As you can see in the photo above, this season's playoff picture is similar to last season. In the AFC division, the Patriots play the Chiefs and the Steelers play the Broncos for a spot to play in the AFC Conference championship. My pick for the AFC championship is New England vs Denver. I think the Patriots will beat the Chiefs if all their players are healthy. Edelman is set to return and they have had other injuries during the season, Danny Amendola, Rob Gronkowski, and Dion Lewis have all been on the injured list recently. Hopefully with this bye week, they have had time to recover. There are some great match-ups between these teams, such as Julian Edelman and Jeremy Maclin, they're both key players to their offense. Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce is another great match-up. Both Tight Ends have a large stature, making it difficult to tackle them. However, Gronkowski is better at getting additional yards after the catch. Tom Brady is clearly the better quarterback, but he needs all his receivers healthy and 100%. The Patriots have beaten the Chiefs 2 out of the last 3 times these teams met and this will be the first time the Chiefs have played in the playoffs in over a decade!
I think Denver will beat Pittsburgh if they keep playing like they do. They went all season almost undefeated, they only lost two games. Ironically, it was to the Colts (Manning's old team) and the Steelers. They lost by one touchdown last time they faced Pittsburgh, and they are hoping for a different outcome in this playoff game. Peyton Manning is the better QB and he has solid receivers in Demaryius Thomas and Owen Daniels. Not to mention, Denver has a strong rushing game as well. So, for the AFC Conference, I predict Denver and New England / Manning vs Brady again.
As for the NFC division, Seahawks play the Panthers and the Packers play the Cardinals to determine which two teams will battle it out in the NFC Conference Championship. The Carolina Panthers had an amazing and almost completely undefeated season, with only one loss to to the Atlanta Falcons in week 15. Quarterback, Cam Newton only has one solid receiver in Greg Olsen, so he gains the most rushing yards by running the ball himself very effectively as he is known to do. In fact, Carolina already beat Seattle this season in week 5 by a mere 4 points and I don't think Seattle will let that happen again. They are determined to make it to 3 Super Bowls in a row, and "The Legion of BOOM" defense is not going to allow Cam Newton to scramble out of the pocket and run the ball himself. That's going to be a close game.. but I think the Seahawks will beat the Panthers this time.
The Packers vs the Cardinals will also be a very close game. Both were once triumphant teams, Arizona won the 2010 Super Bowl and Green Bay won the Super Bowl the very next year. Aaron Rodgers is a hall of fame QB, but I think he is in decline. The same could be said about Arizonas once, unstoppable wide receiver- Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald just needs a better QB to pass him the ball, but he is still a major offensive threat and he is lucky to make it to the playoffs again. That's why I pick Green Bay over Arizona, so I predict Seahawks vs Packers for the NFC Conference.
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