NFL Divisional Predictions

January 11, 2006, 8:54 PM | 1 Comment

Well, last week was a great week of football. I started my playoff predictions by going 2-2, but I hope to do much better this week.

The big games really start to come together this week with Washington at Seattle, New England at Denver, Pittsburgh at Indianapolis and Carolina at Chicago. There should be a lot of great action this weekend.

Each week through the Playoffs I’ll be running a new poll to see who you think will win the Superbowl. Every week it’ll be updated with the latest contenders, right down to Superbowl Sunday.

ESPN Expert Picks.

Here are my picks for this weekend’s Divisional match-ups!

Washington Redskins (11-6) at Seattle Seahawks (13-3) - Last week Washington played very well against the Buccaneers. It was a great defensive game, and the Redskins relied on their defense and special teams to get them the win. The ‘Skins have had a great run over the past 6 weeks, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to come to an end on Saturday.

The Seattle Seahawks were the best team in the NFC this season, by far. They are 8-0 at home this year and have had one of the best offenses in the league. Shaun Alexander won the (well deserved) league MVP award this season, and is having another great year.

The Redskins have a great defense, so I don’t expect the Seahawks to put up a lot of points in this game, probably under 30, but the problem for Washington is their offense, which really didn’t do anything against the ‘Bucs last week.

The Seahawks have never won a playoff game under head coach Mike Holmgren. Expect that to end on Saturday. Pick: Seahawks.

New England Patriots (11-6) at Denver Broncos (13-3) - I was actually pretty surprised by how bad the Jaguars were last week. I’ll give credit to the Patriots though, they played well and did all they had to (and more) to win that game.

I’m still not convinced that New England is the team they once were, but I expect them to put up a good fight this week in Denver. Tom Brady will play smart, as he always does, but the Patriots cannot afford to make mistakes this weekend.

If any team in this league is ‘disrespected,’ it’s the Denver Broncos. Denver has quietly put up a 13-3 record and claimed the number two seed in the AFC, but no one talks about the Broncos! That’s disrespect. I think the Broncos are a really tough challenger for the Patriots this week.

Mike Shanahan does a great job with this team year after year, and this year is no exception. Denver is also another team that is undefeated at home, giving them a big home-field advantage. Denver is one of the toughest places to play on the road, as proven by their 8-0 record. The weather this Saturday is supposed to be pretty good, so I don’t think that’ll be any factor at all.

I know I’m crazy and I’m not supposed to pick against Tom Brady/Bill Belichick in the Playoffs, but I really think that the Denver Broncos have the advantage here. Pick: Broncos.

Pittsburgh Steelers (12-5) at Indianapolis Colts (14-2) - This is the game that everyone will be watching. The Indianapolis Colts have had an incredible season that finished off with some pretty heavy off-field issues. Peyton Manning is probably the hardest working player in the NFL, there’s no doubt in my mind that he, and his team, will be totally prepared for this game.

Last week, the Steelers played really well against the Bengals, but I noticed a couple of things. In Cincinnati last week the crowd was very noisy and the Steelers were called for offsides several times. Inside the noisy RCA Dome in Indy, it’ll be even louder. The Steelers were also caught off guard a few times with their substitutions, but Carson Palmer/Jon Kitna aren’t quite as aware as Peyton Manning. If given the opportunity, Manning will snap the ball and get the defense called for too many men, so Pittsburgh will have to watch out for that.

I just can’t see the Colts losing this game. They’ve played too well all season to lose in their first playoff game, especially after preparing for 2 weeks. Pick: Colts.

UPDATE: Shocked.

Carolina Panthers (12-5) at Chicago Bears (11-5) - In other Manning news, how bad was Eli Manning (and the rest of his team) last week? It was sad. Manning cannot take all the blame though, as some of his receivers didn’t even look like they were trying.

Anyways, enough about last week. This week the Carolina Panthers go to Chicago to take on the Bears, who have had a great season. Their defense is the star of this team, but it’s the offense that is in question. Rex Grossman hasn’t played much this year, so it’ll be interesting to see how he does on Sunday.

Carolina has the experience to be able to win this game, even though they only scored 3 points in their game against Chicago earlier this year. They’ll have to find some way to score against the Bears defense if they have any hope in winning.

I’ll say the same thing about the Bears this week that I said last week about the Giants - the only thing that might cost the Bears (besides the obvious mistakes) will be their relative inexperience. That offense will have to prove itself fast. Still, I think the Bears have a better shot. Pick: Bears.

Picks Summary

AWAY - HOME - PREDICTION - RESULT
Redskins - Seahawks - Seahawks - Seahawks √
Patriots - Broncos - Broncos - Broncos √
Steelers - Colts - Colts - Steelers Χ
Panthers - Bears - Bears - Panthers Χ

UPDATE: Wow, today (Sunday) was probably the most exciting day of football I’ve seen in a long time. I feel disappointment for the Colts (Mike Vanderjagt especially) and Bears. 2-2 this week to bring my playoff total up to 4-4.

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