for football junkies

i did this last year, so i'll do it again. and also cuz i need something to distract me from scholarships. FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS!! cuz playoffs are sweet like that!

WILD CARD WEEKEND

SATURDAY (winner prediction in bold):

Washington at Tampa Bay -- Tampa Bay may be at home and they may have the highest rated defense in the NFL, but last time these two teams played, Tampa only won on a lucky 2 point conversion by FB Mike Alstott in the final seconds. No team is playing better than Washington coming in. Clinton Portis has five straight 100 yard games coming in, and even rushed for around 115 the last time these teams played. If running the ball fails, playoff-tested Washington QB Mark Brunell can always pass the ball to WR Santana Moss. Tampa QB Chris Simms, meanwhile, starts his first playoff game today. Tampa coach John Gruden may have 1 Super Bowl win under his belt, but on the other side of the field, Joe Gibbs has three, all with different QBs!! It'll still be close though cuz of Tampa's defense, so I say Washington wins, 24-20

Jacksonville at New England -- Here's the deal. New England doesn't even deserve home field for this game when the Jags have a better record just because New England plays in a really really easy division. But anyway, the Patriots are riding a 9 game winning streak in the playoffs, all under the helm of QB Tom Brady. They win this one, and they get the record for the longest winning streak in the playoffs. I think the New England dynasty is over though. Tom Brady thinks they're being disrespected, when in actuality, the Jags should feel that way, as New England pretty much intentionally lost last weeks game so they play Jacksonville instead of Pittsburgh this week. The Patriots do have a lot going for them, home field, weather, history, etc., but emotions will run high, and I give Jacksonville the edge. They have a solid defense as well, and unlike the Patriots, they've only lost 4 games this year as opposed to New England's 6. Come to think of it, two of those four losses came against Indy, and another was against Denver, the 2 seed in the AFC. One more thing, the last New England loss in the playoffs came in 1999 against who? The Jags. Who was the New England coach then? Current USC coach Pete Carroll...HMMMMM...I say Jacksonville wins, 31-24

SUNDAY (winner predictions in bold):

Carolina at New York -- The G-Men (the Chris Berman nickname for the Giants) are playing quite well coming into the playoffs with HB Tiki Barber carrying the load with a NFL 2nd-best 1860 yards on the ground this year. The Panthers have um...co-comeback player of the year WR Steve Smith and QB Jake Delhomme who displayed half his ass as a result of a uniform tear last week. Just like Delhomme's ass was exposed, I believe the Carolina defense, especially the secondary, will be exposed due to the Giant's 4th ranked offense. Plus, wouldn't it be amazing to have a Manning vs. Manning matchup in the Super Bowl? Wow, I think that'd be awesome. Anyway, the Giants playing at home have played tremendously well when inspired, especially after the deaths of each of their co-owners this year. I don't see Carolina playing as well, so I say New York wins, 27-17

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati -- Granted, Pittsburgh has been playing very well coming into the playoffs. They run the ball supremely well behind HBs Willie Parker and "The Bus," Jerome Bettis. Plus, their defense is one of the best in the league. However, they didn't inspire much confidence with their secondary, as Detroit Lions QB Joey Harrington threw 3 TDs last week. This will cause big problems for Pittsburgh if things don't improve as they face Bengals QB Carson Palmer, who led the NFL in TDs thrown with 32. Cincinnati also has two big WRs in Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Look for a big celebration in the endzone if Johnson scores, which will most likely happen. Not only that, but Cincinnati can run the ball well with HB Rudi Johnson. Pittsburgh has been playing great football under 2nd year QB Ben Roethlisberger, but the facts that Cincy is at home, Cincy beat Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh in their last meeting 38-31, and that Cincy has a prolific offense this year that even challenged Indy in a shootout, makes me think that the Bengals have the edge. In this clash of AFC North foes, I say Cincinnati wins 45-38

We'll see how I do.

On a completely different note, does anyone have a Hawthorne Heights - The Silence in Black and White CD or Coldplay - X&Y CD that they'd be gracious enough to burn me a copy?