Philadelphia vs. Chicago
Tampa pulls another playoff lie down and suddenly McNabb is the future of the QB position in the NFL. We've been down this road before, in fact, just last year. After Philly smacked Tampa went on the road against an under-rated Giants team and fell flat on their face. They will do that again today. McNabb was a passing-running option all day because the me-first Tampa Bay defensive line did not attempt to hold their lane integrity and McNabb moved wherever he wanted in the pocket. The Bear defense had a "mush-rush" philosophy when they played mobile quarterbacks this year like Culpepper, Favre, Vick, Plummer and Garcia and they'll be successful again on Saturday. They don't get a huge amount of sacks, but they do lead the league in QB hurries and knockdowns.
The Eagles will not be able to run on the Bears. The Defensive line is too big up the middle and the linebackers are too fast to get to the corner. Staley has not had success running between the tackles and figures to be a non-factor. The fate of the Eagles lies in James Thrash's and Todd Pinkston's hands. If the receivers are able to seperate, they will have success moving the chains. If not, the game turns into a ball control game.
The Bears will flourish in a ball control game. They are built from their offensive line and are much bigger than their Eagles defensive line counter parts and will be a load for the Eagles to handle. The reason that the Bears run so successfully in the fourth quarter is that their opponent's bodies just give out due to physical limitations. Expect the Bears to win the time of possession, lean on the Philly defenders and take control of this game in the second half. This game will be played close to the cuff, but in the crunchtime, the Bears are just too physical for Philly.
Chicago -3 3-stars
Oakland at New England
This is why the Raiders needed to win one of those final three games. They didn't want to have to play in the north in January in 20 degree weather in the snow. And they couldn't get a win against the Broncos, Titans, nor the Jets. The offense did look impressive last week but Gannon had plenty of pocket protection once Abraham went down. New England will provide a greater challenge.
The Oakland defense had plenty of opportunities to win the game last week, but the Jets were able to come back into the game every time they needed to. The Raiders had to outscore them. The Raiders aren't tackling well as the season has progressed and will be even less likely to make sticks once they realize how much they hurt in the cold. While the Patriots have had one game in a month (at home against Carolina), the Raiders have been fighting in close games for the past 4 weeks. At some point, that will take a toll.
New England will control this game on the ground and once that happens, the play action will be wide open as the Raider linebackers are some of the worst in the league at getting back into coverage. Patriots get the W with the running game and defense.
New England -2.5 5-star
Tampa pulls another playoff lie down and suddenly McNabb is the future of the QB position in the NFL. We've been down this road before, in fact, just last year. After Philly smacked Tampa went on the road against an under-rated Giants team and fell flat on their face. They will do that again today. McNabb was a passing-running option all day because the me-first Tampa Bay defensive line did not attempt to hold their lane integrity and McNabb moved wherever he wanted in the pocket. The Bear defense had a "mush-rush" philosophy when they played mobile quarterbacks this year like Culpepper, Favre, Vick, Plummer and Garcia and they'll be successful again on Saturday. They don't get a huge amount of sacks, but they do lead the league in QB hurries and knockdowns.
The Eagles will not be able to run on the Bears. The Defensive line is too big up the middle and the linebackers are too fast to get to the corner. Staley has not had success running between the tackles and figures to be a non-factor. The fate of the Eagles lies in James Thrash's and Todd Pinkston's hands. If the receivers are able to seperate, they will have success moving the chains. If not, the game turns into a ball control game.
The Bears will flourish in a ball control game. They are built from their offensive line and are much bigger than their Eagles defensive line counter parts and will be a load for the Eagles to handle. The reason that the Bears run so successfully in the fourth quarter is that their opponent's bodies just give out due to physical limitations. Expect the Bears to win the time of possession, lean on the Philly defenders and take control of this game in the second half. This game will be played close to the cuff, but in the crunchtime, the Bears are just too physical for Philly.
Chicago -3 3-stars
Oakland at New England
This is why the Raiders needed to win one of those final three games. They didn't want to have to play in the north in January in 20 degree weather in the snow. And they couldn't get a win against the Broncos, Titans, nor the Jets. The offense did look impressive last week but Gannon had plenty of pocket protection once Abraham went down. New England will provide a greater challenge.
The Oakland defense had plenty of opportunities to win the game last week, but the Jets were able to come back into the game every time they needed to. The Raiders had to outscore them. The Raiders aren't tackling well as the season has progressed and will be even less likely to make sticks once they realize how much they hurt in the cold. While the Patriots have had one game in a month (at home against Carolina), the Raiders have been fighting in close games for the past 4 weeks. At some point, that will take a toll.
New England will control this game on the ground and once that happens, the play action will be wide open as the Raider linebackers are some of the worst in the league at getting back into coverage. Patriots get the W with the running game and defense.
New England -2.5 5-star
