Raiders hire McKenzie, Wild Card preview

ESPN reported late Thursday night the Oakland Raiders have hired Green Bay Packers Director of Football Operations Reggie McKenzie to be their new General Manager.  McKenzie, 48, has been with the Pack's personel department since 1994.  He was hired by then, GM Ron Wolf, himself a former Raider executive, who gave Oakland a glowing reccomendation.  McKenzie played collegiately at Tennesse and was a 10th round pick of the Raiders in 1985.  He played for years for the Raiders while they were located in Los Angeles before wrapping up his career with the Cardinals and 49ers.  Joining the Packers as a pro personel assistant, McKenzie gradually worked himself up the ranks to become one of the most trusted evaluators of talent for GM Ted Thompson.  McKenzie has extensive scouting experience in all facets of personel, from the college draft, to current NFL players and talent in various other leagues from Canada to Arena Football.  Reggie and his wife June have four children. On a personal note, I've known Reggie since he came to Green Bay and the Raiders have hired a very good man.

Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin is getting another head coaching interview, this one with the  Miami Dolphins.  Philbin interviewed in Kansas City earlier this week.

The Wild Card weekend is here and while the Packers get to sit back and enjoy the football, by Sunday evening, they'll know who is coming to Lambeau for the Divisional Round of the Playoffs on the 15th.  They might know by Saturday night if the Detroit Lions spring the upset and beat the Saints in New Orleans.   The over-under for this aerial circus is a playoff record 59.  The Saints went unbeaten at home and defeated the Lions 31-17 at the Superdome earlier, a game that Ndamukong Suh missed as part of his two game suspension.  I pity the secondary coaches for both teams and unless the Saints make a ton of mistakes with turnovers, I can't see the Lions outscoring them.  I like New Orleans to win in the dome, 34-27.  The opening game features two unlikely teams Saturday, the Cincinnati Bengals in Houston against the Texans in the first playoff game in that franchise's history.   For the first time in playoff history, a pair of rookie quarterbacks will start against each other.  Andy Dalton for the Bengals and T.J. Yates, the third stringer for the Texans.  Houston won at Cincinnati on a last second touchdown pass in the regular season and jacked up by a rabid home crowd at Reliant Stadium, I expect big days from Arian Foster and Ben Tate on the ground and the Texans will make their first playoff game a pleasant one, Houston 23, Cincinnati 19.  On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons take on the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.   The Giants were given up for dead just a month ago but the defensive line caught a second wind and came up with 11 sacks in their last two games against the Jets and Cowboys. That rush covered up a weak secondary and Eli Manning put together perhaps his best regular season yet with the emergence of Victor Cruz at receiver.  The Falcons mortgaged their draft to get Julio Jones to give Matt Ryan another target beyond Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez.  Thrown in Michael Turner's thousand yards and the Falcons will prove to be a tough out but I think it will be New York at home, 31-23.  Finally, the 8-8 Denver Broncos welcome the 12-4 Pittsburgh Steelers to Mile High.  The Tim Tebow luster faded badly down the stretch as the Broncos lost three in a row but still won the West.  The Steelers are without Rashard Mendehall and Ben Roethlisberger is still gimpy with a high ankle sprain. Defensive back Ryan Clark will stay home with a medical condition that gets dicey in the high altitude.  The rest of the Steeler defense will make life miserable for Tebow and my pick is the Steelers getting it done on the road 20-10.   That would create the following matchups for the Divisional round, the Packers hosting the Giants and New Orleans traveling to San Francisco in the NFC, while the Steelers would pack their bags for New England and Houston will travel to Baltimore. Let's watch it unfold.