Bowl season really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Just as ESPN’s “most wonderful week of the year” ends, so begins the NFL playoffs and the lead-up to the most important bowl of all – the Super Bowl.

NFL playoff matchups are set, and yes, I, too, am appalled that the Jets – a team whose quarterback has thrown almost twice as many interceptions as touchdowns – made it.

Given my success at predicting the World Series champion back in October, I figured I’d take a crack at the NFL playoffs.

But first, here are some storylines to watch as the NFL goes bowling.

A Repeat Affair?

No, not you. Pittsburgh. There will be no repeat Super Bowl champions this year, as the Pittsburgh Steelers nose-dived their way out of the playoff arena.

That doesn’t mean things won’t be repeating themselves, however. This wild-card weekend, three of the four games will feature rematches of week 17 blowouts as Philadelphia takes on Dallas, Green Bay battles Arizona and the New York Jets travel to Cincinnati.

The Eagles, Cardinals and Bengals were all victims of thorough beat-downs on Sunday (in Arizona’s defense, they rested their starters for most of the game). How they respond when taking on the same opponent just a week later could go a long way in determining which teams advance to the divisional round.

Arizona and Cincinnati will have the luxury of playing at home, while Philadelphia will be in Dallas. It is hard to beat a team two weeks in a row, but it is also hard to beat a team that recently embarrassed you, so all three match ups are intriguing.

My predictions for Wild Card weekend: the schizophrenic Eagles’ good side will show up and Philadelphia will take down Tony Romo and the Cowboys in Dallas; Green Bay will have a repeat pounding in Arizona; Cincinnati will wake up, realize Mark Sanchez is terribly unprepared, and beat the Jets; and New England, a shell of the pre-spygate franchise, will lose at home to the fighting John Harbaughs (aka the Baltimore Ravens).

Will Lightning Strike Again in San Diego?

The Chargers have become perennial powers in the AFC, waltzing their way to playoff appearance after playoff appearance.
But just as reliable as the sun rising in the East is the Chargers laying an egg come playoff time.

San Diego is unquestionably the hottest team in the NFL right now, having won 11 consecutive games, but four out of the last five years they have managed to find ways to lose at the end of otherwise bright seasons. To say that there is something hanging over their heads is an understatement.

My predictions for the Divisional Round: San Diego (temporarily) overcomes its propensity for postseason failure and beats Cincinnati; Indianapolis overwhelms Baltimore; Philadelphia stays hot and takes down the recently-reeling and overly-rested Saints; and in the Brett Favre bowl (you’re welcome for not writing about it), Favre continues to exact his revenge against the Packers by leading the Vikings to victory.

Uh Oh, Donovan is in the NFC Championship Again…

Almost as reliable as a Chargers’ postseason choke is an Eagles’ loss in the NFC Championship.

To be more specific, four out of their last six times in the playoffs Philadelphia has lost in the NFC Championship game.
A matchup with mistake-prone Brett Favre and the Vikings would be an especially entertaining war of attrition given Favre’s penchant for throwing crippling postseason interceptions and Donovan McNabb’s inclination to disappear in big games.

That said, it would be a showdown of some of the best (mostly) young athletes in football: Desean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Michael Vick, Percy Harvin and Sidney Rice, to name a few.

My predictions for Conference Championships: you can exhale, Packers fans – Favre will melt down and the Eagles will win in Minnesota to go to the Super Bowl; and San Diego’s postseason comedy of errors will return as the Chargers drop a sloppy one in Indianapolis.

Rest for the Wicked

One lingering question heading into the postseason is how teams that rested their starters in the waning weeks of the regular season will perform come playoff time. (That’s you, Indianapolis and New Orleans).

History says that resting starters is foolish, although the New England Patriots learned this week why it might make sense when their leading receiver (Wes Welker) tore his ACL and MCL in a week 17 loss to Houston.

If the Colts make it to Super Bowl Sunday, the rest question is moot, however. But if they don’t, Jim Caldwell will be second-guessed more than anyone this side of Grady Little.

Super Bowl prediction: although I am vehemently against resting starters at the end of the season, the Colts will overcome it because they are the best team. Indianapolis 31, Philadelphia 17.

Dan Bohm wants you to give him a piece of your mind. Tell him why he’s wrong at [email protected].