The Crystal Ball, Wild Card Weekend

Wild Card weekend is almost upon us and it's time for That Damn Sam's Crystal Ball Wild Card Prognostication.

Now for those of you who may be new to reading my blog, you must understand that I have been wrong before.  A lot.  An awful lot.  Okay, I'm wrong way more than I'm right.  But what's the fun of watching football if you can't put on that funky Nostradamus hat now and then and see where it takes you?

So here we go...

Saturday's games:

Cincinnati 28

Houston 23

Both teams match up very well, right down to the rookie quarterbacks.  Andre Johnson is supposed to be back, but my feeling is it's not a matter of "if" but of "when" that hamstring acts up again.  Arian Foster will rush for over 100 yards and a TD, but Cedric Benson will be his checkmate.  I see A.J. Green establishing himself on the national stage Saturday (if he hasn't already).  To me, he's the wildcard in this wildcard match-up.  Besides, I want to see Marvin Lewis win a playoff game.  I love that guy.

Detroit 27

New Orleans 44
The Saints are on a terror.  A lot of people have forgotten they have only lost three games this season, although two of those losses, inexplicably, came to the Buccaneers and Rams.  But they are on an eight game winning streak and I don't see it ending on Saturday.  These are not my father's Lions.  Detroit has become respectable, and they have got some big time play makers; they are not going to roll over and die, but the Saints have been there and done that.  Post-season experience will pay off in the end.

Sunday's games:

Atlanta 31

NY Giants 21

Okay, let's not get carried away here.  The Giants have lost five of their last eight games.  Their three wins in the past eight weeks have been against a bad Jets team and and against an equally bad Cowboys team twice (no thanks to Jason Garrett).  Everyone has jumped on the Giants bandwagon because this feels similar to their magical '07 season.  Can they capture lightning in a bottle twice?  I'm going to say no.  The Falcons have too many weapons.

Pittsburgh 19

Denver 16 (OT)
No Mendenhall, an inactive Ryan Clark and a gimpy Roethlisberger will make this game closer than anyone is thinking.  The Broncos' defense will keep it close and Tim Tebow will do it again, tying it up in the fourth quarter, just to piss off his critics.  The Steelers win it in overtime in a very entertaining and surprisingly close game.