Divisional Round Playoff Thoughts

This round is much tougher.

BAL @ TEN

These two teams hooked up once in the regular season, early on, and TEN won a slugfest at Baltimore 13-10. One of several defensive battles this week, but this could be the finest. Baltimore hates when you try to run on them, and that's exactly what the Titans will spend most of the game trying to do. The key to this game is Joe Flacco. Baltimore this year reminds me a lot of the Steelers team that won the Super Bowl in early 2006. Ferocious defense, solid running game, and a rookie QB asked to manage the game and make a play here and there. Flacco isn't quite as mobile as Big Ben, but has a huge arm and mostly limits his mistakes. The problem is that McClain and McGahee aren't nearly what Parker and Bettis were. I'm leaning towards TEN in this one as they have a stronger offensive line, a veteran QB, and a much more dynamic backfield.

Sneaky Fantasy Play: Chris Johnson. Most might avoid him this week thanks to the match up, but I think he's good for a big play at some point in this game, maybe two. This is the type of game where the Titans need to pull out all the stops to move the ball, and getting Johnson into space will be essential.

Don't Use: LenDale White. He might score, but he's going to do little to nothing in the yardage department. I expect Chris Johnson to be far more productive with his touches thanks to his versatility.

AZ @ CAR

These two teams hooked up once during the regular season, at Carolina, with the Panthers winning 27-23. Vegas certainly doesn't think the Cardinals have any sort of chance, favoring the Panthers by 10. Honestly, not much has changed since the first match up, except for two changes with the Cardinals. First, we have Boldin's injury, which should limit him. Second, we have the re-emergence of Edgerrin James, which helps balance out the Cardinals offense and should help offset the loss of Boldin somewhat. That being said, Carolina is simply too well balanced for the Cardinals to overcome, but while the Vegas line indicates it'll be somewhat of a blowout, I disagree.

Sneaky Fantasy Play: Jake Delhomme. He has the best match up and the best weapons of the 4 mediocre QBs added by the 1st week byes, and therefore should post the best line as long as the Carolina running game doesn't dominate their scoring.

Don't Use: Anquan Boldin. If you didn't use him last round, like me, don't throw him in this round. He is honestly hurting, and while he'll give it a go, I think his job will be more as a decoy and that he will fall far short of playing a full game as if he were healthy.

PHI @ NYG

These two teams have hooked up twice in the regular season, with the road team winning both times. The first time was a 36-31 scoring bananza that the Giants won, and the second was a 20-14 Philly victory during their late season run. Philly is playing as well as they have all season, save a 10-3 stinker loss at Washington in week 16. McNabb is on fire, playing some of the best football of his career at just the right time, and Philly's defense is playing amazing football. Now I don't really like the argument of eliminating a big run while analyzing a RBs performance, but outside of the big 40 yard TD run by Peterson, PHI did an excellent job bottling him up. The Giants running game is on a whole other level with 2 and 3 guys they can rotate in and get great production from, but the Giants passing game is completely void of playmakers, and they really stumbled down the stretch offensively. All that being said, it's going to be very hard for the Eagles to beat the Giants twice in the Meadowlands, and it's going to come down to their ability to run the ball successfully with Westbrook.

Sneaky Fantasy Play: Brent Celek. He is now clearly the starting TE for the Eagles, and Philly loves to spread the ball around in the passing game. He's quietly one of the best TE options this week.

Don't Use: Eli Manning. Lack of playmakers, terrible match up. Simple.

SD @ PIT

These two teams hooked up once in the regular season, with the Steelers edging the Chargers 11-10, although it probably should have been 18-10 with the controversy surrounding the defensive TD return off the crazy last minute play. Still, that TD wasn't indicative of how the game was being played. SD's D has turned it on, and Big Ben, while being cleared to play, is still somewhat dealing with the lingers effects of a concussion. SD's swarming pass rush caused all sorts of problems for Peyton Manning, and while Big Ben is undoubtedly more mobile, he has a pretty mediocre offensive line in front of him. LT's absence isn't nearly as big of a story as people are making it out to be, but the rough playing surface of the Pittsburgh field could have an impact on Sproles' ability to cut, which is his entire game. This is shaping up to be another slugfest, and I'm actually leaning towards the Chargers to pull this one out thanks to a superior offense.

Sneaky Fantasy Play: Vincent Jackson. With zero catches last week and against one of the top secondaries, he might seem like an easy avoid. However, with Gates continuing to be banged up, Jackson needs to step up, and I feel he will. He'll haul down at least one big play reception this week.

Don't Use: Ben Roethlisberger. He's banged up and will be on the run against a very good pass rush. There's very little upside here.