East Coast Bias Totally Off-the-Cuff Playoff Picks

Since we did such a great job picking against-the-spread this year during the regular season, we decided to continue our picks through the playoffs. Of course, this version of picks is straight up and is done in "bracket format" (i.e. projecting the playoffs all the way through). You'll see some variation in our picks. J-Red will join in with his picks just as soon as he finds airfare to Florida for the Ravens playoff game for under $500.00.

J-Red is also going to provide a statistical angle for picking the Wild Card games based on comparing Strength of Victory and Strength of Defeat for those eights.

Brien:
AFC:
Round 1:
Baltimore over Miami - I took the Ravens to win the Super Bowl at 14/1
Indianapolis over San Diego - The Colts are hot

Round 2:
Baltimore over Tennessee - The Titans have been slipping and the Ravens are red-hot
Indianapolis over Pittsburgh - The Colts pass rush will get to Roethlisberger again

Championship:
Indianapolis over Baltimore - The Colts always have the Ravens' number.


NFC:
Round 1:
Atlanta over Arizona - The Cards are in a free-fall. They're lucky they played in a weak division
Philadelphia over Minnesota - Andy Reid or Brad Childress is a tough choice

Round 2:
NY Giants over Philadelphia - The Giants have looked really good lately
Carolina over Atlanta - I haven't seen the Panthers play much, but they look really good

Championship:
NY Giants over Carolina - Playoff experience counts for a lot.

Super Bowl:
Oh Look, it's an all-Manning Super Bowl. That story line wouldn't get overplayed at all with a week off before the Super Bowl. NY Giants over Indianapolis - Repeat champs


J-Red:
AFC:
Wild Card
Baltimore over Miami - Ravens win convincingly with no Miami run game.
San Diego over Indianapolis - I just have a feeling the Colts are going to relax a little too much.

Divisional
Baltimore over Tennessee - The Titans are another good matchup for the Ravens
Pittsburgh over San Diego - Pittsburgh won't overlook San Diego, and they have the D to stop Rivers.

AFC Championship
Pittsburgh over Baltimore - And don't speak to me for the next week.

NFC:
Wild Card
Atlanta over Arizona - Arizona just isn't very good.
Philadelphia over Minnesota - Philly has some "fate is on our side" momentum.

Divisional
NY Giants over Philadelphia - There's a huge talent gap here.
Carolina over Atlanta - Carolina can get into a shootout if necessary.

NFC Championship
Carolina over NY Giants - I think this is where Plaxico's absent hurts the Giants the most.

Super Bowl
Pittsburgh over Carolina - I'm already looking forward to the game and dreading the aftermath.

Jeremy:
AFC:
Round 1
Baltimore over Miami - Miami is much better than Week 7, but so are the Ravens
Indianapolis over San Diego - This actually might not be the laugher people think.

Round 2
Tennessee over Baltimore - The Ravens could pull this out, but I think first to 13 wins.
Pittsburgh over Indianapolis - It all comes down to the Steelers secondary and whether Big Ben is healthy.

Championship
Pittsburgh over Tennessee - Another first to 13 winner.

NFC:
Round 1
Arizona over Atlanta - The Matt Ryan express may hit the end of the road.
Philadelphia over Minnesota - The Eagles are firing on all cylinders right now.

Round 2
Philadelphia over New York Giants - A strange pick to make, but I'm in awe of their performance against Dallas.
Carolina over Arizona - Too many weapons for the Panthers.

Championship
Carolina over Philadelphia - Philly's rush defense will have problems against the two-headed Stewart-Williams attack and Philly will be tired.

Super Bowl:
Pittsburgh over Carolina - Pittsburgh will shut down the Carolina rushing game and force Jake Delhomme to win a Super Bowl. Don't see that so much.



Russell:
AFC:
Round 1:
Baltimore over Miami - The Ravens defense is really good
Indianapolis over San Diego - The Colts are hot and much better than the 8-8 Chargers

Round 2:
Baltimore over Tennessee - Ravens D over a run-oriented Titans team in a classic slug-fest
Pittsburgh over Indianapolis - The Steelers have been finding a way to win all year

Championship:
Pittsburgh over Baltimore - In a matchup of two very similar teams, I give the edge to Big Ben's experience


NFC:
Round 1:
Arizona over Atlanta - The Falcons had a good run, but the Cards will be too much at home
Philadelphia over Minnesota - The Eagles D will expose the Vikings QBs

Round 2:
NY Giants over Philadelphia - The Giants have looked really good lately
Carolina over Arizona - The Cards aren't so good on the East Coast

Championship:
Carolina over NY Giants - Carolina should have won this game a week ago, they won't miss the FG this time.

Super Bowl:
Carolina over Pittsburgh - Carolina's D will sack Big Ben a lot, and I think Delhomme has enough weapons in the passing game to keep the Steelers honest


RECAP (Super Bowl Predictions):
Brien - NY Giants over Indianapolis
J-Red - Pittsburgh over Carolina
Jeremy - Pittsburgh over Carolina
Russell - Carolina over Pittsburgh