The Red Zone Report

The divisional round of the NFL playoffs gets underway tomorrow, with AFC top seed Tennessee facing off against wild-card winner Baltimore in the Music City, and NFC #2 Carolina hosting Arizona. On Sunday, the reigning Super Bowl champion and NFC #1 New York Giants host Philadelphia, and AFC #2 hosts streaking San Diego.

All of the home teams and higher seeds will be favored, but that doesn’t mean that you can write their names into next weekend’s conference championship round just yet.

All four games are rematches of close games from earlier this season, so don’t be surprised if a couple of higher seeds get sent packing.

Tennessee had to rally from 10-3 down in the fourth quarter to win at Baltimore in Week 5, and since that meeting, the Ravens have been a pretty hot team, while the once-unbeaten Titans go into the postseason cold, having lost four of their last six after a 10-0 start. Expect the defenses in a close one, and it won’t be a surprise if the defenses outscore the offenses.

Arizona lost 27-23 at Carolina in Week 8 in a game that the Cardinals actually led 17-3 in the third before the Panthers roared back to outscore them 24-6 the rest of the way. Kurt Warner was 35 of 49 for 381 yards and two touchdowns that day. I don’t expect to see much defense in this one.

The Giants know the Eagles all too well from having to play them twice in the regular season, and there has to be a pretty sour taste in their mouths after the Eagles came into the Meadowlands and left with a 20-14 victory in Week 14. The Giants still wrapped up the NFC East that day and soon secured the NFC’s top seed, but that victory was pivotal for the Eagles in their late run to nab the NFC’s final playoff berth.

If there’s a team that needs to be on upset alert, it’s the Giants, who weren’t at their best heading into the postseason, and they’re facing a team who’s high on confidence and knows they can beat the Giants on the road.

San Diego should also be high on confidence, whether or not LaDainian Tomlinson plays. Darren Sproles has shown he can shoulder the load, and Pittsburgh will have a handful with the diminutive former Kansas State star. Their matchup in Week 11 was dominated by the defenses and came down to the wire, with Pittsburgh winning 11-10 on a late field goal, but I hope to see a little more offense from these two on Sunday.

Who am I taking? For today’s games, I’ll take Tennessee to hold off Baltimore, and Carolina to outlast Arizona. Of course, don’t take any stock in those picks, because both games could go either way. And as for Sunday? I’ll have those picks for you on Sunday morning, so be on the lookout for those.

If you’re following this weekend’s playoff action, make sure you make Doc’s Sports one of your top. Doc’s has updated NFL playoff brackets, and not only do they have printable playoff brackets from this year’s playoffs, but from the last three seasons as well.

On top of that, you can check out the latest odds on the weekend’s games by checking out Doc’s NFL betting lines section. I’ll be doing that myself before I make my wagers, and so should you, but remember, always wager responsibly.