2008 Woodie Awards
NFC Divisional Playoff Preview
Sam Summers
Issue date: 1/11/08 Section: Big Red Sports
With Wild Card Weekend in the books, we get the best games of the year; strong divisional opponents playing against each other for a chance to advance to the next playoff round. This year's excitement rose as the New York Giants were able to overcome an early deficit in Tampa Bay and rally to an impressive road victory over the Buccaneers, moving on to play against America's team, the Dallas Cowboys. The Seattle Seahawks were able to dominate the Washington Redskins to earn a trip to the frozen tundra to take on the storied Green Bay Packers.
When the Giants head to Dallas they will be facing a team that dominated the first two thirds of their schedule by going 11-1. But the Cowboys split their last four games and limped into the playoffs. The Cowboys' leading receiver Terrell Owens was injured with a high ankle sprain against the Washington Redskins in week 15. With that injury the Cowboys' receiving machine lost a valuable component. Will Owens be able to perform like he did during the 2004 Super Bowl with a partially healed leg? Or will this injury limit Owens and force the Cowboys to lean on Tight End (TE) Jason Witten and Running Backs (RB) Marion Barber and Julius Jones? Despite Owens participating in practice this week, the players under scrutiny will be the Cowboy defense. Will the sporadic unit be able to contain the powerful Giants RB Brandon Jacobs? Will they be able to force Eli Manning to make the mistakes he has become infamous for? If they do the pressure will be off Dallas QB Tony Romo and that will enable the Cowboys to dictate the pace of the game. With so many offensive weapons in Dallas, New York's defense has to put in a solid performance to take pressure off Manning and allow him to connect with his Wide Receivers (WR) and TEs.
In Green Bay a duel of a different type will be waged. In the freezing temperatures of Wisconsin, Brett Favre will face his former coach, Mike Holmgren, and backup QB, Matt Hasselbeck. In their last playoff meeting the Packers defeated the Seahawks in overtime after Hasselbeck guaranteed victory. Favre will take the field with a young, eager offense that has played at a high level for their 38 year old QB. The Packer defense will be up against a strong Seattle offense guided by a dependable QB who doesn't make many mistakes. Hasselbeck will have to limit any mistakes made against an opportunistic Packer defense who looks to limit big plays down the field and pressure the QB. The Seattle defense has come on strong under assistant head coach Jim Mora and Defensive Coordinator John Marshall. With both teams fielding explosive offenses, both teams' defenses have to step up their game in order to achieve victory.
This weekend's games offer good match-ups that will provide entertaining games. Will the Cowboys be able to overcome injuries to roll on to the divisional title game? Or will Eli Manning, in his ongoing process of maturing, provide the Giants with the leadership necessary to win championships? Will Brett Favre give us another exciting game to add to his already Hall-of-Fame career? Or will he run out of gas against his former backup and coach? What ever the outcome, these games will set the stage for an exciting divisional championship weekend.•
When the Giants head to Dallas they will be facing a team that dominated the first two thirds of their schedule by going 11-1. But the Cowboys split their last four games and limped into the playoffs. The Cowboys' leading receiver Terrell Owens was injured with a high ankle sprain against the Washington Redskins in week 15. With that injury the Cowboys' receiving machine lost a valuable component. Will Owens be able to perform like he did during the 2004 Super Bowl with a partially healed leg? Or will this injury limit Owens and force the Cowboys to lean on Tight End (TE) Jason Witten and Running Backs (RB) Marion Barber and Julius Jones? Despite Owens participating in practice this week, the players under scrutiny will be the Cowboy defense. Will the sporadic unit be able to contain the powerful Giants RB Brandon Jacobs? Will they be able to force Eli Manning to make the mistakes he has become infamous for? If they do the pressure will be off Dallas QB Tony Romo and that will enable the Cowboys to dictate the pace of the game. With so many offensive weapons in Dallas, New York's defense has to put in a solid performance to take pressure off Manning and allow him to connect with his Wide Receivers (WR) and TEs.
In Green Bay a duel of a different type will be waged. In the freezing temperatures of Wisconsin, Brett Favre will face his former coach, Mike Holmgren, and backup QB, Matt Hasselbeck. In their last playoff meeting the Packers defeated the Seahawks in overtime after Hasselbeck guaranteed victory. Favre will take the field with a young, eager offense that has played at a high level for their 38 year old QB. The Packer defense will be up against a strong Seattle offense guided by a dependable QB who doesn't make many mistakes. Hasselbeck will have to limit any mistakes made against an opportunistic Packer defense who looks to limit big plays down the field and pressure the QB. The Seattle defense has come on strong under assistant head coach Jim Mora and Defensive Coordinator John Marshall. With both teams fielding explosive offenses, both teams' defenses have to step up their game in order to achieve victory.
This weekend's games offer good match-ups that will provide entertaining games. Will the Cowboys be able to overcome injuries to roll on to the divisional title game? Or will Eli Manning, in his ongoing process of maturing, provide the Giants with the leadership necessary to win championships? Will Brett Favre give us another exciting game to add to his already Hall-of-Fame career? Or will he run out of gas against his former backup and coach? What ever the outcome, these games will set the stage for an exciting divisional championship weekend.•
Be the first to comment on this story