AFC Wild Card Playoff Preview

It's that time of year again.

Time to make more brash assumptions and gutsy calls about something none of us can possibly understand and still be called mortal.

Who could have guessed that the Giants would have made it to the Super Bowl? Better yet, who would have guessed they could defeat the almighty New England Patriots, and not just beat them, but beat them the same way that the Patriots had bested the Rams, Panthers and Eagles, on a late fourth-quarter drive to win it all ?

But every year we still make our picks, and every year very few of us get lucky and somehow end up right.

I'll be the first to tell you, a lot of this is luck.

Going into the year, I said that the AFC playoff teams would be:

Steelers

Ravens (hometown team)

Patriots

Colts

Titans

Chargers 

And that the NFC would be:

Giants

Eagles

Cowboys

Panthers

Cardinals

Vikings

That means of the 12 teams that made the playoffs I missed two, Miami and Atlanta. But seriously, how on earth could anybody have picked them?

So without further ado, here are my Wild Card weekend picks for the AFC.

Baltimore @ Miami- Miami is coming off a five-game winning streak and have won nine out of their last 10, but during that streak they did not play a single playoff team.

In fact, they only beat Kansas City, Oakland, St. Louis, San Fransisco, and Seattle by a combined total of 21 points.

The Ravens also did not post an impressive resume, but all five of their losses came against playoff teams. Take out the disasters to the Colts and Giants, and they lost by a combined total of 10 points.

The Ravens' defense is too good for Miami. Baltimore advances.

Indianapolis @ San Diego - This is the hardest pick of the week. The Chargers were a preseason favorite to go the Super Bowl. By Week 10 they were left for dead. Now after a four game win streak and a complete dismantling of the Denver Broncos, they are considered one of the hottest teams in football.

After starting out 3-4 the Colts have won their last nine straight, beating both Pittsburgh and Tennessee in that span. Again, this team is considered one of the hottest, if not the hottest, team in football, and with Bob Sanders expected to play this Saturday, it only makes them hotter.

They are 5-1 this year in the games that the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year has been in.

With both teams struggling over the course of the year at the run game, the game is going to come down to the quarterbacks. Although Rivers lead the league in passing, Peyton Manning is the front runner for MVP.

Manning leads them to another playoff victory. Colts advance

I will give my picks on the NFC later today.