The Ragnarok's Playoff Pickoff--Divisional Round

It’s round two of the Ragnarok’s Playoff PickOff, and this is where the knowledgeable (lucky) football fans distinguish themselves from the pack. The non Vikings’ fans are currently all tied for first with 3-1 records (IchirioHoya, Stud and Mookie) with the two Vikings’ fans only a game back at 2-2 (Jason and myself). So let’s get to the picks:

Indianapolis at Baltimore

Jason: Colts--Several advertisers breathe easier after the Peyton Manning corporate machine survives another week.

IchirioHoya: Ravens--Alot of Ravens rookies werent even born when the Colts skipped town in the middle of the night in 1984. Most of the people in attendance at the game were, and, to use my father as an example, they havent forgotten what the Irsay family did in moving that team and still can't say the name Robert Irsay without either prefacing it with an expletive or inserting one in the middle of the name.. This stadium is going to be loud. Playoff atmosphere + tenacious defense + competent offense= Ravens win.

Stud: Ravens--It's Peyton Manning in the playoffs against a great defense.

Mookie: Ravens—I’m from murrrland. I have to go with my roots. [Editor’s Note: The reasoning for the pick is fine, but Redskins fans are not allowed on the Ravens bandwagon now. Nice try though.]

TBird41: Ravens—As all Vikings’ fans know, Brian Billick (unlike Herm Edwards) knows how to run an offense. That and he has the best defense in the NFL. The Ravens run for 150 yards and pick off Manning a few times and walk away with the win.

Philadelphia at New Orleans

Jason: Saints--Brees exploits the Jim Johnson blitz schemes.

IchirioHoya: Saints--Teams headed for a conference title game don't look as bad as the Eagles did in the first quarter against the Giants. Against a real football team- the Eagles performance last week would have lead to a double digit loss.

Stud: Eagles--The only reason this game is in New Orleans and not Philadelphia is a last second field goal in Week 6. The Saints were one of the feel good stories of the year, but it ends Saturday night.

Mookie: Saints--New Orleans is awesome and the chief export of Reggie Bush is pain.

TBird41: Eagles—As much as this pains me to do, the Saints defense is bad against the run and bad against the pass. The offensive advantage the Saints have just isn’t big enough to cover for their defensive weakness.

Seattle at Chicago

Jason: Chicago--The cold conditions will prevent the Bears from entrusting the passing game, enabling grossman to survive another day.

IchirioHoya: Bears--The Seahawks essentially lost to the Cowboys. Through no fault of their own- they survived to play in this game. The Bears arent all that good either- but- the Seahawks do not deserve to be here.

Stud: Bears--The Seahawks got lucky against the Cowboys. Meanwhile, Rex Grossman admitted to not giving 100% in the Bears loss to Green Bay. The Bears will lose soon, but not this weekend.

Mookie: Seahawks--I like the neon green gloves!

TBird41: Bears—Chicago will have the training wheels on Grossman on Sunday, preventing him from screwing up too much. That, combined with the fact the Seahawks are not in any way, shape or form a good team, means that Chicago should be able to win easily.

New England at San Diego

Jason: Chargers--After losing Belichek goes on a Napoleonic rage pushing Marcus McNiel and Jamal Williams and consequently dies. Robert Kraft sends Bill to a cryogenic lab and continues to coach Patriots for three more seasons.

IchirioHoya: Patriots--I hate all the sportswriters who perform fellatio on Tom Brady every time they write an article on the NFL as much as anyone else, BUT, I cannot in good conscience pick Phillip Rivers over Brady in this one. Something will happen that enables the Pats to win.

Stud: Chargers--Hardest game of the weekend to pick. It's hard to pick against the Pats, but I have to go with my gut. Schottenheimer proves his critics wrong, for one week anyway.

Mookie: Chargers—I heart LT!!

TBird41: Patriots—Belicheck owns young quarterbacks, quarterbacks making their first playoff start usually lose and the Chargers, even with Tomlinson, have been average if Rivers doesn’t play well. Unless Shawne Merrimon injects himself with a herd’s worth of cow steroids before the game, the Chargers are going to lose.