2007 Playoffs, Wildcard Saturday- Open Thread

[Trufant], then, is a perfect match for Moss. Trufant's coverage skills should make Todd Collins think twice before targeting Moss, and should he chuck it Moss's way anyhow, Tru has developed the ball skills and chemistry with safety Deon Grant to make him pay.

This is probably the worst matchup either team could have had in the 1st round.  Washington is playing well going into the playoffs, but having to travel to Seattle is never easy.  It is by far the biggest homefield advantage for the Wild Card round, and might be the best in the NFC.

Can you imagine playing the Steelers without Troy?  He's the only player on defense that I absolutely worry can stop our running game.  This will bear an extra close (read obsessive refreshing) watching of the Injury report later this afternoon.  There's one word that I think describes the Steelers and that's a near literal use of the word Decimated.  They've been reduced by a factor of nearly ten through injuries over the last few weeks.  There has to be a sense of panic in Heinz field or at least the question of "why us?".

Even if the protection isn't up to snuff, Roethlisberger still has the capability to break contain and find any of his three primary targets (Heath, Hines, Santonio). If you harken back to the first Jacksonville game, you'll remember that the protection was actually not that bad despite the 5 sacks allowed. All 5 were a result of Marvel Smith playing the worst game of his career due to a bad back. If Essex and Colon can play even B- football, and Simmons, Mahan and Faneca play well, I have faith Roethlisberger will be able to get the job done.