Broken-hearted wild card weekend

Falcons @ Cardinals - Rookie mistakes vs. old man experience. Arizona's mediocre defense actually stepped up and caused turnovers from Atlanta's hot offense. Funny little fact I read this morning: this is the Cards' first home playoff win since 1947 and I'll give them another 62 years to get their next one. They face the Panthers in Carolina on Saturday. Good luck Cards, you're going to need as much of it as possible. And sorry Falcons fans, but really you should just be amazed that you made the playoffs.

Colts @ Chargers - All I have to say is I hate the Broncos for their late season self-destruction which gave the AFC West to the Chargers. And now my little broken heart will weep for days as I pray the Steelers defense makes the Chargers offense cry for help. I swear I'm not bitter at all...

Ravens @ Dolphins - The Ravens defense dominated the Dolphins. The Fins turned the ball over 5 times including 4 INTs from Pennington. It was just ugly. Pennington looked far more like the rookie than Flacco did. Although, I do have to give props to Miami for coming back from last season's pathetic 1-15 finish to winning the AFC East and making the playoffs this season. Ravens meet the Titans on Saturday; should be a good one!

Eagles @ Vikings - The surging Eagles continued to surge with a win in Minnesota, which isn't very surprising. The Eagles will face the reigning Super Bowl champs, the NY Giants, on Sunday in New York. The division rivals should put on pretty good battle.

Playoff predictions

Yeah Coach...I want to talk about playoffs!

Let's start with the NFC. Currently the playoff picture for the NFC has the Giants, the Vikings, the Bucs, and the Cardinals as the division leaders with the Panthers, Falcons, Cowboys, and Redskins in the wild card race.

NFC East - The Giants have a tough schedule remaining but I don't think tough enough to knock them out. They have a 3 game lead over the Cowboys. The only way the Cowboys could overthrow the Giants is if the Giants lose their remaining games and the Cowboys win out the season. Not seeing that happen, seeing as the Cowboys remaining schedule includes @Steelers, Giants and Ravens at home, and @Eagles. I think the Cowboys will finish 10-6 at best. Prediction: New York Giants

NFC North - I think the Lions are going to take this division with flying colours. Haha ok kidding! The Vikings are sitting atop the NFC North right now at 7-5, but the Bears are 6-6, and the Packers are 5-7. Any of these teams could win the division. The Vikings play the Lions next then visit the Cardinals, then back home for the Falcons and Giants. So at worse, the Vikings end up 8-8. The Bears have 3 home games against the Jaguars, the Saints, and the Packers, then visit the Texans, which will probably put the Bears at 8-8. The Packers host the Texans, then are on the road to play the Jaguars, and the Bears, then have the Lions at home. The Packers could easily win out their season, leaving them at 9-7. So I'm either giving this to the Packers or the Vikings if they can pull out a win against the Cards, or maybe the Giants for the last game of the season since that game would probably be meaningless to the G-men. Prediction: Minnesota Vikings

NFC South - This is the toughest division in the NFC to decide on. The Bucs are tied with the Panthers at 9-3, but have already won their first matchup. The Falcons are just one game behind them at 8-4. The Bucs play guest to the Panthers next Monday night, then visit the Falcons, then are home to play the Chargers and the Raiders. The Bucs have already beat both the Panthers and the Falcons, and the Chargers and the Raiders shouldn't be a problem so the worst they finish is 11-5, but I'm feeling a 12-4 out of them with a loss to the Panthers who are undefeated at home. The Panthers play the Bucs (as just mentioned) and the Broncos at home, then on the road to play the Giants and Saints. So they finish out 11-5 and take a wild card. The Falcons play the Saints, the Bucs, the Vikings, and the Rams. Depending on the outcome at the Superdome, the Falcons finish either 11-5 or 10-6. Prediction: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC West - I'm not wasting my time. Prediction: Arizona Cardinals

Wild card - We haven't talked about the Redskins yet. They're currently 7-5 and have 2 hard games left (Ravens and Eagles) and 2 gimmes (Bengals and 49ers). So I'm putting them at 9-5 which makes them miss the playoffs since the Panthers should be 11-5, the Falcons 11-5 or 10-6, and the Cowboys 10-6. So who gets it if the Falcons and Cowboys both finish 10-6? Well they haven't played each other so it would turn into record against common opponents. That would give it to Dallas. Prediction: Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys (if I gave it to the Falcons, I'd get the cold shoulder from Dave so this is his influence)

AFC time. Division leaders as of right now: Jets, Steelers, Titans, and Broncos. Wild card hunt: Colts, Ravens, Patriots, and Dolphins.

AFC East - Oh God. Well the Bills are out because there's no way they'll win the rest of their season with Losman. So scratch that one out. So the Jets have the division right now at 8-4 with both the Pats and the Fins nipping at their heels at 7-5. The Jets have a trip to play the 49ers, home to the Bills, @Seahawks, and finish up at home against the Dolphins. As much as this pains me to say, they could easily win out the season. They might lose to the Dolphins. So I'm going to put them at 11-5. Patriots play @Seahawks, @Raiders, Cardinals, and @Bills. Easy 3 wins there. So they'll finish 10-6. Dolphins play @Bills (well in Toronto), 49ers, @Chiefs, and @Jets. So by week 17 they potentially could be 10-5, with the Jets 11-4. If this is the case, Jets win and go 12-4. If the Dolphins lose a game before this and come in at 9-6, the final game of the season won't matter and to the Jets and the Dolphins win finishing 10-6. So either way Fins go 10-6. Prediction: New York Jets

AFC North - Steelers or Ravens? Steelers are currently 9-3. They've got Cowboys, @Ravens, @Titans, and Browns. I think they beat the Cowboys and definitely Phil Dawson aka the Browns. But the Ravens and Titans on the road could be hard, but they already beat the Ravens once this year. So let's say they finish 12-4. Where's that going to put the Ravens? They're 8-4. They've got Redskins, Steelers, @Cowboys, and Jaguars. Let's say they win 2 of those (Redskins and Jaguars) putting them at 10-6. Prediction: Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC South - Titans currently have a 3 game lead over the Colts. Titans have Browns, @Texans, Steelers, and @Colts. They win their next 3 and then lose to the Colts (no this is not wishful thinking) at Lucas Oil finishing 14-2 and taking the division. Prediction: Tennessee Titans (I can't believe I just said that; it hurt a little)

AFC West - What’s with the West divisions? They’re terrible in both conferences. Prediction: Denver Broncos

Wild card - Colts have an easy schedule left minus one; Bengals, Lions, @Jaguars, and Titans. They can easily win the rest of the season and finished 12-4, which would give them the top wild card spot. Now’s the tricky part: Who gets the second wild card? According to my thoughts, the Patriots, Dolphins, and Ravens are tied at 10-6. Frankly, that’s too much tie-breaking for me to do right now. So I’m picking randomly. Prediction: Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens