PLAYOFFS?! Don't talk about PLAYOFFS!

Those were the infamous words of former Colts head coach Jim Mora, Sr. after his team got slaughtered by Jeff Garcia, T.O., and the San Fransisco 49ers.

Why do I bring up that quote? Because it's that time of year again in the NFL! Here's your Wild Card Weekend games, and who the Colts, Pats, Packers, and Cowboys could be facing the week after!

AFC:
Tennessee Titans (6) @ San Diego Chargers (3)
If the Chargers win, they take on the Colts. If the Titans win, they take on the Pats.

Jacksonville Jaguars (5) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (4)
If the Chargers defeat the Titans, the winner of this game plays the Pats. If the Titans beat the Chargers, the winner of this game takes on the Colts. This game in particular looks pretty interesting, to say the least. Don't be deceived by the fact that the Jaguars are a Southern team; they are BUILT for cold weather games, such as this one. They proved it by beating the Steelers IN THEIR OWN HOUSE in Week 15 of this season! So this game is must-see-TV, for sure.

NFC:
Washington Redskins (6) @ Seattle Seahawks (3)
If the Seahawks win this game, they will take on the Packers. If the Redskins win, they will take on their eternal archrival, the Dallas Cowboys.

New York Giants (5) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4)
If the Seahawks defeat the Redskins, the winner of this game takes on the Cowboys. If the Redskins beat the Seahawks, the winner of this game takes on the Packers.


Let the playoff talk and predictions...BEGIN!

Pats are gonna win the superbowl.
Discussion over. :p

I don't care who wins, just as long as the Patriots lose. I would even support the Cowboys if I had to, and as a Philadelphia fan, you can only conjecture as to how much I hate the Cowboys.

However, I do find that the playoffs should be a relatively good set this year, as the teams more or less seem to be balanced with their capabilities (with the sole exception of the maphacking Patriots). The one I look forward to the most is Titans/Chargers.

I'm rooting for the redskins to be honest. I think they have the least chance xD but I like em.

Go Packers :D

To quote Jimmy Johnson, the only thing I have to say is...










HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS?!

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Originally Posted by Bert

I'm rooting for the redskins to be honest. I think they have the least chance xD but I like em.

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You know, I honestly thought that the Redskins' season was over when they tragically lost Sean Taylor forever. When I was at the Cowboys/Redskins game at Texas Stadium back in November, right before Thanksgiving, I knew Sean Taylor was out with a knee injury he suffered the week before. The thought that he would die the next week never once crossed my mind. So I was sad that I would never get to see my favorite team go up against Sean Taylor in a game with me in attendance.

As much as I hate the Redskins, I will give credit where credit is due; on ESPN, NFL analyst Mark Schlereth mentioned that the Redskins had the coach best equipped to lead them through this kind of adversity in Joe Gibbs. He was right. After losing the next game to Buffalo as a result of a coaching mistake, burying their fallen teammate the next day, AND having to play the Bears three days after THAT (thus making an already tough portion of their schedule even more brutal), the Redskins needed to win EACH of their last four games of the season just to get in the playoffs, and they did just that; while their record since Sean Taylor's death is 4-1, they have not lost a game since laying him to rest. Just goes to show you how dangerous a team playing with a heavy heart can be.

As a Dolphin's fan, I have every reason to want to see the Pats lose. I hate the Jets out of obligation, but ever since I've started caring about football, it's the Patriots that constantly dismantle us. I hate the Patriots by choice. Further, I'm sure everyone knows that the Pats are on their way to joining the '72 Dolphins in their pursuit for perfection. I'm not the kind of fan that claims stuff his team did seventeen years before he was born, but damn it, it's nice for the Dolphins to hold on to something these days.

Despite all that, I want the Pats to win. Although I hate them, I find myself wanting them to win. I want to see them go undefeated through the Super Bowl. The Patriots are almost undeniably the best football team ever assembled, and damn it, I want them to win. I hate myself for it, but I want to see perfection in my lifetime.

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Originally Posted by Ouch!

As a Dolphin's fan, I have every reason to want to see the Pats lose. I hate the Jets out of obligation, but ever since I've started caring about football, it's the Patriots that constantly dismantle us. I hate the Patriots by choice. Further, I'm sure everyone knows that the Pats are on their way to joining the '72 Dolphins in their pursuit for perfection. I'm not the kind of fan that claims stuff his team did seventeen years before he was born, but damn it, it's nice for the Dolphins to hold on to something these days.

Despite all that, I want the Pats to win. Although I hate them, I find myself wanting them to win. I want to see them go undefeated through the Super Bowl. The Patriots are almost undeniably the best football team ever assembled, and damn it, I want them to win. I hate myself for it, but I want to see perfection in my lifetime.

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Actually, if the Pats win the Super Bowl, there goes your Dolphins' badge of honor as the only TRUE undefeated team in NFL history (The 34 and 42 versions of the Bears went undefeated in the regular season, but lost the NFL championship game both times, which is why those two don't count as "Perfect Seasons").

By the way, good luck in the draft; you guys have the top pick, AND have Bill Parcells in your front office. He's already begun his shake-up of the organization, and I am confident that he will rebuild your Dolphins franchise to challenge the Pats' status as kings of the AFC East. Look what he's done to the Giants in the 80s, Pats in the early-to-mid 90s, Jets in the late 90s, and my Cowboys from 03-06. He is damn good at turning bad teams around, and he's very good at rebuilding teams that are leaking oil. His role in rebuilding the Cowboys organization is responsible for them going 13-3 this year. As Parcells once said after a personnel dispute with Pats owner Robert Kraft during his tenure there, "If you want me to cook the dinner, at least you ought to let me shop for some of the groceries, okay?" Parcells is VERY good at shopping for the groceries. He did just that with the Cowboys (albeit with Jerry Jones' credit card), but Wade Phillips was cooking the dinner this season to the tune of 13-3, an NFC East title, a first round bye, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Trust me, your Dolphins will be in good shape. I have a feeling Parcells will be stockpiling draft picks this year, whether he uses the first overall pick to do that, or if he uses Ricky Williams (who has been known to command draft picks in trades; look what the Saints gave up just to move up a measily two spots to draft him).

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Originally Posted by Bloodline666

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Originally Posted by Ouch!

As a Dolphin's fan, I have every reason to want to see the Pats lose. I hate the Jets out of obligation, but ever since I've started caring about football, it's the Patriots that constantly dismantle us. I hate the Patriots by choice. Further, I'm sure everyone knows that the Pats are on their way to joining the '72 Dolphins in their pursuit for perfection. I'm not the kind of fan that claims stuff his team did seventeen years before he was born, but damn it, it's nice for the Dolphins to hold on to something these days.

Despite all that, I want the Pats to win. Although I hate them, I find myself wanting them to win. I want to see them go undefeated through the Super Bowl. The Patriots are almost undeniably the best football team ever assembled, and damn it, I want them to win. I hate myself for it, but I want to see perfection in my lifetime.

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Actually, if the Pats win the Super Bowl, there goes your Dolphins' badge of honor as the only TRUE undefeated team in NFL history (The 34 and 42 versions of the Bears went undefeated in the regular season, but lost the NFL championship game both times, which is why those two don't count as "Perfect Seasons").

By the way, good luck in the draft; you guys have the top pick, AND have Bill Parcells in your front office. He's already begun his shake-up of the organization, and I am confident that he will rebuild your Dolphins franchise to challenge the Pats' status as kings of the AFC East. Look what he's done to the Giants in the 80s, Pats in the early-to-mid 90s, Jets in the late 90s, and my Cowboys from 03-06. He is damn good at turning bad teams around, and he's very good at rebuilding teams that are leaking oil. His role in rebuilding the Cowboys organization is responsible for them going 13-3 this year. As Parcells once said after a personnel dispute with Pats owner Robert Kraft during his tenure there, "If you want me to cook the dinner, at least you ought to let me shop for some of the groceries, okay?" Parcells is VERY good at shopping for the groceries. He did just that with the Cowboys (albeit with Jerry Jones' credit card), but Wade Phillips was cooking the dinner this season to the tune of 13-3, an NFC East title, a first round bye, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Trust me, your Dolphins will be in good shape. I have a feeling Parcells will be stockpiling draft picks this year, whether he uses the first overall pick to do that, or if he uses Ricky Williams (who has been known to command draft picks in trades; look what the Saints gave up just to move up a measily two spots to draft him).

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I'm well aware that the Pats winning will get rid of our, as you put it, badge of honor. Hence the internal conflict.

I don't doubt that Parcells is going to turn the Dolphins around. I'm just not expecting it to happen overnight. There's a lot that needs to be fixed, defensively and offensively. I definitely expect that we'll trade down with the first draft pick. There's too many positions we need to fill. The first pick is great, but one superstar won't fix enough of our problems.

Also, I think you're overly optimistic about Ricky Williams. I love the guy, to be sure, but he's not proven himself to be reliable. I'd hoped that had he stuck around this season, he might have done enough to attract attention for a good trade. As it stands, he's an unknown commodity, and I don't think anyone is going to be willing to make any big trades for someone who may or may not perform (or, in all actuality, even stick around). I don't expect to get anything of value for Ricky, so I think it might be best to hold him for a while longer. Besides, rushing-heavy teams is Parcells football; one could do a lot worse to start with than Ronnie and Ricky. Unless I'm entirely wrong and someone really wants Ricky, I don't see much value in trading him for less than he may be worth.

During the last game of the Dolphins season, there were some stats about teams turning around from a 1-15 season to the play-offs. The shortest was two years. The longest was four. At this point, I can stand to wait for either. I'm just glad to finally see some acknowledgment that change is necessary. The franchise has been jumping from one failed quick-fix to the next for too long. Picking up the Big Tuna was a step in the right direction; the Dolphins have been in sore need of an executive with Parcells's experience for a damn long time.

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Originally Posted by Ouch!

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Originally Posted by Bloodline666

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Originally Posted by Ouch!

As a Dolphin's fan, I have every reason to want to see the Pats lose. I hate the Jets out of obligation, but ever since I've started caring about football, it's the Patriots that constantly dismantle us. I hate the Patriots by choice. Further, I'm sure everyone knows that the Pats are on their way to joining the '72 Dolphins in their pursuit for perfection. I'm not the kind of fan that claims stuff his team did seventeen years before he was born, but damn it, it's nice for the Dolphins to hold on to something these days.

Despite all that, I want the Pats to win. Although I hate them, I find myself wanting them to win. I want to see them go undefeated through the Super Bowl. The Patriots are almost undeniably the best football team ever assembled, and damn it, I want them to win. I hate myself for it, but I want to see perfection in my lifetime.

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Actually, if the Pats win the Super Bowl, there goes your Dolphins' badge of honor as the only TRUE undefeated team in NFL history (The 34 and 42 versions of the Bears went undefeated in the regular season, but lost the NFL championship game both times, which is why those two don't count as "Perfect Seasons").

By the way, good luck in the draft; you guys have the top pick, AND have Bill Parcells in your front office. He's already begun his shake-up of the organization, and I am confident that he will rebuild your Dolphins franchise to challenge the Pats' status as kings of the AFC East. Look what he's done to the Giants in the 80s, Pats in the early-to-mid 90s, Jets in the late 90s, and my Cowboys from 03-06. He is damn good at turning bad teams around, and he's very good at rebuilding teams that are leaking oil. His role in rebuilding the Cowboys organization is responsible for them going 13-3 this year. As Parcells once said after a personnel dispute with Pats owner Robert Kraft during his tenure there, "If you want me to cook the dinner, at least you ought to let me shop for some of the groceries, okay?" Parcells is VERY good at shopping for the groceries. He did just that with the Cowboys (albeit with Jerry Jones' credit card), but Wade Phillips was cooking the dinner this season to the tune of 13-3, an NFC East title, a first round bye, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Trust me, your Dolphins will be in good shape. I have a feeling Parcells will be stockpiling draft picks this year, whether he uses the first overall pick to do that, or if he uses Ricky Williams (who has been known to command draft picks in trades; look what the Saints gave up just to move up a measily two spots to draft him).

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I'm well aware that the Pats winning will get rid of our, as you put it, badge of honor. Hence the internal conflict.

I don't doubt that Parcells is going to turn the Dolphins around. I'm just not expecting it to happen overnight. There's a lot that needs to be fixed, defensively and offensively. I definitely expect that we'll trade down with the first draft pick. There's too many positions we need to fill. The first pick is great, but one superstar won't fix enough of our problems.

Also, I think you're overly optimistic about Ricky Williams. I love the guy, to be sure, but he's not proven himself to be reliable. I'd hoped that had he stuck around this season, he might have done enough to attract attention for a good trade. As it stands, he's an unknown commodity, and I don't think anyone is going to be willing to make any big trades for someone who may or may not perform (or, in all actuality, even stick around). I don't expect to get anything of value for Ricky, so I think it might be best to hold him for a while longer. Besides, rushing-heavy teams is Parcells football; one could do a lot worse to start with than Ronnie and Ricky. Unless I'm entirely wrong and someone really wants Ricky, I don't see much value in trading him for less than he may be worth.

During the last game of the Dolphins season, there were some stats about teams turning around from a 1-15 season to the play-offs. The shortest was two years. The longest was four. At this point, I can stand to wait for either. I'm just glad to finally see some acknowledgment that change is necessary. The franchise has been jumping from one failed quick-fix to the next for too long. Picking up the Big Tuna was a step in the right direction; the Dolphins have been in sore need of an executive with Parcells's experience for a damn long time.

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Ahh...1-15 turnarounds! I vividly remember when the Cowboys went from 1-15 in 89, to the playoffs in 91. That was the record for shortest turnaround for 1-15 turnarounds. That was around the time I first started watching football, let alone became a Cowboys fan. And, that particular turnaround...produced not only a Super Bowl on the THIRD YEAR AFTER THE 1-15 SEASON, but it also spawned THREE Super Bowls in FOUR seasons. That alone should make two years a short time to wait. Don't think that the Dolphins can't go from 1-15 to a Super Bowl in three years, because it happened before. But what the Dolphins need for that to even be a remote possibility is a bonafide solution at quarterback. I, myself, have had to suffer with my team not having a franchise quarterback for 6 years (we are on QB number NINE since Troy Aikman's retirement, and that QB just happens to be that franchise QB we were looking for, and look what it did for the Cowboys). I can't even count how many QBs the Dolphins have gone through (including this season) since Dan Marino retired.

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Originally Posted by Bloodline666

I can't even count how many QBs the Dolphins have gone through (including this season) since Dan Marino retired.

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I do believe Beck was the twelfth QB the Dolphins have started since Marino left the team. While I agree that a solid franchise QB will be important to the team, there are also a lot of other problems that need to be fixed. Our best players on defense are either at or nearing the end of their careers. The offensive line definitely needs some work. Satale did a good job starting at center as a rookie, and more of the line needs to see that same kind of development. We need to make some smart draft picks (as far as I know, only one of Saiban's picks is still on the team) and trades to renovate the whole team. We have to be beyond trying to find quick-fixes with new QBs.

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Originally Posted by Ouch!

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Originally Posted by Bloodline666

I can't even count how many QBs the Dolphins have gone through (including this season) since Dan Marino retired.

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I do believe Beck was the twelfth QB the Dolphins have started since Marino left the team. While I agree that a solid franchise QB will be important to the team, there are also a lot of other problems that need to be fixed. Our best players on defense are either at or nearing the end of their careers. The offensive line definitely needs some work. Satale did a good job starting at center as a rookie, and more of the line needs to see that same kind of development. We need to make some smart draft picks (as far as I know, only one of Saiban's picks is still on the team) and trades to renovate the whole team. We have to be beyond trying to find quick-fixes with new QBs.

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Let's also not forget that injuries have certainly helped derail you guys. While I am counting my lucky stars that my team has the league's shortest IR list with two players, you guys' injury situation is so bad that Ricky Williams went on IR only six carries after being reinstated (which I believe could have been the result of an unsportsmanlike act).

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Originally Posted by Bloodline666

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Originally Posted by Ouch!

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Originally Posted by Bloodline666

I can't even count how many QBs the Dolphins have gone through (including this season) since Dan Marino retired.

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I do believe Beck was the twelfth QB the Dolphins have started since Marino left the team. While I agree that a solid franchise QB will be important to the team, there are also a lot of other problems that need to be fixed. Our best players on defense are either at or nearing the end of their careers. The offensive line definitely needs some work. Satale did a good job starting at center as a rookie, and more of the line needs to see that same kind of development. We need to make some smart draft picks (as far as I know, only one of Saiban's picks is still on the team) and trades to renovate the whole team. We have to be beyond trying to find quick-fixes with new QBs.

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Let's also not forget that injuries have certainly helped derail you guys. While I am counting my lucky stars that my team has the league's shortest IR list with two players, you guys' injury situation is so bad that Ricky Williams went on IR only six carries after being reinstated (which I believe could have been the result of an unsportsmanlike act).

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While the Dolphins are a terrible team--there's really no denying that--yes, one must recognize that just about everything bad that could feasibly happen to the team did happen to the team. There were so many injuries. I mean, let's put it this way; we had to bring Gado back only days after he'd been cut from the team because we'd lost all of our other running backs to injuries.

Also, Ricky got stepped on after a fumble. While the replay did make it look like the guy's foot was going a bit out of its way to land on Ricky's chest, I'm not going to go as far as saying it was foul play.

My predictions for wild card weekend:
AFC:
Tennessee Titans (6) @ San Diego Chargers (3)
Chargers. The Titans shouldn't even be in the playoffs imo. The defense is there but Vince Young is so unpredictable.

Jacksonville Jaguars (5) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (4)
Jaguars. I think the jags will have little trouble with willie parker gone.

Washington Redskins (6) @ Seattle Seahawks (3)
Go redskins! this could be a good game right here. I'm going to go with the skins.

New York Giants (5) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4)
I think the Giants should win but who knows how Eli is going to play. I just don't see tampa doing it this year. maybe next.

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Originally Posted by Bert

Tennessee Titans (6) @ San Diego Chargers (3)
Chargers. The Titans shouldn't even be in the playoffs imo. The defense is there but Vince Young is so unpredictable.

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You have injuries to thank for that. Remember, Vince Young is on the cover of Madden 08, and I presume you are familiar with the "Madden Curse." Vince Young was hit with it. Not to mention the Titans went 0-3 when Albert Haynesworth (who I still despise to this day, thanks to his stomping act last year) went down with an injury. Had the Cleveland Clowns (as I call them) not choked against Ocho Cinco, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and the Bengals in Week 16 and the Colts not sat their starters in the second half last week, the Titans would be at home watching the Browns playing against LT2 and the Chargers. That Browns loss to Cincy gave the Titans an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot by virtue of the Conference Record tie-breaker over Cleveland, which they did. So Tennessee did have a few lucky dice roll in their favor.

However, should Vince Young reaggrivate his injury in any way, don't sleep on his backup, Kerry Collins. Since Young and Collins are two different styles of quarterback, it's gonna be tough for the Chargers to game-plan for both.

While it is true that Tennessee can stop the run and rush the passer, I will say that their secondary would be a lot more dangerous had the Pacman not gone to a Vegas strip club and "made it rain".

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Originally Posted by Bert

Jacksonville Jaguars (5) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (4)
Jaguars. I think the jags will have little trouble with willie parker gone.

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The Steelers could not beat the Jags in the regular season with Willie Parker in the line-up. So I would say whether or not they did have Willie Parker is irrelevant; simply put, the Jags are a team built for cold and inclement weather, despite the fact that they play their home games in Florida. That's scary, not only for the Steelers, but also for the Pats. However, it appears the Jags' defense is built to stop the run more than it is to stop the pass, which would play right into the Pats' hands, should they meet next week, or in the AFC title game. Abandoning the run is usually equivalent to either suicide, or waving the white flag, but we all know the complete opposite is true when the Pats abandon the run.

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Originally Posted by Bert

New York Giants (5) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4)
I think the Giants should win but who knows how Eli is going to play. I just don't see tampa doing it this year. maybe next.

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The Giants have had a bad playoff history with a quarterback by the name of Jeff Garcia. The first time, the Giants had the Niners where they wanted them, but Jeff Garcia rallied the Niners to stave off the Giants in a come-from-behind victory. And of course, there's last year, when Jeff Garcia stepped in for Donovan McNabb in the middle of the season and rallied the Eagles to win the NFC East, and beat the Giants in the playoffs. Both times happened in this round of the playoffs. Well, the Giants this year have to take on the Bucs, whose starting quarterback just so happens to be...Jeff Garcia, the man who has tormented them in the playoffs twice already.