NFL Pro Football 2007-08 Week Wild Card Weekend Picks Sunday games

NFL Pro Football 2007-08 Wild Card Weekend Picks

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Fearless Rick's NFL Wild Card Weekend Picks - Sunday Games

Rick Gagliano | Jan. 3

All times Eastern - Click here for Saturday games.

Sunday, January 6

Tennessee at San Diego (-9, 40) - This is a very fat line considering that the last time these two met - in Tennessee - the Chargers had to rally from a 17-3 deficit to win in overtime, 23-17. That was just a month ago, so the memories from that contest are still fresh. What may have changed is Titans' QB Vince Young's quad, which he injured last week against the Colts. Young is expected to start, but backup Kerry Collins was cool and calm in Tennessee's 16-10 win last week, leading the Titans to three critical second half Rob Bironas field goals.

San Diego has to be concerned with Tennessee's grind-it-out style and the accuracy of Bironas. He's 13-15 from 40 yards or more out, and field position will be a key to victory. Expect Bironas to get at least 4 field goal attempts and hit all of them. If that doesn't happen, this game will likely turn into a blowout, with Tennessee scoring touchdowns instead of field goals or San Diego dominating completely.

The potential for a blowout is decidedly on San Diego's side. They have the offensive prowess and opportunistic defense to create openings, though the Titans aren't likely to give way very easily, so this game looks to be close, tough and physical and that favors Tennessee.

The Titans were ranked 5th overall, allowing just 291.6 yards per game. San Diego allowed 320.3 (14th), but collected 44 turnovers to Tennessee's 37 during the regular season.

While play on the field will be contentious, what happens on the sidelines will determine the outcome of this game. San Diego and their first-year coach, Norv Turner, have a history of playoff failure, while Tennessee's Jeff Fisher has been to a Super Bowl and is cool under pressure.

Give the Chargers a slight edge for home field and on offense, but Tennessee gets the nod defensively and in the coaching corner. San Diego may win, but they almost certainly won't cover, so the play is to hope for a big game from Vince Young (he's not bad in big ones having beaten USC for the national championship with Texas) and a major upset.

Prediction: Titans 26 Chargers 24

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NY Giants at Tampa Bay (-3, 39 1/2) - Call this one the "Enigma Bowl." Both the Giants and Buccaneers have somewhat schizophrenic personalities, and one wonders which team will show up. For the Giants, the determination falls squarely upon the offense. Will the real Eli Manning - the one who threw for 251 yards and 4 TDs against Miami - show up, or will the Giants receivers display the kind of bad hands (they led the league in dropped passes) that helped Manning struggle at times?

Much of what happens for the Giants offense will be dictated by the Tampa Bay defense, which has been a stabilizing force for the Bucs. The Tampa defense ranked 2nd in yards allowed at 278.4, leading the league in pass defense (170.5 ypg). That does not bode well for Manning, though receivers Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress have been better over the last two weeks, especially Burress, who seems to have finally fully shaken off his season-long ankle injury.

The good news for Giants fans is that they love running the ball and should find some success there. But if Tampa steps up and continually leaves New York in 2nd and 3rd and long situations, it's going to be tough for New York to find much success.

Tampa's offense also circulates around their quarterback, Jeff Garcia, but are they a running team? A passing team? Neither? Maybe they just don't have the players. Wideouts Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard are banged up and the backfield of Earnest Graham and Michael Pittman doesn't inspire much fear in defenses. And for Garcia, he'll have to have his wheels turning, as the Giants led the league in sacks and will apply pressure from start to finish.

The Giants do have injury problems of their own. Center Shaun O'Hara, linebacker Kawika Mitchell and cornerback Sam Madison are all questionable, and the real loss would be Madison's experience if he's unable to go.

It's a tough call as to whether the Giants can crack the tenacious Tampa D, or the Bucs can generate enough points with their vanilla offense. Tampa has the advantage of being on familiar turf, where they were 6-1 prior to last week's loss to Carolina, when they rested a slew of starters. Other than that, the only loss at home was by a point to Jacksonville in October.

The Giants are the ultimate road warriors, however, amassing a 7-1 record away from the Meadowlands. The loss was in their season opener, 45-35, at Dallas. Since then they're a perfect 7-0 on the road.

Something has to give, and that's likely to be on special teams. Tampa Bay's Matt Bryant has hit 28 of 30 field goals inside 50 yards, but is 0-3 from 50+. The Bucs should expect decent field position from punt and kickoff returners Michael Spurlock, Mark Jones and Michael Clayton. A close call, but the Bucs will prevail.

Prediction: Buccaneers 20 Giants 13

All times Eastern - Click here for Saturday games

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