NFL Football: Week 17 Preview and a Pick

Posted on | December 29, 2007 | 2 Comments

One week from today the first Wildcard Playoff games will be played. I can’t wait to see them. I can’t wait to get this week over with. I just wish there was one game where the outcome meant something to both teams competing. Oh well, to paraphrase the great Bill Parcells, “It is what it is.”

Tonight will be the New England Patriots visiting the New York Giants. Of course the Pats are going for so-called “perfection”. They will be playing their starters far too long, and no one is questioning it. The Giants claim they will play their starters for much if not all of the game. But I’m not so sure this will happen.

Will the Giants really want to leave their key starters in even if the game is a complete battle? Do they want to play them to the bitter end when they may very well have to play a playoff game in 7 days and definitely no longer than 8 days? I doubt it. It’s more likely that Coughlin will hope the Giants can hang close for the first half and then he’ll shut down 6-8 of his key players and be able to say to them that they hung with the best team in the history of the NFL.

Meanwhile the Pats will play their starters until they’re sure they will win, and that means being up by about 30 points. I’m not sure the score will ever get that high though. The Pats just haven’t looked all that impressive and I wonder how they’ll fare against the Giants pass rush.

It will be interesting to see if the Pats go 5-wide and leave no back in the backfield to help chip on Osi and Strahan. If they do go with an empty backfield, I think Brady might be pressured.

And so to me, it comes down to not whether the Pats will win but whether they’ll lose any key players. In the NFL, the odds have a way of catching up with teams and the Pats have been extremely lucky with injuries all season. Yes, their RBs and TEs have been banged up at times, but the main cogs of their attack – WRs, QB, and offensive line – have been remarkably healthy. If they are playing at a meaningless time and one of them is lost for the playoffs, suddenly Bellichick won’t seem like such a genius anymore.

My Pick: Patriots 34-17

Related posts:

1. NFL Football: My Super Bowl Pick
2. NFL Football: Week 15 – Preview and Another Pick
3. NFL Football: Week 17 Preview
4. NFL: My Pick for Week 11 (Part One)
5. NFL Football (7): Week 10 – Top 5 Teams

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