Playoffs Baby!!
Playoff Football Is HERE!
Week 18
By Bob Graziano
The pretenders are dismissed and the contenders are poised to battle for the gridiron crown. After a fantastic fantasy season we can all enjoy the big boy rumble that is about to unfold. Will it be the season of the Peyton or will Shaun stampede the field? Read on young gamblers, the Grazianimal will reveal all.
The first week of playoff games have essentially all the longshots for the Lombardi trophy. The real good regular season teams have this week off. That doesn’t mean the eventual winner is not before us. Teams have gotten to the Promised Land from the wildcard positions before, and this season will be wild with a reigning champion just begging to be put out to pasture after a super run.
The first game has the Redskins traveling to Tampa Bay on Saturday afternoon to get this party started right. The Redskins have a chance to erase the week 10 1-point loss from the memory banks. That game was marred by really questionable officiating. In that way it was like damn near every other game this season. The Skins are the hottest team in the playoffs rolling off five in a row to end the regular season. The Bucs had a damn good run losing their starting QB only to have Chris Simms step right in and take the team to 11 and 5 and a division title. Santana Moss might have had the most surprising season of anybody at wide receiver, but he only beats out Joey Galloway by a nose. Caddy-Lac was the offensive rookie of the year. Clinton Portis was the clown prince of the league this season and had a 1500 yard year to boot. Gibbs faces off against Gruden, this game is gonna be awesome! The Skins are gonna win because Simms was a 30 yard fingertip and a blown call away from losing the first one. The Redskins were in the middle of a midseason swoon that they have put squarely in the rearview mirror. SM is as dangerous as any threat in the league and that means more room for the better back on the field. Brunell is back on his feet and I’ll take his experience over Simms’ youth. The Washington defense is playing better after a slow start. The Buc D’ is the best in the league, so it will be close.
Game 2 on Saturday night has the Jags visiting Super Tom and his red, white, and blue wrecking crew. I am going to make this one real simple. There is no way that both road teams win on the first day of the playoffs. Pats pound Lord Byron and New England has at least one more game of dynasty.
Sunday has the Giants hosting the Panthers in the early game. The Giants won the division so Eli and the boys can hold their heads high no matter how hard to please the New York fans are. Since the Eagles fired T.O., Steve Smith is inarguably the best WR right now on the pitch. This might be the best starting four defensive ends in the playoffs. Tiki Barber just had back to back 200 yard games and has simply turned himself into a top 5 player in the game. Jake Delhomme has a Super Bowl appearance on his resume and I think he is licking his lips at the thought of attacking the extremely depleted G-man secondary. This game will be back and forth, but in the end I think that the Cats have a better chance of stopping Tiki then the Giants do of even sniffing Little Steven. The future’s bright in the land of blue but the weekend will be a miserable one for a team that has overachieved this season.
The last game of this wild card weekend has the Steelers visiting Cincy in an AFC south grudge match. How is this for tight: Both teams went 11 and 5, they were one and one against each other this year, and they both won on the other team’s field. Carson Palmer came of age this year as an NFL QB. His team is stocked with superstar wideouts and a running back that had 1458 yards, good enough for 7th in the league. The Steelers use the running back committee of Staley, Parker, and Bettis and it is their team that is considered the ground threat. Ben Roethlisberger has as good a start to a career as anyone since a guy named Dan started to sling pigskin in Sun Town. Hines Ward has been a big part of that start. He is as good of a receiver as any and just passed Lynn Swann on the TD chart for the Steelers. In the end Hines will be grinning in Canton, but will he be smiling on Sunday night? I usually prefer experience over youth and this game is a test case for that theory. The line has the Yellow and Black as a road favorite by 3 and a half. This is the toughest pick of the week. The consensus all around the land is Pittsburg so I have the tigers in an upset at home. I’ll take Rudi, Carson, Chad and T.J. can’t spell his name over the Can’t Get Up the Stairs on Monday Steelers.
Here is the future. Redskins piss off papa Simms, The Brady Bunch dominance continues, Cat Scratch Fever, and The Bengals win one for the Grazianimal.
e-mail Bob and tell him how awesome he is @ grazianimal@columnist.com.
Week 18
By Bob Graziano
The pretenders are dismissed and the contenders are poised to battle for the gridiron crown. After a fantastic fantasy season we can all enjoy the big boy rumble that is about to unfold. Will it be the season of the Peyton or will Shaun stampede the field? Read on young gamblers, the Grazianimal will reveal all.
The first week of playoff games have essentially all the longshots for the Lombardi trophy. The real good regular season teams have this week off. That doesn’t mean the eventual winner is not before us. Teams have gotten to the Promised Land from the wildcard positions before, and this season will be wild with a reigning champion just begging to be put out to pasture after a super run.
The first game has the Redskins traveling to Tampa Bay on Saturday afternoon to get this party started right. The Redskins have a chance to erase the week 10 1-point loss from the memory banks. That game was marred by really questionable officiating. In that way it was like damn near every other game this season. The Skins are the hottest team in the playoffs rolling off five in a row to end the regular season. The Bucs had a damn good run losing their starting QB only to have Chris Simms step right in and take the team to 11 and 5 and a division title. Santana Moss might have had the most surprising season of anybody at wide receiver, but he only beats out Joey Galloway by a nose. Caddy-Lac was the offensive rookie of the year. Clinton Portis was the clown prince of the league this season and had a 1500 yard year to boot. Gibbs faces off against Gruden, this game is gonna be awesome! The Skins are gonna win because Simms was a 30 yard fingertip and a blown call away from losing the first one. The Redskins were in the middle of a midseason swoon that they have put squarely in the rearview mirror. SM is as dangerous as any threat in the league and that means more room for the better back on the field. Brunell is back on his feet and I’ll take his experience over Simms’ youth. The Washington defense is playing better after a slow start. The Buc D’ is the best in the league, so it will be close.
Game 2 on Saturday night has the Jags visiting Super Tom and his red, white, and blue wrecking crew. I am going to make this one real simple. There is no way that both road teams win on the first day of the playoffs. Pats pound Lord Byron and New England has at least one more game of dynasty.
Sunday has the Giants hosting the Panthers in the early game. The Giants won the division so Eli and the boys can hold their heads high no matter how hard to please the New York fans are. Since the Eagles fired T.O., Steve Smith is inarguably the best WR right now on the pitch. This might be the best starting four defensive ends in the playoffs. Tiki Barber just had back to back 200 yard games and has simply turned himself into a top 5 player in the game. Jake Delhomme has a Super Bowl appearance on his resume and I think he is licking his lips at the thought of attacking the extremely depleted G-man secondary. This game will be back and forth, but in the end I think that the Cats have a better chance of stopping Tiki then the Giants do of even sniffing Little Steven. The future’s bright in the land of blue but the weekend will be a miserable one for a team that has overachieved this season.
The last game of this wild card weekend has the Steelers visiting Cincy in an AFC south grudge match. How is this for tight: Both teams went 11 and 5, they were one and one against each other this year, and they both won on the other team’s field. Carson Palmer came of age this year as an NFL QB. His team is stocked with superstar wideouts and a running back that had 1458 yards, good enough for 7th in the league. The Steelers use the running back committee of Staley, Parker, and Bettis and it is their team that is considered the ground threat. Ben Roethlisberger has as good a start to a career as anyone since a guy named Dan started to sling pigskin in Sun Town. Hines Ward has been a big part of that start. He is as good of a receiver as any and just passed Lynn Swann on the TD chart for the Steelers. In the end Hines will be grinning in Canton, but will he be smiling on Sunday night? I usually prefer experience over youth and this game is a test case for that theory. The line has the Yellow and Black as a road favorite by 3 and a half. This is the toughest pick of the week. The consensus all around the land is Pittsburg so I have the tigers in an upset at home. I’ll take Rudi, Carson, Chad and T.J. can’t spell his name over the Can’t Get Up the Stairs on Monday Steelers.
Here is the future. Redskins piss off papa Simms, The Brady Bunch dominance continues, Cat Scratch Fever, and The Bengals win one for the Grazianimal.
e-mail Bob and tell him how awesome he is @ grazianimal@columnist.com.
posted by grazianimal at 9:18 PM
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