Daily Madden: Cowboys Look Best Of This Weekend's Bunch

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - It's the Cowboys-Lions, Steelers-Ravens, Bengals-Colts and Panthers-Cardinals in this weekend's NFL wild card play.

"I like Dallas," John Madden told the KCBS Radio morning crew. "Dallas was always a joke, you know, 'they're not good at the end of the year, they're 8 and 8' and all those things. But that hasn't been true this year, and I think this is a different group. I think this is a different Dallas team and I think they're going to be pretty good in these playoffs. Now I don't think they're better than Seattle, but I put them up there very close."
The Colts host the Bengals Sunday.

"I've seen them both play very well and I've seen them both play not so well," John said. "This is a tough one and I really don't believe in it, but I would really have to favor Cincinnati a little. I like (Colts QB) Andrew Luck, but he really doesn't have enough around him."

The Steelers are favored by a few points at home over the Ravens Saturday.

"That's always a blood bath," Madden said. "These guys are over the top physical... I like Pittsburgh, the way they're playing now. Pittsburgh has really improved during the season. I think they went from a pretty average team early to a pretty good team late."

The Panthers finished with a losing record, but they won their division, so they're hosting the 11-5 Cardinals Saturday. The Cardinals have been been struggling with quarterback injuries.

"Carolina is playing very well," John said. "The Cardinals knew what they had to do (to win their division) and they didn't do it. Carolina knew what they had to do and they did it... (The Cardinals) have good defense and all that, but it's tough to play playoff football without a quarterback... I would think the Panthers are going to win that game." (7:20)

Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 and Monday and Friday mornings at 9:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM.