The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

One thing's for sure.  This is definitely a wild Wild Card weekend (pun intended).  The Redskins, Seahawks, Colts, and Vikings are what make it wild.  I'll bet that there aren't too many fans who, at the beginning of the season, thought that these four teams would still be playing at this point.  Here are my predictions:

Colts at Ravens- Andrew Luck's rookie season has got to be a feel good story as he is in contention for the Rookie of the Year on offense award and has lifted a 3 win team to a fifth seed in the playoffs.  Colts fans should feel extremely lucky that they didn't experience a drop off in quarterback play as, essentially, one franchise quarterback was replaced with another.  That said, nothing will prepare a rookie quarterback for the experience of playoff football in the NFL, especially against a defense as ferocious as the Ravens.  Ray Lewis has announced his retirement, which should give the defense an added boost because this is more than likely his final game in Baltimore.  Add a cold outdoor climate and a raucious Ravens crowd, and I see Luck quickly running out of luck.     
Prediction: Ravens    


Bengals at Texans- It's been four weeks of hell for Houston.  They lost three of their last four games, and blew the top seed in the playoffs (and the home field advantage that came with it).  A perfect example of how NOT to enter the playoffs.  Arian Foster seems to have hit a wall, Matt Schaub has lost his edge, and the defense can't stop anyone.  They will have a very tough time stopping the guy with the 18 on his jersey who has become a favorite target of sophomore sensation Andy Dalton.  If Houston had a first round bye, that would be one thing.  However, this coming on the heels of two disastrous losses to lesser opponents, I can't see them regrouping in time. 

Prediction: Bengals


Vikings at Packers- Yes, Adrian Peterson has been in beast mode and nearly broke Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record.  Yes, Christian Ponder has steadily improved at quarterback, although having a guy like Peterson to hand the ball off to has probably had a lot to do with that.  Yes, the Vikings beat the Packers last week in a barn burner.  But that was in the Metrodome in a climate controlled environment.  This week features the frozen tundra and a Packers crowd that's as boistrous as any in the league.  While Peterson has done well in an outdoor environment, the Vikings as a team are not very good in cold weather.  Green Bay also might've taken Minnesota lightly last week.  Not so this week.  It is very difficult to beat a good team twice in a row.  It won't happen here. 

Prediction: Packers


Seahawks at Redskins-   This is the one everyone is going to watch.  Squaring off in this game are two teams who were fodder for the Super Bowl contenders for several years, two rookie quarterbacks who are both in contention for Rookie of the Year on offense, two running backs who are as good as any in the league, and two swarming defenses that can get the job done.  These two teams are about as evenly matched as you can get.  However, the most thunderous crowd at Fed Ex Field in a long time will tip the scales in Washington's favor. 

Prediction: Redskins

Ravens, Texans, Packers, Seattle (and I don't believe this one will even be close). -EK

Indianapolis,  Houston, Green Bay, Seattle

Wow. I'm shocked at the lack of responses. 

So far, Houston has outplayed Cincinnati but is only up by two.  AJ Green has not caught a pass.  If the Bengals get hot in the second half, they could be enjoying a Rocky Mountain high next week.

Dalton 4/10 for 3 yards in the first half. That's awful! "Tebow-like" numbers there!

Ravens
Texans
Packers
Seahawks

Dalton looks horrible, not surprised we beat them earlier in the season!

Christian Ponder has been ruled out for tonight's game

Houston dominated in total yards and time of possession.  But they only won by six.  Their defense will not stop Tom Brady the way they shut down Andy Dalton.

Agreed, they will need to open up that offence and I'm not sure that Schaub is capable of matching Brady in playing mistake free agressive football!

Looks like so far, I've underestimated Joe Webb

Rodgers is the man!  Even with a mediocre defence they are a REAL threat to go to the Super Bowl.

Think they will give the 49ers all they can handle next weekend!

Green Bay is stacking eight men in the box and bottling up Peterson.  I can see them giving San Fran a run for the money.

No Qb or Wr (Harvin) threat for Minnesota, hard to compete with the Packers weapons.

Sack, strip, and recovery by Clay Matthews.  To think the Dolphins had a shot at this stud linebacker but drafted Vontae Davis instead

Those 2 games today were terrible!

I agree.  The two today are much more intriguing

The first game is at least

So far, both teams have missed major opportunities for picks.  Indy has to feel good being down only four at the half

Luck didn't play well today

And Baltimore's defense shut down Luck and Co.  I can see them giving Peyton Manning fits next week.  The trouble is, the Broncos defense is just as talented and Joe Flacco is no Peyton Manning

Denver will eat up Baltimore next week

Luck was bad today, no way to spin it. He left a lot of plays on the field

Washington has come out on fire thus far.

Seattle settled down. I still expect them to win going away. -EK

tale of 2 quarters in this game. Looks to be a FG game

On a side note, RGII is going to have a short NFL career playing the style he plays.

Washington owned the first quarter.  Seattle owned the second.  One point game heading into the locker room

RGIII is the reason the Skins can't trade Cousins anytime soon for a bunch of picks. They need him cause RGIII's style of play is gonna have him injured often!

Seattle up 21-14.  RGIII has fumbled deep in Redskin territory and his re-injured knee has given out.  Just over six minutes to go.  If Seattle can score again, this one is in the books.

Looks like the predictions that Shanahan was going to ride RG into the ground have proven correct.

This ain't the Big 12! RGIII can't run around he IS going to get killed! His NFL career is going to be short!

One difference between RGIII and Russell Wilson, at least at this point in their careers, is that Wilson is a smarter runner, and avoids the big hit. I agree with MikeO and others. If RGIII doesn't start playing a safer version of the game, he'll end up being one of those shooting star players. Talented and brilliant...and gone before you know it.

 ;)
Hopefully RGIII is ok and is smart enough to work on this in the offseason.

Yahoo Sports is reporting that Coach Shanahan is catching some major heat for the way he's handled RGIII


http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--what-was-mike-shanahan-thinking-in-keeping-injured-robert-griffin-iii-in-ballgame--004331013.html

He should.  Outside the risk of major injury, it was apparent that leaving in the injured rookie star was killing their game.  They couldn't execute their game plan because he was not healthy enough to be a run option or even escape a pass rush.  I suspect the compensation for the injury was even affecting the accuracy of his passes.

I have no idea what Shanahan was thinking by leaving him in so long.

He was thinking, "it's the playoffs, I want to win." Shannahan was in a no win situation. If he leaves RG3 out there he gets killed for it because he was hurt; if he pulls him, the same media would be killing him because it was a playoff game that they were winning at the half, and Griffin would have all off season to get healthy. -EK

One of the worst coaching jobs ever putting a player at risk like that. Terrible move by Shanahan. It was actually disgusting.

THANK YOU.

Jay Cutler got killed for not playing and RG III played and is still getting killed.  It really is a no win situation. Other than second guessing the coach for leaving him in, I'm not sure any other criticism is really justified.

It's a big man's sport. It's knee that is going to have to be rebuilt anyway. No was was questioning or complaining when he threw his second TD and yet he was limping wildly. I don't think it's fair to go back now and act like it was wrong.

Thats the point I'm making.

Completely agree. Quotes from both men after the game:

""I probably would been right back out there on the field," Griffin said. "You respect authority, and I respect coach Shanahan. But at the same time, you have to step up and be a man, sometimes. There was no way I was coming out of that game."

"I don't feel like me being out there hurt the team in any way," Griffin said. "I'm the best option."
 
Shanahan said he spoke with Griffin throughout the game about the quarterback's health.
 
"He said, 'Hey, trust me. I want to be in there, and I deserve to be in there,'" Shanahan said. "I couldn't disagree with him."
 
http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2013-01-07/redskins-coach-mike-shanahan-rg3-injury-robert-griffin-iii-hurt-seahawks-game

If RG3 is pulled and the team loses, and he feels like he is OK to be in there and deserves to be in there, Shanahan gets crushed by second guessing Monday morning armchair QB's too. It's no-win. -EK