Baltimore Ravens/New England Patriots: New England crushed many a team this year, and, unless they were playing the New York Jets, seemed like a potent threat. Their numbers are stronger than the Ravens's, they're playing at home, and seek vengeance versus a team that has defeated them twice in recent playoff years (almost defeating them 3 times). According to the stats, Pittsburgh should have won last week. They possessed the ball for 10:34 seconds longer than Baltimore, Roethlisberger threw for more yards than Flacco, and they rushed for more yards as well. But the Ravens kept them from scoring touchdowns and intercepted Roethlisberger twice, and still put up plenty of points when they had the ball, making for a well-rounded offensive/defensive attack. On paper the Patriots are a better team, but Flacco's starting to remind me of Eli Manning, and Baltimore, the New York Giants. New England still might punish them, but I'm thinking they can pull off the upset. Picking Baltimore.
Carolina Panthers/Seattle Seahawks: Carolina's hot. They've won 5 in a row. Cam Newton's picked up his first playoff win. They have nothing to lose. No one's expecting them to win. I don't see how they could possibly beat the Seahawks but it's possible that Seattle's too overconfident, and the Panthers could offensively exploit this. Seattle seemed to think they were invincible earlier on in the year, and lost 4 games as a consequence, almost losing to the Panthers as well (13-9). The only other team to be in a similar playoff situation to that of Carolina is Seattle, when they pulled-off a huge upset win versus New Orleans in 2012 after a lacklustre season. But I'm still thinking the Seahawks will shut the Panthers down. Hoping Carolina makes a game of it, picking Seattle.
Dallas Cowboys/Green Bay Packers: these two teams are practically identical. Both finished the regular season 12-4, their numbers on offence and defence differ only slightly, 56 touchdowns scored by Dallas this year, 58 scored by Green Bay, both won 4 of their last 5 regular season games, there's not much to go on here. Look at this, Dallas was 8-0 on the road while Green Bay was 8-0 at home. You've got to love it when teams this close play each other in the playoffs. They've met myriad times in the postseason, but not since 1995. I keep thinking Romo's bound for the Conference Finals because he's never had a serious playoff run, but for that to happen, he has to win at Lambeau in January. Prove it Romo. I don't think it's going to happen. The Pack's better than they've played in the playoffs the last three years, and like playing in the bitter cold. Picking Green Bay.
Indianapolis Colts/Denver Broncos: once again, two evenly matched teams. What a great divisional round. The Colts won a big game last week, they look good, consistently putting up strong numbers, showing up for big games. The Broncos look good too. Not as exceptional as last year, but still winning much more than they lost and proving that they can contend with the best of them. Peyton Manning is the best of them, but a Broncos win comes down to Jack Del Rio and the defence. If the defence holds strong, as it should, and I know it will, the Broncos's road to the Conference Finals will be smoothly paved. Don't be overconfident Denver, the Colts are fearsome, but play like you're going to win. A tight game. Picking Denver.
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