Wild Card Saturday Preview

Saturday, 4:30

New Orleans -10.5 @ Seattle

The defending champions get to travel to the Pacific Northwest to play at a 7-9 Seattle team to begin the Wild Card weekend. The Saints have been rolling throughout the 2nd half of the season and look primed for another Super Bowl run. The champs should not take the Seahawks lightly though; despite the fact that they lost 9 games by 15 points or more in the regular season. Qwest Field remains one of the toughest places to play in the entire NFL and it should be raucous on Saturday. The Saints are also a little banged up. They were the 28th ranked rushing offense in the league, and will not have the services of Christopher Ivory or Pierre Thomas. This leaves Julius Jones and Reggie Bush to try to carry the load. Expect Sean Payton to leave this game in the hands of his all-world QB Drew Brees. Seattle will get QB Matt Hasselbeck in the lineup. Hasselbeck is a proven winner that has been to a Super Bowl. His experience and the home crowd will help Seattle hang around. But Hasselbeck's best days are behind him. Has the Seahawks lost last week they would have been drafting in the top 10 and could have picked his replacement. Instead they won the dreadful NFC West and became the first team with a losing record to make the playoffs. Ultimately the Saints will prove to be too talented, but I don't expect the blowout that most do.

Prediction - New Orleans 27 Seattle 21

Saturday, 8

NY Jets +2.5 @ Indianapolis

This is a rematch of last year's AFC Championship game. The 2 teams square off in the Wild Card round this year. Both teams have had somewhat up and down seasons. The Jets looked like a definite threat to win the Super Bowl as they stormed out to a 9-2 start. However, a 2-3 finish has many wondering whether Rex Ryan's team has what it takes to compete at that level. The Colts were a Week 15 loss to the Jags away from missing out on the playoffs for the first time in 9 seasons. Peyton Manning stopped throwing interceptions and lead the Colts to 4 straight wins to finish out the year. In last year's AFC Championship Manning stayed away from Revis Island and instead exposed the Jets' other corners as Pierre Garcon torched their secondary. This was one of the main reasons that the Jets went out and acquired Antonio Cromartie this offseason. Now they have 2 of the league's top corners playing opposite each other. Peyton Manning hasn't always had his best performances in the postseason. Expect for the Jets to get after him and force some mistakes. On offense, the Jets will look to take the game out of Mark Sanchez's hands and pound the ball behind their outstanding O-Line. Rex Ryan has certainly talked the talk this year, and Saturday his team will walk the walk.

Prediction - NY Jets 28 Indianapolis 17