1. SEAHAWKS: The Seahawks showed why they’re the team to beat again this year in a 31-17 win over Carolina last weekend. And here’s the key: That’s the most points Seattle has allowed since Week 11. The Packers present a much tougher challenge, but the league’s best home-field advantage should be enough to get the Seahawks to their second straight Super Bowl.
2. PACKERS: The Pack has the league’s best player and a first-round bye, and they’ve won seven of their last eight games, including an impressive victory over the Pats at Lambeau Field. The only question is whether this high-powered offense can outplay the Seahawks defense in Seattle.
3. PATRIOTS: New England trailed the Ravens by 14 points not once but twice last week. They got the job done, thanks in part to Bill Belichick’s trickery, but they’ll need to play better to beat the Colts. That said, the Pats are still the better all-around team and they’ve been here before.
4. COLTS: The Colts have played great football in knocking off the Bengals and Broncos the past two weeks. There’s no doubt that Andrew Luck is ready to lead a Super Bowl team, and the defense is playing the best it has all year, thanks largely to the return of a healthy Arthur Jones at defensive end. They’ll play the Pats much closer than they did in a 42-20 loss in Week 11, but it still feels like this Colts club is still a year away from taking the next step.
Normally the Divisional Round of the playoffs is among the most dramatic. And while a couple of games ended up being pretty one-sided, the Patriots/Ravens game was exciting, the Cowboys/Packers game was controversial and the Broncos/Colts game has provided the now ongoing drama of whether or not it was Peyton Manning’s last game.
Tony saw it the best from our crew. He was 4-0 this week. Anthony Maggio has been consistent in the playoffs, posting 3-1 marks both weeks. Here’s where we stand so far:
Name
Division week
Overall
Tony
4-0
6-2
Anthony Maggio
3-1
6-2
John Vomhof Jr.
2-2
5-3
Andy
2-2
4-4
Last week’s games, however, have left the Championship Weekend contests feeling a little bit anti-climatic. There are four really good teams left, but Aaron Rodgers’ injury (did you know he hurt his calf a few weeks ago?), the dominance of the Seahawks defense and the pure brilliance of Bill Belichick have dominated the story lines. (more…)
We’re down to the final eight. Just about any one of these teams has a shot, but let’s be honest – some are far stronger than others.
Here’s how we see it:
We’re down to the final eight. Just about any one of these teams has a shot, but let’s be honest – some are far stronger than others.
Here’s how we see it:
1. SEAHAWKS: The Seahawks were the best team in the league down the stretch, holding their opponents to single digits in five of their last six games. And now they get to play the worst of the remaining playoff teams, making their path to the Super Bowl a little easier. (Yes, the Panthers are red-hot, but let’s not forget that they didn’t even finish .500 during the regular season.) (more…)
Okay, none of us saw the Baltimore upset of Pittsburgh coming even though in retrospect it was the obvious pick from about eight miles away. Otherwise it was pretty much a predictable weekend. The four of us were split on who would win what went down as one of the crappiest playoff games in recent memory, the Carolina win over Arizona. And we all got the Sunday games right – even though Detroit put a scare into Dallas.
Here are the standings after Wild Card Weekend:
Name
Wild Card Week
Overall
John Vomhof Jr
3-1
3-1
Anthony Maggio
3-1
3-1
Tony
2-2
2-2
Andy
2-2
2-2
So now we’re on to the best week of the season. I love the divisional round – you get rid of most of the pretenders and what you’re generally left with is two really good games in each conference. (more…)
It appears as though the teams playing the best heading into the playoffs come primarily from the NFC.
Here’s how I rank each of the remaining teams and their respective chances of bringing home the Lombardi Trophy this year.
1. SEAHAWKS: Seattle started a little slow this year, but played insanely good defense down the stretch, holding opponents to single digits in five of their last six games. Russell Wilson is playing great football, Marshawn Lynch’s “Beast Mode” is back and the 12th Man will be in full effect with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The biggest knock: Repeats are rare in the NFL.
We did fairly well picking games through the 17 week regular season. We’ll see now if we can carry that through the playoffs, where 11 good teams and the Carolina Panthers will vie for the Lombardi Trophy.
There are some great story lines this weekend. Can the Lions withstand the loss of Ndamukong Suh, who was suspended for stepping on Aaron Rodgers (for the record, I don’t feel sorry for the guy, but I also don’t think the step was intentional – I know, I know, I’m in the minority, but I believe it was lack of balance and momentum – he never looks down – how does he know he’s stepping on Rodgers and not one of his own teammates?)?
Can the Steelers beat the rival Ravens without LeVeon Bell? Can Andy Dalton finally step up and act like a big-game QB? Can the Cardinals and their third-string QB knock off the sub-.500 Panthers?
Here’s who we think is going to win this weekend: (more…)
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