TRG, Playoff Edition: Wildcard Recap

Aside from Denver's huge upset, it was a fairly unsurprising wildcard round, with the rest of the favorites winning easily. The divisional matchups loom large this week, particularly in the NFC, where there are two great games in store. SF-NO and NYG-GB are both excellent matchups on paper, and it seems like those games can go either way. Baltimore-Houston and NE-Denver are a little less interesting, and most people expect the favorites (NE, Bal) to win easily. But hey, people thought Pittsburgh would win easily too. That's why they play the game. Here's a quick recap of last week's action, where I put up a solid 3-1 effort.

LOSSES

Arian Foster helped the Texans earn their first playoff win.

Cincinnati +3.5 over Houston: The game started well for the Bengals, but that was about it. Houston's defense was solid, and Cincy's young offense couldn't keep themselves in the game. The Bengals really need a fresh RB in there to improve their ground game; that would certainly help Dalton out. It's a nice story that Houston got the win, but the offense struggled most of the game against the Bengals, and it doesn't get easier this week going on the road against the Ravens.

WINS


New Orleans -10 over Detroit: Detroit's defense is worse than New Orleans, and that cost them the game. Both offenses looked good, and if the Lions can add some quality players to the secondary in the coming offseason, they will be a force to be reckoned with next season. The Saints offense looks great, but it's been awhile since they've faced a good defense like they will this week...

Two QB sneaks on 4th down showed the lack of faith in Turner.

NYG -3 over Atlanta: New York looks like they're stepping it up on defense just in time for the playoffs. Atlanta's inconsistent offense was exposed and they couldn't get anything going all day. I liked the Falcon's aggressiveness in going for it on 4th down, but you have to be better at picking up 1 yard. They're another team that could use a new RB.

Denver +9 over Pittsburgh: The Steelers secondary was torched in this one and they couldn't generate enough pressure against Tebow. Multiple early game injuries to the defensive line may have contributed to their problems, but that still doesn't excuse giving up bomb after bomb to Tim Tebow. Denver's defense played well and the offense had its best game in some time. They'll need that again to have a prayer against the Pats.