Divisional Playoffs

I started off 1-0 last week, and then it went down hill fast as I finished 1-3. I'll try to rebound this week.

Cardinals @ Saints
It's anybody's guess on how the Saints will come out and play today. Them and the Colts haven't had to play a meaningful game in about a month. But it's the Superdome, the place is going to be electric, and it's the number one offense in the NFL. I think the Saints defense will do a better job of stopping the Cards a bit more than the Packers did (how could they not?), and the Cardinals defense got lit last week and they're facing the number one offense? Forget about it. This game might be a shootout, but I see the Saints either jumping out to a big lead or having a bit more at the end to get the victory.

Ravens @ Colts
The Colts are another team you have no idea what to expect after laying down in games at the end of the regular season. Here's what I know in this game. The Ravens defense has stopped Peyton Manning before and they aren't intimidated. The Ravens don't give a flip where the game is played. The Ravens run the football, and the Colts have always had difficulty in stopping the run. I can't believe the line in this game is a full touchdown. I hate to go this way, but I like the Ravens to pull the upset and make the Colts think about taking games off in Week 15 next year.

Cowboys @ Vikings
I had to hear all week about how this game is so hard to predict because the Cowboys are the hottest team in the league or something. Well, the Chargers have won 11 games in a row, so forget the Cowboys being the hottest team ever. The Cowboys have almost been playing too good recently though, and I think that's about to run out for them this week. Brett Favre came back to football specifically for this game, these playoffs. They have a great defense, probably the most talented running back in the game and a tough offensive line. Plus, you have the Metrodome factor for the Cowboys to deal with all day. I think the purple people eater come out, stop Dallas running game and pick on Romo all day. The Cowboys magic runs out on Sunday.

Jets @ Chargers
The Jets have been a nice story with their strong defense and tough running game. Somehow the Bungals allowed a rookie running back to run all over them. The Chargers aren't going to allow Shonn Greene or Thomas Jones to run wild. I think San Diego will come out and stack the box and make Mark Sanchez beat them. He won't be able to do it. Meanwhile, the Chargers offense has too many weapons. Darrelle Revis can't cover Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and Darren Sproles out of the backfield. Add in the Chargers advantage in special teams and a big play there could put this game out of control.

Worst Performances of the Divisional Playoffs

Everyone likes to talk about the top performances from the weekend and hand out game balls all the time. But that won't be happening here. The Wheelhouse will hand out the worst performances from the latest NFL week. We want to know who failed and really stunk it up each week. So instead of game balls being awarded for good play, this will be like eggs being thrown out for terrible play. We'll hand out a couple here each week, but there's no limit as we'll let the bad play deem how many to give out.

Jake Delhomme, 17/34, 205 yards, 1 TD, 5 INTs, 1 fumble.
Jake Delhomme is not a great quarterback nor is he a bad quarterback. He has good games more often then he has his share of bad games. On Saturday night, however, Delhomme was downright awful in the Panthers loss to the Arizona Cardinals. We're talking one of the worst performances by a player in the history of the NFL postseason. In a game the Panthers were heavily favored, Delhomme did not keep it close as he turned the ball over six times...six! He threw five interceptions and lost one fumble on way to Arizona's easy 33-13 victory.

Sometimes you can't put all the interceptions on the quarterback, but this game it was pretty much all Delhomme's fault. He was impatient from the start of the game, making terrible reads and throwing into double and triple coverage while a couple times tossing it right to the Cardinals defenders. He said after the game that he apologized to his teammates in the huddle during the fourth quarter. I don't know if I've ever heard anyone else do that before. It was such a terrible performance that it almost became laughable at some point during the second half as it just was not his night at all. And the kicker was that this all happened on his birthday. Ouch. I feel bad for ol' Jake, but he gets an egg for that horrendous performance.

Eli Manning, 15/29, 169 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs.
There were plenty of bad performances in the Giants-Eagles game Sunday because the defenses were pounding the offenses all game, but the blame for the Giants has to fall on Eli Manning. He got the much deserved credit last year for their Super Bowl run, but he was not the same quarterback late in this season when they lost Plaxico Burress from the lineup. Manning's quarterback rating drop almost 30 points without Burress and yesterday, he did not get the job done at home for the G-men. He threw two interceptions, one directly in the stomach of Asante Samuel, ran probably the worst QB sneak in NFL history on fourth and inches and he failed to find a deep threat or get the ball into the end zone as they settled for three field goals.

Playcalling was also suspect in this game by New York. In what was a close game all four quarters, the Giants continued to try and put the ball in the air in windy conditions instead of pounding it to Brandon Jacobs all day. Jacobs was effective with 19 rushes for 92 yards, but could of easily had another 10 carries while Manning continued to struggle. And just like that, the defending champs were out.

Honorable mention this week goes to the referees in the Titans-Ravens game. Refs never had control of this slug fest from the first whistle, and how does a back judge miss a blatant delay of game in a tie game when his job is to watch the play clock?