Wildcard Money Picks

As the regular season comes to a close, my overall record stands at 16-9. This year in the NFL playoffs there are several story-lines to follow and it should be as entertaining as any year in recent memory. Without further ado, here are my picks for Wild Card Weekend.

Cincinnati Bengals (-2.5) over New York Jets

These two teams match up pretty well across the board except for one small problem for the Jets. Both teams have very good defenses. Both teams have very good running games. Both teams don’t really have any explosive, dangerous Wide Receivers besides Ochocinco for the Bengals, who will be covered by Darele Revis. Then we move on to Quarterbacks, and you have Carson Palmer and Mark Sanchez. The NFL has transformed over the last several years into a passing league. In years past this Jets team would have a chance in “any game they played” as Rex Ryan says but in today’s day and age you need to be able to throw the football consistently and effectively to win.

The Bengals’ game plan will be very simple and very straightforward. Take away the run and make Mark Sanchez beat you. If the Jets cannot run the ball effectively, can Mark Sanchez win a game for you? I wouldn’t put my money on it happening. On the other hand you have Carson Palmer, a time-tested veteran who wrapped up his division title two weeks before the season ended. Cedric Benson for the Bengals also is coming off a career season in which he was almost unstoppable, except for the 3+ games he missed due to injury.

Overall this Jets team is a nice little story. Rookie QB rallies his team to the playoffs when it was win or go home. If you look deeper though, the Jets should not even be in the big dance. There are many more deserving teams out there who could potentially make much more of an impact in the playoffs. The Jets went into Indianapolis and found themselves down by 4 mid-way through the third quarter and like an angel sent from above, Jim Caldwell decided to call off his quest for the perfect season and pull Peyton Manning and the rest of his starters. The Jets went on to win that game and their playoff hopes remained alive. They then needed to take down the same Cincinnati Bengals that they are facing this week in order to clinch a playoff birth. Keep in mind this game meant absolutely nothing to the Bengals and them losing this game would only guarantee that they would be facing by far the worst team in the playoffs, the Jets.

(more…)

Tags: 2010, Bengals, career season, cedric benson, Cincinnati Bengals, deserving teams, Football, Jets, jets team, mark sanchez, new york jets, NFL, nfl playoffs, playoffs, rex ryan, wide receivers, Wildcard