Romo, Romo, Romo, everybody is worried about Tony Romo.
Seems even my buddy, the great Dr. Sports, is worried that Romo, who has never won a playoff game, will choke again this weekend.
Well, Romo might indeed take the pipe, but I’m afraid that as the NFL post-season gets underway, he’s not the issue.
This weekend Romo’s Dallas Cowboys are four-point favorites in their re-match with the Philadelphia Eagles and there is a very good reason for that.
Last week’s 24-0 win over Philly in the final regular season game, comes a week after they shut out the Redskins. In fact, according to nflmedia.com, those two shutouts came right after they held the Saints to 17 and after they kept the Chargers to 20. In fact, in the last seven weeks, Dallas has allowed just 11.5 points per game.
Who cares about Tony Romo? Defence wins championships (is anybody playing better than Demarcus Ware these days?) and Doomsday is back in Dallas. That’s why The Coach likes the Cowboys.
Let’s take a closer look at this week’s Wild Card playdowns, courtesy of the keyboard of Dr. Sports…
SATURDAY
New York Jets 9-7 at Cincinnati Bengals 10-6 (-2.5)
The Jets completely humiliated the Bengals with their ground attack last Sunday night. Thomas Jones, Brad Smith and Shonn Greene helped the team compile 257 rushing yards on a 4.5 YPC. As NBC’s Cris Collinsworth repeatedly pointed out, the Bengals were being pushed around and looked like they were playing on roller skates. That will not happen again. Cincinnati was really porous against the run Sunday night for two reasons:
1. They didn’t play hard, as they seemingly were content to battle these Jets in the first round of the playoffs.
2. Stud defensive tackle Domata Peko and left end Robert Geathers (who specializes against the run) were both out.
The Bengals have a great defence that dominates versus the rush. It’s been a bit leaky lately because Peko has been out since Dec. 6, but he and Geathers are both expected back. Between Weeks 5 and 12 (the final week Peko was in the line up), the Bengals hadn’t allowed a single opponent to gain more than 92 yards on the ground. The Jets will not run all over Cincinnati this time, meaning Mark Sanchez will be asked to move the chains on his own. The Bengals have an excellent pass defence with two shutdown corners – Leon Hall did a great job on Braylon Edwards on Sunday night – so we just can’t see Sanchez having much success, especially considering the fact that he’ll be playing in a road playoff game in a hostile environment.
Dr. Sports: Bengals to win and cover
The Coach: Bengals to win and cover.
Philadelphia Eagles 11-5 at Dallas Cowboys 11-5 (-3.5)
The one thing people seem to be asking about the Cowboys is if Romo will choke. Romo has never won a playoff game, so there are still some believers out there who think that he’ll melt down again. The smart money says the Eagles are just too good a football team to be blown out/shut out by the same team, two weeks in a row. If they hit the big plays that they just missed by inches last week, this contest could come down to a field goal.
Dr. Sports: Cowboys to win but not cover.
The Coach: Cowboys to win and cover.
SUNDAY
Baltimore Ravens 9-7 at New England Patriots 10-6 (-3.5)
The loss of Wes Welker is huge. That should go without saying, but there are many out there who believe that Julian Edelman will be able to fill Welker’s shoes, allowing the Patriots’ offense to keep on clicking. Well, not Dr. Sports. Sure, Edelman will catch 9-10 passes and collect 90-110 yards, but it’s the stuff that doesn’t show up in the box score that will be paramount. Over the years, Tom Brady and Welker have developed a strong rapport. When the opposition is blitzing, Welker knows exactly what to do. In the 2-minute drill, Brady is confident in Welker and throws his way often. Edelman is just a rookie, and his inability to read what’s going on will hurt New England. With Welker out, the Ravens can double Randy Moss and blitz more. Dr. Sports doesn’t think the Patriots will be able to fix this in seven days. The Coach disagrees.
Dr. Sports: Baltimore to win.
The Coach: New England to win and cover.
Green Bay Packers 11-5 at Arizona Cardinals 10-6 (-2.5)
Even though the Cardinals attempted to rest their starters last week when the Packers beat them 33-7, they’ll still enter the Wild Card rematch with injury concerns. Anquan Boldin is questionable to play after spraining his ankle last week. The Cardinals still have Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston, but Boldin will be missed. The Cardinals still have some depth to their offense, but Boldin’s health could be a factor in Arizona’s productivity given that they aren’t likely to have much success running the ball. Packers Charles Woodson is expected to play despite suffering a shoulder injury last week. Green Bay has been on a roll offensively, with QB Aaron Rodgers completing 80 percent of his passes last week and giving up no interceptions for four straight games. On the other side of the ball they’ve allowed just two 100-yard rushing performances to opponents since Week 3. Except for the Steelers, no team has passed for more than 217 yards on them since Nov. 1. They also excel at getting to the quarterback; rookies Clay Matthews and Brad Jones have been terrific this year, especially during the team’s 7-of-8-game winning streak.
Dr. Sports: Packers to win.
The Coach: Packers to win.
The Doc went 165-91 for the season and 138-118 against the spread. The Coach, after going 13-3 last week, finished 162-94 straight up and 139-117 against the spread.