NFL Divisional Playoffs

I gave you all my thoughts on Giants vs. Eagles and Titans vs. Ravens in my last post. Now for the other two games, which I think are a lot easier to predict. First of all they feature my two Super Bowl teams that I picked at the start of the playoffs. Secondly these second seeds have much more favorable match ups as the Steelers and Panthers face a couple of fraud divisional winners in the Chargers and Cardinals respectively.

Both the Chargers and Cardinals have explosive capabities on offense. San Diego has been rejuvinated by Darren Sproles and the Cardinals passing game has its swagger back. (If I can digress for one minute, it appears that LT is nearing the end of the line. He is banged up and probably won't play Sunday, but beyond that his burst seems gone. I love LT as a player and person. He will probably end up in the HOF, but RB's sure to get old in a hurry once their time is up, don't they?) However, the playoffs are mostly about defense and the Steelers and Panthers have that in spades. They will find a way to make a stop, force a turnover, or get a sack at the right time to win these games.

The Steelers and Chargers played that Ed Hocchuli game early in the season and Pittsburgh won by a point. This will be a much talked about aspect of this weekend's game. Will it have any bearing on this playoff rematch? No, no, and no, so stop talking about it. The Chargers probably have as good a chance to pull an upset as anyone, but I just can't see it happening. I can see Phillip Rivers losing his mind after getting sacked for the fourth time though.

There is no way Arizona will be able to stop Carolina's running attack. If they hold Carolina under 140 yards, I will eat my hat. I know they corralled Michael Turner, but I can't envision them doing that two weeks in a row. Their body of work shows Arizona to be a poor defensive team. They allow 110 yard rushing per game, 16th in the NFL, and 426 points, 5th worst in the league and the worst of any team in the playoffs. One good game does not a season make.

NFL Playoff Predictions

Just to show that I have the cajones, I'm going to predict the entire NFL playoffs as if I were filling out an NCAA tournament bracket. I'm just going to lay it all out there and see what the reaction is. First the AFC. As I've said all year, I just can't see the Titans making it to the Super Bowl. If Roethlisberger takes care of the ball, there is no team that will best the Steeler defense. Beware the red hot Colts, however.

Wild Card Round:
Colts 26, Chargers 17; Ravens 13, Dolphins 7
Divisional Round:
Steelers 24, Colts 17; Titans 14, Ravens 3
AFC Championship:
Steelers 31, Titans 17

Now the NFC. If the Eagles and Falcons win on Wild Card Weekend, it will create some unfavorable match ups for the top seeds. No one wants to see a divisional rival for the third time in the playoffs, especially the top seeds who gain virtually no advatange from homefield or the intimidation. That being said, I think the Giants and Panthers will find ways to win close games.

Wild Card Round:
Falcons 34, Cardinals 7; Eagles 17, Vikings 7
Divisional Round:
Giants 30, Eagles 24; Panthers 27, Falcons 21
NFC Championship:
Panthers 34, Giants 31

The Super Bowl will feature two teams that appeared in the big game on separate occasions a few years ago. Their experiences and the coaching will make it a hard fought well played game. Unfortunately, for Jake Delhomme and John Fox they will have their second Super Bowl loss in six seasons. The teams match up pretty evenly, but the Steelers have a clear advatage at the most important position, QB. Steelers 24, Panthers 10