My Playoff Rankings With Dig at Cardinals
Ask Mike | by Mike O'Hara | 01.2.2009/10:52AM
How I rank the playoff teams, from No. 1 to No. 12—with a twist. You’re allowed to disagree.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Continuing scrolling down to read Mike’s answers to e-mails.)
1. Giants: Super Bowl champs have played their best in toughest games, but the weight of repeating could be too much.
2. Titans: They could win the Super Bowl without an individual highlight. The emphasis is on the team. The biggest issue is whether QB Kerry Collins can carry his weight.
3. Panthers: They had the Giants beaten and would have been the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Their offensive balance, run and pass, makes them tough, but QB Jake Delhomme faces the same credibility issue as Collins.
4. Colts: They’re the AFC’s fifth seed, but only because they’re a wild card. A 12-5 record and nine-game win streak shows their quality. Lack of a running game could keep them from going the distance.
5. Steelers: The defense is good enough to win a Super Bowl, but the offensive line doesn’t protect QB Ben Roethlisberger well enough.
6. Ravens: For sheer toughness, this might be the hardest team to play. Rookie QB Joe Flacco must step it up and be more of a game manager. Playoff winners need big plays at some point from the QB.
7. Eagles: Donovan McNabb played like a Super Bowl QB in the stretch, and the defense can put on the heat.
8. Chargers: Even at 8-8, they closed strong, and they didn’t have any ugly losses in the regular season. Remember, they won at Indy in last year’s playoffs. QB Phillip Rivers has been a big-game performer.
9. Falcons: The offense is stacked – Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Roddy White. The issue is on defense, and whether Ryan win in the playoffs. DE John Abraham has been overlooked.
10. Dolphins: Maybe they’ll keep surprising us, but the lack the playmakers for a long playoff run.
11. Vikings: It will take more than Adrian Peterson and a great run defense to win in the playoffs. I’m not sure coach Brad Childress is secure in his job if the Vikes get booted out of the playoffs in the first round.
12. New England Patriots: Oops, they missed out in the AFC on the tiebreaker, despite an 11-5 record. They’d still beat three or four teams, at home, on the road, in the snow or in a dome.
13. Cardinals: They won the weak NFC West with Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and not much else. Their last five wins were over St. Louis twice, Seattle twice and San Francisco. No wonder they had trouble selling tickets for the playoff game – just like the Vikes. The Cardinals are less deserving to be in the playoffs than the Chargers.
Mike O’Hara can be contacted at
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