NFL Picks 2014: Championship Weekend

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.

But the NFL never plays by a script (conspiracy theorists aside) and undoubtedly some drama will take place this weekend to set me in my place for bringing it up. Here are some explanations from each of our contributors on how they think the championship games will play out:

John Vomhof Jr.

Seattle

The Seahawks have been playing absolutely dominant defense of late, making it really hard to envision them losing a game, especially at home with the 12th Man rocking CenturyLink Field. And it certainly won’t help that Aaron Rodgers is hobbled with an injured calf.

New England

The Patriots play dangerous sometimes, winning games that are closer than they should be (last week, they had to come back from 14-down to the Ravens twice). Still, the Pats are the better all-around team and they’ve been here before, so I expect them to take care of business against the Colts, who still might be a year away.

Anthony Maggio

Seattle

The Packers were lucky to escape at home against a solid Cowboys team. A gimpy Aaron Rodgers will be tested far more by Seattle’s defense in the Pacific Northwest this time around. Still, I think this game hinges more on the Seahawks offense. Rodgers will still get something done, just not enough to run away and hide from Seattle. And with Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson both clicking right now, I give the edge to the Seahawks at home in a close game.

New England

A lot can change over the course of a week, let alone a couple of months. But after watching what the Patriots did to the Colts at their own house in November, I can’t predict Indianapolis to go on the road and upset the Belichick bunch. That said, I think the game’s much closer this time around, so if there are a few un-Patriots-like mistakes and Andrew Luck plays out of his mind, an upset isn’t impossible.

Tony

Seattle

There is no joy in Mudville … at least not Mudville, MN. Despite getting all four games right last week, that doesn’t make me feel any better about this year’s NFL Playoffs. On the positive, I don’t work in an environment surrounded by Packer fans any longer, as I did during their last Super Bowl run. On the negative, living in Minnesota leaves me still connected to too many of them on social media and in real life. Fortunately, I don’t think Aaron Rodgers and his calf can do to the Seahawks what they did to the Cowboys—that is, win with the refs help.

New England

With the Colts advancing to the AFC Championship game, there is at least one team that I can kind of cheer for still in it. Seriously, if Andrew Luck would shave that creature on his neck, they’d fully have my support. Unfortunately, I suspect that the Patriots are the one team in the NFL that would be least likely taken aback by Luck’s reported behavior of complimenting the opposition for nice hits and nice plays. They seem like the kind of team that would pull a Han Solo “I know” response out of the bag (at Bill Belichick’s bidding), and pop them on the nose again. I do think Brady and Belichick are nearing the end of their run, but I don’t think this is it yet.

Andy

New England

Looks like it’s unanimous. I think the Colts are going to be a contender for a long time under Chuck Pagano and Andrew Luck. I don’t think they’re quite ready to match up against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, and his four-offensive-line-trick-play-creating-mind. The Pats have won a lot of different ways this year and this is the strongest team they’ve had in the last half-dozen seasons. They’ll win comfortably.

Seattle

Some people might have said I was doing nothing more than picking the chalk when I named Seattle my Super Bowl champ in the preseason. But repeating in the NFL is hard, as shown by the soft spot the Seahawks hit mid-season. But this team is hitting on most of its cylinders now. I have every confidence that the rest will be turned on by this weekend’s games and that at the Super Bowl they’ll put on another performance like they did against Denver.