The Road to Super Bowl XLVII Looks Like This…

Time to get ready….the NFL playoffs begin this weekend! Here are my predictions for the first round of action…

AFC Wild Card: (No. 6) Cincinnati Bengals at (No. 3) Houston Texans
A rematch of last year’s AFC Wild Card Weekend. The Texans had the opportunity to capture the No. 1 seed and watched it slip away with two poor performances in their last two games. Meanwhile, the Bengals finished the season strong and all signs point to a Bengal upset in the wild card matchup….but it’s not going to happen.

Both teams can pass the ball, but I think it comes down to which team can generate the better ground game. Arian Foster will be ready to play and so will the Texans.

Final Score: Houston 27, Bengals 14

AFC Wild Card: (No. 5) Indianapolis Colts at (No. 4) Baltimore Ravens
I’ve always been a fan of the Ravens…..maybe it has something to do with owning Ray Rice on my fantasy football team for the past 3 years? However, I can’t look past what the Colts and Andrew Luck have accomplished this season. The Ravens have the postseason experience, this is Ray Lewis’ final season and on paper the Ravens have more talent and depth, but I can see the Ravens losing this game. Baltimore has struggled defensively throughout 2012 and the Colts have been playing with heart and are gaining confidence. So with that…

Colts 23, Ravens 20

NFC Wild Card: (No. 6) Minnesota Vikings at (No. 3) Green Bay Packers
This is the third matchup between the Vikings and Packers this year. The big question in this game is: Can the Packers stop Adrian Peterson? I don’t think Christian Ponder scares many teams…so expect Green Bay to focus on stopping the run by loading up the box.

Green Bay will work downfield to stretch Minnesota’ secondary and set up the run.

I think Rodgers has a decent game in front of the home crowd and I’m giving this one to the Packers.

Packers 24, Vikings 17

NFC Wild Card: (No. 5) Seattle Seahawks at (No. 4) Washington Redskins
This is my favorite matchup of the week. Two rookie quarterbacks leading teams that exceeded expectations this year.

Both teams have talented running backs and both rookie quarterbacks have showed maturity and skill beyond their years.

Both teams can score. Over the last 4 games of the season Washington put up a total of 124 points and Seattle racked up a whopping 170!

All this talk about the offenses and what will ultimately decide this game is defense.
The Seahawks are better with their pass rush, coverage and ability to control the line of scrimmage. The Redskins are susceptible to the pass don’t apply quarterback pressure which will allow Russell Wilson enough time to find openings.

Seahawks 38, Redskins 17

Comments

comments