Saturday, January 10, 2009

Rugby for fairies, Divisional playoff, Saturday Game 2

This is a case where the puncher won. I suppose you can say the Ravens stole that game, if you count monopolizing all the big plays as stealing. Even though Flacco went up top about 8 times, I thought the Ravens, when not under duress, were a little conservative on offense. It's kind of like a poker player that either folds (pre-flop) or goes all in.

Of course, it doesn't work as well in poker because you don't get to hit people...and therein lies the difference between the two teams. As I always say, this game is 90% hitting. The Titans are plenty tough, but the Ravens are on another level, mentally as well as physically. It's as if they think they only exist to hit.

So, anyway, if you weren't fascinated by the hitting, it might not have been your type of game. Moving on...

PANTHERS (-9.5) over Cardinals - It's a lukewarm pick, to say the least. This is a lot of wood to lay, begging for a backdoor cover. It looks like weather will not be a factor. There shouldn't be much rain and it is a balmy evening. Nevertheless, Boldin is out and I doubt the Cardinals will jump out to a two touchdown lead this time around, especially if they resort to pounding the run. Even with a late score, I can't see the Cardinals putting up more than 17 tonight. It's really a matter of the Panthers' number.

No comments: