NFL Playoffs

The pointy end of the season's here, with Washington and New England posting predictable victories yesterday. I'm not going to praise Indianapolis, even if I too think they'll win Superbowl XL. I'm "taking it one week at a time". Instead I'll predict tomorrow morning's games (both on Fox Sports - score!).

Starting with the 5am start of Carolina Panthers vs New York Giants, I'm backing the Panthers. They've got recent Superbowl experience, good offense and defense alike and also that explosiveness to generate the game-winning touchdown or interception. They've got what it takes to shut down Giants running back Tiki Barber and if they do that, they're only a couple of Eli Manning interceptions away from the win. Expect Jake "Daylight-come-and-me-wanna Delhomme" to find wide receiver Steve Smith for a couple of touchdowns.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cincinnati Bengals is a closer one. The Bengals have been entertaining and victorious all season...until the last few weeks. They're inexperienced in playoffs and some pundits have jumped off the bandwagon - but not I. They should be second in the AFC if not for the past month, but I still think they can pull out a big game here on both sides of the football. Pittsburgh knows how to grind out wins with Ben Roethlisberger in charge, but they'll need the Bengals to be below their best to snatch a victory in this one. Statisticians speculate that the Steelers-Bengals encounters have been the only ones in NFL history for both teams to feature a 14-letter-surnamed player, in T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Roethlisberger. I simply hope the winner smashes the *holding glass in front of mouth* "Denver Broncos" next week.