Saturday
Baltimore at Pittsburgh- In my opinion, this is the best rivalry in the NFL because these teams hate each other, but still have respect for one another. The Ravens impressed me with their beatdown of the Kansas City Chiefs after trailing 7-3 at halftime. The big news today though was Ray Rice caught the stomach virus, which could be a factor and we all know the flu sucks. It will be interesting to see if Rice plays or even contributes. I still don't trust Joe Flacco as much as I do with Ben Roethlisberger.
People forget how good Big Ben is in the playoffs. He has two Super Bowl rings already, and has a true deep threat in Mike Wallace. The Ravens aren't that great against the pass, and I am willing to bet Wallace has at least one touchdown. The one that pulls me towards the Ravens is the weak Pittsburgh cornerbacks. Bryant McFadden gets picked on all the time, and Anquan Boldin had two pretty solid games against the Steel Curtain. I am torn on this one, and when that happens, you take the home team by three. PITT 23-20 (OT)
Green Bay at Atlanta- The Packers are receiving a lot of hype in the last week as they were with Philadelphia but it still scares me. A must for the Packers is to come out and hit the Falcons in the mouth in the first quarter. The Falcons haven't played a meaningful game since New Orleans further you can argue that game still didn't matter much because they knew Carolina was up next. This leads us to their last important game on Thanksgiving weekend against The Pack. If the Packers have a solid first quarter say a 10-0 lead or like a 14-3, this will be a Packer victory.
Atlanta is a very good team when they have the lead. They are not built as a quick strike offense that can score touchdowns at will. The Dirty Birds need to ride Michael Turner and long exhausting drives to win this game. In no way can Matt Ryan carry this team throughout the game. For some reason ESPN fails to mention... Matt Ryan hasn't won a playoff game! Granted, it's just one game but that's the same thing with Aaron Rodgers but whatever. The Falcons are very poor against the pass and every good quarterback has done very successful against them. The Packer offensive line will be the key to this game, if they are great this could be a rout. But it's a road playoff game so you expect to be close, and that's what I see. GB 27-21
Sunday
Seattle at Chicago- I cannot believe people are buying the Seattle hype. I know this is Jay Culter's first playoff game, which scares me than becoming a part of the Human Centipede. I will be interested to see how he handles himself, but trust me, he will do enough to beat Seattle. Here's the thing, the Hawks do have the momentum, but they went 2-6 on the road. In addition, Matt Hasselback looked the best he has in three years last week against a weak New Orleans secondary. Not to pile it on like my name is Clay Bennett, but Marshawn Lynch will not do anything against the second-best rush defense. They have four of the best tacklers in the front seven.
Now that I am on fire like Reggie Miller at MSG, you mean to tell me that Russell Okung, the rookie left tackle has to stop Julius Peppers?! Child please. I have a feeling we see Clipboard Jesus by the third quarter. To finish off why the Bears will win by large margin, the Seahawks are in the bottom tier at stopping the run and Matt Forte, if Mike Martz allows it, will run wild. The Saints weren't able to balance the run and pass leading to their defeat. The Bears will do it and win handily. CHI 31-10
New York Jets at New England- People are pumped about this one because the consistent shit talking going on throughout the week. While the Ravens-Steelers let their play do the talking, the Jets-Pats do not carry that same credence. If I am the Jets, I will take the Packers game plan from a couple of weeks ago. Just use their running game as much as possible, and try to control the clock to keep Tom Brady off the field. But I keep coming back to Mark Sanchez's noodle arm. I tweeted last week "Mark Sanchez blows" and "Glad to see the Jets figured out Sanchez has a noodle arm." He isn't okay, I really think he is hurt.
Another quick prediction is that Brady will go over the top on Antonio Cromartie in the first five plays of the game and if it's a touchdown, the rout could be on. Most people think this will be a blowout, but I honestly see a close game to the very end with Brady leading a last second drive for the win over Cromartie. NE 31-28
-Charlie.
