Divisional Round Picks and Discussion; Why can't we just take down the books together?

[SerfCap]

I was listening to John Madden this afternoon on NFL Radio and he made a very very good point that I think would be useful information.

We all notice how refs tend to let the players play and the games are usually more physical in the playoffs. Given that this plays right into the hands of Seattle, you could say that Seattle will just completely bully the Saints offense and won't allow many points.

My main reason for leaning the Saints was the stagnant Seattle offense, but it's also a strong rumor that Percy will be playing this Sunday. That's a huge shot in the arm. Given what I mentioned above and the fact that Percy could be playing, my lean switches to Seattle. Get on them now just in case the line moves.

 

[Green17]

Seems that Vegas wouldn't assign much point value to one player unless it is the star QB. Don't think Percy affects the line much in my opinion.
Currently Seattle is -8. Was-8.5. Would you really change your bet if the line is -8 or -9?
Personally, I don't expect these Divisional games to be as close as the Wild Card games were but who knows.

 

[Slurve~Ball]

Not sure how much stock I would put in Manning's record versus those other teams as they were compiled with completely different teams and coaches over the years. I bet the NFL would love to see another Manning vs Brady showdown as the ratings for that game would be through the roof.[/QUOTE

How about a manning vs luck?

I think Luck will develop his own rivalries besides peyton and the broncos. Luck got his playoff win off his back and will be around for some time and peyton is in his twilight. After peyton disposes of rivers to get his head to head record back to .500, but 4-1 with DEN, he'll get another rematch vs brady in mile high to cap off that rivalry and if he wins that get his playoff record up to .500.

I like DEN. Especially if mathews is hobbling like someone mentioned above.
SEA to destroy NO again.
SF is a tough call but I like them a lot better than CAR.
NE will find a way to win and cover.

 

[Slurve~Ball]

Scratching SF, no play

 

[SerfCap]

Scratching SF, no play

Any specific reason? Just too close to call?

 

[Slurve~Ball]

Any specific reason? Just too close to call?

Mainly, the miles on SF the past few weeks. And if this game does become the low scoring slugfest it's being made out to be, it will be stressful watching. Also believe CAR has a good shot to win this. Think I'll just knock back a few and enjoy the game. And then hope I'm on the right side with DEN. The consensus seems to be really heavy on SD side. Might end up like CHI @ PHI week 16...

 

[bmore]

I'm curious as to the status of Ryan Mathews who sat out most of the 2nd half last week after aggravating an ankle injury. Mathews has had some nice games against Denver, McCoy is probably not going to say too much about it. The hope in Denver is that some of the changes they have made will help to solidify their defense much like how Baltimore was able to improve their offense at the end of last season. The problem for Denver is I think they only have 4 starters remaining on defense from their opening day roster. The week 15 loss was on a short week and I think they had benched two defensive starters (Woodyard and Ihenacho) that week as well. I do like the idea of moving Champ Bailey into the slot corner as he as always been a pretty good tackler for a DB and this moves him closer to the LOS. SD has good success running against the Denver nickle D in week 15.

Ive seen this line of thinking from multiple people this week. No one mentions that it was a short week for SD and they had to go ON THE ROAD on a short week to play Denver. Short weeks ALWAYS favor the home team. SD is the most improved team in the NFL from the beginning of the year, especially on the defensive side of the ball

 

[sendacash]

Ive seen this line of thinking from multiple people this week. No one mentions that it was a short week for SD and they had to go ON THE ROAD on a short week to play Denver. Short weeks ALWAYS favor the home team. SD is the most improved team in the NFL from the beginning of the year, especially on the defensive side of the ball

You are correct, both teams were on short rest and that should be to the advantage of the home team. I have even used systems in the past that look for this exact scenario, to play on the home team coming off short rest. I don't know if this is really a good excuse or not and I read that one of the Broncos players was quoted as saying they simply did not match the Chargers level of intensity that day, however there were some additional factors of interest related to the short rest. The first is that the previous Sunday against the Titans, Denver ran 91 plays and scored 51 points. Could there be a fatigue factor after running that many plays just a few days prior to a Thursday game? Also, if you remember the first time these teams met in November, Manning injured his ankle as they were trying to close the game out in the final minutes against the Chargers. In the weeks following that game, Manning would sit out of Wednesday practices to rest his ankle and aging body. With that game falling on a Thursday, well obviously Manning was not able to rest on Wednesday forcing him to practice. Could that have had an effect? Maybe, maybe not. I think a bigger factor was that Wes Welker was out for that game after suffering a concussion the previous week which enabled SD to double up on Demarious and Julius Thomas along with Decker. Welker's replacement, Andre Calwdell has his best game of the season with 6 catches for 59 yards and 2 TDs. But Welker is really like a security blanket for Manning and he really has a nose for the first downs to keep the chains moving.

I should disclose that this is coming from a Broncos homer, so take that into consideration. I care more about the Broncos winning SU than I do about covering the spread, although I did lay the 9.5. I think at least there is no chance the Broncos will look past San Diego on Sunday after losing to them on this field just a few weeks ago and given what happened a year ago in the playoff loss to Baltimore.

 

[ChiefMuzz]

I hate when wesay "they have no play-off experience" and use that a capping tool, guesswhat every team at one time had Noplay-off experience.

 

[sendacash]

Anyone else surprised that Chargers OC whisenhunt has interviewed with 3 different teams this week for a HC job? Seems like he should be more focused on the task at hand.