How predictable are the playoffs?

Take a magician like Harry Houdini and pose him as a caricature of himself on an actor such as Danny DeVito. It would be an interesting perspective, but you never know or can tell what's going to happen. It's almost as unpredictable (for me) as finding out that Ellen Page (the star from the movie Juno) is an actress from British Columbia and was never a Disney movie star with a show on Nickolodeon. She was in more sophisticated Canadian films including Hard Candy and American adventures, X-Men: The Last Stand.

But all adventure is out of the picture in the NFL playoffs for now as both favorites played it safe this time around and did what the squads needed to do...rather than pull tricks from their playbooks...to win the game.

In New England, Jacksonville came out raking.

the Jaguars pulled a baseball bat out of a hat and connected as quarterback David Garrard found former signal-caller at Arkansas, Matt Jones and it was seven nothing.

But in typical New England fashion...the Patriots struck back like Jedi. Tom Brady's arm threw the Jaguars defense out at the plate as the sixth rounder from the University of Michigan dwindled any hope of stopping the Pats on any possession. It started with a three-yard pass. This tied the game at seven.

Then the Pats squashed Garrard on the ensuing possession which led to a fumble and a recovery by New England set up near the end of the first quarter. The team would exploit the opportunity through starting fullback Kevin Faulk who nabbed 19 of the twenty nine yards on the drive...which culminated into a one yard touchdown run from Maroney. It was 14-7

Jacksonville would follow New England's response and pulled a snake out of the playbook. Beginning at the Jaguars 19 yard line, the Jags slithered 81 yards for the score...capped off with wide receiver Ernest Wilford catching the leather cowhide ball in the end zone. The battle went forward with the game squared at fourteen.

A 35 yard field-goal miss towards the end of the first half makes it 14-14 at halftime.

Since Jacksonville began the competition with the ball, the tricks were directed back to the Pats. This team came out majestically, orchestrating an 82 yard touchdown drive. Laurence Maroney carried the ball three times for twenty-nine yards on this drive...but the ball was slammed home by Brady on a Favreian toss to Wes Welker in the back of the end zone.

It appeared as if it didn't matter what animals the Jaguars created with their magic wands in the second half because the defense bent but didn't break. The southern squad drove down the field three times in the second half...accounting for two Josh Scobee field goals as the only scores in the last 30 minutes

The final score in Foxborough, Patriots 31 and Jaguars 20

The big killer for the Jags was not only their inability to stop New England's chances later in the ballgame...but it was the incompetency of Fred Taylor and Maurice-Jones Drew to stomp over teams the way the duo is accustomed to. The dynamic tandem had two consecutive poor performances in combining for 66 yards on 19 carries this week after gaining only 77 yards on 24 carries the week before against Pittsburgh

The question becomes...who takes the wrath of the punishment from the Pats next week; the Indianapolis Colts or the San Diego Chargers? The Colts provided a better matchup as Indy only lost by four points and now the team has Marvin Harrison back at Wide Receiver. The Bolts were blasted at Gillette Stadium in week two, 38-13. Although, this is a different squad than the one that initiated it's season 5-5, the squad has not defeated three opponents with a winning mark including an earlier matchup with the Colts

While cornerback Antonio Cromartie led the NFL in interceptions this season (with ten), he might be the x-factor in this game between the Chargers and Colts. Indy brings along a wide-receiving core the Chargers haven't seen since week two against the Patriots ( during week 10, Harrison was out with a knee injury) with Marvin Harrison (questionable) and Reggie Wayne at wide receiver, Joseph Addai Catching screen passes and with the potential for Anthony Gonzalez (foot) and Dallas Clark to combine for the rest of the yardage.

Even more importantly, if the Colts have more threats, then Peyton Manning will most likely complete the ball to the other team fewer times. In essence, it took six interceptions and a missed field goal at the end for the Chargers to win. Is it possible, San Diego might be in Manning's head?

I don't think that's the case. Colts 38, Chargers 31

The Seattle Seahawks looked like pigeons after the first quarter of yesterday's matchup with the Green Bay Packers. The running game was feeble, the defense was enigmatic and the team was desperate to find a crumb of hope in it's repertoire to earn a victory.

Pack running back, Ryan Grant, fumbled the ball twice leading to two touchdowns...one by former MVP Shaun Alexander and the other...a pass by pro-bowl play-caller, Matt Hasselbeck. It was 14-0, four minutes and one second in.

The turnaround began with Brett favre's determination and persistence as he led a 75 yard drive for a score.

After a forced punt,Grant avenged his ball-handling issues and accounted for 49 yards on the ground of the sixty-four total for the drive and a one-yard rumble into the end zone. The score was knotted at 14.

After a Seattle fumble at the beginning of the second quarter, the Packers recovered and Favre converted as he found Wide Receiver Greg Jennings for six.

The Seahawks tried responding but only added field goals the rest of the day as the Packers took down the hawks...in blizzard conditions...42-20.

If the Giants upset the Cowboys today and play at Lambeau Field next weekend the team will do it without Safety Sam Madison and possibly without the number one wide receiving services of Plaxico Burress. The two tried practicing this week but it was difficult for them to do so. As a matter of fact, Burress did not practice on Wednesday.

Dallas' offense will be too much without Sam madison considering Terrell Owens is a go for this weekends' matchup with the G-men. The receiving core is almost as dynamic as New England's...but not as deep. Marion barber will carry the Cowboys to an explosive lead and will hold on

Cowboys 45, Giants 31

Let the games begin!