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Football

2017 NFL Divisional Round Predictions

2-2 last week (17-9 all-time). That’s what I get for believing in some Giants miracle and not believing in Aaron Rodgers.

Seattle Seahawks (11-5-1) @ Atlanta Falcons (11-5)

At first I was all ready to take the Seahawks under my “Matt Ryan has always been subpar in the playoffs” + “Seattle has the experience factor in their favor”. But I had to change my mind here for a few reasons.

One, I have to give Matt Ryan his due. He finally played like the quarterback everyone has said he’s been over the past few years. He, Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman, and Tevin Coleman have run an incredible offense here. If this were the Seahawks of a few years ago I’d say their defense could take Atlanta down…but this isn’t the same defense. I also don’t completely buy the Seahawks at this point. Yeah, them beating a banged up Lions team is no surprise, but the Falcons are a different story. Then again Seattle did down New England on the road back in November, so I might be underselling them.

You know what kind of teams Seattle reminds me of though? Those dynasty teams that are in their last few years where they are considered a threat by name, but they are probably losing to the hot new team. My favorite examples are the 97 Cowboys who dropped a Divisional Round game to the 2nd year Carolina Panthers and the 98 49ers, who lost to the Chris Chandler-Jamal Anderson Falcons. Their runs were just over. Just like Seattle’s probably is.

Plus maybe it was all Mike Smith’s fault.

Falcons 28, Seahawks 24

Houston Texans (10-7) @ New England Patriots (14-2)

What is there to say really? You know that the Patriots beat the Texans 27-0 with Jacoby Brissett at Quarterback, right?

Patriots 40, Texans 7

Green Bay Packers (11-6) @ Dallas Cowboys (13-3)

I’m ready to pick against Rodgers again! There’s a little too much of “omg we underrated Aaron Rodgers he’s gonna tear through the players” and we forget the Giants were a bit shaky all year. Plus, Dallas has the best weapon possible against Rodgers: Ezekiel Elliott moving the chains and creating long, time killing drives. Aaron Rodgers can’t beat you when he’s on the bench. Do we really think this Packer defense is slowing down Elliott?

Cowboys 20, Packers 13

Pittsburgh Steelers (12-5) @ Kansas City Chiefs (12-4)

Andy Reid sure knows how to put together great regular seasons. I just can’t bring myself to believe in the Chiefs. Weather it’s the coach (Reid), the playoff history (so many disappointing Chiefs losses, many of them when they had a first round bye), the QB (Alex Smith is good and all, but never going to scare you) I just can’t do it. I correctly predicted three years ago that Andrew Luck would beat them and he did. I like this Steelers team a lot. They’re on fire. They took care of business last week. They have good DVOA ratings. They seem superior in every way. I just think they’re better. Only thing that can stop Big Ben and co. is the weather. Even then, is that going to do Kansas City any favors?

Steelers 24, Chiefs 17

 

 

Football

RDT’s 2016 NFL Divisional Round Predictions!

Well we went 2-2 last week. Cinnicinate destructed and it looks like I underestimated Green Bay (or overestimated Kirk Cousins). Still, all the road teams winning last week was a bit crazy.

Kansas City Chiefs (12-5) @ New England Patriots (12-4)

As good as the Chiefs have been I don’t see them winning this one.

If you want to talk yourself into Kansas City, you need to think the Patriots aren’t as good as they seemed (they faltered a bit down the stretch), Gronk’s injuries are serious (he was just in the hospital), the return of Julian Edelman won’t matter that much (hard to see) and Bill Belichick won’t outcoach Andy Reid (okay…). That’s a lot to hope for.

Is an offense with Alex Smith, Spencer Ware, Charcandrick West, Travis Kelce and an injured Jeremy Maclin really going to beat this Patriots team in New England? I’d be quite surprised.

Patriots 24, Chiefs 10

Green Bay Packers (11-6) @ Arizona Cardinals (13-3)

It’s easy to get back on the Green Bay Packer bandwagon after they finally clicked against Washington. The fact of the matter is the Arizona Cardinals are a lot better than the Packers. Aaron Rodgers feels like a one man show out there and let’s be clear, the Cardinals are great. Arizona scored 38 or more points six times this season. One of those was against Green Bay in Week 16 (38-8).

The Packers won’t be able to stop Arizona either. Carson Palmer, who is probably itching to win his first playoff game, had played great all season. David Johnson is great. I don’t think Randall Cobb or James Jones will be able to do much here. I expect a lot of points from Arizona here.

Cardinals 38, Packers 28

Seattle Seahawks (11-6) @ Carolina Panthers (15-1)

Toughest game of the weekend to pick for sure. Carolina beat Seattle in Week 6 in Seattle no less. I don’t think this is the same Seattle team though, and truthfully Carolina may be a little overrated.

Truth about the Panthers? They’ve only beaten four teams with winning records all season: Seattle, Green Bay, Washington and Houston. Their defense can be beaten and I think Seattle’s been the hottest team on offense recently. They really do have Beast Mode back this time around. I can’t help but think Carolina is in trouble.

Will Greg Olsen rip apart Seattle again? Maybe. Will Cam Newton pull a victory out of nowhere and show why he’s the MVP? Maybe. Am I overrating Seattle after they should have lost in Minnesota last week? Well I think the weather screwed with that. I think the two time defending NFC Champions are hitting their stride and the upset is happening. Sorry Cam.

Seahawks 24, Panthers 21 

Pittsburgh Steelers (11-6) @ Denver Broncos (12-4)

Ben Roethlisberger injured ligaments in his throwing arm. De’Angelo Williams isn’t playing. Antonio Brown is out. The Broncos have a great defense. Good luck with that Pittsburgh.

While we don’t know what Peyton Manning is going to give us, and if Pittsburgh can get some turnovers of Peyton maybe we might get one of those crazy games where the Steelers have 100 total yards but is somehow ahead 17-14. I don’t really see it. If Pittsburgh was healthy I’d actually be all for them in regards to an upset…but I don’t think so now.

Broncos 17, Steelers 9