NFL Preview – Divisional

Cardinals @ Saints, Saturday 4:30pm
Mike: The Cards D struggled against the Packers. Have you heard about the Saints? Pick: Saints
Matt: Be prepared for another shootout. The Saints have not played well in a month and a half while the Cards ramped it up last week. Well, on offense anyways. Defense will again be optional this week. Turnovers will be key because I don’t see either defense stopping the offenses on a regular basis. The Superdome will be loud, but the Cards were good on the road this year. I’ll go with the playoff tested Cards. Pick: Cardinals
Ahad: I don’t think the Cards will be able to rise up again on a short week. Pick: Saints
Evan: Saints

Ravens @ Colts, Saturday 8:15pm
Mike: Two things: I don’t want to put too much in to that dominate Ravens game and I’m a little worried with how the Colts screwed up their resting of starters (I don’t have a problem with resting them, but usually they want to). i think those points level out the past few weeks. In that case, I have to trust in Peyton. Pick: Colts
Matt: You sure hope resting the starters and tanking down the stretch won’t hurt the Colts in this game. The Ravens only lost by two earlier in the season when playing in Indy. They were driving to win the game towards the end but Flacco threw an interception. They settled for too many FG’s in that game, and that certainly cannot happen this week. The Ravens will pose a problem with their run game, but I think Flacco will have to outduel Manning. I don’t see it happening. Like Mike said, trust in Peyton. Pick: Colts
Ahad: The Colts won’t spoon feed points to the Ravens with turnovers like the Pats did last week. This should be a close game, but in the end Manning will come through. Pick: Colts
Evan: Ravens

Cowboys @ Vikings, Sunday 1pm
Mike: You know who could really benefit from a week off? Farve. He got one last week. The whole Vikings team seemed to limp down the stretch. Coin flip. AP. Pick: Vikings
Matt: Much like Sports Guy’s Cousin Sal (who is a Cowboys fan) said, “Can I pay anyone to pick the Vikings in this game?” Mostly everyone out there is on the Cowboys bandwagon, and that makes me nervous. Granted, they are playing very well in all phases of the game. The Vikings had a Cowboy-like December and weren’t playing well on either side of the ball until they demolished the Giants to finish the season. This should be a tight game into the 4th quarter, so it will be up to which QB makes the big plays in the end. I think Romo outplays Favre, barely. Pick: Cowboys
Ahad: The Cowboys are a scary team right now. Look for the Vikings to try and establish the run to try and slow down the pass rush. If Ware and Spencer just tee off on rushing the qb, the Vikings will be in trouble. I think AP will be difference. Pick: Vikings

Jets @ Chargers, Sunday 4:40pm
Mike: Where last weekend we had 3 awful games and ended up with a classic, this week we could have 3 tight games followed by a clunker. The Jets need the same performance out of Sanchez. I don’t expect them to get it, but I didn’t expect it last week either. Pick: Chargers
Matt: I could easily see all of the road teams winning this week, but most people think this game is where it is least likely to happen. The Jets match up well with the Chargers actually. The Jets run the ball well, but the Chargers have had trouble stopping it. The Jets were #1 on defense, but they were vulnerable against the run, especially last week. Fortunately for them, the Chargers were one of the worst at running the ball, even with LT and Sproles. I think this will be another close game, but I think Sanchez will end up making the rookie mistakes he didn’t make last week. Rivers will have to be smart with the ball, especially with Revis locking up on Vincent Jackson. I think he gets the job done. Chargers win on a late FG. Pick: Chargers
Ahad: The Jets had their moment in the sun last week. The Chargers are the better team and will have no problem in this one. Pick: Chargers

Last Week
Matt 3-1
Everyone Else 2-2