Wild Card Playoff Picks, Saturday

First of all, let me congratulate Don on a great year of picks. He handed it to me all year long. By the end of today, he should have this thing mathematically clinched, even though it's really been over for weeks now. Nice work, Don.

Now, for today's picks.

Cincinnati Bengals 16, New York Jets 10

I've been riding the Bengals all year, and there's no reason to stop now. Benson is rested, Ochocinco will be back, and the coaches won't be holding anything back, unlike last week. The goal for the Jets, clearly, is to make Mark Sanchez throw the ball as little as possible. Here's a fun bit of trivia: The last time Sanchez attempted 20 or more passes and the Jets won? Week 3 against the Titans. When the strategy for your starting quarterback is for him to throw as little as possible (and I don't care just how good your running game is, even the Titans let Vince Young throw the ball this year) it's not a good sign.

Philadelphia Eagles 31, Dallas Cowboys 21

Look, I know that there's a lot of hype for the Cowboys right about now, but neither of these teams is going far this postseason. Do we really trust Andy Reid or Wade Phillips? The Giants were awful this year, and even that mess managed to drop the Cowboys twice this year. The Eagles, meanwhile, cannot run the football and dropped an egg last week with a first round bye on the line. The X-Factor here, of course, is that Flozell Adams is always liable to take a cheap shot and injure the opposing team's best pass rusher. Assuming that doesn't happen (again), the Cowboys will be losing this one, I hope.