Divisional Playoff Picks

From my end, Atlanta was sort of a shocking disappointment last weekend. In retrospect, it was both of my higher confidence games that were wrong, but it's just too hard for me to take the Cardinals seriously and most everyone had the Colts winning that game last week.

Still, here's a look at how everyone else did last week:

ESPN Accuscore: 3-1
Eric Allen, ESPN: 3-1
Jason Cole, Yahoo!: 3-1
Mike Golic, ESPN: 3-1
Chris Mortensen, ESPN: 3-1
Charles Robinson, Yahoo!: 3-1
Seth Wickersham, ESPN: 3-1
YOURS TRULY: 2-2
James C. Black, Yahoo!: 2-2
Merril Hoge, ESPN: 2-2
Ron Jaworski, ESPN: 2-2
Mark Schlereth, ESPN: 2-2
Michael Silver, Yahoo!: 2-2
David Fleming, ESPN: 1-3

And here's how I've got this weekend breaking down:

Carolina Panthers over Arizona Cardinals

Last week, the Cardinals got the benefit of a home crowd that I hadn't really anticipated being a factor against Atlanta, another dome team.

Carolina's a much tougher team than the Falcons and is probably already looking forward to another shot at the Giants in New York for the NFC Championship.

Pittsburgh Steelers over San Diego Chargers

The NFL is dying for a Giants-Steelers Super Bowl; it would be a cash cow.

The Chargers could indeed be a team peaking at the right time. But I think the Steelers can overcome any problems with Big Ben and shut down the Chargers in Pittsbugh.

Baltimore Ravens over Tennessee Titans

As I mentioned recently, the Ravens officially became "my boys" last Friday night. It really was quite a hoot, because last time we did one of these lottery pools, I got whatever was left and for the NBA Playoffs, I landed the Wizards. Yuck.

But this time around, I feel quite differently. Derrick Mason would relish the chance to have a big game.

Philadelphia Eagles over New York Giants

I kept going back and forth over this, but this actually seems like the way I can see the Giants going out this year. They looked unstoppable for so much of the year and can certainly still be formidable without Plaxico, but I'll stand by what I said earlier this week and go with Philly simply because they're the hotter team right now.