Hot off the Grill - NFL Divisional Round Preview

The divisional round is upon us as the NFL's Elite 8 is whittled away to the final, fantastic four. With the big guns joining the fray, can teams like New Orleans and Indianapolis regain their mojo? Can the hot teams from last week keep up their torrid pace? And what did Colin Cowherd say today that once again proved he is an overpaid moron?

Big Kielbasa's Game Of the Week - Dallas (12-5) @ Minnesota (12-4) - Sun 1:00pm

-The Cowboys win last week over the Eagles finally got the playoff monkey off their backs. But it wasn't just getting the monkey off, they ripped it off, then bludgeoned it with a sledgehammer. Now they travel to Minnesota in what is undoubtedly the glamour matchup of the weekend. Aside from the Romo/Favre whitewash (great plays probably balanced by one or two terrible throws), what will truly decide this game? First, the Cowboys have shown they can go into a hostile domed environment and win (see: New Orleans). Second, the Vikings defense has been in decline over the latter parts of the season while the Dallas defense is picking up. Third, with Percy Harvin's injury woes, the real gamechanger in this one is Cowboys RB Felix Jones. As much as we at RSS hope this game could end in a tie...that can't happen in the playoffs. So, at least in this game, we'll ride the hot hand. PICK - Cowboys

Beer Brat's Spotlight Game Of the Week - Arizona (11-6) @ New Orleans (13-3) - Sat 4:40pm

The divisional round kicks off with the much anticipated shootout between the Saints and the Cardinals. While we could go into a detailed preview, let's take a detour to cast a few stones in the direction of our favorite punching bag, Colin Cowherd.

In his brilliance, the West Coast Windbag did his 12 viewers of SportsNation a favor by letting them in on a secret...the Saints aren't that good! Ok, you could argue they don't have any momentum, have been banged up by injuries...but not good, that seems harsh. Of course, it gets better. The reason they aren't good...they don't have any big-time talent from big time college programs. And the reason the Cardinals will win is because they have players who are stars in the NFL and were stars in college. Hmmmm.....let's look at the two rosters.

New Orleans Saints

-Drew Brees-QB-Purdue: Was a college standout in the Big Ten, when the Big Ten was good.

-Reggie Bush-RB-USC: Won a little award known as the Heisman Trophy!

-Pierre Thomas-RB-Illinois: Kept Steelers RB Rashad Mendenhall off the field for multiple seasons.

-Jeremy Shockey-TE-Miami: Won national championships at Miami (FL), not Miami (OH)

-Marques Colston-WR-Hofstra: Ok, so Hofstra may have just disbanded their football program, point taken.

-Jonathan Vilma-LB-Miami: See Jeremy Shockey

-Will Smith-DE-Ohio State: Won a national championship

Arizona Cardinals

-Kurt Warner-QB-Northern Iowa:Don't you remember them playing for the national title in Warner's senior season...oh yeah, that's right, Northern Iowa isn't even in Division IA.

-Tim Hightower-RB Richmond: Again, maybe a "star" in the Championship Subdivision, but I doubt our buddy Cowherd was watching.

-Larry Fitzgerald-WR-Pitt: Ok, Fitzgerald was a great player in college...but was Pitt a top-tier program under Walt Harris...yeah, didn't think so.

-Dominique Rogers-Cromartie-CB-Tennessee St.: Are you getting the picture?

-Adrian Wilson-S-NC State: Have I proven my point?

It's one thing for talking heads like Cowherd to say ridiculous things just to get attention, it's another to be so wrong to the point of making yourself foolish. In response to his "prediction" his blonde stereotypical cohost showed him QB stats that clearly proved Brees was the better player this year. Cowherd's response..."the Cardinals don't care about stats". Good one Colin, game, set, match...Randall Simon's Sausages.

Back to the reality of Planet Earth now, the Cardinals can't be that atrocious defensively two weeks in a row. As much as a feel good story the Saints would be to make it to the Super Bowl, it's going to be very hard for them to recreate the mojo they had when they beat the Patriots over a month ago. Signing Deuce McAllister is nice, but it won't protect Drew Brees or stop Kurt Warner.- PICK-Cardinals

Chorizo's Upset Of the Week - Baltimore (10-7) @ Indianapolis (14-2) - Sat 8:00pm

-It's amazing that the Colts were only a quarter and a half away from a perfect season, before Coach Jim Caldwell sent in Curtis Painter against the NY Jets. Now, in the divisional round, it's a perfect storm for the upstart Ravens to upset the Colts. All the pressure in this game, and around the country, is on Indianapolis. If they do not WIN the Super Bowl, the entire season is a failure and Jim Caldwell will be second guessed for the rest of his career. Even for the 4-time MVP Peyton Manning, that's a lot of pressure. Meanwhile, the Ravens still have nothing to lose, have the experience from making it to last year's AFC Championship, and should have beaten the Colts earlier this season. Oh, and as you can see from above, Ray Rice is pretty good. Don't say we didn't warn you... PICK-Ravens

Andouille's Under the Radar Game - New York Jets (10-7) @ San Diego (13-3) - Sun 4:30pm

-The only egg on our face from last week was the Jets surprising win in Cincinnati. And while our pick tore the Jets down from Rex Ryan's lofty predictions, don't build them back up just yet. Their victory last week proved more about a weak Bengals team than a strong Jets team. And while the Jets can run the ball and play defense enough to keep it close in San Diego, there's NO way they can beat Philip Rivers and the Chargers. With Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd on the outside, Antonio Gates in the middle, and Darren Sproles wreaking havoc underneath, the Chargers will have too many weapons for the vaunted Jets D to contain. Norv Turner's playoff brain fart will have to wait one more week, at least. PICK-Chargers

Extra Toppings -This week, we'll allow Y1 and Brother Yohey to weigh in with their own picks in this Divisional Weekend in our Extra Toppings segment.

Y1: Apparently, Y1 is abstaining from picking the Saints game...probably because I'll have to sedate him with horse tranquilizers when they start losing. In the other three contests, he's agreeing with me and taking Dallas, Baltimore, and San Diego. Nice to see he took note that our winning percentage goes up when I make the picks in our Hot off the Grill Previews!

Brother Yohey: The always irrational and unstable BY looks like he's also agreeing with the Yoder Bros as well, going with Dallas, Baltimore, and San Diego. But, just to be different, he'll back the Saints against the Cardinals in the first game of the weekend. Boy, now I'm really scared of the picks I made...is it too late to change every one of my selections??? Ah, what the heck, the planets have to align once every century, right?

That's it for our Hot off the Grill Preview. Stay tuned for our latest updates on the NFL Playoffs and the off-field drama that is the NFL's coaching carousel (you can bet I'll be weighing in on the laughable search the Bears have made for assistants...it's like trying to find new first mates for the Titanic after it hit the iceberg!) Until then, enjoy the pigskin, and bye for now!