We’ve asked some of our favorite bloggers the top 5 sports questions of the week to have a fun debate!  Thanks to Nolan, Howard, Alan, Cody and Rob for joining in the debate!

What do you think?  Give your opinion below!

1.  Who wins the 4 NFL Wildcard Playoff games this weekend?

Will Eli & the NY Giants beat the Falcons?

ROB YUNICH – STORMING THE CREASE:

Saints, Steelers, Giants, Texans

HOWARD TICKER:

1) Bengals, Saints, Giants (very iffy), Steelers

ALAN ZLOT:

Wildcard weekend has always been just that, wild. I think this weekend will continue with that theme. I like two road teams, and two home teams. I like the Steelers over Denver, and Atlanta over the Giants. I think the Super Bowl bound Saints will easily take care of Detroit, especially after losing in Seattle last year during the opening round of the playoffs. Finally, I look for Houston’s rookie QB to edge out the Bengals rookie QB, and the Texans to play the play my Ravens next week in Baltimore.

NOLAN MUCCIARONE – ALLIGATOR ARMY:

Steelers over Broncos – Tebow isn’t quite ready yet.
Saints over Lions – Sure the Lions defense is good, but the Saints offense is better.
Falcons over Giants – The Giants are a disaster waiting to happen.
Bengals over Texans – Do the Texans even have a quarterback anymore?

CODY TYSON – BRYCEHARPERFACTS.COM:

Texans over Bengals, Steelers over Broncos (Sorry Tebow), Saints over Lions, Giants over Falcons.

2.  Who wins the National Championship Monday and why?

ROB YUNICH – STORMING THE CREASE:

Alabama, courtesy of Nick Saban’s coaching wizardry.

HOWARD TICKER:

I want to say LSU but I don’t think Bama will let them lose again. They should have won last time with all of those missed field goals. I say both offenses wake up a little bit more and its 16-13 Bama. I took LSU in my ESPN Bowl Pool thing.

ALAN ZLOT:

Alabama wins, and they score points doing it. I think these two teams are as evenly matched as two teams can be for a National Championship. When that happens in my book, the game then comes down to coaching, and execution. Although Les Miles is a great coach, he’s too much of a wild card for this game against a Nick Saban coached team. Saban will be sure that field goals wont matter, and AJ  McCarron, who threw for 199 yards in the last game, will find success early and often against the LSU secondary. Despite losing at home to LSU, which they should have not have done if their kicker was accurate (Alabama was 2-of-6 on field goal attempts) the Crimson Tide will “roll” on Monday night. Final score prediction……..Alabama 27 LSU 17

NOLAN MUCCIARONE – ALLIGATOR ARMY:

LSU over Alabama. The Mad Hatter, New Orleans, Nighttime … Ballgame.

CODY TYSON – BRYCEHARPERFACTS.COM:

Alabama. It was a close game last time and it will be even closer now. With the long break between games, LSU will lose the undefeated momentum. They’ll have to rebuild the mentality. This also gives Alabama more time to devise a game plan to score. Besides Alabama has nothing to lose. LSU has the undefeated season on the line.

3.  With their performance in the Winter Classic, are the NY Rangers the team to beat in the Eastern Conference?

How will the Rangers do the rest of the season after their impressive Winter Classic performance?

ROB YUNICH – STORMING THE CREASE:

They’re certainly playing the best hockey since John Tortorella took over as coach, but they’ve got a lot of challengers – including the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils and a resurgent Washington Capitals.

HOWARD TICKER:

As much as I want to say they are, I think they will cool off and be the 4th or 5th seed. I see the Flyers being the team to beat when the season is over even though the Rangers are 3-0 against them this year.

ALAN ZLOT:

This is not the Rangers season, and while they look great now, there is still a long way to go in this season. In my opinion, and not because I’m a homer with this prediction, but the Capitals are building something pretty special in D.C. Ovie seems to be back, and not for the short haul, and it is possible that Tomas Vokoun has finally cleared out his head from a very disappointing off-season. The Rangers play in the Atlantic division and that can take a lot out of a team. I just cannot see Marian Gaborik continuing on his hot scoring pace, and they always seem to have a tough time scoring in late March and April. They may be the team to beat next year, but not this season.

NOLAN MUCCIARONE – ALLIGATOR ARMY:

I’m going to go with no, the NY Rangers are not the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. I say that because, well, they are the Rangers.

CODY TYSON – BRYCEHARPERFACTS.COM:

They are at the top of the division and running a two game win streak. Maybe they’ll keep that going when they face the Bruins.

4.  What will the winless Wizards final record be this season?

ROB YUNICH – STORMING THE CREASE:

0-66… no, seriously, they might not win more than 15 games.

HOWARD TICKER:

Wizards will go 17-49.

ALAN ZLOT:

15-51, but isn’t it great to John Wall on shoe commercials during the lockout. They suck, and this organization is still paying for having Wes Unseld as a GM for entirely too many years.

NOLAN MUCCIARONE – ALLIGATOR ARMY:

I had forgotten until the Celtics played them this year, that there was even a basketball team in D.C., so I’ll say 10-56.

CODY TYSON – BRYCEHARPERFACTS.COM:

25-41.

5. Of the NFL teams with head coaching vacancies, who will land the “biggest name” as their new head coach?

ROB YUNICH – STORMING THE CREASE:

Whoever lands Jeff Fischer… my guess is Jacksonville, but it could be St. Louis or Miami too…

HOWARD TICKER:

Jeff Fisher to the Dolphins. If Colts fire Caldwell I think they will land Fisher. I don’t see the Bucs, Rams, or Jags will land a big name coach.

ALAN ZLOT:

I would no be at all surprised to see Brian Billick end up with one of the Florida teams. Each have a young QB, and Billick was supposed to be a QB guru wasn’t he? Of course Billick’s arch rival, Jeff Fisher will end up with one as well. If you had to pick which Florida franchise was best equipped for success the quickest, I would obviously pick the TB Bucs, who won 10 games last season, but ultimately the fun and sun in south Florida ends up with the biggest fish in the pond, and whom that is may still yet be determined. Carl Petersen, who will have all of the say in the choosing of the next head coach in Miami loves Chip Kelly of Oregon, which ironically NFL.com also wrote this week is a possibility. Do not be surprised to see Jon Gruden go back on his word and leave the MNF booth.

NOLAN MUCCIARONE – ALLIGATOR ARMY:

The Dolphins. Though if Bill Cowher and Jeff Fisher both sign on to coach, it’s a tie.

CODY TYSON – BRYCEHARPERFACTS.COM:

The Rams. They have some good players now like Bradford and Jackson but whoever the next coach may be will have the ability to build the team to his liking either by draft or trade. It would be an attractive deal to any coach. Maybe we’ll see Jeff Fischer there next season.

Revenge Meeting:

After their earlier regular season meeting it was apparent that there was no by the Ravens for New England, (though does any team really like Bill Belichick and the Patriots?) so I would expect Baltimore to come out with a chip on their shoulder. I’d also expect the Ravens to blitz Tom Brady early and often, not only to disrupt the offense, but to send a message for the phantom ‘Brady Rule’ call imposed upon them earlier this season. Regardless of the outcome, this will be a hard-hitting contest that’s fun to watch.

Baltimore has a good chance to go into New England and upset the Patriots, if they can stick to their game plan. The Ravens have a great running game led by Ray Rice, but Rice is complimented nicely by Willis McGhee and Le’Ron McClain. Their offensive line has given Baltimore big holes to run through all season, and should be able to win the battle in the trenches today. QB Joe Flacco is developing in to a fine starting quarterback in this league. He still has some issues with decision making, (holding the ball too long, or forcing it into coverage) but overall is a good quarterback. His receiving corps is far from top flight, but it does have a number of solid options. I’d look for Ray Rice to have a big game catching the ball out of the backfield. He’s not an easy task to cover for a linebacker, and if the Patriots defense blitzes he will find himself as the safety valve for Flacco. The real key to this game is the Ravens defense, though as a unit it was as dominate as its been in the past, down the stretch they played excellent football. When the Ravens needed them to come up big they always played their best. If they can keep up that performance today, I don’t see how New England moves the ball on them.

On New England’s side things aren’t looking good for the Patriots. Their running game has been awful this season, partly due to the ineffectiveness of the offensive line, party due to struggles at running back. That lack of a rushing attack is a big question plaguing New England as the Patriots start the playoffs. They still have one of the best passing attacks in the league with Tom Brady and Randy Moss, but that unit had a major blow when it lost Wes Welker in week 17. Welker is Brady’s safety valve and multiple people will need to step up to replace his value. New England does have a promising rookie in Julian Edleman, but he has big shoes to fill unless the Patriots change their game plan. I would guess we see TE Ben Watson and RB Kevin Faulk involved in the game more, in an effort to open up things down the field for Moss. The biggest issue for New England is their offensive line play, usually they do a good job of keeping Brady upright, if they don’t the Patriots could be in some trouble. As good as a quarterback as Brady is, he really struggles under pressure, and his numbers fall off big time when he’s getting hit. Without Welker there, Brady will need to find another safe receiver to get the ball too once he sees the pressure coming. Another issue with the Patriots is their defense, when New England was winning Super Bowls it was because of the defense more so than their offense (Adam Vinatieri didn’t hurt either). Now their defense is just good and not the great, dominating defense that was successful for them in years past. They have a good secondary, one that can make plays when quarterbacks make mistakes. But therein lies the problem, this defense doesn’t attack the QB like they used to, and that lack of pressure has led to a decrease in the number of take-aways they have. The Patriots defense will need to find away to slow down Flacco and Rice and not let them match the Patriots offense.

It looks like New England should lose this game, but I think they will pull it out in the end for two reasons. Home field advantage and their previous playoff experience. I think Brady and Co. will pull this game out in the end 23-21.

By Fanspeak Contributing Writer Geoff Nelowet

Can the Arizona Cardinals Match Last Year’s Magical Playoff Run?

Last week the Green Bay Packers won a meaningless game over the Arizona Cardinals 33-7. Both teams knew they had nothing to play for, and they knew they would face each other in seven days for an NFC wild card game. Surprisingly, Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt and Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy took very different approaches last week: Whisenhunt benched most of his starters in fear of potential injuries, and McCarthy played his starters for most of the game.

It will be interesting to see which team will benefit, as Green Bay may find itself in a better flow and more in-sync, and Arizona may feel more rested with essentially a game off.

Last week’s game, though, will in all likelihood prove itself irrelevant to this weekend’s playoff match-up, as both teams will ostensibly play with more intensity than weeks prior.

The Cardinals are the reigning NFC champions, and they come into the playoffs with much more respect than last year. They will not be given the opportunity to sneak up on anyone, and their road to the Super Bowl will be incontestably more difficult. Not to mention, the NFC in its entirety is loaded with more elite teams this year than last.

In consideration of last year’s run through the playoffs, the Cardinals are very difficult to judge. At the end of the regular season last year, they looked like dead weight in the playoffs, and they were expected to get blown out in the first round. Instead, they looked like an entirely different team – they played defense, and they were nearly unstoppable on offense.

It seems unlikely that Arizona can muster the same playoff effort as last season’s, and, like last year, they are going up against a better team on paper. Green Bay has one of the best defenses in the NFL, and they also have one the best quarterbacks in Aaron Rogers. This is a team built for the playoffs that has gotten better each week. They, like Philadelphia, are a major scare team that could do a lot of damage.

Kurt Warner and Co. will keep the game exciting for the Cards, but Green Bay will be too much in the end. Rogers will guide the Packers to an efficient, close win, and their defense will keep the explosive Cardinals air attack in check. Final score: Green Bay 27 Arizona 24.