24 Hours 'Til Sunday — Andy Richardson

It's 24 hours until Sunday, but only a few hours until the first two playoff games, which will be Saturday. Some last-minute notes:

Falcons at Cardinals: It seems like pretty much everyone believes Atlanta will win this game -- including evidently Cardinals "fans," who haven't sold out the place last I heard. It's only their first home NFL playoff game EVER in Arizona. And certainly the 9-7 Cardinals, who won 6 of their games against their lousy division and went 3-7 against the rest of the league, aren't that great. Still, a quarterback like Kurt Warner and his wideouts pretty much define the term "puncher's chance." It's funny how the schedule works out that today we'll get two high-scoring shootouts, most likely, while tomorrow will be a pair of defensive struggles. Anyway, I'd happily back both quarterbacks, both sets of starting wideouts, and Michael Turner in this game. Should be a fun one, albeit the least-watched of all this weekend's games.

Colts at Chargers: Will this be the toughest game the Colts face on their way to the Super Bowl? Maybe. They narrowly beat the Chargers earlier in the season and lost to them twice last year, including in the playoffs. We know Manning can beat the other teams in the playoffs, as he has done so recently and in some cases convincingly. Despite San Diego's favorable history, I don't see how they can stop Indy's offense right now. I'm a little wary of starting banged-up LaDainian Tomlinson (groin) and I want no part of Antonio Gates, who has a high-ankle sprain. Both will probably play, but in a salary-cap league where I've got plenty of choices, no way am I gambling on them. Super day to use guys like Dallas Clark and pretty much any Colts wideout, and Manning too, of course. The Colts putting up 40 points wouldn't be surprising.

Ravens at Dolphins: Tough to overlook the Ravens winning this game convincingly early in the season, but similarly tough to underestimate the Dolphins, who made a season out of defying expectations. I'll give Chad Pennington and Anthony Fasano (with David Martin coming off a concussion) a chance to be decent fantasy options, but I'd much rather use players like LeRon McClain (even though Miami is better against the run) and maybe Derrick Mason, who's been playing through pretty daunting injuries of late. Tough guy. Probably a low-scoring game, but sometimes low-scoring games get out of hand late with the Ravens involved as turnovers start to show up.

Eagles at Vikings: I'm thoroughly confident in the Eagles winning this game, which means I'll probably be wrong. History suggests they can stop Peterson, but sometimes history doesn't matter with superstars. Then again, I know they can harass Tarvaris Jackson into a horrible first half, after which he could be yanked for Gus Frerotte, and HE'LL be harassed into a horrible second half. I like the Eagles having enough success with the run and the pass to move on; I love their defense here, too. Vikings sound like they'll be without run-stuffer Pat Williams, which is bad news for their defense.

Enjoy the games.

• Comments [0]

Readers' Comments

Add a Comment

Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.

To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.