(Home teams in ALL CAPS)
Atlanta over ARIZONA (The Cardinals went 6-0 in the awful NFC West, and 3-7 everywhere else. Since its Week 7 bye, Arizona has not beaten a non-divisional opponent, losing 5 games by an average of 20 points. I'd take just about any team over the Cardinals, and definitely an 11-5 Falcons team that went 8-2 outside the division.)
SAN DIEGO over Indianapolis (One home team has to win on Wild Card Weekend. Give me the hot Chargers, the only AFC team that can match the red hot Colts score for score. Besides, someone's got to clear the Colts out of the picture before they have a chance to throttle the Ravens once again.)
Baltimore over MIAMI (In truth, this isn't a homer pick. We've already beaten the Dolphins convincingly in Miami. They may have improved since then, but so have we. Give me Ray Lewis against the Wildcat, Ed Reed against Chad Pennington, and Joe Flacco against that 25th-ranked pass defense.)
Philadelphia over MINNESOTA (Yeah, yeah, you can't trust the Eagles, and Andy Reid might not even attempt to run against that stout Minnesota D. But how can you pick a team making its first playoff appearance in four years, when that team is quietly praying that nobody notices it has a QB controversy? Last I checked,Tarvaris Jackson had been benched for Gus Frerotte in Week 3. Well, Frerotte goes down with a bad back, Jackson barely avoids going 1-2 in 3 starts to close the season, and suddenly T-Jack is the man to lead the Super Bowl charge? That plus Adrian Peterson's 5-fumble December, and Donovan McNabb and the battle-tested Eagles are suddenly looking very good indeed.)
Keywords: Baltimore playoff predictions Wild Card weekend 2008-2009
