NFL Playoff Breakdown/Divisional Round
So, the Wild Card round is over, I went 4/4 in choosing the correct winners, and each game was a snooze-fest. I know the article got posted late but believe me, I submitted the article before any of the games had started. Each week I plan on updating how the previous round went, in case I need to change my prediction of the coming week’s winners (especially when one of my predictions loses and changes the matchup) to give more insight into the next round. Remember, you heard it here first, folks. *All times are U.S. Central Standard Time, predicted winners each round are in BOLD, actual winners are in green, projected opponents are in (parentheses), and changed text is in italics*.
Wildcard Weekend:
Saturday, January 7th:
Oakland Raiders @ Houston Texans, 3:35 pm on ESPN
Detroit Lions @ Seattle Seahawks, 7:15 pm on NBC
Sunday, January 8th:
Miami Dolphins @ Pittsburgh Steelers, 12:05 pm on CBS
New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers, 3:40 pm on FOX
So, after going 4/4 last week we will see if my luck runs out this week. Seattle ran the ball extremely well last week; if they can run with the same authority against the mediocre Atlanta Falcons run defense then Seattle will be able to pull out a win on the road. The Steelers looked devastating on offense, likely the best offense of the AFC contenders; if their defense can hold up I see them fighting against New England in the AFC championship. Houston won in a convincing game, something that was pretty foreseeable if you watched Oakland play Denver week 17; they will be rewarded by being sacrificed to New England on national TV Saturday night. The one prediction I would change if I could would be the Packers/Cowboys game. Aaron Rodgers showed that he can get it done without Nelson, but I think this offense is going to struggle a bit without him. I can still see this game going either way, but I’m giving the edge to the Cowboys as of now. I won’t adjust my predictions on here so that they are uniform throughout the playoffs, but just know that my weekly prediction is now the Cowboys.
Divisional Weekend:
Saturday, January 14th:
Atlanta Falcons vs. Seattle Seahawks, 3:35 pm on FOX
New England Patriots vs. Houston Texans, 7:15 pm on CBS
Sunday January 15th:
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 12:05 pm on NBC
Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers, 3:40 pm on FOX
Many people who read this will likely disagree with my selections here, but that’s OK. That’s why we write these pieces in the first place, to spark conversation. I’d also like to point out that I went from a sweep of the home teams in the Wildcard round to 3 out of 4 away teams winning this round. I am very excited for Falcons/Seahawks; I didn’t want to watch Atlanta play anyone else. The way Seattle ran the ball last weekend was eye-opening; they looked like the Seattle of old. If they can do that again this week they have a good chance of winning in Atlanta. As I mentioned before, I also think Seattle is more equipped for the playoffs than Atlanta. The Texans won which gives the Pats a cake walk into the AFC Championship. Besides this game, the other 3 matchups should be very exciting to watch, in theory. I thought at least 2 of the 4 would be good last week and yet none of them were. Many people will be tied up with Ben Roethlisberger’s health this week. I’m here to tell you that his health need not be a concern, we’ve seen this many times before with him. The Chief’s run D is their weakness and Le’Veon Bell is running like a madman right now. If Big Ben can limit the turnovers (something he struggles with on the road) and the Steel D can keep Tyreek Hill under control, then I think they will be headed to Gillette Stadium next week. I already mentioned that I am a Steelers fan, but I truly believe that the Steelers are just simply a “playoff” team and that the Chiefs are built to win in the regular season. Finally, the Cowboys/Packers rematch is headline worthy. Before the Jordy Nelson injury I was giving the Packers a win in this matchup, but I think Jordy means more to this team than the 2nd half of the Giants game would lead us to believe. I’m going with the Cowboys here, but I will not adjust my pick in the article for continuity reasons. Rematches typically favor the better quarterback and there is no argument that Rodgers is one of the best QBs in the game, if not THE best. I think whoever wins the turnover battle is going to win this game, bottom line.
Championship Sunday:
Sunday, January 22nd:
Highest Remaining NFC Seed (Seattle Seahawks) vs. Lowest Remaining NFC Seed (Green Bay Packers), 2:05 pm on FOX
Highest Remaining AFC Seed (New England Patriots) vs. Lowest Remaining AFC Seed (Pittsburgh Steelers), 5:40 pm on CBS
This is 1 of only 2 scenarios where Seattle gets a 2nd home game in the playoffs, the other would have been if the Giants beat Green Bay in the Wildcard round. Then they would have had to beat Atlanta on the road while Seattle would have had to beat Dallas on the road…unlikely at best. Seahawks/Packers would be another rematch made in heaven. Seattle would host Green Bay if everything I highlighted were to work out, something still very unlikely to happen. I went with Seattle here as well, not just because they are at home, but because I think they are going to figure out their rushing attack here in the next couple weeks (eh? How about that for a prediction so far?) and keeping the ball out of Rodgers hands is the ONLY way to beat the Packers. Surprised I didn’t go with my Steelers here? Me too. Even though I think the Steelers are the only AFC team capable of bringing down the house in Gillette Stadium, I think the Steelers have been struggling with ball protection on the road too much this season to beat Brady at home. If the Steelers don’t hand the ball over to Brady and can stop Blount in the redzone (something they have actually been very good at this season) they can pull away with a W, but a lot has to go right for that to happen.
Super Bowl Sunday:
Sunday, February 5th:
AFC Champion (New England Patriots) vs. NFC Champion (Seattle Seahawks), 5:30 pm on FOX
Wow, would the NFL (and Rodger Goodell) love me if I just successfully wrote the script for the NFL playoffs. Not only would we get to see 2016 season rematches between Seahawks/Packers, Cowboys/Packers, Patriots/Steelers, Chiefs/Steelers, and Falcons/Seahawks in the playoffs, but we would get a Super Bowl rematch of Patriots/Seahawks from Super Bowl 49. Someone has to buy me a lotto ticket if this happens. I’m not a maths person, but the odds would be astronomical if I got all of those right. Yes, I went with Seattle here because I truly believe that they are the only team capable of beating New England in the NFC. The Patriots would have ridden a glorious season until this point with only 1 loss having Tom Brady at the helm. Guess what? That only loss…was to the Seahawks this season back in week 10! I know the Patriots beat them in the Super Bowl 2 years ago, and even though Seattle is a flawed team, we have already seen the Patriots lose the big dance not once, but twice to the New York Giants. I think Seattle is the new Achilles heel for the Patriots and I personally wouldn’t mind seeing the Patriots lose another Super Bowl to an inferior team. If I am wrong in any of my picks above, and the Patriots make it to the Super Bowl against any other opponent than Seattle, bet the house on the Patriots. I also think that if Green Bay makes it to the Super Bowl and plays anyone other than the Patriots, Aaron Rodgers is going to win people a lot of denaro $$$.
See my Championship teams above, if you are in an elimination challenge or simply betting before the playoffs start which team is going to win the game on February 5th, I’d be betting on 1 of those 4 teams.
