Finally! Giants and Chargers Win Playoff Games!

-Giants 24, Buccaneers 14
Hero: Eli Manning
Goats: Tampa Bay secondary
Turning Point: Josh Bidwell's terrible punt early in the 2nd giving the Giants great field position (which they would tie the game with) after Tampa dominated the first 20 minutes
Next: @ Dallas

Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin finally got the monkey off their back by winning a playoff game. Manning played very efficiently in leading the Giants to the road win in Tampa. The Bucs took the running game away from the Giants for the most part, so Eli had to be good in order for the Giants to win. I thought a big play in this game was when Jeff Garcia missed Joey Galloway which would have given the Bucs a first down while up 7-0. The next play was a short punt that put the Giants at midfield, and allowed them to even up the game and change all the momentum.

The 16-play, 4th quarter drive was the signature drive of the game. I know fans didn't want to admit it at the time with Garcia having led the 49ers to that huge comeback against the Giants, but that drive effectively ended the game. The Giants defense was also fantastic today in giving Garcia problems the entire way. Right now the Giants are a very balanced team and will head down to Dallas with a lot of momentum. Coughlin's decision to play full throttle vs. New England has turned golden by giving the Giants a lot of confidence. Of the road teams in the divisional round, I think the Giants have the best shot to win other than probably Seattle in Green Bay. Will the third time be the charm?

-Chargers 17, Titans 6
Heroes: Chris Chambers, Vincent Jackson
Goat: None
Turning Point: Halftime adjustments
Next: @ Indianapolis

This game was a tail of two halves. The Titans' defense simply dominated the Chargers in the first half, and had chances to have more than just a 6-0 lead at halftime. A big play that kept lead just one possession was the Chris Brown fumble in the red zone. At worst they should have come away with another field goal there, and perhaps they have a 9-0 lead at the half. I didn't like the call to begin with on that play. It was a toss back to Brown so he could run to the outside. I have never been a big fan of those plays cause they result in big losses quite frequently. In this case I had more reason to dislike it because it allowed the big, fierce linebackers of San Diego to have clear tackles and clean looks at stripping the football. Shawne Merriman took full advantage. San Diego did nothing with it though so it was far from a momentum swing.

LaDainian Tomlinson didn't get going the entire game, so it was up to Philip Rivers in the second half. Rivers would play a brillant second half. He connected on several long passes to Chambers and Jackson. The Titans offense couldn't get anything going, and the field goal miss by Rob Bironas really hurt them at 10-6. I didn't like the TD call by the officials to make it 17-6, as I thought forward progress was stopped before LT placed the ball over the goal line. I doubt it would have mattered though as the Titans couldn't move against the Chargers defense. I don't have a goat for Tennessee in this game because I thought they gave a valiant effort. I did not expect them to make this a game. Jeff Fisher did a brillant job with so little this year. As for the Chargers, they are off to Indianapolis and a date with the Colts. They will have to get LT going if they want any chance for the upset.

Pat Morgan

NFL PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS

NFC Wildcard
3) Seattle 27, 6) Washington 17
I expect the Redskins' run to come to an end here after yet another long road trip. They have become an incredible story, but this is where the magic of Todd Collins will wear out. Expect Seattle's defense to give him a hell of a time. The Skins' D will play well too, but they won't score enough points on offense. Seattle is an awfully tough place to play, and the Seahawks are a much better team than the Skins.

5) NY Giants 20, 4) Tampa Bay 16
My only concern here is whether the Giants will experience an emotional letdown after going toe-to-toe with the Patriots this last weekend. They are the better team and have won on the road all season long. I like Jeff Garcia and Jon Gruden an awful lot, but I believe they are the product of a bad division. The Giants defense shouldn't have a problem with Tampa's offense, and I think Brandon Jacobs will be the difference in a defensive struggle.

AFC Wildcard
3) San Diego 28, 6) Tennessee 10
To me, this is the biggest lock of the Wildcard round. I know the Chargers are snake bit when it comes to the playoffs, but if they can't win this game, they will never win a playoff game. They have won six in a row, while the Titans have struggled since starting 6-2. Making the playoffs in year two of the Vince Young era is a big accomplishment already. The Chargers are about winning now. Just that fact alone tells me where the two teams are.

4) Pittsburgh 17, 5) Jacksonville 14
Jacksonville is the better team, but I can't see them winning in Pittsburgh twice in a four week span. Everyone seems to be projecting a Jaguars/Patriots matchup already, but I don't think the Jags are there quite yet. They are a remarkable story and will continue to get better as the years go on, but I think Pittsburgh wins a nail biter in this one. This is definitely the best game of the Wildcard round. I expect nothing short of a blood bath in this one!

(Rest of the Postseason: Reasons will come when matchups confirmed)

NFC Divisional
2) Green Bay over Seattle
1) Dallas over NY Giants

AFC Divisional
2) Indianapolis over San Diego
1) New England over Indianapolis

NFC Championship
Green Bay over Dallas (not since Buffalo/Dallas II have both #1 seeds met in the Super Bowl)

AFC Championship
New England (in a nail biter) over Indianapolis

Super Bowl XLII
New England over Green Bay (19-0)

Should the G-Men Go Full-Throttle vs. the Pats?

With the 38-21 victory in Buffalo today, the New York Giants clinched their third playoff berth in as many years. The Vikings loss to the Redskins tonight also means the Giants are locked in the playoffs as the NFC's fifth seed. They will travel to Tampa to play the Buccaneers, most likely in the Saturday wildcard primetime slot in two weeks.

Most importantly, the victory today means that the Giants will not have to knock off the undefeated New England Patriots this Saturday to ensure themselves a trip to the postseason. The Giants can either go full throttle to try and make NFL history or they can elect to rest some of their injury ridden players for their matchup with Tampa Bay. This has already been a hot issue of debate, but now that this scenario is a reality, expect it to beaten to death this week on sports radio, ESPN, etc.

As a historian of the NFL and wanting to see history earned in a competitive way, I would love to see the Giants challenge the Patriots and make them earn win number 16. However, the Giants should not be expected to do so, as they do not owe it to the NFL to risk injury that could seriously hamper their chances in the playoffs. Teams that clinch playoff spots with games remaining on their schedule have earned the right to decide whether they want to rest their players or not. Even if that game has playoff implications for the opponet (i.e. Tennessee vs. Indianapolis next week), or in this case with NFL history on the line.

For someone who is anticipating this game without my team involved, I would like to see the Giants play the game by giving it all they have to win. I can understand if they rest high injury risks like Plaxico Burress or Brandon Jacobs, but I hope they play Eli Manning, Amani Toomer, and the big play makers on defense. It will make for, potentially, some great drama on Saturday night.

However, I am not a Giants fan, so I don't have a team I'm emotionally tied with in the game. If the Jets were in this position, I would want the coaches to stress that the playoffs are the most important thing. I would love to play hard and try and win the game for a historic place in history, but a playoff win would be much more important to me. If the head coach feels the best way to win that playoff game is to rest and not risk having his players spending an exuberant amount of energy and emotion on a meaningless game then I would respect that. It is very possible if the Giants go full throttle against New England it will have no effect or even a positive effect on how they play against Tampa Bay. However, there are many instances where a team has an emotional letdown after a game that is deemed as HUGE! And should the Giants play New England full throttle, then the coaches would be sending their players the message that this game is huge.

This will be a great issue of debate this week, and ultimately we should agree with what the majority of Giants fans feel. We would want that respect if it was our team.

Pat Morgan