With NFL football betting times just a short time away, Cappers Picks NFL handicappers have been hard at work putting out the team by team NFL Season Predictions & Previews for those of us who can’t wait. Bet on the first Monday Night Football game of the year.
The New Orleans Saints are in the Super Bow for the first time in franchise history while the Indianapolis Colts won a Super Bowl just three years ago. As they say, we have to learn from history.
The New York Jets are a road underdog for a third consecutive week and while most pundits are smelling a blowout in this contest, the reality is that the Jets don’t really get blown out all that often.
Brett Favre had a sour taste in his mouth when the lasting memory of his decorated NFL career was an interception that handed the New York Giants the NFC Championship back in 2007. Now he’ll have a chance to make a new lasting memory as he’s back in the Championship game – this time with the Minnesota Vikings.
NFC Championship Game – Vikings vs. Saints
All right, it’s time to pick some nits and make the case against the Minnesota Vikings going to the Super Bowl in a few weeks. And it’s has nothing to do with any deal with the devil that the old-man quarterback might have made. It goes like this:
The Colts are the teacher who in the first few months of school lets the students do whatever they want. The kids then take complete control of the class, and in November when the teacher realizes (s)he needs to put the hammer down, it’s damn near impossible.
The New Orleans Saints may have started the season with 13 straight wins, but as the saying goes, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. The Saints finished their regular season with three straight losses and headed into their bye week limping.
The Indianapolis Colts have been rusty a few times coming off of bye weeks and heading into playoff games but this year might be different.
Head coach Jim Caldwell decided to start resting his players in Week 15 instead of aiming for a perfect regular season score and the difference should pay off in the first round of the playoffs.
DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF – Cardinals vs. Saints
The freeze that enveloped the country this winter has made a stop in Louisiana, where the fandom has had a few weeks to come to grips with the fact that while the Saints aren’t certainly as bad as the outfit that limped home with three straight losses, they might not be the machine that nailed 13 in a row to start the season, either.
DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF – Cowboys vs. Vikings
You have questions? The Cowboys have the answers. Momentum? Dallas has four straight wins coming into Sunday’s playoff game against the Vikings.
Stopping Adrian Peterson? Dallas is the No. 4-ranked team against the rush this season.
To paraphrase George W. Bush, have we been misunderestimating the Jets?
We all looked at New York’s won-loss record in games in which the opponent was actually trying and saw a ho-hum 7-7 team with a blowhard coach and a rookie quarterback, a team that would certainly get its comeuppance once live ammo was in the guns and bullets started flying for real.
The big concern in Indianapolis all week – for the last three weeks, really – is how the Colts will perform after basically treating the final two games of the season as pre-season scrimmages. Is the momentum gone for good, or will the rest that Peyton Manning & Co. received in the final two games of the regular season be the key ingredient Saturday night?
The Arizona Cardinals decided to rest their starters in a meaningless contest against the Green Bay Packers but somehow they came out of it with injuries. Wide receiver Anquan Boldin suffered a knee and ankle sprain in the first quarter and corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie also suffered a knee contusion.
One of three rematches from Week 17. The Jets dominated the Bengals in that one, winning by a score of 37-0. Of course, the Bengals played their scrubs in that one and the score is not indicative to Cincinnati’s chances this Saturday. The Jets enter the playoffs with the leagues number one rated rushing attack and number one rated overall defense.
The Baltimore Ravens played a sloppy, undisciplined game against the New England Patriots back in Week 4 and they still had a shot at the end of the game to win it. If they have learned anything from that contest, they have an excellent chance to win.
Throw in the fact that the Patriots will be play without 123-reception man Wes Welker and you realize that the Ravens could be in very good shape to spring an upset.
In a rematch of last week’s Week 17 finale, the Eagles and Cowboys continued their storied rivalry in the first round of the playoffs. Before last week’s loss to Dallas, the Eagles were the NFC team-to-beat, and with good reason. They had won six straight, were getting healthier each week and looked better than they had all season.
