NFL Playoff Predictions 2012

Okay, last year I fell flat on my face with my playoff predictions.  I picked the Eagles to beat the Packers in the Wildcard Round and picked the Patriots to beat the Saints in the Superbowl, hopefully I can do better this year!  Here goes:

 

AFC Wildcard:

(6) Bengals @ (3) Texans:   These 2 teams met earlier in the year with Houston winning in Cincy.  The biggest question about Houston is whether or not they can get by with their QB situation.  Injuries have really hurt their chances.  But they are at home making their first playoff appearance in franchise history.  I think they'll come out the more motivated team and will edge out the Bengals in a tough, hard fought game.

(5) Steelers @ (4) Broncos:  Tebow hasn't lost his magic or his drive to win, the problem with Tebow is that teams have caught on to him and the Broncos zone option offense.  There are a lot of reasons why NFL teams do not run the option, the biggest reason is team speed.  Teams can close in the gaps more quickly in the NFL than they can in college and because of that they can reign in a run option attack more quickly and leave less space to move.  This is especially true if the passing game doesn't work, like Denver's.  Tebow may still end up being a great QB, who knows, but what I do know is that the Steelers are an excellent, well coached defensive team who will eat him alive on Sunday.  I love the Broncos but can't see any way they win this game.  Steelers will win by 10+ points.

 

AFC Divisional Round:

(5) Steelers @ (1) Patriots:  This has got to be a scary match-up for the Patriots.  Their defense is the worst in the NFL and the Steelers can really get after teams with the deep ball and their speed at WR.  If Big Ben is healthy I think the Steelers can and will give the Patriots all they can handle.  In the playoffs defense wins most of the time, so I'd be very, very tempted to pick the Steelers in this game.  But, I won't, for 1 reason and 1 reason only:  Tom Brady.  He is simply an amazing QB to watch and will find ways to put points on the board for the Pats even against Pittsburgh's D.  The Steelers will give the Patriots all they can handle, but the Patriots will win this game.

(3) Texans @ (2) Ravens:  I wouldn't be shocked to see the Bengals beat the Texans in the wildcard and completely mess my predictions up... so that shows you how much faith I have in Houston.  I definitely don't have enough faith in them to pick them to win at Baltimore.  The Ravens are FANTASTIC at home and will rough up the Texans all day long in route to a double digit win and a birth to the AFC Championship Game against New England.

AFC Championship Game:

(2) Ravens @ (1) Patriots:  Tom Terrific will outlast Joe Flacco (and outclass him, Flacco is nothing!) and lead New England back to the Superbowl.  I think the Patriots biggest test honestly will be against the Steelers in the Divisional Round, I think they'll beat the Ravens by double digit points.

 

NFC Wildcard:

(6) Lions @ (3) Saints:  It's good to see the Lions in the playoffs again.  I'm happy for Detroit.  They have loyal fans who deserve a winning team.  But, that's about the only good thing I have to say about the Lions in this game.  Stafford and Megatron will put up some points, but this shootout will ultimately be won by Brees and the Saints.  I see a lot of points in this one with a double digit win by the Saints.

(5) Falcons @ (4) Giants:  Both of these teams are hot!  I think this is the biggest toss-up of the weekend and is a difficult game to pick.  The Giants have honestly played better on the road than at home which makes me a little nervous for them heading into this game.  But, they have experience on their side and playoff wins under their belt.  Matt Ryan is 0-2 in the playoffs and I think he'll end up being 0-3 with the Falcons coming up just short against the New York Football Giants.  The Giants win by less than a touchdown.

NFC Divisional Round:

(3) Saints @ (2) 49'ers:  This is going to be a great game to watch.  The Saints are great at lighting up a scoreboard whereas the Niners are great at keeping teams out of the endzone.  It's strength against strength in what should be an excellent game.  I love what Harbaugh and the Niners have done.  I love the fact that Alex Smith has been able to establish himself as a dependable NFL QB, what I don't love though is the Niners ability to win a good old fashioned shoot out.  Critics have been harping on the Niners all year long saying that they can't beat a team like the Saints and that Smith can't go toe for toe with a QB like Brees.  I'm going to have to agree with the critics until the Niners prove them wrong.  The Saints win a close, hard fought, entertaining game.

(4) Giants @ (1) Packers:  The Giants held their own with Green Bay a few weeks ago but couldn't make enough plays down the stretch to get a W.  I think the same rings true in this one.  Rodgers is too good and the Giants won't be able to stop him when it matters most.   The Packers will win, but not by double digits.

NFC Championship Game:

(3) Saints @ (1) Packers:  This will be AMAZING television.  The 2 most prolific passers in the NFL will go head to head for a shot at the Superbowl.  It will be a game with multiple lead changes and lots of drama.  I can't wait!  Ultimately though, the Packers in front of their fans and Lambeau will break the hearts of the Saints and move on to the 2nd consecutive Superbowl.  This will be an instant classic!

 

THE SUPERBOWL:  BRADY VS. RODGERS, PACKERS VS. PATRIOTS!

It's going to be a great game!  I hope my predictions turn out right so that we can see this shootout in Indy.  We'll just have to wait and see how the playoffs go!  :)

NFL PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS 2011

Okay, I haven't been great about keeping my Power Rankings up to date, but now that it's Playoff time the Power Rankings really don't matter anyways... what does matter now is who is going to win the Superbowl? Here's my round by round NFL Playoff Predictions:

Wildcard Round:

AFC:

3. Indianapolis Colts vs. 6. New York Jets: Prediction: This is a hard one to predict, but the Colts are just too banged up. The Jets defense and rushing attack should be able to keep Peyton Manning and the still banged up Indy Colts at bay. Jets: 24-14

4. Kansas City Chiefs vs. 5. Baltimore: Prediction: I really, really want to pick the Chiefs to win this one at the New Arrowhead, they've been amazing at home this year, but I just think the Ravens are too experienced to lose this game. It's going to be a tight fist fight but ultimately the Ravens will win. Ravens 16-10

NFC:

3. Philadelphia Eagles vs. 6. Green Bay Packers: Prediction: I love, love, love the Eagles in this game! Aaron Rodgers has never won a playoff game and I think that trend continues in this one. The Eagles came out unmotivated towards the end of the season, but they won’t have that problem in this game. The best story in the NFL this year has been Michael Vick, and I think that story will continue past the Wildcard round. I think Vick puts up big numbers and the Eagles win a pretty high scoring game. Eagles 31-20

4. Seattle Seahawks vs. 5. New Orleans Saints: Prediction: It’s a total joke that the Seahawks are even a playoff team, and honestly this game is going to be a joke. The Saints are going to destroy the Seahawks in this game. The Saints are playing tough, hard nosed football and are determined to defend their Superbowl title. Their title defense will not end in Seattle. The Saints will win big. Saints 28-10

Divisional Round:

AFC:

1. New England Patriots vs. 6. New York Jets: Prediction: The Jets will be playing second fiddle in the AFC East to the Patriots by losing to them for a 2nd straight time this season, in Foxboro.  New England is just playing too well for the Jets to get past them.  I think the Jets defense will help keep them in it, for a while, but the Patriots will pull away late to move on to the AFC Championship Game.  Patriots 24-16

2. Pittsburgh Steelers vs. 5. Baltimore Ravens: Prediction:  The Steelers just have a knack for beating the Ravens, and they'll continue that trend in this game.  Baltimore will fight hard, and will keep it close but Flacco will make 1 too many mistakes late and Big Ben will do just enough to get the Steelers a playoff win at home.  Steelers 20-17

NFC:

2. Chicago Bears vs. 3. Philadelphia Eagles: Prediction: Cutler loves to throw interceptions and he’ll throw a couple in this game. I think the Eagles will show that they should have been the #2 seed and will pull off the victory on the road. It’s going to be a tough game, but ultimately I think Vick is the better QB and the better QB usually wins. Eagles 24-20

2. Atlanta Falcons vs. 5. New Orleans Saints: Prediction: The Saints proved just a couple of weeks ago that teams can win in Atlanta, and I believe the Saints will win there again. Matt Ryan and the Falcons are a great team, in the making, but they lack the experience the Saints have and I think the Saints will win on mental toughness. Brees doesn’t get rattled, and I think he’ll play just enough better than Ryan to lift the Saints to the NFC Championship game. Saints 20-17

Conference Championships:

AFC:

1. New England Patriots vs. 2.  Pittsburgh Steelers:  Prediction:  I think the Patriots vs. Jets game is the real AFC Championship game, this game will just be a bump in the road for the Pats as they'll head to the Superbowl.  Pittsburgh will not win this game.  They are outcoached and outclassed by the Patriots who know how to win at home in the playoffs.  Pittsburgh won't go down without a fight, but they will go down.  Prediction:  Patriots 24-13.

NFC:

3. Philadelphia Eagles vs. 5. New Orleans Saints: Prediction: Philly fans will be soaring heading into this game, and what a game! Vick will be striving for destiny and the Saints will be pushing for a repeat, it would be an amazing match up for the championship game. Once the action on the gridiron hits though I really think the great story that is Michael Vick’s season will come to an agonizing end. Brees will lead the Saints back to the Superbowl by beating the Eagles in Philly. The Saints know how to win these games and the Eagles haven’t quite figured that out yet. Vick will do everything possible to win, but will come up just short. Saints: 23-21

Superbowl:

1. New England Patriots vs. 5. New Orleans Saints: Prediction: I believe the Lombardi trophy is going to make a return to the Boston this year. I don’t think anyone beats the Patriots. They’re too confident and Brady is playing too well. The Saints will give it their best shot, but will come up short in a very entertaining Superbowl. Patriots 34-24

If anyone else would like to post their Playoff predictions feel free! It should be a fun run to the Superbowl this year.

LIBERATION!

Oh wow, it's been a rough season to be a Broncos fan.  I've spent that past 5-6 weeks cheering for the Broncos to lose their games in order to help insure a change at the head coaching position, and finally my wishes have come true!  I've LOVED the Broncos for as long as I've watched football (since I was 5 or 6 years old) and I've never felt about them like I have this season, even when they had some really bad seasons with Wade Phillips and Dan Reeves, I still loved them, but I didn't this year. 

Every time I'd turn on a Broncos game I'd see an uninspired team, playing garbage ball, without a running game and no defense.  Honestly though their performance wasn't the worst of it.  The worst was the lack of direction on the part of head coach Josh McDaniels and honestly the lack of hope on the part of the fans.  The allegations of cheating and the personnel moves destroyed any hope I had in him as a coach, I mean what hope can you get as a fan when your head coach orchestrates deals to lose Jay Cutler, lose Brandon Marshall, lose Peyton Hillis and gain what in return... Kyle Orton, Tim freaking Tebow and Brady Quinn.  Three QB's on a team that already had a franchise QB and WR and an solid up and coming RB in Hillis.

McDaniels was in over his head.  He had no business getting this job in the first place and honestly was destined to fail.  I have to blame Broncos ownership as well for his failure.  He didn't know how to make personnel moves, he didn't know how to win over and keep team loyalty and he didn't know how to get consistent results out of his team.  With his firing today finally, finally the pain is over... McDaniels, his arrogance, his cheating and his lack of maturity are gone, thank goodness!  I can wear my Bronco gear again! 

Here's for hoping that Jon Gruden is interested... that would make me the happiest fan ever!

Final Thoughts Utah vs. BYU

Wow, what an intense game!  Brit, the kids and I watched the ending in the lobby at the District Theater while waiting to see Tangled (great family movie by the way) and caught ourselves jumping up and down after Burton's block of Payne's potential game winning field goal.  What a great play!  This was another instant classic.

Unfortunately BYU fans are crying "foul" for the fumble after the Wynn interception, and are using that as their excuse for BYU losing this game.  Facebook, the SL Trib and the D-News comment boards are loaded with comments about the Utes "buying off" referees, or winning only because of the officials, or that the Utes are a bunch of cheaters and are "classless" (haven't we heard that before) in comparison to the BYU players.  Seriously?  Come on...  The Utah players & coaching staff had no control over that call, that is completely on the shoulders of the officials.  So layoff with labelling Utah because of a blown call by an official.  If the roles had been reversed you wouldn't hear a single complaint from any BYU fans...

You know what this reminds me of:  Lavell's last game.  BYU came back to beat Utah in 2001 after the officials clearly blew a fumble call against BYU running back Luke Staley.  Even Lavell Edwards publicly admits that it was a fumble.  If that had been called correctly, Utah would have won, and Lavell's last season would have ended with a 5-7 record, the first losing season of his career.  Instead, the officials blew a call, BYU scored a last second TD and sent Lavell off the field as a winner with a 6-6 record.  I'm sure a lot of Utah fans complained that night as well, just like the BYU fans are complaining now, but it's part of football.



Burton Saves the Day for the Utes!



The fumble/non-fumble today was a blown call.  His knee was down, BYU should have gotten the ball back.  I don't disagree with that at all.  My question is how did the officials miss that on the review, in slow motion?  It's mind boggling, but part of the game.  You will win some calls and you'll lose some calls.  It's just how it is.





Also, if BYU had converted more on third down (they were 6-15), if they hadn't kicked 3 field goals instead of scoring touchdowns when the opportunities were there, and if they had blocked out Brandon Burton on the most important play of their season, they would have won.  They played the better game, but they left opportunities on the field and gave the Utes a chance, which was all they needed to win. 

Utah won the game.  17-16 (Despite the fact that Jordan Wynn played terrible, again!), blown call and all... get over it Cougs.  You will be burned again by a ref sometime, as will the Utes.  If  you don't want to see that again, quit watching football.  At the end of the day, it is just a game. 

Now I feel better... GO UTES!  10 WINS 2 LOSSES... nice season! 

*I'm curious to see if they can keep their Bowl winning streak alive with Wynn playing as inconsistently as he is.  He did everything possible to lose this game for Utah today, it definitely wasn't a confidence boosting performance on his part.

J E T S are #1... AGAIN!

How much fun are the New York Jets?  They get shut out at home 9-0 by the Packers, but then bounce back with back to back overtime wins on the road against Detroit and Cleveland.  They may not be the most dominate team I've ever seen, but they are the most interesting, you simply never know what you're going to get out of them.  So far though, they've spent more time at #1 in my Power Rankings than any other team in the league this year, so at the end of the day, what you really get is a pretty good football team. 

Their coach (Rex Ryan) may be one of the most interesting coaching personalities in the NFL.  Seriously, who didn't enjoy his spoof of his twin brother and the supposed "bounty" he put on his brother's head before the Jets went to play Cleveland.  He's just an entertaining figure, who is also a very good football coach.  I'm expecting big things from the Jets as the year goes on, but watch out... New England is still hanging in at #2 and when the Colts get healthy, they could beat anyone on any day... It should be a fun end to the season!

Also, congrats to the Buffalo Bills on not only beating the Lions 14-12 for their first win of the season, but for also jumping Carolina in the Power Rankings.  The Panthers are now officially the worst team in the NFL.  Congrats to the Bills!  Also, congrats to Atlanta.  By beating Baltimore last week they moved up to #3 which is the highest they've been all season.

1 NY JETS

2 NE PATRIOTS

3 ATL FALCONS

4 GB PACKERS

5 PHI EAGLES

6 NO SAINTS

7 PITT STEELERS

8 IND COLTS

9 NY GIANTS

10 TEN TITANS

11 BAL RAVENS

12 CHI BEARS

13 OAK RAIDERS

14 TB BUCS

15 KC CHIEFS

16 SD CHARGERS

17 MIA DOLPHINS

18 SEA SEAHAWKS

19 STL RAMS

20 JAX JAGUARS

21 HOU TEXANS

22 WAS REDSKINS

23 CLE BROWNS

24 DET LIONS

25 MIN VIKINGS

26 SF 49ERS

27 DEN BRONCOS

28 CIN BENGALS

29 AZ CARDINALS

30 DAL COWBOYS

31 BUF BILLS

32 CAR PANTHERS

A Familiar Face at the Top of the Power Rankings

The New England Patriots, fresh off of a victory over Brett Favre and the Vikings have made their first trip to the top of my power rankings.  It's well deserved.  They seem to have flown under the radar all season, but have to be considered one of the favorites in the AFC.  They are winning without Randy Moss, they are winning without big names (except for Tom Brady) and to put it simply they just know how to win games.  They are the ultimate "Teams Team" where there isn't any main focus on any superstar, instead the focus is on the team as a whole.  I hate to say it, but the Patriots organization from coaching all the way up to ownership maybe the best in the NFL.  They know how to find unheralded talent and get the most out of them.  They are going to be a tough team to beat for the remainder of the season.  So look out, New England is back!

1 NE PATRIOTS


2 NY JETS

3 PITT STEELERS

4 TEN TITANS

5 IND COLTS

6 ATL FALCONS

7 KC CHIEFS

8 BAL RAVENS

9 NY GIANTS

10 GB PACKERS

11 NO SAINTS

12 PHI EAGLES

13 OAK RAIDERS

14 TB BUCS

15 CHI BEARS

16 MIA DOLPHINS

17 SEA SEAHAWKS

18 SD CHARGERS

19 HOU TEXANS

20 WAS REDSKINS

21 STL RAMS

22 DET LIONS

23 JAX JAGUARS

24 CIN BENGALS

25 MIN VIKINGS

26 CLE BROWNS

27 AZ CARDINALS

28 SF 49ERS

29 DEN BRONCOS

30 DAL COWBOYS

31 CAR PANTHERS

32 BUF BILLS

Bowl Predictions Offer Hope for BYU / No Hope for Utah

Luke Ashworth Finally Had a Big Game Against UW

So, the BCS ratings are once again out, and after another #1 team lost (Oklahoma) the BCS shot SEC leader Auburn from 4th up to first by virtue of their 24-17 victory over #6 LSU on Saturday.  So in other words their win was more important than Oregon and Boise State's not losing... Let's face it, BSU, TCU or Utah will not get to play for a National Championship in this system, as long as Auburn  & Oregon keeps winning.

Along with the BCS ratings, ESPN also gave some early bowl predictions and apparently they love the BYU Cougars.  BYU (3-5) are coming off a hard fought 25-20 win over Wyoming.  It wasn't impressive, but at least it was a win, which sets up BYU nicely for a shot a bowl elligibility.  ESPN had BYU playing either Central Florida in the Armed Forces Bowl or Fresno State in the New Mexico bowl, and frankly I think BYU would be estatic if they're able to get into either one of these games.  I agree with ESPN and here's why:

BYU's final four games:  vs. UNLV / @ Colorado State / vs. New Mexico / @ Utah

I think BYU will win out until they face Utah.  UNLV, CSU and New Mexico are TERRIBLE teams, worse than Wyoming, and I do think BYU's getting better.  I think they'll have to fight hard to beat UNLV and CSU, but they should win confidentally against New Mexico.  That will get them to 6-5 heading into the Utah game, which they will lose, and lose big, but hey 6-6 will get the Cougs into a bowl game.

Meanwhile for the Utes, ESPN had multiple people place them in the Las Vegas Bowl against either Cal or Washington, which means, of course, that everyone's picking TCU to beat Utah.  Let's face it TCU is a great team and they could definitely come into Salt Lake and get the win, but people shouldn't overlook Utah entirely.  They certainly have a chance to win out.  Here's the remaining schedule for the Utes:

Eddie Wide Rolls in for a Score Against CSU

@ Air Force (tough game) / vs. TCU (really tough game) / @ Notre Dame (not as tough as either AFA or TCU / @ San Diego State (should be a win) / vs. BYU (a definite win).

Utah will win at Air Force, but not by a lot.  I honestly believe the Utes will hang right in there with TCU.  If the Utes survive early look out, they could upset the Frogs.  Utah should win by 2+ touchdowns at Notre Dame (they better because I'll be in the stands) and they should have a similar result against SDSU.  BYU is a wild card since it's a rivalry game, but Utah's got the better team, and should pull it out by 2+ scores.

People shouldn't automatically write off the Utes.  They're good enough to beat any team in the country on any given day... TCU better beware.