Superman had Kryptonite, the top four seeds have these weaknesses

[sleepless]

excellent read from scouts inc

New England, Indianapolis, Dallas and Green Bay have been the four dominant teams all season. But even Superman had his Kryptonite, so here are the biggest weaknesses for the four top seeds in the NFL playoffs.

DALLAS

The Dallas Cowboys offense revolves around Terrell Owens. Only one problem -- he suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 15 and his status is in jeopardy for Sunday's divisional playoff game against New York. No one is as much of a difference-maker for the Cowboys as Owens and much like Randy Moss in New England, Owens must be accounted for on every play and is nearly impossible to completely take out of the game.

But now he may not play and even if he does, how effective he'll be is up for debate. A high-ankle sprain limits how well he can push off, his speed, his cuts. Owens has nine catches for 212 yards and four TDs in two games against the Giants. He alters game plans and frees up other receivers to make plays for the Cowboys. Without him, or if he isn't 100 percent, the Cowboys offense -- namely the receiving corps -- is suddenly less intimidating. Can Patrick Crayton, Sam Hurd and Terry Glenn pick up the slack? And don't forget this would be Glenn's first game all season. His timing, feel for the speed of the game and rhythm with QB Tony Romo is all a big question mark.

Jason Witten is among the best tight ends in the game, but without Owens, the Giants could take a safety that would normally be used to help out with TO and double Witten. Now the Cowboys would be without their two biggest threats. And if Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan and the Giants D-line gets pressure on Romo, it's not out of the question Witten stay in to help block, again eliminating a Romo favorite receiver. Or maybe it's a running back forced to stay in and block instead of releasing into the routes. Regardless, it puts pressure on the other unproven Cowboys receivers. Or it allows the Giants to creep a safety up into the box in an effort to stop the Dallas rushing attack.

Including Week 15, when Owens was injured, the Cowboys have scored just 32 points. Romo's QB rating in those three games were 22.2, 81.2 and 34.9 and he threw just one TD compared to five INTs. His offense has looked ordinary without TO. If Owens can't play or is just a shell of his healthy self, another ordinary offensive effort could end Dallas' season.

GREEN BAY

While Green Bay has developed a solid rushing attack in the second half of the season, the Packers remain a passing team. The problem is the Packers tackles are susceptible to talented pass rushers off the edge and that's exactly what they face Saturday against Seattle. LT Chad Clifton and RT Mark Tauscher are tough veterans who are fundamentally sound, but neither is particularly quick or agile at this point of their career. Clifton and Tauscher use their hands extremely well, display good power with their punch and understand blocking angles, but they are going to have to get out of their stance very quickly and be very light on their feet to keep Brett Favre clean.

Only three defenses sacked the quarterback more than the Seahawks this year. While only the Bengals and Saints allowed fewer sacks than Green Bay this season, the Packers' offensive tackles are at a disadvantage against RDE Darryl Tapp, LDE Patrick Kerney and OLB Julian Peterson, who is often blitzed off the edge. Kerney is a technically sound, explosive and a relentless pass rusher with great agility and is one of the best free agent signings this past offseason. He has revitalized the Seahawks' defense with his 14.5 sacks, second only to Kansas City's Jared Allen for the overall NFL lead. Tapp is a shorter defensive end with a similar build to Indy's Dwight Freeney, but like Freeney, he uses his great speed and leverage very well and accounted for seven sacks this year. Peterson is a do-it-all player who covers a ton of ground in pass coverage and is solid against the run. But what he does best is use his extreme speed and athleticism to get after quarterbacks. These three players accounted for 31 sacks in 2007.

Coming off a three-sack performance in its opening-round playoff win in Washington, Seattle's pass rushers will set up Clifton and Tauscher with their explosive outside speed rush and then start to use double moves and crash inside once the pass blockers are overstepping to keep up with the speed these defenders offer. If they get to Favre regularly, the Packers' magical season could end quickly.

INDY

When studying the Colts, the one major weakness you see is their run defense. The Colts finished the season with the 15th-ranked run defense in the NFL, allowing 106.9 yards a game. While that's better than last season, when the Colts were last against the run and surrendering 66.1 more yards per game, there are still concerns here. Everything starts up front in defensive coordinator Ron Meeks' attacking, upfield schemes. The front four must hold its own against the run, while getting pressure on the quarterback. Even though the Colts have gotten consistent play from their linebacker corps when attacking downhill, there are still some spacing issues between the tackles. A lot of that comes from the Colts' defensive line focusing on creating pressure on the quarterback and vacating their gap responsibility, which creates different run seams between the tackles.

Another problem is the Colts have an undersized defensive line that averages 272 pounds, which is very light by NFL standards. But while Josh Thomas and Robert Mathis are undersized defensive ends who can be effective when on the move attacking up gaps and have functional strength, they struggle at the point of attack when staying square to the line-of-scrimmage. Neither is real explosive with their hands when separating off blocks. LDT Raheem Brock is an undersized interior player that compensates for his lack of weight with his quickness off the ball, while RDT Ed Johnson is somewhat of a space eater at 292 pounds.

The Colts are an attacking defense that relies on their defensive line to hit upfield gaps and disrupt the opposing team's blocking patterns. This can create a new line of scrimmage and allow their linebackers to react fast when attacking their downhill gap responsibilities that can change when the ball is snap. That's why the Colts' 43 scheme calls for the linebackers to have a lot of speed and the ability to recover once their gap disappears. The biggest concern that the Colts could face is against a team that attacks downhill (north-south) with power off-tackle schemes that could wear down the Colts' undersized front seven. Does that sound like a team from San Diego at all?

NEW ENGLAND

Hard to find chinks in New England's armor, but one is the Patriots' run defense, which struggled the last several weeks of the regular season. By running right at the New England defense, teams can negate the Patriots' athleticism and range and they are forced to play more physical than they would like. The Pats' biggest Achilles' heel on defense is their linebackers, especially inside. When they lost ROLB Rosevelt Colvin for the season with an injury, it forced them to move Adalius Thomas to the outside and insert Junior Seau as a starter. That robbed the Pats of their depth at that position. Both ILBs, Tedy Bruschi and Seau, are in the twilight of their careers and really struggle to make plays when they have to take on and shed blockers to get to the back. These two are at their best when they are protected by the big guys up front and can just flow to the ball.

Jacksonville has a big and physical offensive line and does a good job of fanning out and getting to the second level. The Jaguars run game can either go inside between the tackles, but is also adept at running the stretch play to the edge with Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor. This puts additional pressure on OLBs Thomas and Mike Vrabel.

Statistically, New England is still in the top third of the league in run defense, but is 26th in average gain per rush and a lot of those plays come on situations where the linebackers are occupied or when the Pats overpursue and give up some backside-cut runs. This is a defense that is smart and efficient, but it does not want to get into a phone-booth fist fight with the Jaguars -- and that's exactly what Jacksonville wants.

[RanPicks]

just two things to add...

Dallas:
I don't think you factored in Romo's QB rating that he had an inured thumb on his throwing hand - that singlehandedly accounted for one of those losses. But, all the same, it will depend on TO's health just like you said.

Indy:
The Run Defense... didn't they have trouble stopping the run in the regular season the year they won the Super Bowl? They stopped it pretty well in the playoffs I believe...

just my two cents.