2nd round NFL playoff picks

Here's a look at the second round NFL games this weekend:

Saints at 49ers, 2:30 p.m. MT, FOX: I really want to pick the 49ers, especially at home, but my head says the Saints will win this game because of their incredible offense. San Francisco's defense is really strong and it will need to play well in order to keep the Niners in the game. Alex Smith and the offense will have to make sure they get touchdowns and not field goals in the red zone. I think the Saints win in a close one, 27-21.

Broncos at Patriots, 6 p.m. MT, CBS: I don't think the Broncos have any shot in this game. The Patriots are just too good and too seasoned. Even if the game was in Denver, the Broncos would be a long shot, but with the game in New England, there's is just no way I see an upset happening (as much as I would like to). Patriots win big, 38-14.

Texans at Ravens, 11 a.m. MT Sunday, CBS: The Texans will be lucky to get more than 10 points in this game, with a third or fourth string quarterback going against a notoriously stingy Baltimore defense. The Ravens will feed off the home crowd and win this one handily, 24-3.

Giants at Packers, 2:30 p.m. MT Sunday, FOX: The Giants have been playing well the last few weeks and gave the Packers a run for their money in the regular season in the Meadowlands. I think they will make this game closer than a lot of people are expecting. However, the Packers are going to be tough to beat at home and have a great quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. I'll take Green Bay, 35-28.

Giants take opener from Padres

My San Francisco Giants (79-62) won the opener of a four game series at Petco Park in San Diego tonight against the Padres (79-60) by a score of 7-3. The game featured Giants home runs by Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, Buster Posey and Pat Burrell. The offense really got the job done tonight. Matt Cain pitched 8+ strong innings, giving up 3 earned runs. The Giants now sit just one game back in the National League West and thanks to Atlanta's (80-61) loss to St. Louis (73-65) now are just one back in the Wild Card as well.

Now the focus turns to tomorrow night's game which gets underway at 8:05 p.m. MT and will be televised on MLB Network as well as MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. Jonathan Sanchez pitches for the Giants and Clayton Richard goes for the Padres. I feel confident that Sanchez will be able to pitch well tomorrow, he seems to be in a good groove of late and it seems like he pitches well against the Padres.

Oh and the NFL got underway tonight with the home-standing New Orleans Saints (1-0) knocking off the Minnesota Vikings (0-1) by a score of 14-9 in a rematch of last season's NFC Championship Game. It was a lower scoring match-up than I expected, but it sounds like the Saints are still happy with the win. I didn't watch much of the game as my focus was more on the Giants-Padres game tonight. I look forward to seeing how my Philadelphia Eagles do this year. They open the season at home Sunday at 2:15 p.m. MT against the Green Bay Packers.