The stage is set. Eight teams remain in the chase for the Super Bowl. After the excitement from Wild Card Weekend has finally settled down, everybody gets ready for the Divisional Round to kick off, which promises to be just as exciting as last weekends action was. So lets not waste any time and jump right into looking at this weeks action. we start with the action on Saturday.
First up is the New Orleans Saints heading to CenturyLink Field to take on the Seattle Seahawks at 4PM. Seattle had the bye, being the #1 seed in the NFC, while the Saints come in after the dramatic win over the Eagles last weekend. Now then, if the past is any indication, then what happened during the regular season doesn't really matter too much during the playoffs. Here's what I mean. These two teams played in Week 13 of this year, with Seattle blowing out the Saints 34-7 at home. Look at what happened with Denver and Baltimore last year. Denver crushed the Ravens during the regular season and got upset by them come playoff time. It happened to the Giants in 2011 and the Packers in 2010. Look at what happened just last week with the Colts and Chiefs. KC wanted revenge for their loss earlier this year to Indy but couldn't hold the lead and lost. My point is is that nothing is a given come playoff time. Sure the Saints are going to want payback for the loss earlier this season, but there is no promise that it's going to happen
These two teams have met once before in the playoffs, back in 2010 a game which was won by the Seahawks 41-36. So we know anything can happen. As we saw last week, we know Drew Brees and the rest of the Saints can handle playing on the road and in cold weather. Both of those things are going to factor in on Saturday afternoon. There is one other thing that's going to play a factor, that of course being the crowd. Seattle has already set the world record for the loudest crowd, so you know they are going to be a bigtime factor. New Orleans is going to get out to a fast start, but the Seahawks will wake up eventually and pull it out. Seattle takes it by a field goal and moves on to the NFC Championship game.
Next up we have the Saturday Night Game, as Andrew Luck leads the Indianapolis Colts head into Gillette Stadium to battle Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at 8PM. This is still a rivalry lets not forget that fact. It just doesn't seem to have as much steam on it without Peyton Manning playing in Indy. But I digress. New England is 2-1 all time against the Colts in the playoffs, looking again to increase that record. Think about this folks. Since Brady and Belichick have been the coach-QB tandom with the Patriots, they have been deadly in the playoffs. When they get a first round bye, the Patriots are almost a lock to win in the divisional round, going 6-1 in this situation. The only team to beat them was the Jets in 2010. Indy hasn't been quite so lucky. The Colts have only missed the playoffs once since 2002, and have only gotten out of the divisional round three times in that span. So history isn't exactly on the Colts side.
These two teams didn't play eachother during the 2013 regular season. The last time they met in the playoffs was 2006 when the Colts beat the Patriots by 4. New England is coming in rested and ready to go, while the Colts are coming in off that dramatic comeback win last week against Kansas City. Indy is going to be coming in riding high off the win last week, and trust me they are going to be putting up a good fight. But I highly doubt the Patriots are going to be blowing a 28 point lead, especially at home. If the Colts want to have a chance in this game, they have to try and keep it close and possibly see if Andrew Luck has better luck, no pun intended, than Brady in the 4th quarter. I really don't see that happening, as Brady and Belichick will flex their playoff muscle and down the Colts, moving on to the AFC Title game.
Now we move on to the action on Sunday as the San Francisco 49ers head to Bank Of America Stadium in Carolina to take on the Panthers. This will be the 5th trip to the playoffs in Panthers history, the 4th time they are doing so as Division champions and the first time they will ever play the 49ers in the post season. Carolina beat the 49ers in San Francisco 10-9 back in Week 10. Carolina still has something to prove to me and to everybody else. This is the 1st playoff game for the Panthers since 2008, they haven't won a playoff game since beating the Bears in 2005, and they haven't won a home playoff game since 2003, when they went to the Super Bowl. So there is a lot of pressure on Cam Newton and Carolina.
Nobody is really sure how Newton is going to handle the pressure of his first career playoff game, and that uncertainty is going to be an advantage for the 49ers. And San Francisco has proven that they have no problem winning playoff games on the road, as they did it in Atlanta last season as well as in Green Bay last week. This is going to be a good battle of two running QB's but I don't think Colin Kapernick is going to have as easy a time rushing the ball against Carolina's defense as he did against the Packers. What its going to really come down to is playoff experience and the edge goes to the 49ers. San Francisco take the game and will meet the Seahawks in Seattle with the NFC title on the line next week.
Here we have the final game of the weekend,a s Philip Rivers leads the San Diego Chargers into Sports Authority Field at Mile High, to do battle with Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. This will be the first meeting between the two teams in the playoffs ever, and the 2nd meeting this season between the teams, as San Diego handed Denver their only loss at home this season, 27-20 back in Week 15. Now the interesting fact about the playoffs is that the three teams that are left in the AFC playoffs, San Diego New Ingland and Indy are the only three teams to beat the Broncos during the regular season.
San Diego is coming into this ballgame a red hot team, having won five in a row, and they are the only team that won last week by more than a field goal. So you know Denver is going to have a fight on their hands on Sunday. A key for this game is going to be ball control, especially from a Denver perspective. If the Broncos don't turn the ball over and give the Chargers easy field position, I can't see San Diego being able to scrap up enough points to win. That's why the beat the Bengals last week, they were able to force the turnovers and give the offense great field position. And lets not forget that Denver had the rough outing a season ago in the loss to the Ravens, so that's going to be a factor if Denver turns out to be a tad bit gun shy at home. Now we will see if either this Chargers team is for real and if Denver really has the mettle it lacked last year in the playoffs. either way its going to be a good ball game, but I think that Denver has too much firepower for the Chargers to overcome. Manning and Brady are on a collision course for the AFC championship game next week in Denver!
So there you have it, we are all set to go for some great football action in the divisional round this weekend!
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