Playoff Preview: #5 JGPB vs. #4 EMP

In lieu of further power rankings, I'll be posting previews of this weeks post-season games throughout the week.

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#5 JGPB vs #4 EMP

These two titans matched up in Week 8, with EMP taking the victory in a low-scoring affair. The game ushered EMP off onto a 6 game winning streak to finish out the season, and sent JGPB spiraling to a 2-4 finish that put them in danger of missing the show. Well, JGPB made it anyway but if they're going to make any headway in this tourney they'll have to go through a fortress called EMP.

EL MUNDO PEQUENO - Over the last 5 games EMP has averaged a beastly 134.28, scoring over 110 in each game. That's a spicy chili pepper. The soul of the team is the 1-2 RB punch from Foster and Charles, both of whom have tougher-than-usual match-ups next week (Baltimore, San Diego). But if you thought they were the only reason to fear this team, then you haven't been paying attention. Greg Jennings leads a stacked WR corps followed by Mike Wallace and Mike Williams. Even looking at EMP's bench is could easily be half a starting roster on half the teams in the league. They made the moves, spent the time, and no doubt everybody thinks that they'll do the crime this week, B3@sTm0d3 style. They're the reigning champs, the home team, and the most storied franchise in the league, and despite being the 4 seed, Vegas is giving them 3-1 to go back to back. But that's why they play the games, because you just never know...

John Grisham's The Pelican Brief, like America, stands for crime-porn, idealism, and break-neck spending. Still, like America, they should not be underestimated. At an average of 100.1 pts scored per week, they're not too shabby for a #5 seed and they have every reason to believe that they can upset this powerhouse (they've put up over 100 for the last three weeks to finish out the season) Led by fantasy superstar Aaron Rodgers at QB, they've got two of the top 5 WRs in DJAX and Wayne. JGPB will need big games from the Law Firm and Gates in order to hang in this one, come to think of it, they'll probably need big games from everybody in the line-up. A seemingly diminishing role for expensive free agent BJAX may be worrisome, but his presence in the GB passing game makes double titration an option, and one good screen pass could make up for that. Their zero cash level should reduce their stress this week rather than raise it. They've got the team they're going to play with right now, win or lose.