John Clayton of ESPN.com calls this game the best one of the weekend:
Titans players call Sunday's playoff game (4:30 p.m. ET, CBS) more a grudge match than a rematch. We call it the best game of the NFL's Wild Card Weekend. These are two heavyweights fueled by adrenaline in a sudden-death format. It's the NFL's version of "Smackdown."
Michael David Smith of FOX Sports.com ranks the 12 teams in order of quarterback play. This not really a surprise to me, he ranked the Titans 12th:
As a rookie in 2006, Vince Young looked like one of the league's bright young stars. But this season he's shown no signs at all of taking the next step toward being a great player, and a lingering quadriceps injury seems to have slowed him down.
Considering the way Young is playing, and considering how effective backup Kerry Collins was when Young missed time with injuries, Titans coach Jeff Fisher might want to consider putting Collins in for a couple of series in the playoffs, both to open up the Titans' passing game and to force opposing defenses to adapt to the differences in stopping Young's mobility and Collins' pocket-passing precision. That's unlikely to happen, though, and Young is likely to struggle to a first-round playoff loss.
Keep this in mind, though: Quarterbacks are remembered for the way they play in the biggest games, and Young played one of the best games in college football history in the Rose Bowl two years ago, when he led No. 2 Texas to an upset of No. 1 USC. If Young could play well enough for the Titans to pull off a couple of even bigger upsets -- against the Chargers in the first round of the playoffs and then against the Patriots in the second -- he'll have a reputation as one of football's great big-game quarterbacks, at the age of 24.
Fox's Mike Tainer did a lot of research before posting his article and picking the Chargers:
Expect another slugfest on Sunday. The Titans have a defense full of hitters: Bulluck, Vanden Bosch, Haynesworth, safety Chris Hope and others. The Chargers have Merriman and company, and they developed a boxer's mentality during their six-game winning streak. "Its hard to see 11-5 when you're 5-5, but we were able to do it," Rivers said after another black-and-blue win against the Raiders on Sunday. "It's been a heck of a year to this point, but we found out last year 14-2 isn't very fulfilling when you lose a playoff game, so we need to keep it going." Both teams have good ground games, but there's a big gap between LaDainian Tomlinson and Tennessee's Henry/Brown combination. And while the Titans rank first in defensive DVOA, we'll take our chances with Merriman's Chargers, especially when facing an enigma at quarterback (or Kerry Collins if the enigma is sidelined).
Hey Mike, Chris Hope is on IR and has been for about a month.
NFL.com's Pat Kirwan has a good list of the key match-ups in the game and picks the Chargers:
Last season all four road teams lost on Wild-Card Weekend. San Diego fired Marty Schottenheimer last year after a 14-2 season because the team didn't win a playoff game. There is a lot of pressure on the whole Chargers organization. With Castillo back on defense, raising the number of touches for Tomlinson and hitting Chambers when Gates is covered should bring a victory to the city of San Diego.
Who remembers the last time everyone in the world was picking against Vince in a win or go home game? I know this isn't college, but I have a feeling Vince can still really play with that chip on his shoulder. Hopefully that chip will put him back in playmaking mode instead of prove he is a passer mode.
