NFL Playoff Preview

As the 2011-2012 NFL Playoffs loom upon us, a fresh new look is what the NFL has given during the past season. Four different quarterbacks are making their first postseason start this weekend and there's 5 overall in this year's playoffs. I know my regular season picks hasn't exactly gone according to plan but that's past us (slight chuckle) and it looks to be another intriguing wild card weekend along with what looks to be an exciting month to come as the NFL's best clash for the ultimate title. Here is what's to come:

Well first things first. Before we get to the postseason we have to wrap up the regular season with individual awards.

MVP- Aaron Rodgers- 45 passing tds and 6 picks is impressive and Brees gives a decent fight and Matt Flynn didn't help A-Rod's case as well but Rodgers simply was the best player this season (the owner of Big Ass Td's knows well as he led him to the fantasy league championship)and set the record for passer rating this season with 122.5. The last minute drive against the Giants pretty much convinced me as well that this man is special.

Offensive POY- Drew Brees- Broke the single season passing record has to get you something doesn't it?

Defensive POY- Justin Smith- Tough Contest this year but someone on this defense deserves it, he or Patrick Willis but an honorable mention to Jared Allen, Charles Woodson and Demarcus Ware.

Offensive ROY- Cam Newton- Stats speak for themselves. Simply impressive and you got to give credit, where credit is due. He proved a lot of people, including me wrong. Dalton and Green get honorable mentions but at least they can care about their playoff game.

Defensive ROY- Von Miller- The real reason we know about Tim Tebow!!!!

Comeback POY- Matthew Stafford- (MY BOY!!!!) Helped restore the roar in Detroit and bring them back to the playoffs since '99. Honorable mention to Steve Smith.

Coach of the Year- Jim Harbaugh- Easiest choice of any award honestly. Schwartz, Lewis, Kubiak all get honorable mentions.

Okay now to the playoffs. It seems like all I've been doing lately is predicting, so this time I'll keep that to a minimum since "I got some splainin to do". So here it is team by team thats left in the playoffs and what they have to offer: (in order of seed)

1. New England Patriots
An uprising star at the tight end position in Rob Gronkowski has given Brady another huge target.(Like he needs it) The dual threat in Aaron Hernandez to match size with speed offered with the two tight ends pose a huge advantage towards opposing defenses. Clearly the offense is on cue as it should be as championship caliber. The real question is can their defense hold up? This defense allowed the second most passing yards in history in 4,703. The most was allowed by Green Bay also this year. This team goes against the whole mantra that defense wins championships. All they need to do is play good enough and force turnovers. They don't need stellar defense wit this tremendous offense however don't expect this team to score 40 in every game they play.

2. Baltimore Ravens
Finally this team gets a first round bye let alone a playoff home game thanks in help from the two wins and outside help against division rival Pittsburgh. Their legit defense, although shaky lately, is what would mainly help them down the road especially on the road (New England) in the playoffs. In order for this team to end up where they want, their young quarterback Joe Flacco needs to mature. They're going to need to score in the high 20s in at least one of their games and he is going to have to lead the way. As good as Ray Rice is, he thrives off of stellar play by "Joe Cool".

3. Houston Texans- It's about time! This season was just a main stepping stone for this team. Not much is expected from here on wit this team this season as they are completely banged up. Although they have a decent shot at winning at home this week against Cincy. TJ Yates probably wont leads this team to a Super Bowl. If they have any shot, Foster needs to Emmit Smith-esk and Andre Johnson needs to come back healthy and explode. (highly doubtful) Maybe next year guys!

4. Denver Broncos- I honestly don't know what to say with this team and I will refuse to mention his name more than twice in my blog so I wont. They have a good defense led by the stellar rookie Von Miller, and veteran Champ Bailey and are simply lucky to be here. That guy at Quarterback is lucky and this team finished 8-8 losing 3 games in a row and somehow made it here. And that's why I'm picking them to do the unthinkable! Hell no not winning it all, but somehow I wont be surprised if they beat Pittsburgh in the first round. Big Ben is hurt and thats all I need to hear to not be surprised if this team gets another fortunate win and it would be too good to be true to have ESPN stop talking about that fool.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers
Still has a vry good defense but are now on the injury train at the wrong time. Mendenhall is out Sunday and Big Ben has been inconsistent wit this injury. Listen dont get me wrong they SHOULD smack Denver on Sunday but I dont think it's going to happen. They need a healthy Roethlisberger and that defense to still be great in order for #7.

6. Cincinnati Bengals
Boy I was really off the mark on this team. I knew AJ Green was going to be good but no way did I think that defense was as good as it proved to be. Andy Dalton has a great rookie year that got overshadowed by Newton. TJ Yates lit this defense up with 300 yards last time these two teams played but I think things are going to change especially since Yates is ailing. Congrats on making it here. They need insane play by Dalton and Benson to even sniffing a championship but a decent shot at beating Houston Saturday.

1. Green Bay Packers
Well here is the clear favorite for winning it all again. The overly impressive offense and the best record in the league are no flukes and Aaron Rodgers has officially been claimed as the best Quarterback in the League by yours truly. However their real problem is their defense and banged up offensive line. They have the worst overall defense (I dont know how that happened with Clay Matthews and Woodson) but 0 teams have made a Super Bowl appearance with that attribute*. #Somethingtothinkabout

*According to Sports Illustrated

2.San Francisco 49ers
Led by a very impressive defense and chemistry this team is the other that I really missed the mark on. Patrick Willis, Justin and Aldon Smith headline it and will put up a good fight with the top high-flying NFC offenses. Their offense is the question and how good does Alex Smith need to be for them to be in the Super Bowl. Personally I think they dont have quite enough to compete with the remaining teams but they still seem to me like a question mark meaning they could be very good and live up to their record as well.

3.New Orleans Saints
Possibly the best offense we've ever seen led by Drew Brees and upstart tight end Jimmy Graham, this team enters the playoffs as this year's "hottest team". Their big obstacle is how well can their defense hold up as well and how many turnovers can they force compared to their Super Bowl team a couple years ago? Undefeated at home however struggle on the road and outside. Can they adapt to the environment in San Francisco if they get past (as expected) Detroit as well as keep up with Green Bay in Lambeau?

4. New York Giants
Another team that seems hot heading into the postseason. Eli Manning and emerging elite Victor Cruz has led this team all year being extremely impressive in the 4th quarter of games. A surprising stat especially for the Giants, is that they are dead last in rushing yards. SAY WHAT!?!?! Yup, even with "Earth and Wind" still left from 2007 this team can't run the football well. They will need for that to get better to keep opposing great NFC offenses off the field during what woudl they would hope to be a long playoff run. Also can their defense with the big uprising from Jason Pierre-Paul be similar to that of 2007? They still have that good D-line but can they force those big interceptions like they were able to do in those playoff games a few years back?

5. Atlanta Falcons
A somewhat disappointing year for this team can be all forgotten if Matty "Ice" Ryan can get his first playoff win and on the road. Michael Turner didnt really have an effective year but the good receiving core of Roddy White and Julio Jones helped this team reach the playoffs for the 3rd year in a row. However they really struggle against Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers (not many havn't) this season giving up a combined passer rating of 104.2 against them in 3 games. They need to lower that number in order to live up to the Super Bowl expectations they were given by many before the year.

6. Detroit Lions
Okay I'll start off by saying that I am extremely proud of my team for even getting this far this year but I'll end it at that. The biased point of view ends there. Calvin Johnson emerged as the best receiver in the league and Matthew Stafford quietly or not had a fantastic year by being one of the 3 passers this year to eclipse the 5,000 yard mark. Clearly the best of any Lions quarterback as ever had. Those are the good points to this team, now here are the negative. Let's get the obvious out of the way and say this team, in order to win playoff games, has to mature and stop committing stupid personal foul penalties that clearly cost the team on and off the field. The other negative is that the defense hasn't exactly lived up to the better expectations they were given in the beginning of the year. The so-called great "Silver Crush" hasn't done the damage it was projected to do but as once a great man named Lebron James said(some humor in that statement by the way)"We all know Rome wasn't built in one day." Plus the injuries at the running back position of Javhid Best and Mikael Leshoure hasn't helped. If this teams wants to defeat the very powerful Saints, that defensive line HAS TO play like they are projected to all season and get in the face of Drew Brees and stop the run and that's a very tall order. Congrats on accomplishing to get this far and the distant future looks very bright but the short run is kind of dim meaning on Saturday.

Read em and Weep:

Wild Card
CIN 23 HOU 17
DEN 17 PIT 13

NYG 27 ATL 24
NO 35 DET 23

Divisional
NE 31 CIN 17
BAL 24 DEN 10

GB 31 NYG 27
NO 28 SF 20

Conference

BAL 27 NE 21

NO 38 GB 35

Super Bowl XLVI

BAL 27 NO 24

SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS ~ Baltimore Ravens