Thursday’s question: Which teams will advance in this weekend’s NFL playoff games?

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Reporters from the Tribune family answer the question of the day, then you get a chance to chime in and tell them why they are wrong.

Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times

My preseason Super Bowl pick was Chargers over Saints. Now, I think that’s half-right. I still like the Chargers, and I think they’ll beat the Jets fairly handily in San Diego on Sunday. But I have the Cardinals beating the top-seeded Saints in New Orleans. The Saints could pull things together, of course, and they have an outstanding offense. It’s just that I don’t like the way they lost their last three games, even if they were pumping the brakes after clinching a bye. I have Indianapolis defending its home field against Baltimore, although the Ravens’ defense should keep that game very close and Baltimore’s ground game is scary good. And I like Dallas winning at Minnesota, with the game hinging on whether the Vikings can keep those outside linebackers off Brett Favre.

Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune

The Cowboys went a long ways toward reversing their December woes when they ended the Saints’ bid for perfection on Dec. 19 with a 24-17 victory at the Superdome. The Cowboys also became the team to beat in the NFC and they should roll into the title game with a win over the Vikings provided Tony Romo doesn’t have any holding issues. The darling of the playoffs again, Arizona springs an upset in New Orleans against the Saints, who wobbled to the postseason following the loss to Dallas. The top seeds Indianapolis and San Diego advance in the AFC pitting the quarterback who should have been named MVP, Philip Rivers, against the quarterback who did win MVP, Peyton Manning.

Ron Fritz, Baltimore Sun

Since I’m in Baltimore and the purple Kool-Aid is flowing in the streets here, I’m going with the Ravens over the Colts. Ex-Raven Matt Stover kicks a late field goal to put the Colts up, but Joe Flacco, doing his best Peyton Manning impression, moves the Ravens downfield and Billy Cundiff boots the game-winner as time expires. The Ravens are due against the Colts -- about 26 years due.
In the other games: Chargers over New York (Jets don’t react well to cross-country flights); Saints over Arizona (Nobody marches into New Orleans and beats them); and Cowboys over Vikings (How ‘bout them Cowboys? The defense of Dallas, which was flying last Saturday against the Eagles, makes Brett Favre look like the old man he is).

Mike Berardino, South Florida Sun Sentinel

Call it karma. Call it the curse of the ’72 Dolphins. Call it trouble upon rebooting.
Something tells me the imperfect Colts, who kept narrowly escaping during a 14-0 start, are going to see their season end at home on Saturday.
It would fall neatly in line with similar Colts playoff flops after early clinches. Jim Caldwell is coaching his first NFL playoff game. Plus, the Ravens – who absolutely dominated Tom Brady in the wildcard round –are poised to go 4-1 in road playoff games under John Harbaugh.
I also like the Cowboys, who finally ended a 13-year drought without a playoff win, to make it two in a row at bickering Minnesota. I’ll take the chalk in the other two games: Saints and Chargers.