The NFL playoffs will get underway today (in about 30 minutes, actually).  I love football, though I will admit to being no expert.  (I’m still not completely sure where the line between a well defended pass and pass interference is.)  But I thought I’d offer my layman’s opinion.

Falcons at Giants – I don’t think the Giants are that good.  They played four playoff teams during the regular season, and lost three of them.  The only win came against the Patriots, and let’s be honest, if Brady is on his game that day the Giants get pummeled.  They made the playoffs on wins versus the Cowboys twice and the Jets.  Both were awful teams that held their destiny in their hands and blew it.  The Giants also lost twice to the Redskins.  Contrast that to the Falcons.  While they also only beat one playoff team, after week three they never lost to a non-playoff team (and their week one loss was to Chicago, who at the time was a playoff contender).  I’m picking the Falcons in a close game.  Should be a good one.  They may not get far in the playoffs, but they win this one.

Lions at Saints – The Saints are firing on all cylinders, period.  I watched their recent game against the Falcons.  They decimated a ten-win team like they were the Colts.  🙂 The Lions had a great season, but this one is no contest.  Saints breeze though.  🙂

Bengals at Texans – The Texans have been bitten hard by the injury bug and lost their last three games including one to the then 1-13 Colts.  Still, they are at home, and with this their first playoff appearance in team history, I don’t see them going out with a loss in round one.  The Bengals had a great year behind rookie quarterback Andy Dalton and won nine games in the only division in the league with three playoff teams.  Problem is, all seven of their losses came to playoff teams.  They got into the playoffs on a tiebreaker, their win over the 9-7 Titans, the only team over .500 they beat.  I think they benefited by an easy schedule.  Titans win big.

Steelers at Broncos – No one can say the NFL isn’t good at scheduling.  The best game of the weekend will be the last one.  I don’t mean the best for football.  I mean the best for drama.  The Steelers have a quarterback playing on one ankle, have lost their starting running back and center (I believe), and have a safety out because he can’t play at the high Denver altitude.  On the other side, until the last three games of the season, Tebow was playing with leprechaun-like luck on his side.  At some point, luck isn’t enough.  Having said that, Tebow has something to prove, and faced with a Steeler team that is not at full strength, I think the Broncos and Tebow pull off one more miracle.  I doubt it will be pretty, but it should be entertaining.

Thanks for reading!