NFL Playoffs Begin - Time to Find out Who is Real

Redskins at Seahawks

Well we finally made it. The playoffs begin this Saturday and kicking things off are the Washington Redskins visiting the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington.

The Redskins are looking extremely tough right now as they have won 4 straight games and handily took down the Dallas Cowboys to clinch a playoff spot last weekend.

The Seahawks have lost 2 of their last 3 games and are coming off a horrific performance against one of the leagues worst teams, the Atlanta Fellons or is it the Atlanta Falcons?

In fairness to Seattle, they did pull starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck from the game and proceeded to have a very bad ending with backup QB Seneca Wallace committing 2 turnovers and the Seahawks defense giving up 3 touchdowns all in the final two minutes of the game.

The Seahawks are tough to beat at home but the Redskins have a team that is playing great at the right time. They have an excellent coach in Joe Gibbs and they are playing as a team with great chemistry. This should be an entertaining game and if the Seahawks show up mentally, they should take this game handily.

Jaguars at Steelers

Next up on Saturday evening the Jaguars visit the Steelers in a repeat of the previous matchup at Pittsburgh when the Jaguars were able to outlast the Steelers and bring home the win.

The Steelers have not finished the season on a strong note while Jacksonville has been dominating for many weeks now.

I personally like the way the Jaguars are playing and I look for them to grind out another tough win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Giants at Buccaneers

On Sunday, the Giants travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers. The Bucs lost their last two games as they didn't play most of their starters. That will change this week when Jeff Garcia and Earnest Graham come back into the lineup.

The Bucs will be tough to beat at home but the Giants are an extremely physical team and can play well on the road.

The story of this game will come down to how well Eli Manning plays. If Eli can make good decisions and stay out of trouble on the turnover front, the Giants could win this game.

Otherwise, look for Tampa to dominate on defense and then pound the ball with Graham.

Titans at Chargers

Sunday afternoon will see the Titans travel to San Diego to take on the Chargers. The Chargers, who started the year off in a rough way, have returned to form as coach Norv Turner has found the sweet spot of his offense and the defense has gelled at the right time.

Ladanian Tomlinson has been in rare form and his coach is finally giving him the ball enough to make him dangerous.

The Titans squeaked into the playoffs with a win against the Colts this weekend. The Titans were barely able to beat a Colts team that rested most of its starters starting in the 2nd quarter. This does not bode well for them as the Chargers are looking mentally and physically tough.

Look for the Charges to defeat the Titans handily.

Seahawks recover from woeful start against Bears

The Seahawks, playing at home against the Bears, came out looking flat at the start of this game and dug themselves into a hole early in the game. This game reminded me of the way the game started when the then winless Saints visited Seattle earlier this year.

That was the game where the Seahawks started with the ball and went three and out. On third down Matt Hasslebeck was sacked for a loss and then on fourth down, Seattle new long snapper, making his first appearance as a Seahawk, proceeded to hike the ball into the turf just out of reach of the placeholder. The Saints recovered the ball and rumbled into the endzone for an early touchdown.

The Seahawks never did recover from the poor start against the Saints as the Saints went on to score the first 21 points and ride them to their first victory of the year.

This game looked to have all of the same markings. The Seahawks kicked the ball off to start the game this time though. Upon the short kick that only went to the Bears 27 yard line, Devin Hester proceed to return it to the 50 yard line.

Rex Grossman then completed a short pass for 7 yards on first down to the Seattle 43 yard line. On the next play, Cedric Benson, the Chicago running back known best for NOT making long runs or big plays, proceeded to break his longest run of the year for 43 yards and a touchdown.

Just like that, Seattle is down 7 to nothing. Next, Seattle went 3 and out and punted the ball to the Bears. The bears made it into the Seattle red zone and put another 3 points on the board.

Seattle was now down 10 to nothing just about half way through the first quarter. But, this is not the same Seahawks team who featured Shaun Alexander at running back and were a run first team at the time. No, this time, Holmgren came out calling passing plays and letting Matt Hasslebeck work from the shotgun.

Matt had his best performance of the year and the running game once again opened up for the Seahawks backup running back Mo Mo (Maurice Morris). Seattle regained their composure and came back to beat the Bears with a final score of 30 to 27 and now Seattle remains atop the division with a 6 and 5 record.

Ravens Barely Survive Cardinals Comeback

The Baltimore Ravens were soundly beating the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday when a funny thing happened. Curt Warner replaced a struggling Matt Leinart to lead the Cardinals on a fast and furious comeback attempt.

After Matt Leinart showed that he wasn't up to the task as he completed 9 of 20 passes for a measely 53 yards, Warner was brought in to fire up the Arizona offense. And that is exactly what he did. Warner was 15 of 20 passing and he scored two TD's as he and the Arizona Cardinals came back to tie a game that looked like it was a lost cause.

The other star on the Arizona team was Anquan Boldin. Anquan is a super star who is at his best gaining yards after the catch. Anquan had a magnificent game catching 14 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns. Larry Fitzgerald struggled throughout the game as Boldin put on the afterburners.

But in the end, the Cardinal did what they have done best for the past 20 years, they lost. There were some questionable calls of course, but in a game this close, you need to put up or shut up.

Peyton Manning's Value In Real World and Fantasy is Revealed

Peyton Manning showed his true value as a quarterback in the NFL when he dismantled the defense of the New Orleans Saints during the opening game of the NFL season. Peyton was able to disect the Saints defense with uncanny precision as he handed them a loss they won't soon forget.

Peyton Manning also showed whey he is the most valuable quarterback for fantasy football as well. If you drafted Peyton in the 1st round and have been second guessing yourself, stop! He has proven once again why he is in such high demand.

Peyton started off a little slow throwing one touchdown in the 1st half of the game but he picked up the pace in the 2nd half. He threw a total of 3 touchdown passes in the game, two of them to Reggie Wayne and another to his trusted receiver Marvin Harrison. He also was 18 of 30 for passing and racked up a respectable 288 yards.

Not too shabby at all, especially if you compare his stats to Drew Brees who went 28 of 41 passing for 192 yards. He had no touchdowns and he threw 2 interceptions. Not very impressive for someone who is expected to put up big numbers.

Fantasy Football Draft

I had my fantasy football draft today. It was extremely satisfying to sit there with my freinds and battle it out for the best football team. Being a Seahawks fan, it makes me a little biased on my choices as I love to have my star players on my team be the people I am cheering for each game.

Here is my team:

Running Backs:

Shaun Alexander
Cedric Benson
Travis Henry
DeAngelo Williams

Quarterbacks:

Matt Hasselbeck
Tony Romo

Wide Receivers:

Donald Driver
Larry Fitzgerald
Bernard Berrian
D.J. Hacket

Tight Ends:

Randy McMichael
Chris Cooley

Defense & Special Teams

Seattle Seahawks
Denver Broncos

Kickers:
Josh Brown
Jason Elam

I am pretty satisfied with my team although I know it could be better. Of course, if the Seahawks shine this year, my team should shine as well. On the other hand, if the Seahawks implode, it may be a long season.

Jerome Bettis Claims He Faked Knee Injury To Avoid Being Cut

Jerome Bettis claims has claimed in a new book that during the 2000 training camp he faked a knee injury so that the Pittsburgh Steelers wouldn't cut him.

This is great stuff. I'ts always interesting to see how things really work even if it is after the fact. Of course, this is just what Bettis says and isn't the definitive truth. I'm sure if you asked the Steelers, they may have a different take on the story.

Walter Jones is back on the field

Seattle Seahawks most prized Offensive linesman, Walter Jones, is back on the field after missing 5 straight practices with a sore shoulder.

Holmgren says that he was giving Walt a cookie by letting him sit out of practice. Holmgren also wants to be sure that Walter is in top shape for the long season as the offensive line without him would not be nearly as stout.

It looks as though Jones will be heading to San Diego to play the Chargers on Sunday, but don't expect him to play much as he has already proven his worth many times over and has nothing to prove.