Sports: NFL Playoff Preview

NFL Playoff Preview

Another wild, crazy, and fun NFL regular season has concluded, and now it's time for the even more enjoyable playoffs (that is, as long as TTSNBN loses again).  After the Super Bowl, I'll do a more comprehensive overview, including a look at how my projections turned out - and I'll also probably include a review of how the Australian Open in tennis went.  For now, I'll make my predictions of who will win each playoff game.  This year, rather than make one set of predictions at the very beginning, I'll predict each game that is scheduled to play before the weekend and conclude with which teams look most likely to make the Super Bowl.

AFC:

San Diego Chargers (9-7) @ Cincinnati Bengals (11-5)
Sunday, 1:05 PM ET

These clubs converge having both won five of their last six games.  They also played each other already this year, with the Bengals winning in San Diego, 17-10.  On the surface, it looks like Cincy is the clear pick here:  not only did they beat the Chargers previously, but they had the better overall record and San Diego barely made the playoffs after barely beating Kansas City's second-stringers.  Still, this team beat both Denver and Kansas City (with its starters playing) in the second half of the year, and Philip Rivers has played quite well after some down years.  Still, Cincy has been blowing teams out at home, and their defense is fearsome.  QB Dalton is a question mark, but in the first round at home, they should win.

Pick:  Bengals - 31; Chargers - 20

Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) @ Indianapolis Colts (11-5)
Saturday, 4:35 PM ET

Once again, these teams have a rematch of an earlier game this season (which the Colts won, 23-7).  While both teams finished 11-5, the Chiefs lost five of their last seven while the Colts won five of their last seven.  After finishing at the bottom of the NFL last year, it seemed the Chiefs had risen to near the top of the league, winning their first nine games.  The Colts, meanwhile, seemed to perhaps overachieve last year, but quietly won the division this year regardless.  The Chiefs are a very solid team, but I saw the Colts-Chiefs game earlier this year and the Colts won it quite convincingly.  Andrew Luck is already one of the NFL's best QBs, while if the Chiefs fall behind by more than 10, I can't see Alex Smith leading a comeback.  Home team should win, again.

Pick:  Colts - 27; Chiefs - 17


NFC:

New Orleans Saints (11-5) @ Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)
Saturday, 8:10 PM ET

For much of the year, it seemed like the Saints had the NFC South locked up - but the Panthers kept winning, and took it from them.  Meanwhile, the Eagles eventually stepped up to the plate and claimed the title in the NFC East, one of the worst divisions in the league this year.  Honestly, I haven't seen either of these teams play much this year, so I don't have much clue beyond their records and team stats.  The Saints are once again a much better at home than on the road (especially in cold cities) - but they also are led by one of the best QB-coach teams in Brees and Sean Payton.  The Eagles pin their hopes on newbie QB Foles and coach Chip Kelly (formerly a college coach).  This should be a very entertaining game either way, but I think the odds are better that the Eagles can ride star RB McCoy to the win while containing the Saints' deadly offense with sacks - and more importantly, cold weather.

Pick:  Eagles - 35; Saints - 24

San Francisco 49ers (12-4) @ Green Bay Packers (8-7-1)
Sunday, 4:40 PM ET

These teams met in week 1 - basically a rematch of last season's playoff game.  Both games were won by San Francisco.  However, now both teams look different than when they last met.  The Packers are just working QB Rodgers back in after almost two months missed due to injury, but they've developed RB Lacy in a strong running game.  The 49ers had some stumbles as well as QB Kaepernick has struggled for consistency.  The difference will likely come down to defense; San Francisco has been strong again this year, while Green Bay has one of the weaker units in the league (not helped by injuries).  This game might be the hardest to watch of the weekend (at least for those of us who prefer offense to defense), but the 49ers will grind out the "upset" win.

Pick:  49ers - 23; Packers - 14


Super Bowl Favorites:

In my preview of the 2013 season, I picked Denver and Seattle to meet in the Super Bowl.  As the #1 seeds, they look primed to get there, but in the last ten years or so, shockingly few top seeds have actually made it to, let alone won, the Super Bowl.  On paper, I'd still pick them as the favorites.  Based on recent trends and intuition, I'd say Indianapolis and San Francisco seem to be the most intriguing clubs from Wild Card weekend.  We'll see!