Arizona Cardinals @ New Orleans Saints: Saturday, 1/16/10, 4:30pm on Fox

If Arizona's game against Green Bay from last weekend is any sort of indicator, we should be in for some more offensive fireworks this Saturday. The Cardinals managed to advance past the Packers by virtue of a 51-45 victory in overtime, where the only time defense was featured was on the game winning play. In the highest scoring game in NFL playoff history, Kurt Warner turned in an absolutely masterful performance, showing why he is one of the greatest playoff quarterbacks we've ever seen. Warner finished the game 29 of 33 with 379 yards and 5 touchdowns. All that without Anquan Boldin playing as well. The entire Cardinal offense chipped in though as Early Doucet and Larry Fitzgerald each had 2 touchdowns and Steve Breaston filled in as the #2 WR with a touchdown of his own, to go along with 7 catches for 125 yards. Beanie Wells added in a solid day on the ground to top it all off, gaining 91 yards on 14 carries.

The Cardinals needed every bit of that offense though as their defense had no luck in trying to stop Green Bay from moving the ball all game long. Despite causing some turnovers earlier in the game, the defense really didn't shine until overtime, when Michael Adams hit Aaron Rodgers in the arm and knocked the ball loose. The ball bounced off Rodgers' foot and right into the hands of Karlos Dansby who had a short trip into the end zone to finish off the game. The Cardinals defense looks to have its hands full again this weekend when they head to New Orleans to deal with a Saints team that showed its ability to put points on the board early and often this year.

The Saints lead the league in both yards per game at just a shade over 400, as well as points per game, averaging 31.9 on the year. Drew Brees finished 2nd in the MVP voting this year behind Peyton Manning, but his numbers were very impressive in their own right. Brees finished the year with 4,388 yards and 34 touchdowns, while throwing just 11 interceptions. Some of that success can be attributed to having so many targets to get the ball to. 7 different receivers had at least 35 catches on the year, lead by Marques Colston with 70. Colston, along with Robert Meachem, also had 9 touchdown receptions. Their ability to spread the ball all over the field is what made the Saints so potent all year long. Their running attack was solid as well, with multiple backs dispersing the load. Pierre Thomas lead the way with 793 yards and 5 touchdowns, but Mike Bell added 654 yards of his own. Bell and Reggie Bush also had 5 touchdown carries apiece. Injuries have been a concern at that position all year for New Orleans, but a bye week in the playoffs added some extra time for everybody to get healthy. Thomas, who has been dealing with a rib injury, is expected to be available on Saturday.

That offense is going to have to be on top of its game come Saturday though, because the defense for the Saints struggled a bit all year. They finished up 25th overall in yards allowed per game, and were particularly troubled against the pass where they ranked 26th, allowing 235.6 yards per game. After the display the Arizona offense put on last Sunday, Saints fans have to be at least a little worried. Injuries to the secondary contributed to some of the issues for New Orleans, but Jabari Greer, who missed 7 games on the season, is back and healthy. Darren Sharper is as well, which is good news considering he tied for the league lead with 9 interceptions on the season, 3 of which he returned for touchdowns.

So by just looking at the numbers, this game would figured to come down to which offense can outperform the other, much like the Cardinals/Packers game. I'm not so sure about that though. Arizona's defense is capable of much more than they showed last week, at least based on their season stats. Additionally, the New Orleans offense, while unstoppable early on in the year, slowed greatly down the stretch. New Orleans scored at least 24 points in each of their first 13 games while going undefeated, reaching the 40 point mark 4 times along the way. However, the team went 0-3 to finish the season, scoring 17 points in each of those games. Sure, they didn't really put in much effort in Week 17 because they had the #1 seed locked up, but the two previous games they were definitely still trying. Also, one of those games was against a Tampa team with an awful defense. I'd be rather nervous about that stretch if I were a Saints fan. It's hard to turn that type of thing around, but with the pressure on in the playoffs, they absolutely have to. Relying on their defense to win this game is going to get them a trip to the golf course and little else.

I'm not sure Arizona can repeat their offensive performance from last week, but they don't exactly have to either. If the defense steps it up a bit against a struggling-as-of-late Saints offense, Kurt Warner and company can probably do enough to get the win. The Saints on the other hand absolutely need their offense to show up back in early season form and for the defense to put in one of their best efforts of the year. This one is very tough to pick in my book.

New Orleans are 7 point favorites as of the writing of this article and I see no way they cover that spread. I think the Saints can pull out a win, but I'll take Arizona +7 happily.

Baltimore Ravens @ Indianapolis Colts: Saturday, 1/16/10, 8:15pm on CBS

I picked New England to beat Baltimore by 9 last week... boy did I mess that up. The Ravens came flying out of the gate on Sunday and took it right to the Patriots in Foxboro. By the time the first quarter was over, the scoreboard read 24-0 in favor of the Ravens. The game finished up with Baltimore advancing by the score of 33-14, due in large part to their running game. In fact, Joe Flacco contributed next to nothing as he was 4 of 10 with 34 yards and an interception. The combination of Ray Rice and Willis McGahee took care of things offensively for Baltimore though. Rice had 159 yards and 2 touchdowns, including an 83 yard score on the Ravens first play. McGahee chipped in with 62 yards and a touchdown of his own. That coupled with a very lackluster performance from New England's Tom Brady (3 interceptions) was enough to allow the Ravens to hand the Patriots their first ever postseason lost at Gillette Stadium.

For the Ravens, it really was as simple as falling back on their strengths to get the win. Defense and running the football have been the staple of the Ravens attack for a long time now, and they showed why on Sunday. Causing 3 of the 4 New England turnovers in the first quarter helped propel the Ravens out to a lead that the Patriots simply couldn't recover from. Baltimore was highly impressive in dispatching New England from the postseason, but they are going to need to keep it up if they want to do the same against Indianapolis.

The faces may change a bit in Indianapolis, but the story has stayed pretty much the same. There is a new head coach in Jim Caldwell, and a crop of new receivers behind Reggie Wayne, but there is one big constant that allows the Colts to be so successful. Peyton Manning brought home his 4th MVP trophy this season, and deservedly so. 4,500 yards and 33 touchdowns from Manning helped Indy clinch the top seed in the AFC with a 14-2 record. Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark each finished up with 100 receptions, 10 touchdowns, and over 1,000 yards, but Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon both emerged as reliable targets for Manning as well. Joseph Addai was steady as always out of the backfield with 828 yards rushing, 51 receptions, and a combined 13 scores. As usual, the Colts were a top 10 offense, but the defense also allowed the 8th fewest points in the NFL.

The defense for the Colts is going to have to find a way to slow down the running game of Baltimore to be successful this Saturday. That won't be the easiest task in the world either, as Indianapolis gave up 126.5 rushing yards per game this season, only good enough for 24th in the league. The Ravens succeeded despite Joe Flacco not performing well at all against New England, so if the Colts can find a way to force Baltimore to throw, it would be highly beneficial. The pass rush of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis can cause a lot of headaches and mistakes for opposing quarterbacks, and despite this being his 4th playoff game already in just 2 seasons, Joe Flacco is still rather young. Forcing Flacco to make plays in order for Baltimore succeed must be the number one goal of the Indy defense, because otherwise Ray Rice and company can run all day long and keep the ball out of Peyton Manning's hands.

For Baltimore, the opposite proves true. The Colts were the worst rushing team in the league this season and are highly dependent on Manning's ability to dispense the ball all over the field. The problem from the Ravens point of view is that there is really not much hope of making the Colts try to run the ball. Simply put, blitzing the Colts really doesn't work. Here is a list of Manning's sack totals each year, going backwards from this one: 10, 14, 21, 14, 17, 13. I could go on, but you get the point, Manning is extremely difficult to bring down. This is a combination of the Colts having a pretty solid offensive line coupled with the fact that Manning is simply the smartest quarterback in the game. Between reading coverages and calling audibles, and his ability to deliver the ball quickly, he just doesn't give opposing defense a chance to get to him. The best the Ravens can hope for is their secondary to make some very good plays on the ball and create some turnovers that way, though that's not real likely either.

Essentially, if the Indianapolis defense can find a way to slow down the Ravens rushing attack and make Joe Flacco win the game, they should be in great shape. And conversely, if Baltimore can keep the ball in the hands of their running backs and eat away the clock, keeping Peyton Manning off the field, that gives them their best chance. The problem with the Ravens strategy is that even if it's successful, Manning has a knack for making the most of little time. I could very easily see the Ravens having a huge edge in time of possession and still coming up short in this one.

Indianapolis is favored by 7 at home in this game, but much like the New Orleans/Arizona game that seems like too much. I think the Colts win this one late, but the Ravens are going to keep it close with ball control. Colts win, but I'm taking Baltimore +7.

Sunday Games:

Dallas @ Minnesota (-3) - The Cowboys have been absolutely impressive, but they need their defense to step it up again to slow down the Vikings. I think they do it and win outright, promptly begging the question "Will Brett Favre Retire?"

NY Jets @ San Diego (-8) - San Diego has been the best team in the league coming down the stretch and the layoff hurts them a bit in my mind. The Jets combination of defense and running has been great, and Sanchez couldn't have been asked for more than his performance on Saturday. I think he costs the Jets this week though. I hate this line, the spread is too big when a defense like the Jets have is involved, so I'm taking the Chargers to win, but the Jets will stay within the 8 point spread.

The fact that Buffalo is currently the only available head coaching gig in the league probably has a great deal to do with it. The Bills currently have the luxury of taking their time to pursue whoever they'd like because they have no competition. Rumor has it that the Raiders will be firing Tom Cable sooner rather than later, but Oakland and working for Al Davis might be one of the only jobs less desirable than Buffalo at this point. With the quick transitions of Mike Shanahan in Washington and Pete Carroll in Seattle, the Bills no longer have to deal with those spots looking like a better choice than theirs. Thus far, only 2 candidates are known to have had actual interviews for the position, those being former interim head coach Perry Fewell along with current Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Fewell was pretty clearly not going to get the job, but it was still beneficial to both the organization as well as the man himself to interview for it just the same. Frazier on the other hand seems to be the front-runner so far. That could very well be due to a lack of competition however.

It seems as though multiple possible candidates have actually declined to be interviewed for the job. This is almost a mind boggling situation really. How bad must the Bills organization look in the eyes of others around the league if assistants aren't even willing to interview for a head coaching vacancy? The latest addition to this list is Russ Grimm. The offensive line coach of the Arizona Cardinals reportedly will not accept an invitation extended by the Bills, though it is unclear if it's simply because it's Buffalo offering or if he has decided he isn't ready to take on the role of head coach quite yet. Either way, it looks bad for Buffalo. The Bills have also contacted the Jets about interviewing their offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. With the Jets still involved in the playoffs, finding a good time for an interview with him would be tricky. Again, this is one benefit of the Bills having no direct competition at the moment.

I would be remiss if I didn't of course mention the big fish in this competition however. It's far from a secret that both the Bills, and more obviously, Buffalo fans, are extremely interested and coaxing Bill Cowher out of retirement. Cowher had a long and successful campaign at the helm of the Steelers and has been out of the coaching game for the past 3 seasons. He currently can be found manning a spot on the CBS NFL studio show and has remained rather tight lipped on the situation. It has been reported that the Bills made contact with Cowher to discuss their interest in bringing him to Buffalo, but the level of reciprocation has been very unclear. Rumors have ranged from Cowher having a second "secret" meeting with the Bills in Orchard Park to several noted NFL media types saying Cowher absolutely will not be the next coach of the Bills. It is clear that Cowher has the upper hand in this situation as he has a comfortable job and there is no immediate need for him to return to the sidelines, the demand for his services will remain for at least a few more years. The interesting part in all of this is the silence from the actual parties involved. Buffalo has said little more than that they made contact with him, and owner Ralph Wilson went so far as to say that he had no idea what's Cowher's interest level really was. For his part, Cowher isn't speaking either. He has thus far declined to comment on his intentions not only for Buffalo, but for a return to coaching in general. Wouldn't he just come out and say so if he had no desire to coach in Buffalo? Well, perhaps not. The possibility remains that he is simply trying to leverage himself into the best possible position for any other offers that might come along. Once again, with only one available choice on the market, there is no need from his point of view to rush to a decision.

Clearly Bills fans are incredibly anxious for a result at this point. A decade mired in mediocrity and little visible hope of a return to the glory of four straight Super Bowls in sight have left fans incredibly discouraged, and rightfully so. The question that needs to be asked however, is does it really matter who the choice is at this point? It could easily be argued that with the current state of the Bills, failure is the most obvious outcome. There are some fans out there that are still willing to give the next hot commodity coordinator a chance to prove himself at the next level and hope for the best. There are far more that seem willing to settle for nothing less than a man with real experience and a proven track record. With names like Gregg Williams and Mike Mularkey in the Bills' recent past, who can really blame them? At the end of the day though, owning Super Bowl championships are simply an indicator of past performance and not a guarantee of future success.

It matters for another reason though. For several years now, there has been an ever growing consensus that owner Ralph Wilson has been unwilling to spend the money necessary to turn the franchise around. Now, there are of course counters to that argument like the fact that Daniel Snyder spends money like he's playing Monopoly in Washington and has nothing to show for it, or the fact that Ralph has at times seemed willing to spend cash in the free agency market and the team has just failed miserably with their decisions. However, with Bills fans in their darkest hour in a very long time, if Wilson were to spend the large amount of money necessary to land somebody the caliber of Bill Cowher, it would at least be a sign of good faith towards the fan base. At least they might believe he is really trying this time.

Without delving too deep into the subject, suffice it to say that the Bills could gain a lot with their fans by putting on the full court press. The secrecy and lack of discussion emanating from One Bills Drive is doing absolutely nothing to quell the ever growing sentiment amongst Bills fans that Mr. Wilson just doesn't truly care about the team or its fans. While they may not land the man they and the fans are after, the least they could do is prove they're trying. In the end, a large portion of the fan base will still be upset with any result short of landing the "big one", but winning back a few would be better than losing them all.