By Sunday night, the Conference Championship games will be set, as we head into the final stretch before the Super Bowl.
Saturday at 4:30 pm kicks off week 2 as Green Bay hosts Seattle. The temperature is supposed to be in the low 20's with flurries. This weather should favor Green Bay, especially with Ryan Grant as their new weapon of choice in the running game. Let them get into a groove and it's over. However, if Seattle can pressure Brett Favre as much as they did with Todd Collins, they have a chance to head to the Championship Game. The defenses are fairly equal, but The Packers' offense seems to be a little more in sync. Barring major injuries, major mistakes or wind, Green Bay should win this game.
Saturday Night Football, Jacksonville at New England, a team on a roll vs the team on the ultimate roll. The weather will be in the mid 30's, and clear... a perfect night for football. New England will bring out their 'A' game, no doubt, and that 'A' game is hard to beat. Expect Tom Brady to pick apart Jacksonville's defense and connect with Randy Moss for at least one Touchdown. Jacksonville has strength in Garrard, Maurice Jones-Drew & Fred Taylor and have a chance against New England's defense, yet with The Patriots able to score at least once a quarter, it's difficult to keep up. I'd go with The Patriots, although it may be closer than you think.
Sunday at 1 pm, San Diego is traveling to Indianapolis to try and knock out the defending Super Bowl Champs. This task may prove a bit more difficult as Marvin Harrison is expected to finally play after missing around half the season due to injury. Manning is better than Rivers... LT is better than Adai... San Diego's defense may be better than Indy's... it's leaning toward The Colts winning, especially with San Diego losing Antonio Gates in last week's match-up, but as we know, anything can happen on any given Sunday.
Last game... New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
A true divisional playoff game as the New York Giants go into Dallas to face The Cowboys for the 3rd time this season. Having already won both match-ups in the Regular Season, Dallas is ready to make the 3rd time as much a charm as the first two times were.
The Giants' injuries aren't good, as cornerback Sam Madison is out and Plaxico Burress' ankle injury is obviously hampering his abilities. O'Hara missed last week's game but has returned to practice and is expected to play. Also, word is, Tight End Kevin Boss has not practiced on Thursday due to illness.
The Cowboys aren't without injury, but are definitely looking more positive than The Giants. Terrell
Owens is the most questionable. He seems confident that he's going to play and play at a high level in this game. Coach Phillips initially called him a game-time decision, but tends to agree that he will play. Andre Gurode is also injured, listed as probable with a knee injury. He has practiced and is expected to play. On the positive side, Terry Glenn has fully practiced and is ready to play.Both offenses are potent and dangerous and both defenses are fairly even. Romo hasn't performed his best for a few games, but is ready to finally make up for last year's devastating bobbled Field Goal snap. He's going to need to connect better with his receivers and Running Backs, Julius Jones and Marion Barber are going to need to establish the run in order to dominate The Giants' depleted secondary with the pass.
T.O. and Terry Glenn may be crucial to winning this game. T.O. is a #1 wide receiver for a reason, and he can keep all eyes on him. Wherever he lines up, he's got a man
on him like white on rice, and if he gets double coverage for a second, Romo's going to rocket the ball to whoever is left open... this is why he's so important. Terry Glenn on the other hand can stretch the field with bursts of speed. A quick juke and he may be all alone in the backfield, waiting for a ball to fall into his hands. Without a quality wide receiver, Dallas is just another Philadelphia, therefore, if these two don't play, and play well, this is going to be an uphill struggle all the way.Barber and Jones haven't been as productive as they were earlier this season, so they need to step up in order to get those short yards and wear out The Giants defense. It's no easy task with Strahan and Umenyiora barreling down on anything that moves, so the O-Line is going to be a pivotal part of Dallas' success.
Dallas' defense will have to deal with an 11th ranked O-Line, and a seemingly improved Eli Manning. Luckily Manning (regardless of recent acheivements) is still unpredictable at times and The Cowboys have a slew of Pro-Bowl defensive backs just dying to pull down a happy-footed Quarterback. Terrence Newman declares his health the best all year, and Roy Williams...
well, he remains to be Roy Williams, good and bad. The defense overall has performed extremely well this year, and they should be ready for action come Sunday Night.
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