NFL Playoffs Round 2-Divisional Playoff Games
Today we're going to go over a brief recap of the Wild Card Week for the Playoffs and then take a look at what's to come in Round 2 with some match-up talk and potential scenarios as we look toward the Divisional Playoff round.
First things first, let's check out who made it out of Wild Card Week and bought themselves another week of football. So we got the Texans and Steelers on the AFC side. Seahawks and Packers on the NFC side. No major upsets or suprises this week. I knew it was going to be tough for Oakland without Carr leading the team. I'm sorry Raiders fans, you finally get your team to the playoffs then lose your QB in Week 16. It's just bad luck, but that's a young Raiders team so I think we'll be seeing them back in the mix next year. Saw both the Seahawks and Steelers winning their games, they clearly had the upper hand in their match-ups against the Lions and Dolphins. Im telling y'all right now to watch out for this Green Bay Packers team. It was tough for them early this year but they've come on strong late this year. The Giants couldn't stop the elite passer Aaron Rodgers Sunday night in Green Bay as he went on to throw for 362 yards paired with 4 touchdowns. Eli won't be able to 1 up big brother just yet. Maybe if some certain folks on the Giants team had been game prepping for Green Bay, rather than going to party on boat in Miami. I get it that guys are going to live like rockstars and party but save it for the offseason. As a professional athlete you owe it your teammates and coaches to be ready to play mentally and physically, even the owners that pays you millions of dollars to go to "work" everyday to play a sport.
We have some really great games this weekend so let's switch gears and take a look at what's to come in the Divisional Playoff round. This Saturday we have the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Atlanta Falcons kicking things off for us. This one right here is a pick em game for me. I tend to lean more towards the Seahawks. Seattle has been so consistent since Pete Carrol took over there and are always in the playoff conversation. They're also backed with a great defense every year and we all know defense wins championships. Atlanta still hasn't proven to me yet that they can be that kind of a NFL team to be making playoff runs every year. I do like what Matt Ryan, Devonta Freeman, and star reciever Julio Jones can bring to the table when their firing on all a cylinders. A key match-up to watch in this game will be Richard Sherman and Julio Jones. That Seahawks defense will have their work cut out for them against one of the best receivers in today's game. In the Saturday night game we have the New England Patriots hosting the Houston Texans in Foxborough. Love the Pats in this one as most people do. The genius of Bill Belicheck and the golden arm of Tom Brady will be just to much for the Texans to handle. Texans will come into this game with the top ranked defense in the league, but what the Texans don't have is a good offense. They've actually been one of the worst offenses this year, currently ranked towards the bottom of the league. That just goes to show how important having good defense is. No Cinderella story from me on this match-up, I'm taking the Pats to win big time over the Texans Saturday night.
January 14th.
Seattle Seahawks vs. Atlanta Falcons
Time: 4:35pm ET
Line: Falcons -4.5
Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots
Time: 8:15pm ET
Line: Patriots -16
Sunday we've got the Pittsburgh Steelers headed to Arrowhead Stadium to face off with the Kansas City Chiefs. Little fun fact for y'all this Kansas City isn't in Kansas, it's in Missouri and as of right now for the game we're looking at a high of 36 degrees with a chance of freezing rain. That just sounds horrible if you ask me. All the fans that go watch that game should get their ticket money back to sit in that. With those kind of conditions we could see teams lean more on a short passing and running game keeping it a low scoring affair. Arrowhead is no easy place to go win the Chiefs are (6-2) at home this year, but I think their Super Bowl hopes gets crushed by the Steelers. As long as Big Ben has his playmakers Anotonio Brown and Le'veon Bell helping him out they should be just fine. It'll be interesting to see what kind of Chiefs team shows up for the game, the crowd getting in behind them will play a pivotal roll in this one. Andy Reid can't dilly dally around Sunday, he needs to make a legitamate statement to the front office by making a convincing Super Bowl run this year. To cap off Round 2 we have the red hot mean green fighting machine of the Green Bay Packers heading to Jerry World down in Dallas to take on the Cowboys. This is my game of the week, expecting to see some great football and good offensive play from both sides. Ultimately it will come down to how many stops the Cowboys defense can make against Aaron Rodgers and how Dak Presscott performs on the big stage when it really matters. He's done it all year up to this point and I don't see him being stopped this Sunday. I'm taking the Cowboys in what more than likely will turn into a Offensive shootout Sunday.
January 15th.
Pittsburg Steelers vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Time: 1:05pm ET
Line: Chiefs -2.5
Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys
Time: 4:40pm ET
Line: Cowboys -4
First things first, let's check out who made it out of Wild Card Week and bought themselves another week of football. So we got the Texans and Steelers on the AFC side. Seahawks and Packers on the NFC side. No major upsets or suprises this week. I knew it was going to be tough for Oakland without Carr leading the team. I'm sorry Raiders fans, you finally get your team to the playoffs then lose your QB in Week 16. It's just bad luck, but that's a young Raiders team so I think we'll be seeing them back in the mix next year. Saw both the Seahawks and Steelers winning their games, they clearly had the upper hand in their match-ups against the Lions and Dolphins. Im telling y'all right now to watch out for this Green Bay Packers team. It was tough for them early this year but they've come on strong late this year. The Giants couldn't stop the elite passer Aaron Rodgers Sunday night in Green Bay as he went on to throw for 362 yards paired with 4 touchdowns. Eli won't be able to 1 up big brother just yet. Maybe if some certain folks on the Giants team had been game prepping for Green Bay, rather than going to party on boat in Miami. I get it that guys are going to live like rockstars and party but save it for the offseason. As a professional athlete you owe it your teammates and coaches to be ready to play mentally and physically, even the owners that pays you millions of dollars to go to "work" everyday to play a sport.
We have some really great games this weekend so let's switch gears and take a look at what's to come in the Divisional Playoff round. This Saturday we have the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Atlanta Falcons kicking things off for us. This one right here is a pick em game for me. I tend to lean more towards the Seahawks. Seattle has been so consistent since Pete Carrol took over there and are always in the playoff conversation. They're also backed with a great defense every year and we all know defense wins championships. Atlanta still hasn't proven to me yet that they can be that kind of a NFL team to be making playoff runs every year. I do like what Matt Ryan, Devonta Freeman, and star reciever Julio Jones can bring to the table when their firing on all a cylinders. A key match-up to watch in this game will be Richard Sherman and Julio Jones. That Seahawks defense will have their work cut out for them against one of the best receivers in today's game. In the Saturday night game we have the New England Patriots hosting the Houston Texans in Foxborough. Love the Pats in this one as most people do. The genius of Bill Belicheck and the golden arm of Tom Brady will be just to much for the Texans to handle. Texans will come into this game with the top ranked defense in the league, but what the Texans don't have is a good offense. They've actually been one of the worst offenses this year, currently ranked towards the bottom of the league. That just goes to show how important having good defense is. No Cinderella story from me on this match-up, I'm taking the Pats to win big time over the Texans Saturday night.
January 14th.
Seattle Seahawks vs. Atlanta Falcons
Time: 4:35pm ET
Line: Falcons -4.5
Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots
Time: 8:15pm ET
Line: Patriots -16
Sunday we've got the Pittsburgh Steelers headed to Arrowhead Stadium to face off with the Kansas City Chiefs. Little fun fact for y'all this Kansas City isn't in Kansas, it's in Missouri and as of right now for the game we're looking at a high of 36 degrees with a chance of freezing rain. That just sounds horrible if you ask me. All the fans that go watch that game should get their ticket money back to sit in that. With those kind of conditions we could see teams lean more on a short passing and running game keeping it a low scoring affair. Arrowhead is no easy place to go win the Chiefs are (6-2) at home this year, but I think their Super Bowl hopes gets crushed by the Steelers. As long as Big Ben has his playmakers Anotonio Brown and Le'veon Bell helping him out they should be just fine. It'll be interesting to see what kind of Chiefs team shows up for the game, the crowd getting in behind them will play a pivotal roll in this one. Andy Reid can't dilly dally around Sunday, he needs to make a legitamate statement to the front office by making a convincing Super Bowl run this year. To cap off Round 2 we have the red hot mean green fighting machine of the Green Bay Packers heading to Jerry World down in Dallas to take on the Cowboys. This is my game of the week, expecting to see some great football and good offensive play from both sides. Ultimately it will come down to how many stops the Cowboys defense can make against Aaron Rodgers and how Dak Presscott performs on the big stage when it really matters. He's done it all year up to this point and I don't see him being stopped this Sunday. I'm taking the Cowboys in what more than likely will turn into a Offensive shootout Sunday.
January 15th.
Pittsburg Steelers vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Time: 1:05pm ET
Line: Chiefs -2.5
Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys
Time: 4:40pm ET
Line: Cowboys -4
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