The guys from The Sports Take have given their picks for the NFL playoffs. This year’s playoffs seem to be very interesting. Not only does the first round feature every possible type of bird, but a team that was 1-15 last year who finished 11-5 in the Dolphins, a team that lost their star quarterback to dog fighting charges and seemed like a lost cause in the Falcons, and a .500 team in the Chargers. Oh yeah, and most importantly, there won’t be any games played in New England this year, or played BY New England. Sure, we can get into arguments as to who should and shouldn’t make the playoffs, but that won’t change a thing. The fact of the matter is that the playoff schedule is set, and the road to the Super Bowl is ready to be traveled by 12 teams. Only one team can be Super Bowl champions. Will it be a repeat by the Giants, or will one of the many birds fly high? The guys seem to have an idea as to who may win it, and their picks are listed below.

  
     Only one other active NFL coach (Jeff Fisher) has had a longer tenure with one team than Mike Shanahan.  The Denver Broncos fired coach Shanahan on Wednesday after 14 seasons on the job.  Since taking the head coaching position with Denver, a lot has happened.  He has been through two U.S. presidents (nearly three), the founding of Yahoo and E-Bay, the birth of the IPOD, all of Tiger Woods’s fourteen majors, four Yankee World Series wins, but only half the career of Julio Franco. 

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The NFL season is just about coming to a close, and expecting quite the ending. This weekend presents two matchups that will decide the #1 seed in both the AFC and NFC. The Steelers will face off against the Tennessee Titans. The Steelers come into this matchup after squeeking out a win against division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. The Tennessee Titans, who weeks ago seemed like the favorite in the AFC seems to have lost their swagger, especially after their loss to Houston in which Jeff Fisher’s play calling was called into question. In the NFC, the Super Bowl champion New York Giants began the season looking dominant. After a loss to the Browns, they rebounded nicely. After their star wide receiver suffered an injury after shooting himself in the leg, and was arrested, the Giants were forced to suspend him. Along with the bad publicity, the Giants went on to lose to their next two games without him. This game not only has #1 seed implications, but the Gmen must also prove that they can continue to be just as dominant without Plax, and with an injured Brandon Jacobs. The Carolina Panthers, on the other hand, are flying high. After defeating division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a sizeable margin, and then the Broncos by a 20 point deficit, the Panthers enter Giants Stadium with all the momentum in the world. Their running back tandum of Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams finally seem to be clicking, and seem near unstoppable. But, how will they fare against the #4 rushing defense in the NFL? Four AFC playoff spots remain, and four in the NFC. Carolina will clinch a playoff spot this weekend, but because of the close divisions, it seems like the final wildcard spot in the AFC can come down to the final week, and the 3, 4, 5, and 6 seeds seem like they will need another week to be decided. Below are the guy’s week 16 picks. As of right now, the playoff picture looks like this:
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