Pierce's Picks - Wild Card Weekend

I went 11-5 to close out the regular season, putting my final season record at 161-95, giving me a regular season mark of 63% or so, the rough equivalent of a 10-6 average.

Now, onto the playoff picks - as well as a winner, I'll offer my justification.

Saturday at 4:30pm ET -
New Orleans (5-seed) @ Seattle (4-seed)
It's hard to pick for the weakest division winner in the history of the NFL, although I think they have a slight chance here. Qwest Field is a tough place to play and the Saints have run-game troubles. But the Seahawks have been blown out at home this year against other winning teams and I don't expect a team with a losing record to make it a round in the playoffs. The Saints are banged up and not in an ideal state, but I expect them to pull out a win here.

Saturday at 8:00pm ET -
NY Jets (6-seed) @ Indianapolis (3-seed)
Part of me wants to go with the Jets here - they tooled themselves for this game and they gave Peyton and the Colts one heck of a game last year when the Colts were healthy. But I think swagger can only carry you so far and the team has been out of sync lately. I also think the Colts, with their mechanical style of (usually) mistake-free offensive efficiency are one of the best swagger-killers in the league as a result. Much like the Saints, I think the Colts have their problems and aren't likely to go far, but I think they send the Jets packing early.

Sunday at 1:00pm ET -
Baltimore (5-seed) @ Kansas City (4-seed)
Joe Flacco and his Ravens are one of the better road playoff teams around right now and while I do think the Chiefs are a sound team, I think Baltimore's got the big-play capability that the Chiefs lack. In some ways, these teams mirror each other, but Baltimore is a little further along in the process. The Chiefs promising season ends here.

Sunday at 4:30pm ET -
Green Bay (6-seed) @ Philadelphia (3-seed)
The clear game of the weekend, this game will feature two unstoppable, high-power offenses. To me, this game boils down to one simple question - which defense do I expect to make a big play when needed? If that's the question, then the answer is Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson. I think the young Eagles defense isn't ready and the seasoned Packers defense is.