Three Point Stance 01.03.08: AFC & NFC Wild Card Playoff Previews, Plus More!
Posted by Cody Dalton on 01.03.2009
With the regular season over, 411mania’s Cody Dalton takes a look at the AFC & NFC Wild Card match ups. Who are the favorites? What are the key factors? Also, Manning wins the MVP, Fans Forum, and Weekly Awards for the final time.
Welcome back everyone to the first playoff edition of the Three Point Stance. Now that all 17 NFL regular season weeks are complete, it's time to move on to the playoffs. 6 teams from each conference will vie for 2 spots in the mecca of pro football – Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida. Let's take a quick look at this week's match ups, starting with the AFC….
#5 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (WILD CARD)
AT
#4 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (AFC WEST CHAMPION)
Quite possibly the most anticipated match up of the playoffs, as the two hottest teams face off in what is expected to be a tight match up. New MVP Peyton Manning will be tested against a tough San Diego team featuring LaDainian Tomlinson and Phillip Rivers. I look for the Colts to come out on top of this match up, but it will be hard to win on the road. Then again, two of the last three Super Bowl winners were road warriors.
Prediction: Colts 24, Chargers 17
#6 BALTIMORE RAVENS (WILD CARD)
AT
#3 MIAMI DOLPHINS (AFC EAST CHAMPION)
In the other AFC match up, you have the resurgent AFC East Champion Miami Dolphins against an interesting Baltimore Ravens team. Although they are the sixth-seed, the Ravens bring big time game to the table. Rookie Joe Flacco has shown he can run the offense, Le'Ron McClain has proven he can run the ball, and Ray Lewis and Ed Reed always have the Baltimore defense on guard. The key to this game will be the Dolphins ability to maintain possession and not give the ball up on turnovers. If they can play a clean game, the Dolphins have a great chance to win.
Prediction: Ravens 17, Dolphins 13
#6 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (WILD CARD)
AT
#3 MINNESOTA VIKINGS (NFC NORTH CHAMPION)
The first of two odd NFC Wild Card games is the Eagles traveling to Minnesota to take on the Vikings. Minnesota was finally able to break into the playoffs and even win their division, thanks much in part to Adrian Peterson and the late great play of Tavaris Jackson. The Eagles had to have everything go right in order to get into the playoffs and luckily for them, it happened. Now they'll have to go on the road and try to take a playoff victory from the "Purple People Eaters".
Prediction: Eagles 28, Vikings 17
#5 ATLANTA FALCONS (WILD CARD)
AT
#4 ARIZONA CARDINALS (NFC WEST CHAMPION)
The final weird match up in the NFC has the Falcons taking on NFC West champion Arizona. The Cardinals struggled in their final games, losing three of their final five. Now they'll look to rebound at home and pick up their first playoff win in the new stadium. Atlanta looks to get back into the playoff win column as well. The Falcons, led by rookie sensation Matt Ryan and breakout star Michael Turner, look to take out Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, and Anquan Boldin at home.
Prediction: Falcons 28, Cardinals 21
MOST VALUABLE MANNING
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was named NFL MVP on Friday, after his late season performance for Indianapolis, which eventually netted the Colts a playoff berth. Manning earned 32 of 50 total votes. Chad Pennington was second, followed by Michael Turner of the Falcons. Here was the rundown of the voting…
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis 32
Chad Pennington, Miami 4
Michael Turner, Atlanta 4
Adrian Peterson, Minnesota 3
James Harrison, Pittsburgh 3
Philip Rivers, San Diego 2
Chris Johnson, Tennessee 1
Kurt Warner, Arizona 1
The MVP makes Manning only the second player in the history of the NFL to be named MVP three times. Brett Favre is the other. He still has plenty of time to win his fourth award and pass Favre.
FANS FORUM: REAL MVP?
This week's question is pretty simple and it ties into the article above. Here goes:
Is Peyton Manning the REAL league MVP? If not, who is?
You can post your answers below in the comments section of shoot me an email to codog99@yahoo.com.
DREW BREES, QB, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Brees caps off his amazing 2008 season by being the first player to win 2 Player of the Week Awards. He threw for 386 yards and 4 touchdowns against Carolina. Although the Saints lost 33-31 to the Panthers and missed out on the playoffs, nothing bad can be said about Brees and his performance on the field this year. Baring a playoff appearance, we are talking about Brees as MVP and not Manning. Congrats Drew!
JOE FLACCO, QB, BALTIMORE RAVENS
Flacco earned the final Rookie of the Week honor for his play against the Jaguars. Flacco completed 17 of 23 passes for 297 yards in a 27-7 win that helped the Ravens clinch the final AFC playoff spot. Congrats Joe!
I'll be back next week with the TPS Year End Awards!
Well that does it for this edition of the Three Point Stance. Join me next week, when I preview the upcoming AFC and NFC Divisional games for next week and hand out the year end hardware!
Until then…
Cody Dalton's book on sale now! "Sideline Warriors: The Greatest Sports Coaches and Managers of All Time" – http://www.lulu.com/content/2003212
Peyton Manning is really the only legit winner of this award this season. Guys like Rivers, Brees, Eli, and Warner deserved some credit too. Pennington, and Petersen are my runner ups. I could have respected them winning it.
Posted By: Volourn (Guest) on January 03, 2009 at 05:09 PM
No he should not have been MVP
i think adrian peterson or kurt warner deserved it more.
if it came down to stats it should have been drew brees
Posted By: RJ (Guest) on January 03, 2009 at 07:54 PM
I thought MVP meant the most valuable player of the franchise. if you go by that, it's Matt Ryan bottom line
Posted By: John (Guest) on January 04, 2009 at 04:51 AM
Manning deserved it easily. Most Valuable Player fits him. With NO running game (unlile Ryan), he took the Colts on his back and won 9 straight games, many of which were close affairs where Manning made the difference lat ein the game.
Posted By: AdamS (Guest) on January 04, 2009 at 03:08 PM
i think it was so wide open this year that if brees,turner,peterson would've won it would've been ok, but i think the reason manning won, is go back to win they drop to 3-4, after a loss to the titans, everyone was wondering, oh my god the colts might not make the playoffs and they go on to win 9 straight games, and it was largely because of manning, as the colts had no running game plain and simple, and that did bear it self in the wild card game, but i digress, manning did have to carry this team
Posted By: coby preimesberger (Guest) on January 04, 2009 at 03:12 PM
Kurt Warner only getting 1 vote compared to Philip Rivers getting 2 is a joke in and of itself. Guess Leinart would have done just as good a job.
As for manning, he deserved it no doubt. Without him the Colts would have easily been a 5-6 win team
Posted By: Guest#6660 (Guest) on January 04, 2009 at 07:02 PM
Being a loyal titans fan, i can say peyton manning is my most hated player on sundays, but he is the real mvp. At the beginning of the season the colts were stunned by the bears and came out of the gates playing miserably. Peyton was showing some effects of his two surgeries and not playing like his usual self, just like an average quarterback. Then he got a hold of things, and the Colts transformed back into the team we've known them as. I was stunned to see that he ended the year only throwing 12 interceptions after his terrible start.
Also, Michael Turner was fantastic, but Matt Ryan was great as well. I feel like it was really a team effort in that turn around.
The Saints didn't make the playoffs, so I wouldn't put Drew Brees in that boat. But def. a candidate for offensive player of the year.
And Warner wouldn't have had the season he had without arguably the best 1-2 punch in the NFL of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Peyton is doing what he has with a fantastic tight end and several aging players.
Posted By: Guest#7070 (Guest) on January 05, 2009 at 01:34 AM
anyone who says Manning deserves MVP either doesn't know what MVP means or doesn't watch(and listen) to the game.
Manning is nothing "without his weapons"
Posted By: Guest#1199 (Guest) on January 05, 2009 at 07:55 AM
If team's records didn't make a difference, Rivers would have won the MVP over Manning. It's a shame too, considering that the Chargers are still playing and the Colts are not...
Posted By: Dan (Guest) on January 06, 2009 at 12:05 AM
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