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The NFL Today
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Hosts
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Greg Gumbel
Terry Bradshaw
**Program already in progress**
Gumbel: Boy what an exciting wild card weekend for the NFL playoffs.
Bradshaw: Darn tootin' was it exciting. Other than an ugly Buffalo game I was pretty pleased with the results.
Gumbel: Okay well let's talk about that game. Looks like your Steelers bit the bullet against the Buffalo Bills this week.
Bradshaw: Yeah unfortunately the stellar defense couldn't hold the Bills offense late in the 4th. It was a solid defensive game from both teams up until that point. Frankly I always expected Buffalo to win, as I predicted. However I did get my hopes up for Pittsburgh when they were up 12-10 late in the game.
Gumbel: So the Bills barely squeak by. The main problem I saw was that Thurman Thomas got nothing going on the ground. That could be a mjaor issue as he is a big part of that team's success.
Bradshaw: I have faith in Thomas, and I'm pretty sure he'll play just fine come the divisional round.
Gumbel: On the other side of the AFC we had a sort of upset goin' on between Cincinnati and San Diego.
Bradshaw: San Diego has really impressed me so far this year.
Gumbel: The Chargers went into the game without their starting quarterback hero this year, Mark Vlasic, and instead went with some guy named John Friesz.
Bradshaw: That's probably exactly what many people around America said when they saw Friesz in the game tossing touchdowns.
Gumbel: Marion Butts played well, and the Bengals just couldn't get it going. But in all fairness they were severely beat up with the loss of both Boomer Esiason and James Brooks.
Bradshaw: If Esiason and Brooks were healthy I'm not sure the Chargers would've advanced. But hey, no "if's" in the playoffs, so the Chargers got the upperhand.
Gumbel: Now let's move on to the NFC wild card games. Two teams that nobody expected to see in the playoffs, Seattle and Tampa Bay, squared off in a surprisingly entertaining matchup.
Bradshaw: Boy did this one have a great ending. The Seahawks are my surprise pick this year. Dave Krieg and Brian Blades are doing amazing things this year, and they proved it with that bomb late in the game to pull out the victory.
Gumbel: However can they get to the big game without a run game? John L. Williams and Chris Warren are splitting time in a rather unsuccessful output so far the past few games. But I guess time will tell. Now onto the final game.
Bradshaw: Biggest upset of the round.
Gumbel: You got that right. The Green Bay Packers came in and destroyed the returning champion 49ers. Now the 49ers were playing without Joe Montana and Roger Craig, but is that a good enough excuse?
Bradshaw: No it's not. Steve Young is certainly no slouch, and he is the reason the 49ers lost this game, plain and simple. You can't expect to pull out a victory when you go out there and throw 4 interceptions.
Gumbel: But don't you think that was largely due to the lack of a running game without Roger Craig? I mean they had there 2nd string return man, Dexter Carter, running the football. He's an untested rookie, that's asking a lot.
Bradshaw: Well he's a football player Brian, and he should be ready to step up if needed. The 49ers were just simply out played on defense by the Packers all day long. The Packers had the 49ers number.
Gumbel: Brent Fullwood also filled in nicely for the injured Keith Woodside. Although Green Bay has certainly not been known for their running game as of late.
Bradshaw: Brent Fullwood did exactly what he had to do for the Packers to win, and that was play average. The Packers didn't need him to run hog wild on the 49ers, but they needed him to at least be getting 3 yards or so per carry, and he went out there and did that.
Gumbel: Now we're lookin' at the second picture here for the playoffs, and what are you predicitions for the games Terry?
Bradshaw: I'm going to have to go with the Eagles, Packers, Chargers, and Bills moving on.
Gumbel: Alright then, well I'm going to agree with you on the Eagles, Packers, and Chargers. However I'm going to suggest that the Houston Oilers with MVP Warren Moon will manage to overtake Buffalo. The Bills didn't look confident enough against Pittsburgh and I expect the Oilers to take advantage of that.
Bradshaw: Whatever you say Brian.
Gumbel: Exactly, and that's all the time we have for you tonight folks. Thank you for joining us here on the NFL Today, and we hope you're ready for some great football this weekend.
Buffalo Bills
Seattle Seahawks
Philadelphia Eagles
San Diego Chargers
New England Patriots
Green Bay Packers
Detroit Lions
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