Wild Card Playoffs: Keys to victory

FALCONS (11-5, NFC wild card) AT CARDINALS (9-7, NFC West champs)
TV: 4:30 PM Saturday on NBC
Announcers: Tom Hammond, Cris Collinsworth, and Tiki Barber
Location: of Stadium in
Kickoff forecast: 63 F, partly cloudy
Last meeting: Cardinals won 30-27 last year in Atlanta in overtime (Week 16)
Officials: John Parry crew

Keys for the Falcons to win:

1. don’t force Matt Ryan into doing too much
-Don't get me wrong, Ryan has played very well for a rookie quarterback in 2008, but down the stretch, he had a couple of multiple interception games. He must avoid these mistakes to prevent Arizona from getting a short field.

2. run, run, run til’ daddy takes the T-Bird away
-The Falcons were the league's best rushing unit during the regular season, and as the experts say, do what you do best until the other team proves they can stop you. That should take some of the pressure off of Ryan.

3. pressure Kurt Warner
-Atlanta has done a fairly good job at rushing the passer, while the Cardinals have protected the immobile and fumble-prone Warner adequately. The Falcons' front seven needs to get in Warner's face and perhaps force a turnover or two.

Keys for the Cardinals to win:

1. take advantage of a pedestrian secondary
-The Falcons defensive backfield is not a strength, and it will be even more of an issue if Lawyer Milloy cannot go due to injury. That should allow Kurt Warner to find Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin open downfield.

2. don’t abandon the run game
-Arizona brought up the caboose in run offense during the regular season, and as appealing as it may be to chuck it up 60 times in this game, coach Whisenhunt must establish balance to keep the defense honest and Kurt Warner alive past the third quarter.

3. take advantage of the home field
-This will be the first playoff game ever in the state of Arizona (not including the Super Bowl), as the Cardinals make just their second playoff appearance in their 20 years out in the desert. They need to feed off the energy of a crowd ready to see the futility end on both sides of the ball.

PICK: FALCONS 35 CARDINALS 21. A close game for three quarters, but Michael Turner tires out the Arizona defense in the fourth as the Falcons pull away late.

COLTS (11-5, AFC wild card) at CHARGERS (8-8, AFC West champs)
TV: 8:00 PM Saturday on NBC
Announcers: Al and John
Location: Qualcomm Stadium in
Kickoff forecast: 56 F, partly cloudy
Last meeting: Colts won 23-20 at San Diego in Week 12 on a last-second 51 yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri
Officials: TBD

Keys for the Colts to win:

1. slow down the Chargers’ run game
-The Colts' run defense has been suspect at times, and with Tomlinson playing some of his best football of the season, it will be imperative that they put a clamp on the star San Diego running back.

2. use last year's playoff defeat as motivation
-Indy had their hopes of repeating as Super Bowl champions a year ago dashed by the Chargers in the final game at the RCA Dome. They should enter the game holding a grudge against one of their biggest conference rivals.

attack, attack, attack
-San Diego's defense was near the bottom in yards allowed and second to last in pass defense. The Colts need to take advantage of this weakness and let Peyton Manning do what he does best: sling the ball around.

Keys for the Chargers to win:

1. hope that LaDainian Tomlinson is healthy

2. find holes in the Indy pass defense
-The Colts play solid pass defense, especially when Bob Sanders is healthy. They gave up the fewest passing touchdowns ever in a 16-game season (six), and it will be up to Phillip Rivers to thread the needle and utilize his array of targets. Rivers has really emerged as a strong passer.

3. don’t let Peyton exploit the defense with the long ball

PICK: COLTS 31 CHARGERS 27. San Diego played the Colts tough in a nail-biter in late November, and this game should be another that goes down to the wire.

RAVENS (11-5, AFC wild card) at DOLPHINS (11-5, AFC East champs)
TV: 1:00 PM Sunday on CBS
Announcers: Nantz and Simms
Location: Dolphin Stadium in
Kickoff forecast: 77 F, mostly cloudy
Last meeting: Ravens won 27-13 at in Week 7
Officials: Ed Hochuli crew

Keys for the Ravens to win:

1. don’t put Joe Flacco in a tough spot against a solid defense

2. control the clock
-This somewhat ties into number one, but as they have done all year, Baltimore needs to run the ball a large percentage of the time to eat up clock and tire out the opposing defense. They shouldn't have to worry about the opposing offense being fresh considering how staunch their own defense is.

3. force Chad Pennington into making mistakes
-Pennington is a smart quarterback who does not throw a ton of interceptions, but the Ravens defense can force him into making a mistake. Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, or somebody else needs to step up, create a turnover, and give the offense a short field in what should be a low-scoring affair.

Keys for the Dolphins to win:

PICK: DOLPHINS 13 RAVENS 10. Don't expect either of these vastly improved teams to put up a lot of points on Sunday, so field position will be key.

EAGLES (10-6, NFC wild card) at VIKINGS (10-6, NFC North champs)
TV: 4:30 PM Sunday on FOX
Announcers: Buck and Aikman
Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in
Kickoff forecast: hopefully whoever decided to build an indoor stadium in Minneapolis and deprive us fans of a bitterly cold NFL playoff game was at some point in time beaten with a bag of oranges
Last meeting: Eagles won 23-16 last season in Minneapolis (Week 8)
Officials: TBD

Keys for the Eagles to win:

1. take advantage of the extensive playoff experience
-Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson, and many of the team's other key players, are playoff greenhorns. The Eagles have been here before, and know how to handle the increased pressure and intensity of January football.

2. be persistent in the running game
-The Vikings front four is one of the best in the league at stuffing the run, assuming tackle Pat Williams is actually able to play. Andy Reid has a habit of giving up on the running game, making the offense one-dimensional, which typically has produced a poor outcome. He has to stick with Westbrook and Buckhalter no matter what on Sunday.

3. force the quarterback into mistakes and create short fields for the offense

Keys for the Vikings to win:

1. rely heavily on Adrian Peterson
-For some reason, AD isn't as much of a workhorse as you would expect, but if anyone can carry this team to an upset victory and the second round, it's Purple Jesus. Hey, he's already carried me to a fantasy football championship.

2. know where Brian Westbrook is at all times
-Even if the Vikings are successful in shutting down the Eagles' run attack, Westbrook is just as big of a threat in the short passing game. They cannot let him turn a five-yard screen into a 50-yard gain.

3. pressure McNabb

PICK: EAGLES 27 VIKINGS 17. The Eagles are getting hot at the right time, and Minnesota doesn't have enough in terms of offensive firepower to stop their run before it heads on to the Meadowlands next Sunday.