Yes, my friends, I brought you another 75% weekend of prognostication last weekend for the Wildcard round.  My ‘but-wait-there’s-more’ freebie on the BCS Championship Game was a gem, too.  Of course, the one game that I blew it on was the Giants/Bucs affair, one for which I am being henpecked by Giants fans commenting on my last post.  Poor folks are REALLY going to love what I have to say about their beloved New Jersey Football Giants in the coming paragraphs.  Angry people, those Giant fans!  Think peaceful thoughts.  Find your happy place.  Breathe.

Before I go on to endear myself further to Giants nation, let me banter on about other NFL news.  Joe’s done.  No, really this time.  Redskins hero Joe Gibbs has ridden off into the sunset.  That move leaves Richy Rich (team owner Daniel Snyder) trying to decide where to send the fleet of armored trucks to lure his next coaching hire.  What’s really poetic justice is that the hottest coaching candidate out there is Marty Schottenheimer, who is also, by the way, the best coach the Redskins have fired during the Snyder era.  You’ll recall that Snyder prematurely and unceremoniously dumped Schottenheimer for that greatest of great hiring flops, Steve Spurrier.  Oops.  Don’t suppose they’ll kiss and make up, do you?

The rumors swirl that USC’s Pete Carroll is interested in the Atlanta Falcons job.  People!  Listen to me.  6-10… fired.  10-6… 9-7… 8-8… fired.  This is the Carroll NFL record.  Can you imagine how fast Pete will be jetting back to the college game when he grinds out a 4-12 season in Atlanta?  The thing is, every off-season every coaching vacancy is rumored to be ‘the job’ that will lure Carroll’s mediocre pro record back to the NFL.  Don’t count on it.  I mean, he has to be smarter than that.  At least his wife must be.  “Honey, you sucked at that.  Remember?” The Miami Parcells… er, I mean, Dolphins… aren’t looking at Carroll.  It will be someone who played for, coached under, or somehow otherwise has ties to Bill Parcells glory days.  Maybe one of the actors on the Coors Light commercials with Bill.

Okay, on to the Preacher’s keys to this weekend’s games.

Seahawks at Packers ~ Holmgren comes home to Lambeau.  I hate to sound like John Madden, but this game comes down to Brett Favre.  If he plays like the Brett Favre of 2007, the Seahawks are cheese.  I suppose a key for the Seahawks could be Patrick Kerney.  If he can get after Favre and force him to be reckless Brett, the fortune could turn.  You have to like the fairy tale feel of this season for Favre and the Packers, though.  Don’t underestimate it.

Jaguars at Patriots ~ Humility will be the key to this game.  If the Patriots come in humble - a phrase they have employed all season long internally has been ‘keep eating that humble pie’ - they’ll continue their march towards the greatest season ever.  If they carry any cockiness into this game, the Jags are the kind of team that will hit them like they’ve not felt this season.  I told you before the season began that the Jags have the mentality of their coach.  Jack Del Rio brings his hard hat and lunchbox mentality to every game.  The Pats need to be humble and pay attention to detail.  This could be the best game of this NFL season.

Chargers at Colts ~ The Colts have struggled against the Chargers.  The Chargers defense seems to be one of the few that rattles Peyton Manning every time they play.  Look for the Charger’s D to be key.  LaDainian will be L.T., but the Colts need to find a way to get the game into Philip Rivers’ hands.  The best way to do that would be for Peyton and his receiving corps to start a track-meet on the scoreboard.  Look for Norv to norv this one up.  You can only make the Norv look good for so long.

Giants at Cowboys ~ Okay.  Here goes.  I got lambasted for asserting my observations that the Giants did less to win last week than the Buccanneers did to lose.  I stand by that observation, whatever sores on your butt that may cause to fester.  No matter.  The Giants won, and now all the natives from the bowels of New Jersey are enthralled by ruminations of grandeur.  (Oh, sorry.  It occurrs to me most Giants fans won’t understand that last sentence.  Enthralled def. - captivated; Ruminations def. - ponderings; Grandeur def. - the state of being impressive or awesome.) Enter Tony Romo.  Enter T.O.  Yes, T.O. will play.  He’s got a box of Wheaties and an exercise bike.  He’s no Donovan McNabb, remember?  Yes, Eli has had two good games back to back.  Against the Patriots and the Bucs - two teams who don’t know him.  Dallas has seen him.  And they know that Phil Simms he’s not.  Jeff Hostetler he’s not.  Joe Pisarcik… maybe.

So, here they are, my ‘the-Preacher-might-hurt-your-feelings-but-he-loves-you-enough-to-tell-you-how-it-is’ picks for this Divisional Round Weekend: Packers over Seahawks; Patriots over Jaguars; Colts over Chargers; Cowboys over Giants - and we can all rejoice that the four best teams in the NFL will work out the title, unlike that lousy BCS mess!  There you have it.

P.S. Giants fans - love ya!