The playoffs begin and the Wildcard round is usually one of the most interesting, this season should be no exception as there are four very strong wild card teams and a couple of very suspect division champions. Indeed it is well within the possibilities that all of the wildcard teams will win into the divisional rounds. Each of these games has potential to be very closely contested, it should be a great weekend to watch football. (For those keeping track at home the regular season results were 169 – 86 – 1 straight up and 137 – 112 – 7 against the spread.)

Please note that these picks are not to be confused with the real business of Football Forecasters and are not the recommended picks. Personally I do not bet football and anyone who has followed this little feature for any length of time will understand why. I participate in a pick’em league and these choices reflect those picks though my league choices are subject to last minute changes based on the latest injury and practice reports. Generally, these picks will appear on Wednesday evenings and for their limited amusement value.

AFC

Baltimore at Miami – The Dolphins have one of the great turnaround stories of the game as they have won ten games more than last season. This has been the result of good fortune to some extent; they were the real winners of the Brett Favre sweepstakes. They have played well also as reflected by the fact that they have the fewest turnovers in the NFL. A lot has been made out of their use of the Wildcat formations and trick plays but really, they play fundamentally sound football on both sides of the ball.

The Ravens defense seems to have found the fountain of youth and is playing as good as they ever had which is a very high standard. They may not be the best statistical defense but they are certainly as difficult to play against as anyone is and capable of turning around a game on almost any play. The greater surprise is the offense, which has big play potential for the first time in recent memory.

These teams met in week seven with the Ravens winning. This looks like a close game but the nod here goes to Baltimore again. The Miami offense relies on speed and the Baltimore defense has the players to neutralize their speed. In the other direction, the Baltimore running game can wear down the Miami defense and open up big play opportunities in the passing game, Ravens win 24 – 20.

Indianapolis at San Diego – The Chargers essentially returned from the dead after starting the season 4 – 8 and making the playoffs. They recovered by refocusing the defense and getting the offense healthy down the stretch. They did not play as badly as their early record might indicate.

Indianapolis also started the season with an uncharacteristic losing stretch. They have the longest winning streak going into the playoffs, they perhaps have not played as well as their record might indicate but they have proven the ability to win from behind with strong efforts late in games.

This game is a rematch of week twelve when the Colts won on a field goal as time expired. Both defenses are suspect and both offenses have advantages against the defensive weaknesses of the other side. The season play suggests that the Colts have found ways to win late and the Chargers have found ways to lose late, hard to pick against that trend, Colts win 24 – 21.

NFC

Philadelphia at Minnesota – The Vikings have struggled their way to a division title. They have a good running offense and a quality rush defense with everyone expected to be available on the defensive line. Their pass offense has been hit or miss and this is not a good team to come from behind in a game.

The Eagles are a frightening team, both good and bad. They have the capability to play at the highest levels on both offense and defense but they can be horribly inconsistent as well. They lack a power running game, which has cost them in the red zone; the offense depends largely on how McNabb plays.

Based solely on talent the pick for this one has to be Philadelphia. They have more ways to win and more weapons but they also have the ability to implode. Whatever the result there is a likelihood that this game may not be all that close, Eagles win 24 – 14.

Atlanta at Arizona – Arizona has been a team on the brink for some time trying to win their division and make their way into the playoffs. They managed to win the West this season though it is not clear that anyone else was really trying to win it. Their offense can be prolific but has been inconsistent at times. The problem for the Cardinals is on defense where they give up too many big plays, they have by far the worst scoring defense of any team in the playoffs.

Atlanta has been one of the big surprises of the season as they finished seven games better than last season and made wholesale changes to their roster, most of which seemed to have worked very well. The offensive line has played well protecting rookie, Matt Ryan who has played better than any quarterback has since Marino. Michael Turner has excelled as an every down back and is a break away threat. The defense is not great but it is effective.

Atlanta is the choice for the win based on their defensive advantage, which is not decisive but may be enough. If Arizona can jump out to an early lead and get Atlanta out of their running game they have good chances. If Atlanta gets rolling with the running game, they can pretty much dictate the tempo, Falcons win 28 – 24.

When people look back upon Eric Mangini’s time in the NFL, he might best be remembered for (presumably) blowing the whistle on Spygate and serving as the fall guy for the Brett Favre fiasco in New York. But Mangini’s contribution to the American landscape was far greater:

If the clip looks strange out of context, don’t worry, it was strange in context as well. In the middle of the penultimate episode of "The Sopranos", Tony is dining with Carmela at Nuovo Vesuvio when owner, and Tony’s childhood friend, Artie Bucco alerts the Sopranos to another famous guest at the restaurant. Bucco then refers to Mangini as "Man-genius", a nickname that was ridiculous when Mangini was coming off a wild card loss and is about 60 times more ridiculous now.

I’m not quite sure what the most awesome moment of this 12 second clip is: Artie’s hand gesture toward the Man-genius, Carmela’s face or the way Tony excuses himself to "go say hello."

Mangini landed the cameo after the show’s casting group e-mailed him to see if he would be interested in doing a brief guest spot. The schedule worked out and Mangini and his wife, Julie, were on-set for one day last winter. We’re sure that Mangini’s mentor, Bill Belichick, videotaped the episode.

Normally with a video like this, I’d cut it down and only show you the part where football is mentioned, but come on, it’s Tracy Morgan. Cutting down a Tracy Morgan interview, to me, seems like hanging garbage bags over every part of the Venus de Milo except the left nipple. The part where he talks about buying the Giants is brief and comes shortly after the 8:00 mark.

I thought Tracy would be a good choice to set the tone for your New Year’s, too. Go out there and get somebody pregnant.

As 2008 comes to a close, we also approach the first birthday of Shutdown
Corner, which was known at the time of birth as "The NFL Experts Blog." 

But shortly after I took over here, it became clear that the term
"expert" no longer had any place in the title, so it became Shutdown
Corner. I
made my first post January 21st (a post that made fun of Emmitt Smith and
really doesn’t make sense without the video, which is no longer available). From
there, I’ve grown to know you a little bit, you’ve grown to know me a little
bit, and The Corner has slowly morphed into the tidy little offering it is
today.

In 2009, I hope to take our relationship to the next level. But first, let’s
look back at 2008, The Corner’s highlights, lowlights, and all the mindless
babble that hopefully helped you pass the time at work.



Story of the Year: The Shutdown Corner Bowling Series, featuring Matt
Leinart, Derek
Anderson, and Nomar
Garciaparra and Mia Hamm

Okay, so maybe the series of hotly-contested bowling matches wasn’t an actual
"story" to anyone but me, but it was the most fun thing I got to do
this year on The Corner. It’s not like bowling with Matt Leinart is an every day
occurence for me. I also feel like it was an important step in introducing
myself to readers and sort of setting the tone for the blog, namely that I’d go
into great detail over trivial matters and humiliate myself again and again.

Video of the Year: A
good old-fashioned Raider fan stabbing

My actual favorite was the racist 1958 Marlboro NFL ad that surfaced earlier
this year, but it’s
been removed from the internet by the Philip Morris people. It’s almost like
they’re not proud of what they’ve done. 

Satire
and Snark of the Year: A
more relevant and reliable alternative to the Wonderlic Test

No one ever thinks about the Wonderlic outside of the time period just before
the draft … try it now, though. Your team’s heading into a playoff game. On
your team, would you rather have the guy who gets a 14-out-of-15 on the analogy
section, or would you rather have the 6′5", 290-lb. manbeast who would bite
three of his own fingers off if he thought it would help him make a tackle?

Since satire was one of the main themes for The Corner in ‘08, I want to
highlight a few others, too, including: A celebration of Shark Week by noting four
NFL’ers who might survive a shark attack … An interview with
a dog that had an unfortunate encounter with some blue dye … and a
big middle finger to the BCS that makes me oh-so-thankful for the Super Bowl.

Media
Bird-Doggin’ of the Year: Rob
Parker has some questions for Rod Marinelli about his daughter.

I tend to leave the rest of the media alone here at The Corner, but not even
Chase and I could ignore this one. Detroit columnist Rob Parker asked Lions
(former) head coach Rod Marinelli if he wished his daughter had married a better
defensive coordinator. In a single question, he accused Marinelli of nepotism
and questioned his daughter’s dating habits. If nothing else, it was a hell of
an efficient way to infuriate someone.

I
fully supported Marinelli’s response, too. It may be what he’s best
remembered for. Other
than that 0-16 thing, of course.

Honest-to-Goodness Analysis of the Year: Honest
question: Could Allen Iverson start at QB for the Lions?

We might as well stick with the Lions futility for another couple of minutes
here. Barring something miraculous in the playoffs, it’ll probably be the most
historic thing we see from this NFL season. 

And maybe nothing sums up the Lions season better than the fact that I
honestly wondered if Allen Iverson could start at quarterback for the Lions, and
no one else really thought it was that outlandish a statement. The idea was born
on our fledgling podcast, and the
more I thought about it, the more I thought it seemed reasonable. I don’t
know if Iverson could have prevented 0-16, but I know he couldn’t have done any
worse.

The
Best in Guest Blogging: Chris
Cooley’s Adventures in NFL Drug Testing.

Chris Cooley shared some great stuff with us this year, not the least of
which was the tale or urinary horror. Cooley also told us about collecting his
own football cards and selling them on eBay, his
draft day story, his headline-making opinion that the
rookie-wage scale should be changed, his love
of fast food, his remembrance
of Michael Strahan, and even his
lovely bride.

The Best in Lists: The 11 Coolest Helmets in Pro Football History

Any list in which both the Orlando Thunder and the Green Bay Packers are
perfectly at home is okay with me. I really had a blast putting that one
together, fondly
remembering Bucco Bruce, a light
blue oil derrick, and Pat
Patriot. I was surprised at the enthusiasm everyone else showed for helmet
history and appreciation, too.

The
Best in High Fashion: The
11 Greatest Mustaches in NFL History

This one was at least as much fun as the helmet list. When you think of great
mustaches in sports, you traditionally don’t think of the NFL, but man … a
deeper look revealed some historically wonderful lip fur. Ben
Davidson was the all-time champ, but Mike
Ditka, Conrad
Dobler, and Dave
Wannstedt provided an amazing level of competition.

Interviews of the Year: The Shutdown Corner interview with Herman Edwards

The interviews I got to do were probably the most rewarding thing of 2008 for
me on The Corner, but none more so than Herm Edwards. He was genuine,
insightful, open, and just seemed like really really good guy. LaDainian
Tomlinson was excellent, Ronnie
Brown seemed like a fantastic guy, and I still laugh when I think about talking
to Tommie Harris.

Art of the Year: Another
Brett Favre Commemorative Coin

We’re probably a little light in the art department here, but if I had to
pick a favorite …

And it would certainly not be the
Vinny Testaverde Award:

Nasty. Just nasty.

Anyway, anyone who’s dropped by and visited the site even once this year has
my sincere gratitude, and if you’ve left a comment or e-mailed me, I thank you
again. 

I’d also like to thank everyone else who helped out here, especially my
tag-team partner Chris Chase. Thanks to Scott Pianowski and Andy Behrens for
their help with the Monday Night live blogs, to Michael Tunison for helping to
fill in, Drew Magary for guest-hosting for a day, and Chris Cooley for his
outstanding contributions.

More Y! Sports year of the blog posts: The Y! Sports Blogs (general), Big League Stew (MLB), Ball Don’t Lie (NBA), Puck Daddy (NHL), Dr. Saturday (NCAAF), The Dagger (NCAAB), From the Marbles (NASCAR), Devil Ball (golf) and Cage Writer (MMA)

If you thought the Jets firing Eric Mangini was a surprise, then you better be sitting for this one: The Denver Broncos fired two-time Super Bowl winner Mike Shanahan this afternoon.

Shanahan’s Broncos finished 8-8 this season, collapsing down the stretch with four straight defeats. In early December, the team held a four-game lead in the division. In what ended up being Shanahan’s final game, the Broncos lost 52-21 to the San Diego Chargers with the division title on the line.

There are some coaches who never felt vulnerable to firings because of their previous successes. Before he retired, Bill Cowher was one; Jeff Fisher in Tennessee feels like another. But Shanahan seemed to have the most job security of anyone. He won two Super Bowls in Denver, the first titles in the team’s history. He was the second-longest tenured coach in the league, spending 14 seasons with the Broncos and leading the team to seven playoff appearances. Yet, somehow, Herm Edwards still has a job?

Denver hasn’t made the playoffs in three years, but is that reason enough to fire the best coach in team history? Is there any replacement who will be an immediate improvement over Shanahan? It’s doubtful.

Shanahan’s firing means that there are only four current head coaches who have led their team to Super Bowl victories: Bill Belichick, Jon Gruden, Tony Dungy and Tom Coughlin.

Photo: Getty Images