Wild-Card Weekend
By SPORTSBETTING.COM
Call it a dance, call it a big show, whatever you want to call it ? the NFL playoffs are here!
Washington will get the party started this Saturday with a trip to the Pacific Northwest, visiting a stadium that just so happens to be the spot where the Redskins most recent post-season adventure was ended two years ago. Seattle beat Washington 20-10 in the 2005 Division Finals on their way to an eventual loss to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XL and as the playoff pencil gets dusted off, one of the first questions to ponder is ?What have these teams done since??
Seattle underwent a mood swing midway through this season that was just crazy enough to work. From conservative, rush-first offense to a ?Let the players play? package that resulted in a mellow seven game win streak, and the team is currently running at their healthiest levels overall since Week 1. Washington and Joe Gibbs keep getting better with age and judging by his performance in the past two weeks, it even looks as if Gibbs has spent some time reading the revised edition of the NFL Rule Book.
The Skins are hot, ending the season on the right side of four must-win games. The team is playing with passion and devotion and working with new looks on both sides of the ball that really were works-in-progress all season long. Now can this team get it done on the road?
The so-called 12th man that has made the `Hawks famous will be in full effect this weekend and whether it is Jason Campbell or Todd Collins calling signals for Washington, the gameplan will have to be tight. Seattle is always a tough spot to play but during the regular season there are occasional fair weather fan sightings at Qwest Field, mostly tourists, which muffle the sound at key points in the game. That won?t happen this weekend and this could be Washington?s stiffest challenge since their Week 11 trip to Dallas.
There is one more thing working against the Redskins that out of the six NFC playoff teams applies only to them, and that is the quarterback-shuffle card. Only six teams in NFL history have won a Super Bowl while being led by a QB that was not the starter on opening day. The 2001 New England Patriots were the most recent (Drew Bledsoe/Tom Brady), and one year before that Baltimore accomplished the feat behind Trent Dilfer (Tony Banks). The others were the New York Giants (1990, Phil Simms/Jeff Hostetler), Washington (1987, Jay Schroeder/Doug Williams), Oakland (1980, Dan Pastorini/Jim Plunkett) and Pittsburgh (1974, Joe Gilliam, Terry Bradshaw).
The Seahawks are currently -4, with an Over/Under of 40 at SPORTSBETTING.COM
In the AFC, Tennessee could be faced with the unenviable task of entering the playoffs on the arm of Kerry Collins, depending on how serious Vince Young?s injury from the Indianapolis game turns out, and while the Titans aren?t expected to go far, at least they?re making an appearance. No one is really sure if NBC was just doing it to look smart, but when they flashed the stat late in the Titans/Colts matchup how the last QB not named Peyton Manning to lead Indy to a fourth quarter comeback was Paul Justin in 1997, the collective sound of jaws dropping in Cleveland was loud enough to rival the 12th man.
Tennessee is in San Diego late Sunday and the Chargers, looking more like last year?s edition every week, are -9 favorites.
Jacksonville is the only road squad getting attention from bettors, partly based on the outcome of their Week 15 win at Pittsburgh, and in the fourth Wild Card game it is Tampa Bay -2.5 vs. the Giants.
SPORTSBETTING.COM has all the lines for this week?s games along with some interesting props and playoff futures. It should be a great NFL playoff run?starting this weekend.
Good luck and enjoy the games.
By SPORTSBETTING.COM
Call it a dance, call it a big show, whatever you want to call it ? the NFL playoffs are here!
Washington will get the party started this Saturday with a trip to the Pacific Northwest, visiting a stadium that just so happens to be the spot where the Redskins most recent post-season adventure was ended two years ago. Seattle beat Washington 20-10 in the 2005 Division Finals on their way to an eventual loss to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XL and as the playoff pencil gets dusted off, one of the first questions to ponder is ?What have these teams done since??
Seattle underwent a mood swing midway through this season that was just crazy enough to work. From conservative, rush-first offense to a ?Let the players play? package that resulted in a mellow seven game win streak, and the team is currently running at their healthiest levels overall since Week 1. Washington and Joe Gibbs keep getting better with age and judging by his performance in the past two weeks, it even looks as if Gibbs has spent some time reading the revised edition of the NFL Rule Book.
The Skins are hot, ending the season on the right side of four must-win games. The team is playing with passion and devotion and working with new looks on both sides of the ball that really were works-in-progress all season long. Now can this team get it done on the road?
The so-called 12th man that has made the `Hawks famous will be in full effect this weekend and whether it is Jason Campbell or Todd Collins calling signals for Washington, the gameplan will have to be tight. Seattle is always a tough spot to play but during the regular season there are occasional fair weather fan sightings at Qwest Field, mostly tourists, which muffle the sound at key points in the game. That won?t happen this weekend and this could be Washington?s stiffest challenge since their Week 11 trip to Dallas.
There is one more thing working against the Redskins that out of the six NFC playoff teams applies only to them, and that is the quarterback-shuffle card. Only six teams in NFL history have won a Super Bowl while being led by a QB that was not the starter on opening day. The 2001 New England Patriots were the most recent (Drew Bledsoe/Tom Brady), and one year before that Baltimore accomplished the feat behind Trent Dilfer (Tony Banks). The others were the New York Giants (1990, Phil Simms/Jeff Hostetler), Washington (1987, Jay Schroeder/Doug Williams), Oakland (1980, Dan Pastorini/Jim Plunkett) and Pittsburgh (1974, Joe Gilliam, Terry Bradshaw).
The Seahawks are currently -4, with an Over/Under of 40 at SPORTSBETTING.COM
In the AFC, Tennessee could be faced with the unenviable task of entering the playoffs on the arm of Kerry Collins, depending on how serious Vince Young?s injury from the Indianapolis game turns out, and while the Titans aren?t expected to go far, at least they?re making an appearance. No one is really sure if NBC was just doing it to look smart, but when they flashed the stat late in the Titans/Colts matchup how the last QB not named Peyton Manning to lead Indy to a fourth quarter comeback was Paul Justin in 1997, the collective sound of jaws dropping in Cleveland was loud enough to rival the 12th man.
Tennessee is in San Diego late Sunday and the Chargers, looking more like last year?s edition every week, are -9 favorites.
Jacksonville is the only road squad getting attention from bettors, partly based on the outcome of their Week 15 win at Pittsburgh, and in the fourth Wild Card game it is Tampa Bay -2.5 vs. the Giants.
SPORTSBETTING.COM has all the lines for this week?s games along with some interesting props and playoff futures. It should be a great NFL playoff run?starting this weekend.
Good luck and enjoy the games.
