NFL Divisional Round Playoff Picks

I do have to admit that this is a somewhat less than scientific study, but I am pretty sure that no except me and Arizona's fans thought the Cardinals were going to win against the Packers in the wild card round.

I'm almost equally as certain after all the press coverage of the game that I'm about the only one on earth who didn't think the game between Arizona and Green Bay was the greatest game ever played since the founding of the National Football League.

Not to denigrate Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Warner who took advantage of the opportunities presented, but that shootout was more about neither team bothering to play defense than it was about great offense.

My impression of the game wasn't that it was some classic shootout, but more that the winner of this game might give up a 100 points to the Saints next week.

In fact, I went from thinking the Packers or Cardinals both might have a good chance of upsetting New Orleans to feeling like Arizona might be lucky to keep it close if their defense plays like they did against Green Bay during the course of that game.

This is still a somewhat complicated pick, mostly because of the Saints losing their final three and I could see Warner keeping it close, but I could also see it being over by halftime.

New England getting taken to the woodshed by Baltimore is the only game last week that really threw me. Not as much the fact that the Patriots lost to the Ravens, but the way they never even had a chance to win. But that's what happens in the playoffs; the cream has a way of rising to the top.

During the season teams can overcome injuries and positional weaknesses, but those kind of things get exploited against the elite teams. Unfortunately for the Ravens next week they will be the ones getting exploited by the Colts this week.

The Colts have made a habit out of pulling games out late, so there's a good chance it'll be close. However, I just don't see Indy's offense being stopped by the Raven's like the Pats were.

Before last week's games everyone was saying that New York didn't even belong in the playoffs. Rex Ryan responded to that talk by declaring that the Jets should be the favorites to win in every game they play. The Jets then went out and beat a Bengals team that had stumbled into the playoffs while losing four of their last five games (including last week), which somehow made everyone lend credence to Ryan's boast.

In spite of the fact that the Bengals were the team that arguably didn't belong in the playoffs and were still competitive until they missed their second of two easy field goals during the game, a lot of people are now believing that the Jets are one of the top contenders, based on that victory.

Even though I would really like to see one of Buddy Ryan's boys succeed (I picked the Jets to get to the AFC conference championship during my preseason predictions mostly based on New York hiring him as the coach), I think reality is going to get in the way against the Chargers. I actually think things are going to turn ugly before it's all over.

And now we are down to the final game between in Minnesota. Looking at the keys to the game, for the most part, they all point to one team.

The momentum going in is the most of obvious and probably the most important of them in this game.

Similar to the Saints, Minnesota got tripped up a bit in the final games. They lost three of five games and didn't look good doing it to close out the season.

However, the Cowboys are playing playing as good as they have all season right now. They even avoided their traditional December collapse, winning four straight games instead, including a win over the previously unbeaten Saints.

In the other significant factor on Sunday, the matchups once again, seem to favor one team over the other.

Pressure up front has been the single biggest key to successfully disrupting the Vikings offense. Late in the season, the O-line just hasn't been able to keep opposing pass rushers away from Brett Favre.

Minnesota's biggest weakness throughout the season is their defensive backfield. Every time they've come up against a good QB, they have been overmatched. I'm not expecting it to be any different against Tony Romo, Miles Austin, and Jason Witten.

The week 13 injury that put LB E.J. Henderson on the sidelines also doesn't bode well for the Vikings defense against Felix Jones and Marion Barber.

You might of figured this out at this point, but if you somehow haven't I'm taking the Cowboys to beat the Vikings and I won't be one bit shocked if they win big.

Last week, I finished 2-2 straight up and against the spread, with both the Jets and Cards winning outright as underdogs. Don't forget to check out my articles on my blog and on Bleacher Report (see related links).