NFL Sunday Pick 'Em: Wild Card Round

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Express' Chris Mincher handicaps the weekend's NFL lineup.

USUALLY, I'M EXCITED when the NFL playoffs arrive. That's kind of a "duh" statement, but I only mention it because I'm pretty let down by this first round of games. Look over who we have to watch play: Only half the teams in these games have at least 10 wins. And only one game seems to match two teams who both have a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl. And if there's one thing I hate in football, it's foregone conclusions, especially in the playoffs. Excuse me while I wipe the snot drip from my sniffly whining onto my shirt sleeve.

OK, all better. Despite my griping, there is one game that could propel either contestant to the big match when New York heads to New England. Hate all you want on the Jets — you know who you are, you people who just like flashy offenses and despise running back platoons — but their defense has been in lockdown mode over the past three weeks and the Patriots have struggled to find playmakers against them all season. And Comeback Player of the Year award-winning quarterback Chad Pennington is anxious to prove just how much coming back he still has in him. Patriots coach Bill Belichick definitely won't feel like shaking hands when this is all said and done.

After that game, the NFL has graciously provided a natural way to bring down your adrenaline levels: The Giants, whose record in the second half of the season seems to suggest they've been resting their starters since week 8, head to Philadelphia, where their defensive is going to toyed with by Jeff Garcia like a cat with a dangling ball of yarn. After this game, fans will have all but forgotten about that quarterback they used to have. Y'know — the guy ... with the soup ... I think he was Irish or something. I'll remember it later.

Kansas City Chiefs (9-7) +7 @ Indianapolis Colts (12-4)
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning may not win Super Bowls. But he sure doesn't lose in the first round at home.
INDIANAPOLIS BY 6.

Dallas Cowboys (9-7) +3 @ Seattle Seahawks (8-8)
I'm not even sure I'd watch this game if it was in the regular season. That said, the Cowboys' passing game is going to rip through the laughable Seahawks' secondary like a tornado of footballs.
DALLAS BY 6.

New York Jets (10-6) +8.5 @ New England Patriots (12-4)
The Jets already beat the Patriots in their previous match by pressuring quarterback Tom Brady into short passes and forcing the run to the outside. ("Ow, my muscles!" yelps running back Corey Dillon.) The Patriots' offense hasn't changed; the Jets shouldn't change their defensive game plan either.
NEW YORK BY 2.

New York Giants (8-8) +7 @ Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)
The Giants didn't just back into the playoffs. They flew around the world in reverse like Superman turning back the clock. They'll wish they could stop time Sunday as the Eagles makes mutton out of the playoffs' black sheep.
PHILADELPHIA BY 6.

LAST WEEK:
AGAINST THE SPREAD: 10-6
OVERALL: 8-8

SEASON:
AGAINST THE SPREAD: 137-121
OVERALL: 154-102

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images