Tag: NFL Playoffs (Page 6 of 9)

      Gary Myers lays kiss of death on Giants

      January 7, 2009 /

      Gary Myers of the New York Daily News puts the crimp on the Giants this weekend, writing that there’s no way the Eagles will go into East Rutherford and knock off the G-Men.

      Eli ManningThis will be an NFC East slugfest Sunday at Giants Stadium because it always is.

      Giants 23, Eagles 13.

      It should be noted that last year, right here in your Daily News, I not only predicted each of the Giants’ four playoff victories, including the huge upset of the Patriots in the Super Bowl, but had the margin of victory just about on the nose each week. Just wanted to point that out.

      The Giants were the best team in the NFC all season despite losing to the Eagles and Cowboys back-to-back in December. But when they faced their only must-win of the season on that Sunday night against the Panthers in the battle for the No. 1 seed in the 15th game, they rallied to send the game into overtime and then won it.

      This is a tough-minded team. Doesn’t mean the Giants are sure things to repeat as Super Bowl champions, but they do have a lot of heart, and it’s going to take a near perfect game from the Eagles to knock them out of the playoffs.

      The Giants are the best at finding a cause that doesn’t even exist and not letting go. Even after winning the Super Bowl and going 12-4 and being picked by many to run through these playoffs and win it all again, they still feel disrespected. It’s ridiculous, of course, but it works for them.

      Fair enough, but let’s take a look at the facts:

      A) The Giants haven’t played a complete game in over a month. (Week 13 in a 23-7 victory at Washington to be exact.)
      B) Eli Manning hasn’t passed for over 200 yards since Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg.
      C) The Eagles have the third best defense in the NFL, including the fourth best run defense.
      D) Philly has already proven they can beat the Giants in New York.

      I’m not saying it’s a slam-dunk Eagle victory, but this is no time to be predicting wins days before the game.

      One last thing Myers might want to chew on is that Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote before the Falcons’ playoff game last week that they would beat the Cardinals in Arizona. He poured a big cup of jinx all over the Falcons and I’m afraid Myers might have just done the same thing to the Giants.

      NFL

      Big Ben to start against Chargers

      January 5, 2009 /

      Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger practiced Monday and will start this Sunday against the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

      Ben RoethlisbergerQuarterback Ben Roethlisberger said today he passed his final post-concussion test and will play on Sunday when the Steelers open the playoffs against the San Diego Chargers at Heinz Field.

      Roethlisberger left the Steelers final regular-season game on Dec. 28 with a concussion just before halftime. Roethlisberger is taking the field this afternoon to practice for the first time since his injury.

      He said he’s taken several tests over the past week, that he feels fine and will take no further precautions.

      The Steelers’ offensive line needs to protect this guy or else there’s a great chance we’ll be seeing Byron Leftwich sometime this postseason. For as good as the Pittsburgh defense is, the Steelers’ offensive line has issues and Big Ben has always had problems hanging onto the ball too long. Regardless, this is great news for the Steelers and this is a great example of how big having that off week is in the playoffs.

      NFL

      LT to miss rest of playoffs?

      January 5, 2009 /

      The San Diego Tribune is reporting that Chargers’ running back LaDainian Tomlinson could miss the remainder of the postseason with a groin injury.

      LaDainian TomlinsonWhile they’re using phrases like “day to day” and “we’ll see,” no one in the Chargers organization truly expects LaDainian Tomlinson to play Sunday at Pittsburgh.

      But the Chargers will not place Tomlinson on injured reserve, in the hope that he still could play in the postseason.

      “He might be able to play in another week if we were able to go on,” coach Norv Turner said. “Or maybe he could play in another week after that.”

      The likelihood, according to sources, is that Tomlinson’s severely strained groin will keep him out the rest of the postseason and will require surgery. But Turner reported Sunday that the injury “is not any worse” after Tomlinson played on it Saturday.

      Good thing for Darren Sproles. If they can, the Chargers are going to have to lock up Sproles in the offseason or if they can’t sign him, draft a back that can be the future. Maybe with a full offseason of rest, LT can bounce back and be productive again next year, although it’s doubtful that he’ll ever be as productive as he was during his MVP days. It’s time for the Chargers to think about the future.

      NFL

      The Eagles aren’t the matchup the Giants want

      January 4, 2009 /

      Brian WestbrookTom Coughlin and the New York Giants aren’t going to admit it (at least not publicly), but the Philadelphia Eagles weren’t the matchup they wanted for their first playoff game.

      Thanks to Donovan McNabb’s 300-yard passing day, Brian Westbrook’s 71-yard touchdown reception off a screen pass and Jim Johnson’s blistering defense, the Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings 26-14 in their Wild Card playoff game Sunday at the Metrodome.

      Had the Vikings won, the Giants would be hosting the Arizona Cardinals next weekend – the same Arizona Cardinals that have played like complete crap on the East Coast all season. But thanks to the Philly’s victory, the G-Men “lucked out” and get the sixth-seeded Eagles. They luck out by getting a team that has already beaten them once at Giants Stadium, has a seasoned playoff quarterback in McNabb, a secondary that rivals any defensive backfield in the league, and will face a defense that blitzes more than Chris Berman stutters through a highlight.

      Even though the Eagles have largely been inconsistent this season, they aren’t your typical sixth-seeded playoff team. That said, Philly has to do a better job against the run next week because unlike the Vikings, the Giants have a quarterback in Eli Manning that can make plays in the passing game.

      The Eagles allowed Minnesota to rush for 148 total yards and were gashed by a 40-yard Adrian Peterson touchdown run. If they can’t stop the Giants’ dynamic rushing game, Manning will likely strike for big plays via the pass. Philly definitely has the edge in terms of their secondary vs. the Giant wideouts, but it won’t matter if the Eagle safeties have to sell out to stop the run every play and leave the corners on an island. Eventually Manning will pick them apart.

      Again though, there’s no doubt the Giants would have rather faced the Cardinals and allowed the Carolina Panthers to take their chances with the Eagles. But with Philly’s win, fans are treated to an NFC East clash with everything on the line. And what makes this matchup even more compelling is that both of these teams know each other so well. It’s going to make for a great week leading up to the contest, and the game itself will likely live up to expectations.

      Next weekend couldn’t get here soon enough.

      NFL

      Inexperience at quarterback cripples Vikings

      January 4, 2009 /

      Tarvaris JacksonEven though he had quarterbacked his team to a 3-1 finish down the stretch of the regular season, questions remained about whether or not Tarvaris Jackson should start under center when the Minnesota Vikings eventually claimed a spot in the postseason.

      Although not definitively, those questions were answered Sunday when the Vikings fell to the sixth-seeded Philadelphia Eagles 26-14 in the final game of Wild Card weekend.

      Jackson wasn’t bad, but he was largely ineffective. He completed 15 of 35 passes for just 164 yards and threw a costly interception in which Philly cornerback Asante Samuel returned for a 43-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Despite having some success using his legs over the past month, Jackson also only attempted to run the ball twice while finishing with 17 yards on those two carries.

      Jackson got plenty of help from Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor and the running game, which totaled 148 yards against a solid Philadelphia defense. Peterson also had two touchdowns despite getting dinged up in the first half, and provided a spark early in the second quarter with his 40-yard touchdown run.

      But despite only being down 16-14 at halftime, Jackson couldn’t make enough plays in the passing game to produce a single point for Minnesota in the second half. As expected, Philly defensive coordinator Jim Johnson used a variety of blitz packages to confuse the young signal caller and even when the Viking defense produced key scoring opportunities by creating turnovers, Jackson and the offense still couldn’t muster even a field goal.

      Not that Jackson looked rattled because he didn’t, but it’s hard for a young quarterback playing in his first playoff game to be extraordinary, which he certainly was not. Brad Childress’s game plan was to run the ball effectively with Peterson and then allow Jackson to take shots in the passing game in hopes Philly’s defense would start to inch closer to the line of scrimmage. Although the running game was good, Eagles’ defensive backs blanketed Viking receivers and limited the big plays by keeping everything in front of them and making sound tackles.

      You can’t fault Childress for going with Jackson (I certainly don’t, especially when you consider Gus Frerotte hadn’t played in over a month), because Tarvaris had the hot hand. He was the quarterback that got the Vikings to the playoffs by playing so well down the stretch. But in the end, Jackson’s inexperience doomed Minnesota and some might question why the more seasoned Frerotte wasn’t under center for the Vikes’ most important game of the year.

      NFL

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