NFL Playoffs - First Look

First off I must touch on the fact that my NFL season ended with a poor Sunday after success ruled for most of the season. On the final Sunday the “snowball effect” got the best of me and it was a tough situation to deal with. However, the key is to understand what happened and why it happened and then simply move ahead with great aspirations for the upcoming playoffs.

On the final Sunday of the season I felt certain the Dallas Cowboys would bounce back off of their ugly loss to Philly and trounce the Lions. Not only did Dallas fail to cover, the Cowboys lost the game outright. Of course this was an inexplicable loss for Dallas but it really hurt my day. After winning 7 straight NFL Top Plays, not only did I lose my Top Play of the Day, my chances at winning my Eagles play all of the sudden took a major hit. Like any handicapper it’s critical to release games on the internet well in advance of kickoff. Of course feeling certain the Cowboys would at least beat the Lions, even if they didn’t cover, I knew the pressure would be on the Eagles to beat Atlanta and thereby clinch the NFC East division. Instead, with the improbable Dallas loss, I now had an Eagles team that started inserting back-ups in the first quarter because the NFC East was already theirs by virtue of the Cowboys loss. As it was the Eagles still won the game by 7 but that was still a point or two short of the all important cover.

My Sunday was definitely filled with the “snowball effect” and then Murphy’s Law took over with my final NFL play. Murphy’s Law states that what can go wrong will go wrong even when everything else has already gone wrong. The point is that once you’re on a downhill slide the bad breaks will continue coming at you! My third and final NFL star rated play was on the Colts and Indianapolis had a nice 12 point lead with just minutes left. The Colts were in the middle of engineering a solid clock-eating drive to close out the game and get a nice win and cover for their backers. It was at that moment of course that they fumbled the ball away and next thing you know the Dolphins turn that turnover into 7 points for the backdoor cover. All of the teams I was involved with Sunday are playing in Round One of the playoffs and that’s why it’s a perfect segway into my “First Look at the NFL Playoffs” which get started Saturday.

Kansas City at Indianapolis - The Colts are a different team at home than they are on the road. They proved that again in the final Sunday of the regular season and it certainly is to their advantage again in round one of the Playoffs. The Chiefs may be “spent” after their surprising entrance into the playoffs. Will they have enough left to get the cover here? It will be interesting to see how this line moves through the week but the Colts should definitely get the straight-up win here as they look to erase the disappointment of last season’s playoff exit.

Dallas at Seattle - The Seahawks showed improvement as their health improved late in the season. This includes their underrated defense which is solid when healthy. The Seahawks are also tough at home and barring a miraculous change in attitude the Cowboys are in trouble here. Dallas has locker room issues and they also have execution issues. The Cowboys might be able to swing an amazing turnaround this week but we’ll be watching this closely because if we don’t see the right signs we’ll be all over the Seahawks in this one.

New York Jets at New England - The Jets made for a nice “story” this season but they also padded their record with wins over weak foes. We’re not necessarily sold on New York but are the Patriots worth the big number here? Will Belichick have his way against Mangini in this match-up? Keep in mind weather could be a factor here too and we’ll look at that too before making an investment on this one. It’s hard to lay big points if the weather conditions are poor. The Jets could be a dangerous dog but we’ll watch the line move here and the weather as it’s tough to fade Belichick, Brady, and Company with a rookie head coach!

New York Giants at Philadelphia - How compelling is this match-up? What a great set-up for round one of the playoffs as Coughlin was on the chopping block and still may not be standing too far away from it even after getting the needed win over the Redskins. The Giants still have chemistry issues to say the least but the Eagles fans are a little nervous about this one. Any time you’re playing a team for a third time in one season and it’s a team you’re very familiar with from past experiences as well, let’s just say “anything goes”. The fact is these teams generally play very competitive games but if the Giants are still having “issues” the red hot Eagles have the confidence and moxie to win this game by at least a TD. This is another one where the line will have to be watched closely through the week. Also, keep an eye on the Giants attitude as this game approaches. Those two factors will be keys in which way you want to go on this one.

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