Thanks wrath! Calling the bookie today to place the money on the Panthers. Whooohooo...

We have some delusional Saints fans ... NO WAY IN HELL do the kitties pull this upset. It ain't happening --- I don't care if ATL plays there worst and CAR plays there best --- it just isn't realistic. I can appreciate people saying "You heard it here first" so that if it were to happen they could come back and sound like a GENIUS, but it is NOT going to happen.

And when it doesn't happen -- Most people will quickly just forget this post ... I probably will as well, but let's be honest ... We're traveling to St. Louis or SEA next week.

Well anything can happen. We only beat Carolina by 2 in the dome, and two weeks ago the Panthers beat Arizona, who kicked our friggin teeth in.

I'd say they have a 1 in 5 shot. Keep it a conservative low scoring game, and hope ATL coughs it up a few times.

I wouldn't mind Jon Beason knocking Matt the f*** out either.

The word you're searching for is "delusional". Disillusioned is pretty much the opposite.

It's the NFL, anything can happen. Who picked the viqueens to beat the eaglets the other night with a rookie QB starting?

That call is against all realistic odds. But I'm not sure that it matters that very much.

Even from the #5 slot it looks like the Saints will have exactly one cold weather game, against the Chicago Bears. That should be an interesting matchup for a lot of reasons. Almost all are in comparison to the 2006 NFC Championship game:

1) The Bears are no longer a run first team.

2) The Saints can, and with Payton finally learning, will run the ball no matter what. And with PT23 and Ivory available, along with the occasional Bush and possibly Jones carry, will have the ability to pull it off.

3) This is not Fred Thomas in the defensive backfield. Porter, Grier, Harper, Jenkins, Sharper, Robinson, and even Torrence are probably the most formidable defensive backfield in the NFC playoffs.

4) The Bears O-line can be had. I can see another Giants type game for the Saints front 7, especially with the defensive backfield just discussed.

Given all of these points, the Saints going to Chicago and laying it on the Bears is a pretty good bet.

Now let's look at the other side of the equation. Who do you think is the best team out of Atlanta, Philly, and most likely Green Bay? Right now, I'd take the Packers. They won't be the least bit bothered going into Philly and have a superior defense and offense that can score. They've already seen the Falcons and won't make the same mistakes. So I can definitely see them coming out of that group.

Note that neither Seattle nor St. Louis can compete with any of the other 5 teams that are in. No more discussion necessary.

Where does that leave us? My bold prediction:

Packers vs. Saints in the Superdome for the NFC championship!

SFIAH

Any given Sunday...

One thing we did by beating Atl at home is make them want to come out and show they are still the team to beat. Unfortunate news for Carolina. I hope John Fox throws everything they have at ATL, if they run the ball well and keep their Quarterback from having to make a play, Atl has a off day (post Saint hangover), maybe we get lucky. We lost our last three going into the playoffs last year, hopefully Atl loses their last two. Stranger things have happened.

HA HA HA ... Thanks Cash ... It's early still

This is excellent analysis .. I think this is what will happen, but of any of the playoff games ... That first round wild card game scares me the most. We'll win it, but I hope it's not as close as I suspect it will be.