Pittsburgh -6 vs. San Diego

Every NFL playoff matchup this week is a rematch of at least one regular season game. No one game was more intriguing than the last time that San Diego and Pittsburgh met on November 16th.

The first 11-10 game in NFL history will have a rematch Sunday afternoon when the Chargers (9-8) once again travel cross country to Heinz Field. The much maligned Chargers defense held the Steelers out of the end zone, even though Pittsburgh made it inside the red zone three times.

The key game was the first of three straight losses for San Diego and seemed to seal their fate of missing the playoffs. But the Chargers rebounded to win their last four games, finish 8-8 and claim the shaky AFC West crown. Last week, the Chargers were able to show they do belong in the 2008 playoffs by defeating the Indianapolis Colts 23-17 in overtime. The Colts had won nine straight contests coming into the Wild-Card round in Qualcomm Stadium.

The Chargers have scored 34.4 points during its five-game winning streak, even largely without LaDanian Tomlinson. The All-Pro has been hampered by a groin injury and it is unclear whether he will play this week in a very cold Pittsburgh. Still Tomlinson’s limited play last week did not stop the offense let by backup back Darren Sproles and his 328 all-purpose yards and 105 rushing yards. Sproles won the game in overtime with a 22-yard gallop.

Sproles will undoubtedly be in for a tougher test when he faces off against the league’s number two defense. In the November game, San Diego was held to 66 yards on the ground and Philip Rivers was not much better, contributing only 134 yards and throwing two picks.

The Steelers (12-4) did not fare much better on offense in the earlier game and really struggled down the stretch, scoring eight touchdowns in seven games against teams that would make the playoffs. In their season finale two weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers seemingly got on track by posting 31 points in a shutout victory at Cleveland. Willie Parker was back against the Browns after missing five games and posted 116 yards and a score.

Ben Roethlisberger seemed to regress this season. Last year he had 32 touchdown passes and 11 picks, but was down to 17 scores and four more interceptions. Roethlisberger suffered a concussion against Cleveland and was taken out on a stretcher. Despite always stating he would play this week, Roethlisberger had ongoing headaches last week and didn’t pass a post-concussion test until Monday.

The Chargers have also had a bit of drama this week when it was revealed that top receiver Vincent Jackson was arrested under suspicion of a DUI. Jackson had a team best 1,098 yards and will play this week.

It is good news-bad news in San Diego’s history playing in the Steel City. The Chargers have won only twice in 15 trips to Pittsburgh, but both victories came in the postseason. The last time these teams met in the postseason was in the AFC championship game in 1995, when the Chargers advanced to their first and only Super Bowl with a 17-13 victory.

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Carolina -9 1/2 vs. Arizona

After the joy of the first home playoff victory in their franchise since 1947 and two home cities ago, the Arizona Cardinals realized where the divisional round would take them: the dreaded Eastern time zone against a team who has not lost at home this season. Arizona will travel to travel to Charlotte, North Carolina for a second time this season when they take on the Panthers Saturday night.

The Cardinals (10-7) were 0-5 in the East this season. They lost to Washington, the Jets, Philadelphia and New England by an average of 24 points. Arizona has won 2 games in their last 22 trips into the Eastern time zone.

They played a bit better in their Week 8 trip to Carolina (12-4), but still lost 27-23. Arizona actually held a commanding 17-3 lead in the third quarter of that contest until Carolina rallied to take the lead. Arizona drove to Carolina’s 15-yard line late in the fourth quarter in an attempt to regain the lead until Kurt Warner was intercepted by Jon Beason, the Panthers All-Pro linebacker.

The encouraging point for Arizona from that game was the fact that Warner was able to throw for 381 yards against Carolina’s defense, which was the second highest total a quarterback achieved against the Panthers this season. Further, Carolina’s secondary has struggled at times this season and will have their hands full with the second best offense in the NFL.

While the Panthers rested, the Cardinals flapped their wings and defeated Atlanta 30-24 to win their first postseason game in a decade. The home victory was actually considered a mild upset because Arizona did not fare well outside of beating up on its own weak division.

The Carolina Panthers have been phenomenal at home this season. They are hoping for the perfect storm of improving to 9-0 and have Philadelphia defeat New York, thus allowing the NFC championship game to be played at Bank of America Stadium. The undefeated home regular season is the Panthers first since they went to their first NFC championship game in 1996. They have won their eight home games by an average of 15.4 points.

While Arizona will rely heavily on their passing game, Carolina will be going up against the running back duo of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Williams was the third best back in the league with 1515 yards and 18 touchdowns, 16 of which came in the last nine games. Stewart, a rookie out of Oregon, added 836 yards and 10 scores.

The teams have met eight times since Carolina was added as an expansion team in 1995 and the Panthers have won six of those. Arizona has not won since winning in back-to-back seasons in 2001 and 2002.

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Tennessee -3 vs. Baltimore

Two one-time division rivals will meet up in the playoffs for the third time. If it is anything like the previous two, it will be quite a show. The red-hot Baltimore Ravens will meet up with the rested Tennessee Titans in Nashville Saturday afternoon in a matchup of two of the best defenses in the NFL.

For the Titans (13-3), this matchup is a painful déjà vu of 2000 when the team finished 13-3, just like this season; clinched home-field advantage, just like this season and faced the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round, just like this season. Baltimore won, just like this season? Tennessee certainly hopes not.

The teams also met in 2003, when the heavily-favored, AFC North champion Ravens went down in the first round to the wild-card Titans.

This game will be played in the present and the present squads did meet up on October 5th in Baltimore (12-5), with the Titans improving to 5-0 en route to a 10-0 start with a 13-10 victory. The game went down to 1:56 remaining for the game to be decided as Kerry Collins hooked up with Alge Crumpler for a game-winning 11-yard touchdown.

Most expect a game like that to repeat itself as the Titans and Ravens have two of the best defenses in the NFL and that was seen in their Week 5 game as both offenses combined for 495 yards and committed 21 penalties for 169 yards.

The suffocating defenses are near the tops in the NFL and not separated by much. Tennessee ranks second in scoring defense with 14.6 points per game. Not to far behind is Baltimore, ranked third with 15.3. In total yards, Baltimore was second with 277.1 and Tennessee was tied for fifth at 277.1.

The Titans could be even more dangerous if Albert Haynesworth can come back as planned. The All-Pro defensive tackle is day-to-day, but had targeted this game to come back after missing the final two regular season games and resting up through last week’s bye week. Also on the mend is defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, who is recovering from an injured groin and could be back for the first time in a month.

Collins doesn’t have to be outstanding given Tennessee’s running game. The Titans averaged 137.4 yards per game led by Chris Johnson and LenDale White, who combined for 2,001 yards and 24 touchdowns. White rushed for a career-high 15 touchdowns this season.

While Tennessee rested, the Ravens hit on all cylinders when they beat the AFC-East champion Dolphins in Miami 27-9. They forced a usually steady Miami defense into four Chad Pennington interceptions en route to victory. Rookie Joe Flacco was not particularly sharp, but he did not have to be as he threw 9 of 23 for 135 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

The teams have split 18 meetings, with Tennessee winning three of the last four; however five of the last six have had a margin of victory of six points or less.

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Chicago -165 vs. Colorado

If it were not for the pesky Detroit Red Wings, the Chicago Blackhawks would be the talk of hockey. Before facing the defending Stanley Cup Champions two out of three days in a home-and-home series, including New Years Day’s Winter Classic held in Wrigley Field, the Blackhawks had won nine straight games. Detroit handed them a two-game losing streak for the first time since the end of November and put some distance between them and the rising Hawks.

Chicago had been dominant since the beginning of December, going 12-3. All three losses were to, you guessed it, the Detroit Red Wings.

Since the home-and-home against the Wings, Chicago (22-8-7) has taken their frustration out on two teams, the first place Calgary Flames and the Phoenix Coyotes.

They especially took it to the Coyotes in their last game on Tuesday. The Blackhawks built up an insurmountable 4-0 lead five minutes into the first period. Jonathan Towes would then add two goals en route to a 6-0 decimation.

The victory gave the Blackhawks a positive start to their three game road trip, which will continue Thursday night in Denver when they face the Avalanche. Once again Chicago will be without leading scorer Patrick Kane who was injured in the December 30th loss at Joe Louis Arena. He is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury, but is expected to sit out one more contest before returning in Nashville on Saturday.

Injuries are nothing new for Colorado (20-19-1). Joe Sakic has not played since November and looks to be out until March as he underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair a herniated disk. Another of their top centers, Paul Stastny, is out until the end of February because of a fractured forearm suffered on December 23rd.

The injuries have forced Coach Tony Granato into moving personnel around. Granato moved Wojtek Wolski to center from his usual spot on the wing in their last game at Nashville. The bold move paid off as the Colorado Avalanche snapped a three-game skid and won 2-1.

Chicago has won both meetings this season, 6-2 in the United Center on November 3rd and 4-3 at the Pepsi Center on December 12th. The Blackhawks have won five out of the last six over the Avalanche.

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Chicago -4 vs. Green Bay

One of the best rivalries will be renewed this Monday in Chicago as the Green Bay Packers play the Chicago Bears.

Green Bay (5-9) has been eliminated from postseason play and has not won in a month. Their last victory came against Chicago when they totally dominated the Bears 37-3 on November 16 at Lambeau Field. The game was not the turning point in the season that Green Bay had hoped. After the victory, the Packers evened their record at 5-5 and were still very much in the thick of the NFC North Division race. Since then they have lost four straight contests in excruciating fashion.

Immediately following the Bears game, the Packers engaged the Saints in a close battle with much scoring throughout the first-half. But New Orleans blew it open in the second-half and claimed victory 51-29. The next three weeks, the Packers have lost each game by no more than four points.

Chicago (8-6) has had a solid season after dropping to last in the division last season after their Super Bowl season of 2006, however the Bears do not control their own destiny. The Minnesota Vikings have had a very solid second-half and sit in an advantageous position over Chicago. Win just one of their final two games and the Vikings will clinch the division no matter what the Bears do.

Either way Chicago must win and they should be ready to avenge that loss to a Green Bay team searching for answers.

Even if the Bears fail to make the playoffs, they know they will be able to compete with the Vikings in the future as far as talented and young running backs is concerned. Matt Forte is the favorite for the Rookie of the Year award, won last year by Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson. Forte needs 69 yards in his last two contests to surpass the Bears’ highest rookie running back yardage total of 1183 set by Anthony Thomas in 2001.

Before the season the Packers back Ryan Grant was seen to be in elite company with Peterson, but he has had a tough season. However, he did have his best game against Chicago with 145 yards. Grant loves playing the Bears, as he has garnered 100 yards or more in both of his career starts against them.

Even with the loss earlier this season, the Bears have won six of the last nine over the Packers, but have held home field very well in the series, having split the last four at Soldier Field.

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Miami -3 1/2 vs. Kansas City

Remember in grade school when you had a crush on the girl a few desks over? You would stare at her and then when she happened to look in your direction, you would peel your eyes away as fast as possible. As Kansas City welcomes Miami in for their Week 16 contest, perhaps the Chiefs will be eyeing the Dolphins longingly, only to look away when their gaze is met.

The Chiefs (2-12) have been caught in the doldrums all season long, but they only have to look at their opponents to see that fortunes in the NFL can change quite rapidly. The Dolphins (9-5) needed a lucky brake to avoid going 0-16 last season and finished 1-15. They had a shakeup in the organization that shipped out first-year coach Cam Cameron and brought in Bill Parcells to take over the organization and his handpicked coach Tony Sparano. The team now has shot a playoff berth and even an outside chance at clinching the AFC East crown, something unthinkable just 12 months before.

Kansas City will be undergoing a similar off-season makeover. Long term President and General Manager Carl Peterson has announced he will be stepping down after this season which will bring in a new regime and a new age of Kansas City football. Peterson built the Chiefs into perennial contenders when he arrived in the city prior to the 1989 season. He inherited a Chiefs squad that went 4-11 in both years prior to his arrival. He turned the team into a 8-7-1 squad his first year and watched them make the postseason six straight times. The good teams fell apart mid-way through this decade and resulted in his departure.

Kansas City’s future is bright with their strong draft last spring, but Miami’s future is now. If they win their next two games and the Jets lose both games (the two teams met in the regular season finale), the Dolphins win the division. Last week Miami beat San Francisco 14-9 at home.

The teams have not met since 2006 when the Dolphins won at home.

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Pittsburgh -2 vs. Tennessee

For teams that have the playoffs and a first-round bye clinched, this game between Pittsburgh and Tennessee does not have the impact it may have had had the Steelers not clinched the AFC South and a first-round bye in the playoffs after dispatching the Baltimore Ravens 13-9 in a big road victory last week. But this game still has a tremendous impact and will decide whether the AFC playoffs will go through frigid Heinz Field in Pittsburgh or through the Music City of Nashville.

Moreover, the Tennessee Titans (12-2) want to prove they are still the power they appeared to be when they started the season 10-0, but have only gone .500 since with wins against winless Detroit and hapless Cleveland and losses to possible playoff team the New York Jets and last week to division rival Houston.

Home field seemed a foregone conclusion nearly a month ago, but Tennessee’s struggles have opened the door for Pittsburgh (11-3), winners of five straight, to possibly steel away the Titans’ coveted prize.

Tennessee’s stellar defensive play has eroded in recent weeks and that was seen when the Texans’ Andre Johnson racked up 207 yards and a touchdown en route to a 13-12 upset victory over Tennessee. A bad day was made worse as the Titans saw their defensive leader, tackle Albert Haynesworth rolling around on the field in pain. The All-Pro had sprained his MCL and will miss the Titan’s remaining two games. With a bye in the first week of the postseason, Haynesworth is hopeful to return for the team’s first playoff game in the divisional round.

While Tennessee’s defense has betrayed them in recent weeks, Pittsburgh’s defense has led them on the brink of home field advantage. The Steelers won a controversial replay and turned a late 9-6 deficit to Baltimore into a 13-9 victory.

The Pittsburgh Steelers lead the NFL in rush defense, pass defense and total defense and is on pace to be first the first team to finish first in all three of those categories since the 1991 Eagles. The Steelers also lead in scoring defense at a paltry 13.7 points per contest.

Even more history making is the fact that no opponent to face Pittsburgh this season has eclipsed 300 yards and no one has done that since the 1973 Rams.

The interesting thing about home field for these teams is that they may not want that distinction. In 2000, the year after the Titans lost the Super Bowl to the Rams by one-yard, they finished 13-3 and were preparing to have the AFC playoffs go through Nashville until they lost in their first game. The Steelers have even more pain as the top AFC seed, clinching it in 1994, 2001 and 2004 but lost the AFC championship game at home each season. They won the Super Bowl following the 2005 season as a wild-card team, playing three road games before winning Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

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San Diego -9 vs. Oakland

The San Diego Chargers‘ season just does not seem to be getting any better. Most pundits thought that the core of the Chargers was aging and that their last best chance at a championship would be this season and now it does not even look like they will make the playoffs. San Diego (4-8) has lost three straight and six of the last eight. Now they will play host to the Oakland Raiders at home, who always seem to bring a rowdy crowd of Raidernation in with them to San Diego. Being booed at home is probably not what the Chargers need right now. The AFC West teams meet up in Qualcomm Stadium Thursday night.

San Diego will try to avoid clinching their first losing season in five years and their first loss to Oakland in that same amount of time. The Chargers still have a slim chance at reaching the playoffs. Their hopes are firmly resting on Denver freefalling within the division, but if the Broncos dominating performance on the road against a surging Jets team is any indication, this does not seem likely. It will be all for naught if the Chargers lose and the Broncos beat Kansas City. With that scenario, Denver will clinch the division with three games left to play.

Simply put San Diego must win out and Denver must not win more than one of their remaining games for the Chargers to have a shot. Those two teams play in the last game of the season.

Oakland (3-9) may be hopeful that San Diego will have their eyes in the offseason because of their long-shot postseason chances. They need something to hold on to as they have dropped 10 straight games to San Diego and only one of the last seven losses have been decided by less than 10 points.

Both teams come in after home losses, San Diego to Atlanta and Oakland to Kansas City. The Chargers won the first meeting between the divisional rivals this season, 28-18, on September 28.

A victory Thursday would give the Chargers the longest winning streak of any team in the 48-year old series. The Raiders won 10 straight from 1972-77 during their glory years. A loss for the Oakland Raiders would put them in the illustrious company with Tampa Bay (1983-94) and Detroit (2001-06) as they only organizations to suffer 10 or more losses in six consecutive seasons.

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Houston -3 vs. Jacksonville

A pair of disappointing 4-7 AFC South teams begin playing out the string this week as they face off this Monday night when the Jaguars travel to Houston to take on the Texans.

Both teams have been disappointments, but especially the Jaguars. While the Texans were supposed to be better, few people gave them a chance to contend in the stacked AFC South. But the Jaguars were supposed to be the dark horse and possibly the Super Bowl representative from the AFC. Instead, the Titans and not the Jaguars, are about to unseat the Colts in the AFC South. With their loss to Tennessee two weeks ago, Jacksonville was officially eliminated from the division. They lost their second straight home game to Minnesota 30-12 last week and have all but been eliminated from postseason contention.

The Jaguars have lost four out of their last five. The only victory during that stretch was a road win over the winless Detroit Lions. David Garrard continues to have a disappointing season after last season’s terrific year. Last week Garrard threw for 317 yards and a touchdown but also threw two interceptions. On a pair of turnovers, Jacksonville was losing 14-0 to Minnesota within the first five minutes of last week’s ball game which necessitated the Jaguars throw the ball. This meant few carries for the running back tandem of Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor who collectively carried 9 times for 24 yards with no scores. Jones-Drew was Garrard’s top receiver last week at 9 catches for 113 yards. But when your running back is your top receiver, it usually means you lose that game.

The Texans put a stop to a three game skid when they played a solid road game and won 16-6 over the Browns. Sage Rosenfels has had a tough few games filling in for injured starter Matt Shaub, however he did have a very good game in Cleveland. Rosenfels went 24 of 32 for 275 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

The Jaguars won the first game between the divisional rivals earlier this season 30-27. Prior to that game the Texans had won three of the last four games.

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New England -1 vs. Pittsburgh

Things don’t seem to be getting any easier for the Steelers, but when you hold the distinction of having to play the NFL’s toughest schedule, things tend to not get better. Pittsburgh has weathered the storm quite nicely, however. The Steelers (8-3) are tied for the second best record in the AFC with 8 wins and are still one game in front of Baltimore in the AFC North. The next “big boy” on the Steelers schedule is the New England Patriots.

Pittsburgh will travel to Foxboro, a place where they have not had much success. Their last victory over the Patriots in Massachusetts was in 1997. The Patriots have claimed seven of the last 10 matchups as well, including three straight and six out of the last seven, including postseason play.

Pittsburgh swarmed all over the Bengals at home last week 27-10. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 243 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions against Cincinnati. Big Ben has had a solid season despite being banged up through much of it and missing his first-string running back through a good chunk of the season as well. Roethlisberger has thrown for 2233 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. Willie Parker, the aforementioned first-string running back has also been hobbled by injuries. He ran for only 37 yards on 15 carries last week and is listed as questionable for the New England game.

Mewelde Moore continues to get the bulk of the carries for Pittsburgh even when Parker is in the lineup. Last week he got the ball 15 times for 56 yards. He will see his carries increase substantially if Parker misses his sixth game of the season.

Matt Cassel continues to improve and impress under center for New England (7-4). In the Patriots 48-28 road victory over the Dolphins, Cassel became only the second New England quarterback to throw for 400 yard in consecutive games, the only other one being Tom Brady. In the last two games, Cassel has completed a combined 60 of his 94 passes for 815 yards, six touchdowns and only one interception.

Cassel will probably not be expecting a third straight 400-yard performance against the Steelers‘ tough defense.

The last time the Steelers beat the Patriots was in 2004 in Pittsburgh.

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