El Rushbo’s NFL Playoff Picks

RUSH: Here are the knee-jerk picks: Packers and Steelers. That’s the knee-jerk pick. The knee-jerk picks. The Packers are the best team in the NFC. The thing that negates it is the field in Chicago, but both teams have to play on it. It’s gonna be cold. It’s gonna be hard for Aaron Rodgers to have the kind of game he had in Atlanta: Rolling out, passing. There’s not much wind, but I don’t think you can expect that kind of a high-scoring game with that kind of weather. In Pittsburgh: Home team, you’ve got Polamalu playing and Heath Miller playing who didn’t play against the Jets the first time. The Jets had a kickoff return, things you can’t plan on happening, two times in a row to win.

The Steelers blew three end zone opportunities to win the game or tie it in the last minute. Clearly the Steelers are the better team. Not that that matters. Those are the knee-jerk picks, and there would not be… Folks, I’m telling you right now — with no offense intended for anyone, simply as a football fan — of these four teams, there is no better Super Bowl matchup than the Steelers-Packers. No better… (interruption) Well, Jets-Packers, that’s acceptable. Jets-Parkers is acceptable. Bears in the Super Bowl, that means Obama’s going, and we don’t… (sigh) Man, that’s just ruining… I don’t mean to slight the Bears.

I guarantee you… You take a look at Chicago media. They are scared to death. Jay Cutler, the quarterback, he’s had a couple or three really good games in a row but his history is turnovers at bad times, and in games like this they worry. You know, there are so many cliches in football: ‘You gotta hold onto the ball. You can’t turn it over.’ That and special teams, that turnover stuff, is magnified in importance in the playoffs. If you go position by position and match ’em up, Steelers-Jets: Quarterback? No question: Pittsburgh. Wide receivers? Maybe a toss-up there, but on the defensive side, the question is: You have Darrelle Revis and Cromartie on the cornerbacks for the Jets.

Can they keep up with the speed burners?

I mean, Revis is the best cornerback, shut down cornerback, but can he keep up with the speed of Mike Wallace. That’s who he’s gonna be on. These are the things I’m gonna be looking for — and, of course, the running game. If the Jets can’t run the ball against the Steelers they got trouble, because then it’s up to Mark Sanchez, and that’s not what the Jets want. They have got to be able to run the ball. So I think they’re gonna be two great games.

I don’t think we’re gonna have a dud among ’em. I don’t see a blowout on either side. The only chance for a blowout is Packers. They’re the ones that have the ability to score those kind of points even in weather like this. The Steelers not a big point team. The Jets on the road probably aren’t, either. Weather is gonna be similar — in the twenties, 20%-30% chance of snow — if that matters. But I’ve got real problems picking the Steelers. I’m gonna tell you a little story. I have a couple friends on the Steelers who have begged Kathryn and me not to show up.