National Football League

5 Questions: Moose talks playoffs

Published Jan. 13, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

John Czarnecki chats with former Dallas Cowboys fullback and NFL on FOX analyst Daryl "Moose" Johnston about this weekend's NFL playoff games.

1. Everyone is talking about the two No. 1 seeds, the Colts and the Saints, left the regular-season with losing streaks. Do you believe that they have lost some momentum and will struggle returning to form?

Moose: Indianapolis has done this before. They have had a lot of success in the regular season in the past where they have faced that tough decision of sitting a lot of people down, you know, to keep everybody healthy or to play through to keep the momentum. Now, most coaches choose to sit the guys down, especially the injured ones.

Tom Coughlin was one of the few coaches I can remember recently who did the opposite. It was when the Giants played New England. He asked the players what they wanted to do — rest because they were not going to improve their seeding at all, or try to take the Patriots down in that final regular-season game. The players elected to give it their best shot. And even though they lost, I think the Giants always point to that game helping them later beat New England in the Super Bowl. When you have some extenuating circumstances and you turn the decision over to the players, I would say more times than not they want to play.

If the Saints hadn’t lost to Dallas, they may have done it differently. But when all your business is done and you have the No. 1 seed, obviously that’s when the decision becomes tough. I think we just saw that Jim Caldwell took it out of the players' hands in Indianapolis and Sean Payton has done this in the past, too. He did it back in 2006 when the Saints couldn’t improve on their No. 2 seed. He sat some players down and they came out and beat Philadelphia. I had forgotten that Philadelphia was on a good run that year and had won six in a row coming out of the wild-card weekend. There is a history with both of these teams.

Really, the biggest thing is to get the players to believe that this was the right approach at the end of the season. Payton has recent history to sell his players that it can be a good thing, while Caldwell is going back to when Tony Dungy made a similar decision. I believe that Indianapolis was the tougher sell because they have shut it down before and lost right away in the playoffs. That’s a tougher sell in my opinion. But let’s not forget that San Diego has just had their number and it was San Diego that beat them each time in the playoffs.

2. Do you believe most players prefer having the bye or do you think most would prefer to keep on playing?

Moose: Everybody wants to get healthy. That’s your No. 1 goal. What you hear now is the response from players who lost and really didn’t have control. If you're New Orleans, Minnesota, Indianapolis and San Diego, those players are going to come out and say, "Listen, this is what we worked for all year. We wanted to get a bye that first weekend of the playoffs. Our ultimate goal was to have both games in our stadium."

But on the other side, anybody that had to play that wild-card weekend, you are going to spin it the other way. "Hey, we’re playing good right now. We don’t want that weekend off because we are hot right now."

I talked to Tony Siragusa about this. Now, when Baltimore won the Super Bowl in 2000 that was one of their big things, Siragusa said. They didn’t want any time off because they felt they were playing well going into the playoffs. Baltimore ended up winning two difficult playoff games on the road.

The great measuring stick for that one is going to be the Chargers. They have won 11 in row and they got the bye. This is where it really becomes a mindset for the players. The coaches are going to have to convince them that having the week off is the best thing for them. For example, the bye has really helped New Orleans. They were banged up and they are going to have some important players back on the field. San Diego was the hottest team going into the playoffs; how does that week off affect them?

To me, it just gives Norv Turner an extra week to try to come up with a game plan that is going to be tough for Rex Ryan to counter. That is going to be one of the more entertaining games. You have a great defensive-minded head coach that does a super job of getting pressure on the quarterback against one of the most impressive passing teams in the league.

3. Who is the most impressive team coming into this weekend’s games?

Moose: Dallas has been excellent; not only last week, but the last three games of the regular season. Now, I realize you say that San Diego has won 11 straight, but the four wins by Dallas are pretty impressive. They are functioning well in all three phases of the game: offense, defense and special teams. They are doing everything really well right now. There has been a lot more balance on Dallas’ offense; I think Jason Garrett has done a great job there. But the defense has just been outstanding the last couple of games. They are going to be tough to beat. It’s one thing to watch a team play, but I really like what I’m hearing out of that locker room. They are finally talking about the things that are important if you are going to make an extended push into the playoffs.

The other team I like is Baltimore. I thought Baltimore was really impressive against New England. That’s a tough place to play and Tom Brady hadn’t lost a home playoff game. There was a lot to overcome to win there. And to come out and start the game the way they did and being able to win playing that conservative style was rather remarkable. The only question I have about Baltimore is that at some point Joe Flacco is going to have to be able to win a game. And how is he going to do that? How will he perform in that environment? Mark Sanchez did a great job last week as a rookie, handling the pressure of a playoff game. Flacco helped win two playoff games last season, but you just can’t be 4 for 10 in a playoff game. You just can’t and make it as far as Baltimore wants to go.

4. Of the eight teams remaining, which team winning would be the biggest upset?

Moose: The biggest upset would be the Jets over San Diego, without a doubt.

Baltimore can make anybody look bad with that defense. Arizona beating New Orleans wouldn’t be a shocker when you put up 51 points like it did against Green Bay. I mean, the Cardinals did win the division again and they are coming off one of the most impressive offensive performances in playoff history. Dallas winning at Minnesota? I don’t think that would be a surprise.

There is only one this weekend that would be shocking and that would be the Jets beating San Diego. But I do give them a shot at winning because they run the ball very well and they play very good defense. Now, against Cincinnati they were able to put Darrelle Revis on Chad Ochocinco and take him out of the game, but San Diego has so many more weapons than the Bengals. If you put Revis on Vincent Jackson, there are still three other guys you have to worry about. How do the Jets stack up against all that? And what does Rex Ryan do in that situation? Does he try to get to Philip Rivers before the ball comes out or does he play a little bit of coverage? It will be a blend, but which one does he lean on the most?

They do have a chance, but when you are traveling across the country that’s another thing that is very difficult to overcome. San Diego is very talented and to me it’s going to be on the Jets’ offense. Can they keep pace? I don’t think the Jets’ defense can slow down San Diego to where it’s a 10- or 13-point game. Can they keep pace if the score gets up to 28 or 31 points?

5. Finally, which team has the best chance of winning this weekend?

Moose: That’s a tough one. I know you are thinking Indianapolis, but it wouldn’t shock me if Baltimore beat them. I might go with Dallas. I know Minnesota is a tough place to play. It will be awfully loud inside the Metrodome, but they are playing well in all three phases of the game. To me, the biggest reason the Cowboys can beat Minnesota is their pass-rush speed off the edge. The offensive tackles for Minnesota are really, really big guys. Phil Loadholt and Bryant McKinnie are absolutely massive; I’ve been on the field standing next to them. It’s unbelievable how big they are. But Anthony Spencer and DeMarcus Ware are very athletic. That’s the area that Dallas will come after; I don’t think they will come up inside. If they have success it will be coming off the edges and they will also bring some cornerbacks and safeties that way, too.

I also think it is interesting the history between Brett Favre and the Cowboys in the playoffs. I know that was with the Packers, but he has not had a lot of success (0-3) against Dallas in the playoffs. How does that factor in if it factors in at all?

To me, I think the NFC champion comes out of this game. I think the NFC has been like this all season long. Whoever the NFC representative is in the Super Bowl, you are going to be able to build a case for that team. I’m saying that if it ends up being New Orleans or Arizona as well. Any one of those four would make sense to me. While in the AFC, if it was the Jets or the Ravens, you would be saying, "Wow, that’s a heckuva run they put together through the playoffs."