Possible 1st Round Opponents

[CoCo]

I'm honestly ambivalent about our 3 potential opponents in Round 1 should we take care of business this weekend. They have differing but equal scare factors for me.

If we're still alive after that, I don't much care whether its NY or Carolina but I do hope we keep our mouths shut the week before about NY in particular. I want us playing possum with these top seeds as much as possible.

We are perfectly positioned to downplay our chances and get opponents over-confident.

All that said - Round 1 is actually this weekend. Glad to have a chance and there is no scarier opponent for the next two weeks than having to beat Philly in Philly. We will need our heads screwed on right.

 

[bootsy]

I'm glad the Giants won last night. I want Dallas to go to NY in the divisional round and beat them. I don't know why so many are afraid to do that.

It's the playoffs. You should want to beat the best teams, in the toughest situations, cause that prepares you for the next one.

That would thrill me to go to NY and knock them out.

Exactly. I would much rather play the Giants than the Panthers right now if I had a choice. The Panthers clearly outplayed the Giants last night and should have won. The reason I'd rather face the Giants is 1)we know them very well 2)No Plaxico Burress 3)we have had some success in Giants Stadium in recent years with this team 4)revenge from last year 5)we will be very hot going into that game.

 

[BigDave95]

It's the playoffs. You should want to beat the best teams, in the toughest situations, cause that prepares you for the next one.

I've never understood this thinking. I thought the goal was to advance and ultimately win the Super Bowl?!?

So given the choice, you'd rather face a team that we match up poorly with, in bad weather conditions, in front of their hostile fans than playing some cupcake at home. Because it's more of a challenge?!?!?!?

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I'd take either Chicago or Minny. Chicago has Kyle Orton -- enough said. And we know Minny has QB problems. The way Atlanta just went into their house and led the whole game was shameful. If they can do it, so can we.

 

[AmishCowboy]

Last time we played Minnesota, they ran Peterson down our throats the first series of the game and then forgot about him, I also believe that Canty blocked a FG that was a big turning point.

 

[Shinywalrus]

I'm quite aware of what you posted - I just chose to ignore it. It's ludicrous to begin thinking about our "opponent" at this point because the ONLY one that matters is Philly.

Which player are you, and why aren't you at Valley Ranch?

 

[theebs]

Last time we played Minnesota, they ran Peterson down our throats the first series of the game and then forgot about him, I also believe that Canty blocked a FG that was a big turning point.

That is true, but we also were moving the ball at will, we came out and played hurry up and ran on the edges and we wore those big tackles out.

Crayton and romo both fumbled away big drives where we were about to score.

And I believe that was the last game that peterson didnt start. I think the next week was the week he became the starter.

Tavaris jackson is the worst quarterback i have ever seen in person. I have no idea how he was the starter last year.

If we do play them, and they start ferotte and give the ball to taylor and peterson it will be very difficult. However, on the turf our team will look pretty fast on offense and I am pretty confident adams can handle allen. With the zone defense they play, that could be the game our offense gets up off the mat.

 

[jterrell]

Breaking down these 3 teams...

Minny: 17th offense, 6th defense

Chicago: 26th offense, 14th defense

Arizona: 5th offense, 19th defense

It seems clear Minny hangs their hat on their defense, Arizona leans on its offense and Chicago is just mediocre in both phases.

I'd prefer to play Chicago but we have the least possibility there because they are bad. Next I'd choose Arizona because I trust we'd play them better than we did in the OT loss as Garrett actually game-plans for their slanting and DL games up front this time around. It would also be the best weather/crowd situation game in all likelihood. My least favorite of these foes is Minny. It is a dome game so weather is not an issue but we won't have the split crowd like in Arizona.

Minny has the best defense and good defenses cause us problems. They can keep the game close and wear down our defense. We haven't finished well versus top defenses and our offense usually takes a while to get going which puts the defense on the field too long.

All that said I suspect we play Minny and it won't be a cupcake game if it gets to that point but they will be a worse defense than Philly, Pittsburgh or Baltimore. They are also not overly dangerous on offense. AP is a great back but we can take him out of the game by simply scoring early and forcing them to play from behind. The game plan wouldn't be overly complicated on other side of the ball.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

Any of them would be great. I just want the team in the playoffs.

 

[theebs]

Any of them would be great. I just want the team in the playoffs.

no doubt about it.

Chicago would worry me a little bit though. I would hate to roll in their in the middle of a blizzard or another edition of the fog bowl.

at least in minnesota or arizona the elements wont be an issue.

 

[Doomsday101]

Any of them would be great. I just want the team in the playoffs.

I agree. I don't care who we play as long as we are playing. Our playoffs start this weekend we win we keep playing as soon as we lose a game our season is done. Welcome to the playoffs.

 

[Don Corleone]

Arizona is absolutely stinking it up lately. Color me unimpressed. I don't believe that you just flip a switch on during the playoffs. You play the games like your last 6 or so games, and they haven't played well.

Also, our defense has changed since that first matchup. I think we'll match up better with them now.

Minnesota reminds me of Dallas. You don't know which team will show up. Will it be the fumbling Adrian Peterson, or will it be the one that runs for 200+ yards? Tarvaris Jackson shouldn't be starting.

I don't know much about Chicago, other than the fact that they're consistently inconsistent. The only thing I fear in that matchup is the weather.

 

[sacowboysfan513]

I would actually like to play Arizona. Not only becase they have struggled recently, but also because our defense is much improved and if we hit Warner...which is likely, he's going to have an off day.

Plus they are the ones that screwed our season with the injury to romo and our punter. And we still owe them for the playoff loss against them.

But besides them, I would rather play the Vikings, and then the Bears.

The Bears don't scare me one bit but the weather does. Though the vikings running game is scary, I still believe we can contain it.

And if we were to advance further into the playoffs, I would rather play the Giants than the Panthers.

 

[FLCowboyFan]

THis is a good thread. Informative.

How someone could have a problem with it is beyond me.

Somebody could have a problem with any posts on this board

 

[xWraithx]

Somebody could have a problem with any posts on this board

I have a problem with this post

 

[Alexander]

Jacobs had under 4 yards a carry last night. It was Ward that was the star of the show last night and we shut him down.

Jacobs' return made them feel confident to go back to the run again. His statistics don't tell the whole story...as they always do.

 

[Givincer]

If I got to choose, I'd choose the Bears. Then the Cardinals.

The Bears are just flat out an embarrassing football team. You're not supposed to get to play teams like the Bears in the playoffs.

Playing in Arizona speaks for itself. Even though our offense has struggled over the past few weeks, I'd still put my money on them in that game to outshoot the Cardinals. Even if you think the talent on our offenses are a wash (which it's not...), we'd be going up against the Cardinal's defense, while they'd be up against ours. Advantage us.

Minnesota is the team I'd like to see least of all. One, they run the ball extremely well. And when teams sustain drives on us, we have trouble getting to the quarterback as the game goes on. I still think we're a better team and stand a good chance of winning. But other than it being a dome, I don't see much advantage to playing a hot Minnesota team.

 

[theebs]

Jacobs' return made them feel confident to go back to the run again. His statistics don't tell the whole story...as they always do.

thats true. I dont think he would have made a difference two weeks ago though. I really dont think the giants had a chance that night.

Now if we play them again in the meadowlands in january, jacobs will be a huge boost. He will slow down the pass rush and really pound on our front 7 in the first half.

throw in the wind and the cold in the meadowlands and a trip to NY could be extremely difficult in january. But I hope we get the chance.

 

[Givincer]

And I would prefer the fifth seed and going to Carolina versus dealing with the Giants for a third time. We got fortunate they did not play Jacobs last week.

Perhaps they were fortunate we didn't have our starting running back even close to full health either.

Both starting running backs being hurt seems like a wash to me. Especially since Ward just ran for 200 yards yesterday. It's not like he's incompetent.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

I think Romo is really struggling with the pinkie in the cold. He's been accurate in the warmer games since his return and struggled when it was frigid in Pittsburgh and chilly against Baltimore. I'm not real confident for the game in Philly, especially with the game moving to the later start and colder weather but if Dallas does advance, I'd like to see Atlanta lose in week 17 so it sets up:

At Arizona

Then
At Carolina

Then hopefully someone knocks off the NYFG so it's the NFCC game in a dome in either Atlanta or Minnesota.