Welcome to the Elite 8 of the NFL playoffs aka the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Last week, Wild Card was a success as my record was 3-1 while improving my overall record to 71-40 making my winning percentage goes from 63.6% to 64%. Let’s see how things turn out!!!
The opening game will be a couple of teams that’s very familiar with one another as the Baltimore Ravens visit the New England Patriots. The Ravens barely got into the playoffs and they dominated the Steelers in Pittsburgh to advance to this round. Joe Flacco has arguably been the best postseason QB in the past 3 years; can he get the job done in New England? The Patriots are the top team in the AFC and they’re looking to return to the Super Bowl. This team has relied heavily on their defense, running game and some timely plays by Brady. This is tough to call but I think the Patriots will pull it out!!
Patriots Win 31-17
We head to Seattle, the home of the defending Super Bowl champions and top ranked team in the AFC as the Seahawks host the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers defeated a tough, but injury riddled Cardinals team last week to get to this point. If the Panthers expect to get past Seattle, Cam Newton has got to be more accurate than what he’s been lately. Will the Panthers run game be enough? The Seahawks played better than anyone else the final couple months of the season and with everyone healthy they’re poised to make another championship run. This could go either way but I’m going with the defending champs!!!
Seahawks Win 19-13
This is the opening game for Sunday as the Dallas Cowboys visit the Green Bay Packers for the chance to advance to the conference championship game. The Cowboys are coming off a hard fought, but controversial win over the Lions last week at home. Can DeMarco Murray carry the Cowboys to victory against this tough Packers team? Now with the Packers everyone know that this team’s success is due to Aaron Rodgers, but with a calf injury will it affect him? While Murray lead the league in rushing, this game could come down to Eddie Lacy and I think he’ll be the difference in this win.
Packers Win 34-27
We now go to the final game of the divisional round as the Indianapolis Colts visit the Denver Broncos. The Colts are coming off a win against the Bengals last week as Cincinnati was without A.J. Green. Now can Andrew Luck win a playoff game on the road, especially without a great running game? Can the Colts defense pressure Manning enough to cause turnovers? The Broncos are coming off a much needed bye week and coming into this playoffs they’re defense is much better and they’ll have Von Miller for this playoff run. With all that said I’m going with the Broncos.
Broncos Win 38-24
My Conference Championships:
AFC
Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots
NFC
Green Bay Packers @ Seattle Seahawks
What did you think about my picks? Do you agree with who I believe will end up in the conference championships? What game are you looking forward to the most?
