The 2008 Playoff Preview - and a Major Motion Picture

After a long hiatus, I return triumphantly to the media powerhouse that is Dave G's Dugout. Thankfully for my sleeping sense of creativity, the NFL has decided to help me out by scheduling the first round of the playoffs during the same week I return to the blogosphere. Thus, the Dave G Playoff Preview is born.

Washington at Seattle:
The Washington Redskins are a Disney movie in the making. Seriously, you cannot write a better Hollywood script. They'll have to change the name, though. Hmm...

The year is 2007. The Washington team is 5-6 when their franchise player, a Pro Bowl safety, is brutally murdered in his home. They travel to Buffalo, where their coach, a grizzled veteran of three Super Bowl wins, forgets a rule and loses the game. Their young quarterback injures his knee and is forced to miss the rest of the season. They are finished. They are done. They are left for dead. Or are they?
After an inspirational speech by the near-senile coach, the team, led by a lifetime backup and geriatric quarterback, a star runningback (a close friend of the murdered safety) who regains his strength, and a defense reborn in the wake of their teammate's death, lead the team on an improbable run toward the playoffs and then toward the Super Bowl. Starring Walter Mathau as Todd Collins, Morgan Freeman as Joe Gibbs, and Peyton Manning as himself, Walt Disney pictures is proud to present: The Native Americans.
I sense an Oscar buzz.

Anyway, this game is unpredictable. Anything can happen. Seattle has a tremendous home field advantage and fields the better team and I'd take Matt Hasselbeck over all but maybe Brady, Manning, Favre and Romo in a playoff scenario. But the Skins are playing phenomenal football and seem to be pushed right now by an invisible force. I have a hard time picking them to win this game, but I hope it happens. For Sean Taylor, for Joe Gibbs, and for good old Jerome, I hope this happens.

Jacksonville at Pittsburgh:
I have to go with Jacksonville here, but cautiously. The Jags are the better team. Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew offer a one-two punch that is maybe unparalleled in the League and David Garrard, who helped bring my fantasy team (The Maryland Terrapins) the championship, is a solid young quarterback who simply does not give up the ball. The Steelers, on the other hand, are playing without injured RB Willie Parker. But here's the thing: they're tested. I don't care what David Garrard did in the regular season. The man has never played a post-season game. Ben Rothlisberger is a Super Bowl quarterback and the Steelers are a team that has won big games (including the biggest of them all) over the last number of years. I'm going with Jacksonville because they are clearly the better team, but let's see how these intangibles work in Pitt's favor.

Giants and Bucs:
Which Eli will show up? The Eli who looked more like Peyton in the first half of the Pats game? Or the Eli from the rest of the season who looked less sure of himself than McLovin in the liquor store? This question will decide this game.

San Diego and Tennessee:
As I am slowly working my way back into blogging and clearly exhausted my efforts on the Redskins section, I am going to forego an explanation of my decision here and simply say San Diego. It means "A Whale's Vagina." That alone gives them the edge.

While I was gone:
-Pettitte apologized.
-The BCS screwed Missouri.
-Michigan got a damn good coach.
-Maryland phoned in the Emerald Bowl.
-Maryland Basketball lost to Ohio and American.
-Jimmy Leyritz killed a woman.
-Peyton Manning filmed 157 commercials. As some point, this will cease to be funny. It might have already happened, but if it did, I am unaware.