? Good Lord…

nobis, I honestly can’t remember. But it is like he has lost his mind on punt returns today.

Hahaha I never knew Wade Smith was black. Not a lot of black Wades out there.

http://scagnetti.tumblr.com/post/15899648611/at-the-half

I wonder if Ray Rice is jealous of Flacco’s ability to grow luxurious facial hair - Rice’s moustache in that shot looked like a 14 year old with mange.

Texans D is swarming. Love love love good D.

Oher and Yanda got thrashed

AJ hangs onto that and he’s inside the 15.

WOW.

Niiiiice.

Sucks that the O has to start at the freakin 1 yard line.

Yates need to quick risking throws…rookie mistakes. Jacoby Jones is worthless

Sigh. Yates.

Oh my Lord - game not over!

Sigh. Again.

Texans D and Foster were amazing. Schaub plays, I think Texans take that game. Here’s to hoping they keep all the pieces together in the off-season to make a run next year.

Now it is. Tremendous effort by Houston - too many mistakes by Yates and Jacoby, but 20 starters played their asses off.

I should also give props to the O-line. Kept Yates clean.

Yates played his ass off too. But those mistakes were of a definite rookie quality.

I’m guessing Jacoby’s done in Houston. I have a feeling the Texans will target a top-line receiver in the first round. Need a proper NT, a RT to get in line behind Winston and an upgrade at the KJ corner spot, though I thought Kareem played well today. Maybe he just needs one more year. Could use some LB depth.

Biggest question will be what to do with Mario.

If Pam Oliver gets any fatter, shorter or uglier, they’ll have to buy new cameras

I don’t know who to root for in the NFC. Basically any team that could beat the smarmy Tom Brady’s. Hope the Ravens can knock them off next week, but want a good NFC team just in case.

nobis, you nailed the Texans-Ravens game in your preview. Well done. The Texans have a solid foundation for the future. With off-season acquisitions, such as a second deep threat to go with Andre Johnson, and a replacement at the corner for Kareem Jackson (the whiff of two seasons of burnt toast still permeate my nostrils), the Texans ought to threaten again next season.

WOW. Fantastic TD by the Giants going into the half.

Fact is the Packers have a terrible defense when they can’t get turnovers.
With the offense struggling, it looks grim.
Props to the Giants. Nobody plays harder when the money is on the line.

The NFC bye teams seemed out of sync with all the drops and to’s.

There better be some serious cuts in the Packers’ secondary. The defense looked horrible and was absolutely picked apart by Eli. Need to upgrade the DL too because Eli had all day in the pocket.

The WRs and TEs looked liked they got a case of the “Mike Davis” today…wow. Piss poor effort on their part as well. I feel for Rodgers

rodgers wasn’t great today either. NY punched them in the mouth and didn’t let up. I’m surprised they have put it all together at the last second. just like they did when they beat NE a few years back.

Biggest surprise this weekend as how sloppy NO was yesterday. I expected them to win going away. As much as we like big offense, which is always fun, everybody say it with me together, “Defense wins championships!” 3 of the final 4 teams have big time defenses (with NE being the odd team out. Division round (today and yesterday) has traditionally been my favorite weekend of sports. There ’s almost always 1 or 2 upsets in the 4 games. three games left and the all look to shape up nicely. Damn that Jerry Jones!

Niners-Giants should be interesting. Key for SF is getting in Manning’s face and staying there. Giants don’t run well and SF doesn’t let anyone run, so pass defense is the priority.
Key for the Giants is not turning the ball over and controlling SF’s running game without giving away the farm to the pass. Then hope Manning can make just enough plays.
This will be a low scoring game. I think SF will win a close one. Harbaugh magic, you know.
But I won’t be surprised if the Giants win.

New England-Ravens: Key for the Ravens is having a sniper pick off Brady early in the game. Barring that, the Ravens need to get in Brady’s face and stay there. Sense a theme here?
Brady: 8.6 yds per attempt; Flacco: 6.7 yds per attempt. Hmmmm.
I think New England wins this.

I think it will be San Francisco-New England for all the marbles, but it could be setting up for a revenge match for New England against yet another upstart Giants team.

Now ask me if I really care.

Difference in the Texans’ game was turnovers. Had you told me beforehand that Arian rushes for 130, Andre catches 100+ yards, we hold Rice to 60 and get 5 sacks vs. zip for the Ravens, I would have taken that in a heartbeat assuming it meant a 10 point win.

No clear favorite in the remaining field now with both the Packers and Saints going down.

The concern about the Texans moves are not on the defensive side of the ball. Wade came in, was given control of the draft and all of a sudden they find some legitimate defensive players in Reed and Watt. If Kubiak leaves him alone I think they will make the right decisions on Mario and Ryans.

Offensively is my concern because Kubiak gets to make the selections or lack of for this matter. Jacoby Jones has shown the same thing this year that he has in the previous 4 and yet the Texans decided to re-sign him at the start of the season.

I suspect the Texans solidify the defense and then keep Jones, select an undersized white wide receiver, and another tight end who is an average athlete with good hands.

Don’t sleep on the G-Men to win the whole enchilada.

Saints fan here. They were the only NFL team close to my hometown when they were founded, plus Brees played high school where both my sons played. Of course, I’m afflicted with a fondness of the TFKA The Cowboys—-sigh. Houston has a good chance to take it up several notches next year, and they exceeded my expectations this season.

So now that I’m left without a dog in the fight, my likes/dislikes of the remaining contenders take a backseat, and I want what I think is the best fight available which, IMO, is Giants/Patriots. It would feature two recent SB teams, both with veteran QB’s playing at peak level. There’s also the backstory of the 2007 game, where the Giants dashed the Pat’s hopes of a perfect season. I think it would be a well played, high caliber football game, no matter how one might feel about either of both of the teams.

The Harbraugh/Harbraugh matchup would get a lot of pre-game interest, but I think the game itself would be a real snoozer—-maybe 13-10.

Home team won 7 of the 8 NFL play off games so far. Only Giants over Green Bay broke the string. Did not expect Green Bay to win, their defense has gotten worse as the season has progressed, but the big thing was the death of the assistant coach’s son. Those type of tragedies do leave a depression. Very hard to get up mentally to play a meaningless game when a life has been loss. And yes, all sporting events in the big scheme of life are meaningless.

Patriots looked awesome but they were playing the weakest team in all the play-offs. There defense is not very good and offenses like New York or San Francisco should be able to move the ball at ease against the NE defense. Probelm comes in slowing down Brady. Getting pressure on him is the key. Get a couple turnovers and they are very beatable.

Ravens could do it with their defense and a strong running game with Rice.

Noonan-

Rodgers was actually pretty good…the unbelievable amount of dropped balls killed his stats. Saddest part was that almost every single dropped ball was on the hands of a WR or TE and they just flat out missed it.

Rodgers gave it a lot more effort than most. I haven’t seen him run and make plays like that in a while. He was doing anything he could to spark that team. They just didn’t come to play at all. The defense for GB was the biggest loser though…horrible secondary play all day and minimal pressure on Manning.

STLaw—Well he certainly wasn’t the goat, that’s for sure. lots of drops. having said that, I thought they tried a little too hard after the hail mary to strike the big play. Would like to have seen them take what the defense was giving and work their way down the field. Is that the qb or the coaching? bottom line is the giants defensive line is dominating and they all got healthy at the right time—just like in 2007. A great DL makes up for a multitude of sins on defense. overall SF has a better defense, but whose offense would you rather have. the giant WRs have really stepped up too. I think the giants are actually the favorites at this point, but SF or NE could pull it off. Baltimore’s a notch down. As much as Houston impressed me the other day, basically in it to the end with a 3rd stringer, Flaco’s seriously overrated and I don’t see him taking a team all the way. I’m a cowboy fan and I hate everyone else so I’m left rooting against teams. what a horrible existense!

STLaw,

GB had a series of terrible drops and that got compounded by Rodgers missing three throws that he normally makes without any trouble. He looked just a bit off and you have to wonder if the three weeks between games hurt his timing.