Fantasy Football articles - Sports Grumblings.com

Overall for the Season: 120-111-11 / Wild Card Weekend - 3-1

Seattle (+9) vs. Green Bay
Early-week weather reports call for 20-degree temperatures at game time with a 20 percent chance of snow, and the wind conditions could make scoring difficult for two pass-happy teams.

"There was always the belief that the weather you get, that we will get probably, can affect the passing game more than the running game," Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren told reporters. "Yeah, we understand all this passing business, but when it comes down to December and January, you've got to be able to bang it around a little bit.

Veteran wide out Deion Branch is expected to start Saturday after missing last week’s game with a calf injury. Branch also had problems with a mid-foot sprain earlier in the year and missed six regular season games and the cold weather will not assist in his return.

The Seahawks were 3-5 against the spread away from Qwest Field this season and have a storied past when traveling east. That story typically doesn't end with a victory.

Both teams like the throw the ball, but it is Green Bay and Ryan Grant, who ran for 956 yards on 5.1 yards per carry in the regular season, that has the edge in the running game. Holmgren all but abandoned the running game near mid-season as Shaun Alexander struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness. Alexander is averaging 3.5 yards a carry this season, not the formula for success at Green Bay in January.

Seattle held the Redskins scoreless through the first three quarters in their wild card win, and defensive backs Marcus Trufant and Jordan Babineaux put away the game with interception returns for touchdowns in the final 6 minutes.

The Green Bay Packers scored more than 27 points a game and played over the posted total in a dozen games during the regular season and despite the resurgence of the Seattle stop-unit, taking Green Bay in the cold and laying the big number offers little value -- back QB Matt Hassellbeck and his receivers Saturday.

Take the Seahawks and the points.

Jacksonville (+13.5) vs. New England
Despite a perfect season, passing and receiving records and continued mentions of "dynasty", raising the Vince Lombardi Trophy is the only way the Patriots will satisfy a season damaged by "spygate".

New England will attempt to join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only teams to win the Super Bowl after an undefeated regular season.

"To see what we've accomplished this far is great. But, as coach put it, there's another mountain to climb," QB Tom Brady said. "We're in the same position as Jacksonville, which is in the same position as Indy, which is in the same position as San Diego."

Jacksonville (12-5) presents a cold weather challenge for the Patriots. The Jaguars are one of the league's most physical teams and have the personnel - particularly running backs Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew - to grind at New England's aging defense for four quarters.

Taylor, a 10-year veteran, and Jones-Drew, in his second season, combined to rush for 1,970 yards, the second-best tandem behind Minnesota's Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor.

The Patriots run defense looked vulnerable as the season entered the cold New England winter, allowing an average of 124.8 rushing yards and 4.9 per carry in five December games.

Regardless of Jacksonville's performance on offense, finding a way to keep New England's explosive offense off the field and out of the endzone via the pass is the 'X-factor" in Saturday's late game. Not only did the Patriots go 6-0 against playoff teams, they averaged 39 points a game against them. All of those teams were better against the run than the pass.

Jacksonville knows it will be without linebacker Mike Peterson, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Marcus Stroud and safety Gerald Sensabaugh on Saturday. Peterson will miss his eighth straight game with a broken right hand while Stroud and Sensabaugh are on injured reserve.

The forecast calls for near freezing temperatures but calm winds on Saturday afternoon. Finding a way to make Brady uncomfortable will give the Jags their best chance for victory. That said two touchdowns and the Jacksonville running game is the Soothsayer's selection.

Take Jacksonville and the points.

San Diego (+9) vs. Indianapolis
Colts' head coach Tony Dungy and the defending champion Colts begin postseason play against veteran headman Norv Turner and the Chargers in the AFC divisional playoffs Sunday.

The Chargers started the 2007 campaign 1-3, offering critics that chastised the franchise for firing Marty Schottenheimer and hiring two-time loser, Norv Turner, seem justified. But AFC West champion San Diego has gone 11-2 since, including a 23-21 win over Indianapolis at Qualcomm Stadium on Nov. 11 - a game the Colts would like to forget.

Colts' QB Peyton Manning threw a franchise-record six interceptions and kicker Adam Vinatieri - who won two Super Bowls for New England with last-second field goals - missed a 29-yard attempt with 1:31 left.

The Chargers also won in Indianapolis in 2005 to deal the Colts their first loss of the season in their 14th game.

Indianapolis' offense has had another stellar season despite All Pro wide out Marvin Harrison missing 11 of the teams final 12 games. The Colts ranked third in the NFL with 28.1 points per game. Manning recorded his eighth 4,000-yard passing season, and Reggie Wayne has been the main beneficiary, putting together a career year with 104 receptions for 1,510 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Indianapolis' track record against 3-4 defenses, including two losses to San Diego, offers Charger backers optimism. Pittsburgh eliminated the Colts from the playoffs in the 2005 season, and New England did the same in 2003 and '04. Indianapolis averaged 12.6 points in those contests.

The Colts have lost 10 of their last 11 against the Steelers, and are 3-5 versus the Patriots since Dungy was hired.

Vegas insiders and linesmakers don't expect San Diego's biggest injury concern, three-time All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates, to play Sunday. Gates said after the wild card win over Tennessee that the toe was dislocated, but San Diego insists it's sprained. He led the Chargers in the regular season with 75 receptions for 984 yards and nine touchdowns, although he was held to three catches for 26 yards against the Colts in November.

All things considered -- taking the points and the near double-digit road dog -- is the value play.

Take the Chargers and the points.

New York Giants (+7.5) vs. Dallas
Dallas (13-3) has not won a playoff game since beating Minnesota 40-15 in the wild-card round of the 1996 season - a year after winning the Super Bowl. The drought is the longest in team history, but first-year coach Wade Phillips - 0-3 as a head coach in the playoffs with Denver and Buffalo - isn't worried about it.

The press seems more infatuated with Cowboys QB Tony Romo and his romance with girlfriend Jessica Simpson than injured and stalwart receiver Terrell Owens. Romo spent the bye-week with Simpson in Mexico along with teammate Jason Witten and his wife. Owens, however, who leads the NFC with 15 receiving touchdowns and ranks second with 90.3 receiving yards per game, spend his time rehabbing a sprained left ankle.

Reports out of Dallas had Owens running routes and catching passes in his return to practice Thursday, but doing so with a noticeable limp. Owens, if active for Sunday's game, will be limited at best.

Not only do the Cowboys need to break out of their postseason funk, they will have to perform a franchise first by beating the Giants (10-6) for the third time in one season. Dallas has never completed a three-game season sweep of a team. The organizations lone chance failed losing 20-7 to Arizona in a 1998 wild-card game -- at home.

Dallas backers know that of the 17 teams who have had the chance to beat a team three times in one season -- since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger -- those teams have gone 11-6 straight up.

Giants' QB Eli Manning threw for four touchdowns and one interception in the team’s road loss to Dallas on Sept. 9 and is on a two game role.

Take the Giants and the points in the final divisional playoff game of the weekend.