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"FacebookPinterest\n\n Earlier today we checked in with Shady Records capo, Eminem, about the rest of the NFL playoff slate. Now, some words with Slaughterhouse members, Joe Budden and Joell Ortiz, two MCs prone to a football reference or seven in their rhymes.\n\n\n\n Joe Budden\n\nGQ: Do your Giants have a chance against the Packers at Lambeau Field this weekend?\n\n Joe Budden: I look at it like this: The first time they played Green Bay, they lost by three. Osi [Umenyiora] didn't play, [Justin] Tuck was injured, and [Mario] Manningham didn't play. Lambeau Field won't be a factor; the Giants are a road warrior team. They play better on the road. Eli's better than he was when he beat Favre up there in 2007, momentum is on the Giants side, and now the run game is coming alive. I may be biased, but I see the Giants winning. If I were a betting man, I'd bet all my assets that Tom Coughlin is watching that footage from the Packers-Chiefs game earlier this year, and taking good notes. I'm taking the Giants.\n\nGQ: This week, several Jets players came out and trashed Mark Sanchez to a local newspaper, but did so anonymously. Should they have put their names out there?\n\n Joe Budden: That Jets locker room is conflicted, man. Normally, you have a veteran presence in the locker room\u2014maybe it should have been LaDainian Tomlinson, I don't know\u2014but usually, you have a guy who is the respected leader and voice of the team keeping things in order. Maybe this was inevitable when the coach picks the captain as Rex [Ryan] did with Santonio Holmes. As for the Sanchez stuff in the papers, maybe these guys should have had more balls and not done it anonymously. But it was inevitable, either way.\n\nGQ: Everyone's got their own take on Tim Tebow. What's yours?\n\n Joe Budden: Well, he seems to be an amazing person. He seems to have all the fight in the world. He won't back down or go away. He continues to find ways to beat the odds. Tim Tebow almost makes us believe our eyes are deceiving us. That's how I felt watching the game last week against Pittsburgh. From what we've heard from all the analysts, he wasn't supposed to throw an accurate ball. Against the Steelers, he threw one accurate pass after another. It'll be tough, but they've got a shot against the Patriots this weekend.\n\nGQ: The Pittsburgh defense was exposed a bit last week. The Ravens D is another group of veterans who've been there before. Will they handle Houston this weekend?\n\n Joe Budden: Shockingly, I have Houston winning that game. In Baltimore. I've been saying for quite some time that Houston is owed one. Every now and then, sports franchises have been through too much, and the sports gods give them one. I think this Houston team is everything that the Jets and Steelers would like to be. They have an incredible defense and a sound running game. I can see Arian Foster having a huge game and I'll tell you, I don't think that rookie quarterback Yates is bad at all. Barring injuries, I think that Houston has a better team overall. And there's the Flacco factor. Which Joe Flacco's going to show up for this one?\n\nGQ: Do you listen to sports talk radio?\n\n Joe Budden: I listen to it all. I listen to WFAN, I listen to 1050 ESPN, I really listen to it all. I wake up listening to Mike and Mike, I enjoy Michael Kay, I like Stephen A. [Smith]. I listen to all of them, really.\n\nGQ: Do you play fantasy football?\n\n Joe Budden: I was in ten different fantasy leagues this year. Ten. Some with fans, some with my homies. My teams were all called Slaughterhouse.\n\nGQ: Which NFL team is most like the Slaughterhouse crew?\n\n Joe Budden: We're like the Steelers and the Ravens. You know you're never going to have it easy with us. We're always fighting. We're built on a lot of tradition. There's a lot of passion. That's the Slaughterhouse crew.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\n Follow Joe Budden on Twitter.\n\n\n\n Joell Ortiz\n\nGQ: As a lifelong Jets fan, what's your earliest memory of Gang Green breaking your heart?\n\n Joell Ortiz: I go way back, man. There have been lots and lots of heartbreak moments being a Jets fan. I go back to the Kenny O'Brien days. Al Toon and Freeman McNeil\u2014those were my guys. But the most heartbreaking moment of them all was probably last year's AFC Championship Game. I thought we were ready, and we came out and gave up 24 points in the first half. I was devastated. We came all the way back in the second half, but we were behind by too much. It kills me, still, because I believe if we'd beaten Pittsburgh, we would have won the Super Bowl last year.\n\nGQ: Are you a Rex fan or are you over the whole Rex Ryan shtick?\n\n Joell Ortiz: Rex is Rex, man. Let's not act like we're surprised when he says something outrageous. That's Rex. We knew what we were getting here.\n\nGQ: Do you think the crosstown Giants are going to give the Packers a game?\n\n Joell Ortiz: Absolutely. I'll put it like this\u2014I think the Packers are going to have a tough time beating the Giants. Does that make sense? That's what I think. The first meeting was close and there was a controversial touchdown on the Packers behalf. The Giants are hot. They're playing their best football at the right time.\n\nGQ: You once rapped, \"In the face of defeat yo, I always find a way to win, I'm Tim Tebow.\" Are you a Tebow maniac?\n\n Joell Ortiz: The thing with Tim Tebow\u2014everyone says he has a terrible arm, and he's not sound, and he doesn't make the right decisions\u2014but they all forget the one fact about Tim Tebow is that at his core, he is a hard-nosed football player. He has a winning attitude. And with Tebow, if you keep the game close, he'll find a way to pull out a win. His back against the wall, people doubting him, people hating\u2014and he tunes it all out and plays the best that he can play. That's Tim Tebow. I respect Tim Tebow.\n\nGQ: Underneath all those smiles and that positivity, Tebow has to have a dark side, no?\n\n Joell Ortiz: I don't know, man! He just has a glow on him. He has such a good energy. After his football career, he could easily be the next Joel Osteen. I can see him packing an arena, preaching. I've never met him, but I feel like I know him. I feel like we're friends. He's an awesome guy.\n\nGQ: If you were to start a team from scratch, which current NFL player would be the first man added to your roster?\n\n Joell Ortiz: This will surprise you, but the guy I'd go with is Darren Sproles, the running back on the Saints. He's all-purpose. He can do it all. He reminds me of Brian Westbrook from the Eagles. Sproles is awesome. If you start your team with Sproles, you can then focus on other areas, because he does so much. I love watching that guy play.\n\nGQ: Are there any sports personalities on TV that get under your skin?\n\n Joell Ortiz: Skip! Skip Bayless drives me insane. He's all over the map. One week, he'll praise you, and then the next week, he takes the complete opposite stance. He was over the top with the Tebow love. It was too much. We know, you love him. But you know what? You gotta have a guy like Skip Bayless on ESPN.\n\nGQ: Do you play fantasy football?\n\n Joell Ortiz: No, man. I don't play fantasy. Watching my Jets every week is enough of a stress on my life.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\n Follow Joell Ortiz on Twitter."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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