John Berger
Senior Editor
It turns out that I went 3-1 with my picks last week. I got the Seahawks-Redskins game wrong. Shortly after I made that pick, I began to second guess myself because I think I underestimated how well the Seahawks have been playing lately. Robert Griffin III’s knee injury obviously didn’t help, and the chances of having all four home teams win in one weekend is probably pretty slim. Luckily, I have this week to rebound and potentially go 4-0. This past weekend’s games were pretty boring for the most part. Texans-Bengals was fairly close, but lacked intrigue. The Packers-Vikings game was hampered by Christian Ponder not playing for the Vikings due to an elbow injury. The Ravens-Colts game was okay, but neither team was particularly sharp. The Seahawks-Redskins game saved the weekend a little bit, but the game felt weird because of RG3’s injury. I think that the games this weekend will be better, the cream has risen to the top, so to speak, and there are some interesting matchups. Here are my predictions:
Saturday
Ravens at Broncos-
The Ravens played pretty well last week against the Colts. Their defense gave up a lot of yards, but only gave up nine points. It’s going to be pretty hard to only allow nine points this week, Ray Lewis and the Ravens travel to Denver to play the Broncos, the AFC’s #1 overall seed. Peyton Manning has put up ridiculous numbers, having thrown for almost 4,700 yards with 37 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in the regular season. He also completed close to 70% of his passes. The Broncos only lost once at home all year, and they’ve played really, really well as of late. Their defense is extremely underrated and I get the sense that Peyton is desperate for another title. Lewis certainly won’t go down without a fight, and the Ravens are pretty good in their own right. But it’s gong to be hard to take down a team like Denver on their home turf.
Final Score: Broncos: 27-Ravens: 20
Packers at 49ers-
These two teams met in week one of the regular season, and the 49ers won by a score of 30-22 in Green Bay. Both teams are a lot different now. The 49ers have a new quarterback, and the Packers have a new running back. The 49ers defense is still very good, and Aaron Rodgers is still very good as the Packers quarterback. Eventually, that’s what this game is going to come down to. It will be interesting to see how the Packers defend Colin Kaepernick, who is the new 49ers quarterback. Kaepernick is more run-oriented than a lot of QB’s in the NFL, and he’s particularly dangerous when he runs the read-option with Frank Gore. I like San Francisco in this one, because I think they matchup better than the Packers.
Final Score: 49ers: 31-Packers: 30
Sunday
Seahawks at Falcons-
I made the mistake of picking against the Seahawks last week, and I won’t do that again. Ever since the Falcons locked up home-field advantage, I’ve thought that this is the one team that they want to avoid. Atlanta has lost to the past two Super Bowl champions in the playoffs. This game is reminiscent of two years ago when the Packers took on the Falcons, then the number one seed in the NFC, and beat them by 27. The Seahawks are hot right now, and they’re defense is playing really well. The Seahawks have built their defense to be fast and disruptive, and that’s evident in their play. The Falcons lost their regular season finale at home to the Bucs, and that was when they even played all of their starters. It’ll be an early start for a west-coast team, but I like the Hawks to win this one.
Final Score: Seahawks: 27-Falcons: 21
Texans at Patriots
The Pats are favored by 10 in this game, which seems like a lot, but when you consider what happened the last time these two teams played in Foxboro, it’s hard to argue with it. The Texans were able to rebound last week from a dismal end to the regular season by beating the Bengals to open the playoffs, but I can’t see them beating the Patriots. The Texans’ D has fallen off a bit as of late, but they’re still very talented. They’ll need to keep the game within one score pretty much throughout. The Patriots just do not lose when they’re up by two scores at home in the playoffs. Consider this, though: in the Patriots last four playoff losses, they’re rushed for an average of 76 yards per game. Brady is arguably the best QB in the league, but he still needs help.
Final Score: Patriots: 34-Texans: 24
