NFL Playoff picks

In short, Dallas is playing extremely well, the Jets are overhyped, the Cardinals are pissed, and Baltimore is just as good as everyone thought they were at the beginning of the season. With all the speculation going into wild-card weekend, I'm leery of jumping on ramshackle bandwagons with teams whose stats the past few weeks have been over-inflated. I have to look at the whole season and hence my picks for the opening round:

Bengals (-2.5) over Jets

Has any team built up more hope in their fans than the Jets these past few weeks? Coming out of nowhere to make the playoffs in the final game of the regular season. Fantastic stuff. Unfortunately that is all gonna come crumbling down when they actually have to face the Bengals' starting lineup. Cincinnati has had too good of a season to have it taken away by a young and shaky New York team in the first round.

Ravens (+3) over Patriots

I love the Pats, they're my team, but they kinda gave their fans the middle finger this season and my other team, the Ravens, are looking like a stronger pick this year. Baltimore was one of my favorites to win the Super Bowl at the beginning of the season, and they were a couple last minute plays away from 11 wins, and I have a lot more faith in them to win this one against "crazy old Bill Belichick." I really think he's gonna find someway to mess things up, and the loss of Welker is huge. Let me repeat that HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGEEEEE!!! Where else can Brady throw except Moss, who's gonna have coverage on him so heavy he won't be able to see his own hand in front of his face? Combine that with New England's awful defense this season and the Ravens should win this in high-scoring fashion.

Cowboys (-4) over Eagles

I still have little faith in Donovan McNabb and a whole lotta love for Romo. The dude is inconsistent as all hell, but with back-to-back shutouts, he should have a little more courage throwing the ball knowing his defense has been standing strong lately. This should be a close one, as should all of these games actually, and it's not going to be a washout like the season ending pummeling the Cowboys handed the Eagles last week. There will be a little bit of revenge, but I don't think the Eagles will get up to much this game.

Cardinals (pick) over Packers

I have no idea what the Packers achieved last week by running up the score against a resting Cardinals team besides making themselves overconfident and Arizona mad. Not angry, mad. We all remember what the Cardinals did last year when no one had faith in them, and with a receiving core that is one of the best in the NFL, it's hard to write them off even if Green Bay does seem like the dominant team right now. That being said, the Packers are looking great right now and Rodgers is on fire. I really think that they could be Super Bowl bound, if (a big if) they can beat the Cards. It will be one of their toughest tests and if they can pull it off they could gain the momentum to take them to the big game. I just don't think they'll win though.