***SWAMPY WILD WILD WILDCARD WEEKEND, WOOF WOOF BABY***

The Swamp is buzzing right now with excitement as the NFL playoffs are officially underway. OwooooooHAAaaa let's go baby! The OozeMan is foreseeing a serious dawg feast this round, AKA a historical underdog themed weekend as I like all four of them in these matchups. I know, I sound absolutely crazy right? No way you say eh? Well here is what is swirling around in the 'ol sludge-head:

***ARIZONA CARDINALS +6.5***

The Birds defense in my opinion is arguably the best in the NFL. Defensive Coordinator Todd Bowles has really impressed me this season. The guy is a marksman and finds a offensive opponent's weakness and exploits it to the maxiumum. I'll tell ya what, If I am a team this offseason in need of a Head Coach, I would look no further and pay this man. To sum this team up in one word, it would be RESILIENT, and it is because of their coaching and defense. I love their shutdown cornerback duo in Peterson and Cromartie and I think Carolina QB Cam Newton will not have success throwing the ball against them and they will not be able to run all game against this front seven either. I am not sold on the Panthers just because they went on a four game run to end the season against all three of their fellow terrible divisional rivals and a confused Manziel-led and then Manziel-less Browns squad. The Panthers have trouble putting the ball in the endzone and that will not change today against the Birds. Cam Newton will try his best to make things happen but that being said I think that will lead to some mistakes because he simply lacks the weapons in the WR core and will try to force the ball where it doesn't belong which will end up costing him this game. On the other side of things the backup to the backup QB in Ryan Lindley gets the nod today for the Cardinals and although he is nothing more than a backup QB in the NFL, if he can just manage to not screw up majorly with a handful of turnovers and get the ball to the big time targets at his disposal in Fitzgerald and Floyd, they will be able to score. Bottom line, I don't think the Zona defense gives up much if any points at all as they will surely come to play today and Lindley will be able to play a decent enough game where the Birds come out on top in a low scoring affair. Bowles and this defense gets it done and shows why they belong in the playoffs......and why the Cats do not.

***BALTIMORE RAVENS +3.5***

This is probably the toughest game to pick a side on this weekend out of the four as I am a big fan of Big Ben Rothlisberger and hate to go against him, especially at home in the playoffs. However, these teams have split games during the season and the Steelers have a streak against the Ravens in the playoffs....so what does SwampMan like to do when there is a streak? I'll tell ya...go against the grain and break that baby! Seriously though there is more reasoning to why I like the Black Birds in this one and it is mainly because of the absence of Steeler RB Leveon Bell. It is a shame this guy can't go today because they will seriously miss him. The Killer B's as I have heard them be referred to as in Big Ben, Antonio Brown, and Bell are straight up deadly and almost impossible to stop. By taking out one of those legs, it definitely brings them back down to a level where the Ravens can steal one in a rainy Pittsburgh tonight. Rothlisberger is a magician in the pocket and especially for his size, is incredibly nifty and slippery as he extends the plays until his guys get open and then somehow manages to deliver the ball on point. However if there is one kryptonite defensive line to Big Ben's game it is the Ravens led by Terrell Suggs and Co. These guys love nothing more than to hit the Steeler QB. In the past Suggs has had no problem letting the media know about how badly he wants to sack Big Ben more than any other QB. That being said I think this rivalry goes beyond the two teams and is more of a personal one between those two, whether Ben knows it or not. The Birds also will get their ProBowl DT Haloti Ngata back after serving a couple game suspension to end the year. I expect him to be fresh and add to that vicious pass rush along DE/LBs Suggs and Dumerville as well as their young and talented LB core which is full of studs. I know the weakness for the Ravens is surely their secondary. Just for tonight though I feel as though this game will be more of a smashmouth type due to the rain and the Big Ben deep balls to Brown and his other young and speedy WRs will be less of a factor. The same goes for Pittsburgh as their secondary is nothing to be scared of either. The youngsters have done a great job filling in for veterans Polamalu and Ike Taylor these last couple and I actually think that the return of these two in the defense hurts the Steelers as I see Taylor getting burned by QB Joe Cool throwing crossing routes to either one of the dangerous and veteran Smith brothers. Raven RB Justin Forsett is also on a mission to prove he is the answer to the Ravens recent RB issue with former star Ray Rice. I think he is in for a big night here. All in all these teams are evenly matched and it is always awesome when they go at it. It will surely be another one for the ages and come down to a field goal either way. I'll take the points and the lights out kicker in Tucker to break the cycle for the Birds and beat Pitt in their element.

***CINCINATTI BENGALS +3.5***

Another tough one here as it is hard to go against a young stellar QB like Andrew Luck at home. Make no mistake about it, I have never been a Bengals supporter or convinced that they were ever the real deal these past couple of seasons and they have always proved me right. I actually love to fade the Red Rifle in big games but again keeping with the theme here...Swamper loves to break those streaks! In all seriousness I have seen a change in this guy as of late. He seems to be much more composed and making the right throws. Lord knows he has a plethora of weapons at his disposal and it all falls on his shoulders whether he plays well or not that determines if the Cats get the win. I have noticed that their defense has been playing very well lately too, especially the secondary. I know, they just got burned by Pittsburgh again right? When analyzing that last game, I feel like they could have easily won it if a few things went their way. Star WR A.J. Green has had alligator arms ever since getting rocked in Denver going across the middle and was the sole reason of two costly turnovers for Dalton last week with a pass going off of his hands leading to a interception and then a fumble at a critical point on a potential game winning drive. The result; the Steelers get the ball and Bengals CB Kirkpatrick slips with a little help from Antonio Brown and he takes one to the house for the dagger. With this loss the Steelers won the division but I think this served as a positive for Cincy here. They were coming off of a HUGE monkey off the back type of win in Denver on Monday night proving that they indeed can win a big game on the big stage and that is not in fact their M.O. to consistently lose in those spots. Riding high after that win they travel into Pitt and get knocked back down off of their high horse and get served that much needed slice of humble pie just in time for the playoffs. This loss actually prevents them from getting too cocky and possibly overconfident that they can take out the Colts. Now they are sure that if they plan on doing so, they better come well prepared which I think is something that Head Coach Marvin Lewis will surely have his coaches and players. They want nothing more than to bust through this imaginary wall preventing them from that playoff win. They will sell out in this one to get over the hump that they have struggled to do these past few seasons as jobs are surely on the line in this one. They have the talent to score against this average Colt defense. Even if WR A.J. Green doesn't end up playing, they still have another underrated WR in the talented Mohamed Sanu who can pick up the slack. Not to mention the recent surge from their running game in a thunder and lightning mixup between Hill and Bernard. I don't see the Colt defense being able to slow that down much. Indy QB Andrew Luck is a star in this league, no doubt about it. He will surely have his day but I don't think this is his year as he still needs some help from his offensive line, running backs and defense. As good as he is, he has been known to turn the ball over when under pressure and I think Cincy puts some blitzes together to get in his face early. Not to mention with the Colts lack of competetive schedule I feel as though it has been hard for them to really get in a groove and almost lulled them to sleep a bit right before the playoffs which doesn't bode well for them. They have struggled against playoff caliber teams and I think that continues on Sunday as the Bengals seek revenge for a early loss this season when the Colts caught them in a bad spot as they came off of tough back to back games consisting of the Patriots in NE and a draining triple overtime tie with the Panthers. Bengals are on a mission and get it done here.

***DETROIT LIONS +7.5***

My oh my, the Lions have chosen the path of most resistance as they usually do when they fell to the Packers in Green Bay last weekend. Now, the road to glory goes through Dallas, Seattle, and most likely Green Bay once again. Good God man! One game at a time as I am sure new Lions HC Jim Caldwell has his team focused on. Everyone knows that this team is stacked with talent. In my personal opinion I feel as though Detroit is the better team in this game. They are more well rounded. The Cowboys as good as they are up front with their offensive line and running game, lack a strong defense. Not sure if you heard, but this will only get you so far....and as Seattle showed us last year, defense really does win Championships. I just feel as though that this is a very bad matchup for Dallas. It will be strength versus strength as the Cowboys are the best rushing team in the NFL and face the Lions best rush defense in the NFL. With Lion DT Suh being reinstated somehow after blatantly stepping on Packer QB Rodgers, I think he and the return of fellow big boy in the middle Nick Fairley, make it difficult for Dallas RB Murray to get going in a rythm. That being said, I do not see Detroit having problems scoring on Dallas as they have arguably the best WR in the game in Megatron AKA Calvin Johnson. Now with the addition of the reincarnation of Hines Ward, AKA Golden Tate to be the Robin to Calvin's Batman, I honestly do not see the Cowboy secondary standing a chance at slowing them down at all. Dual threat RB Reggie Bush is finally healthy and motivated to be in the mix coming out of the backfield along with the emerging toughness of the Lion run game between the tackles that RB Joquie Bell has recently provided, the heads of the Dallas D will be spinning. Of course this all depends on which Matthew Stafford QB we get. Something tells me he has a day for himself here and limits the interceptions and poor decisions to help his team do what? What's that now? Oh yea, END ANOTHER STREAK with a mythical Lion playoff win! When the Lions put up the inevitable points, the Cowboys will be forced to keep up, and I think Romo will be in trouble once this happens and the Cats can pin their ears back a bit and hunt. That all being said, take those generous points in this one and don't be suprised if the Lions spoil the Boys dreams here for a wild end to a wildcard weekend!

Enjoy the games everyone! Also just some food for thought...if the above predictions AKA the miraculous happens and all four of these dawgs bark and are victorious, the playoff matchups for next week will go as follows:

BALT @ NE

CINCY @ DEN

ZONA @ GB

DET @ SEA

I don't know about you, but I can already think of some great storylines and build up for each of those games that the media would have field days with leading up to them all week. Hmmmmmmm.......let the madness begin!!!! Swampy loves ya!