NFC contenders:
Seattle Seahawks (12-4) NFC West winners: Home field advantage and a first round bye
Green Bay Packers (12-4) NFC North winner: First round bye
Dallas Cowboys (12-4) NFC East winners
NFC pretenders:
Carolina Panthers (7-8-1) NFC South winners
Arizona Cardinals (11-5) wildcard
Detroit Lions (11-5) wildcard
Seattle Seahawks:
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| Can the Seahawks repeat? |
The defense has got back to its devastating best following a sluggish 2-2 start to the season. They lead the league in many categories giving up a league best of just 15.9 points a game and only 254 points in the teams 16 regular season games making them one of just 5 teams to give up less than 300 points on the year as well as being the only defense to give up less than 300 net yards per game (267.1). These stats along with the fact that the team ranks 4th in turnover differential shows how hard it is to compete against this defense and personally I think only the Packers or Cowboys are equipped to dethrone the current champions.
We know how good their defense is with the playmakers they have and whilst their offense may not have many superstars but they have two of the best at their respective positions in the shape of Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch. Wilson had back to back seasons with 26 touchdowns and although that has dropped to 20 this season his interceptions are down to just 7 on the year and the 2014 has seen him rack up the most passing yardage in a season since he has come in to the league. Wilson is one of the best game managers in the game and grows as a leader as well as a QB all the time so with Lynch behind him, who is tied for first in the league, with 13 touchdowns on the year then we can see why this team has many tools to beat any opposition and with this team firing on all cylinders at the right time Seattle could well be appearing in another Super Bowl.
Green Bay Packers:
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| Can Rodgers guide Green Bay to his second Super Bowl? |
Luckily for the Packers is that should Seattle lose or at least until they have to face Seattle they will play at Lambeau Field where they finished the season 8-0. Should the Cowboys defeat the Lions on Sunday then Dallas, who are 8-0 on the road this season, will travel to Lambeau and face off in a thrilling contest. It appears likely in most people's eyes that Green Bay will face Dallas with the winner traveling to Seattle in the NFC Championship and that is a sentiment I would agree with.
Aaron Rodgers walking in to Seattle with the Super Bowl on the line will definitely mean that we see the real A-Rod as opposed to the timid Aaron Rodgers that was rattled and came unstuck back in week one of the regular season when the Pack were blown out 36-16. Rodgers is for me the most complete quarterback in football as he can make all the throws and when he is in the groove there is nobody better. I also agree with an article I read recently regarding the MVP race which suggested Rodgers could and probably would have hit 50 touchdowns with over 5,000 passing yards this season had the Packers not blown out so many teams by halftime this campaign. Rodgers finished the regular season with 38 touchdowns (ranked 3rd) to just 5 interceptions and a overall QB rating of 112.2 which ranked second only to Tony Romo. With Rodgers' talent, the weapons he has around him on such as Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Eddie Lacy on the ground along with a defense that leads the league in turnover differential with +14 then it is easy to see why Green Bay are equipped to make a run at a Lombardi this month.
Dallas Cowboys:
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| Big D finally has something to smile about |
The Dallas Cowboys have finally made the playoffs for the first time since 2009 as they go in pursuit of their first championship since 1995. Personally I am glad the Cowboys made the postseason and that is for one reason... Tony Romo! I for one am a Romo supporter and Tony himself hasn't had his fair share of them in years gone by but he has stepped up this season coming off a back surgery and on a year when many were predicting an awful campaign from Dallas. Now Romo's supporting cast has definitely helped him but all the great quarterbacks have had support in their careers whether it be on their side of the ball or a defense that has stepped up during runs to a championship.
Romo had the leagues leading rusher behind him this year in DeMarco Murray who ran for 1,845 yards, a league best 15 touchdowns and was also the only back in the league who averaged over 100 yards per game (115.3). He has Dez Bryant in the passing game with the two having amazing chemistry, a revamped offensive line that has made his life a hell of a lot easier and a defense that has completely turned themselves around following a horrendous 2013 campaign to a defense that can make plays and force turnovers; they rank 9th in turnover differential with +6 and have 18 interceptions on the year ranking them in 7th.
Romo himself had a very good year and a fantastic December which put his name in the MVP conversation in December he completed 74.8% of his passes with 12 touchdowns and to just one interception for a 133.7 passer rating which is the highest passer rating in NFL history for the month. Overall on the year Romo had 34 touchdowns (ranked 4th) to just 9 interceptions which matched his career best in a season where he has started every game and funnily enough that was in 2009 which was the last time Dallas made the postseason and where Romo got his lone playoff win. Romo led the league with a passer 113.2 and his fantastic 2014 season has propelled himself to second on the list all-time for career passer rating leaders at 97.6 which puts him 0.1 ahead of Peyton Manning and only behind Aaron Rodgers on the list, his main rival for the MVP award. Now we could talk all day about how Romo and the Cowboys have improved but that will count for nothing if they don't at least beat the Lions on Sunday and give themselves a shot of mixing it with the big boys in the form of Green Bay and Seattle and based on the talent of this team I think Jason Garrett's men will get that chance.
AFC Contenders:
New England Patriots (12-4) AFC East winners: Home field advantage and a first round bye
Denver Broncos (12-4) AFC West winner: First round bye
Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5) AFC North winners
AFC Pretenders:
Indianapolis Colts (11-5) AFC South winners
Cincinnati Bengals (10-5-1) wildcard
Baltimore Ravens (10-6) wildcard
New England Patriots:
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| Will Gronk ride Brady all the way to his 4th Super Bowl? |
Year in year out the New England Patriots are the one NFL franchise to is in the Super Bowl conversation but for a decade the big prize has alluded them. This year Bill Belichick has, in my opinion, his best and most talented roster since the 2007 season when they almost pulled off perfection. Since that 18-1 season which ended in heartbreak the Pats have made close runs losing in the past two AFC Championship games to Baltimore and Denver with a second Super Bowl to the Giants before that back in 2011. The Patriots started the 2014 season with a lack of identity and a 2-2 record with many people questioning Tom Brady's performances, boy look how wrong they were, and Belichick's team facing adversity once again.
Fast forward to today and the Patriots are many people's picks to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl come February 1st and a lot of people's picks to be Super Bowl winners. Tom Brady only cares about winning and that was proven the other day when he once again restructured his contract. The Patriots have assembled talent along with a winning formula to post another winning season and clinch home field advantage over Denver which may prove crucial in deciding who wins the AFC in the next few weeks. The defense is one of the best in the league ranked second in turnover differential (+12), one of 5 playoff teams giving up less than 20 points a game (19.6) and with the best corner in the league not named Richard Sherman (Darrelle Revis). Add the experience of Revis to young guys coming in to their prime such as safety Devin McCourty, linebackers Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins who has been a revelation this year along with other key defensive pieces and it is clear to see why this defense is the best assembled since the old guard that has the likes of Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest, Ty Law and Rodney Harrison.
Brady's talent as a quarterback was never in doubt as he has always put his team in contention to win championships as after all he has the most postseason victories with 18 to his name and most important of any stat Brady has the highest winning percentage amongst any quarterback to ever play the game at .773. He has 160 wins to just 47 losses and is one of only 3 quarterbacks in the leagues history have a winning percentage of above .700 which are Joe Montana at .713, 117 wins to 47 losses, and Robert Staubach .746 with 85 wins to 29 losses. Brady is seeking the elusive 4th Super Bowl championship that would surely make him the greatest quarterback of all-time and this season is his best chance in recent memory because of one name... Rob Gronkowski! Gronk's busted ankle limited him almost completely against the Giants in the 2011 Super Bowl and injuries in the past 2 seasons have meant that he has missed the playoffs but Gronk is putting up his best numbers since 2011 after regaining full health and has caught 12 of Brady's 33 touchdowns this season. Brady leads the league in red zone touchdowns and that is down to the fact that he rarely turns the ball over, just 9 picks on the year, and that Gronk is his favourite red zone target plus the fact that he is a nightmare matchup for any defender in the league meaning he gives time for the likes of Julian Edelman and Brandon LaFell, who has been critical players for this Pats offense too, to come up trumps (11 TD's in total). Add these offensive weapons to a running game that includes the versatile Shane Vereen, young running back Jonas Gray and the return of LeGarrette Blount along with the talent of defense already been mentioned and it is clear to see why the New England Patriots could well end up Super Bowl Champions in Arizona in less than a month.
Denver Broncos:
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| Can Peyton silence the postseason doubters and go one better this time around? |
The Denver Broncos are looking to get back to the Super Bowl again following the blowout defeat in the big game to the Seahawks at the climax of the 2013 season. With a revamped defense that includes the likes of Von Miller, TJ Ward, Aqib Talib and DeMarcus Ware to go with an offense that has managed to establish a run game in recent weeks to go with the passing attack led by Peyton Manning then it is obvious as to why the Broncos are the most legitimate threat to the New England Patriots.
Another Manning vs Brady classic would be something millions of NFL fans would enjoy but Peyton hasn't looked too much liked himself in recent weeks as many suspect he is carrying an injury but despite that along with 4 picks in a week 16 defeat to the Bengals Manning is having another good year statistically having thrown 39 touchdowns, only second to Andrew Luck who finished with 40, to 15 interceptions. The running game inspired by newbie CJ Anderson and the return of Ronnie Hillman will help take the load of Manning and the passing attack if need be. If effective it will make the passing game that includes both Demaryius and Julius Thomas along with Wes Welker and Emmanuel Sanders more successful, somehow, which will cause problems for opposing defenses especially their divisional round opponent as they will almost definitely be in for an element of surprise especially with Manning being well rested for the Broncos opening playoff game a week on Sunday.
With Denver's first home game at Mile High where they finished 8-0 during the regular season and the fact that this team leads the league with the Packers in touchdowns at 58 who would bet against John Fox's team making the trip to Gilette Stadium to face the Patriots in a second consecutive AFC Title game on January 18th especially after the arms race these two had in the offseason and the rivalry they have endured in the past few years I for one can envision the two locking horns once again.
Pittsburgh Steelers
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| Coming off a career year big Ben and the Steelers are a force to be reckoned with. |
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a dangerous football team and are my dark horses in the AFC for this years playoffs. With a defense that has started to play football that great defenses of past Steelers teams gone by would be proud of along with an offense that includes a two time Super Bowl winning quarterback who has two very dangerous weapons then there are areas you can highlight for why this Pittsburgh team could pull off a surprise or two and make a deep run in this years postseason.
A 4 game winning streak to end the season saw the Steelers clinch the AFC North and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2011 to set up a home playoff game against divisional rivals Baltimore in what will be a hard hitting old-style playoff game. The weaknesses in Baltimore's secondary should be exploited by the brilliance of Ben Roethlisberger who had an outstanding regular season throwing 32 touchdowns to just 9 interceptions for a passer rating of 103.3 (ranked 3rd and one of only 4 QB's to have over 100.0). He also threw for 4,952 passing yards leaving him tied for 1st with Drew Brees and just shy of the illustrious 5,000 mark and is averaging 310 passing yards per game. This is a big thanks to his brilliant rapport with breakout star Antonio Brown who himself racked up a league best 1,698 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns (tied 2nd) meaning he caught over a third of Big Ben's TD's and accumulated way over a third if not almost half of his passing yardage.
Now we spoke about supporting casts and MVP awards earlier with the likes of Tony Romo and Aaron Rodgers and personally when I look at Big Ben's stats I wonder why his name hasn't been touted around more especially as he is ranked 3rd in pass completion percentage only below Drew Brees (2nd) and Tony Romo (1st) and again only 3rd in yards per attempt to Aaron Rodgers (2nd) and Tony Romo (1st). It is safe to say that despite the injury to running back Le'veon Bell, suffered in the finale vs the Bengals, who offers a different dimention to this offense that this Steelers team can cause trouble in the postseason but there one cause for concern that they lack which the other 5 teams I have looked in depth at possess is the fact that this Steelers team doesn't force a lot of turnovers and is minus 1 in differential so that is something they will need to address if they are to go deeper in to the playoffs.
PREDICTION:
Wild Card weekend:
Cardinals vs Panthers:
Carolina wins in a close battle between two of the leagues best and in form defenses just because Cam Newton has the ability to make big plays at the QB position with his raw talent whereas his counterpart Ryan Lindley will be exposed in the bright lights of the playoffs
Ravens vs Steelers:
Big Ben trumps Joe Flacco in the battle between two Super Bowl winning QB's because the Steelers will expose the cracks in this Baltimore defense.
Bengals vs Colts:
Two teams who have various weaknesses and will be exposed by better teams but the fact that Andrew Luck is the shining light for Indianapolis will be enough for them to progress at least one round in this years playoffs.
Lions vs Cowboys:
Stafford is 0-17 on the road against winning teams and 3-31 against winning teams overall in his career at Detroit so it is the safe bet that this talented Dallas team continues to make noise by setting up a mouth watering encounter against the Packers in the divisional round.
Divisonal round:
Colts vs Patriots:
Tom Brady and the Patriots have knocked the stuffing out of the Colts in recent encounters which won't change if Indianapolis ends up coming to Gillette Stadium where the Pats finished 7-1 during the regular season. Andrew Luck can weave his magic wand all he wants but his lack of a run game will be too much of a burden to give the Colts any real chance of winning this one.
Panthers vs Seahawks:
On Madden 15 the intro gets you to construct a game winning drive with Cam Newton against Seattle in the NFC title game and that is why it is a video game folks! The Panthers D may provide a stern test for Russel Wilson and the Seattle offense which is something it will need with either Dallas or Green Bay to play in the title game but the lack of offensive weapons for Carolina will be thwarted by the Seahawks and give them the win.
Steelers vs Broncos:
Big Ben vs Peyton could well go down as a playoff classic. Last week I said to a friend I believed that whoever wins the AFC North title on Sunday when the Bengals took on Pittsburgh, providing the Ravens don't make the playoffs, would make the AFC title game but now that Baltimore are in the postseason, despite the fact I think they'll lose to Pittsburgh, I think the Broncos will win. The return of Bell won't be enough to save the Steelers but it will be enough to give the Broncos a run for their money and ultimately a massive scare!
Cowboys vs Packers:
8-0 on the road vs 8-0 at home... An unstoppable force meets an immovable object (that's been used way too many times). A game that could truly be predicted by a flip of a coin but ultimately the playoffs will always have shocks and I think Dallas will triumph in Lambeau in what many would consider an upset to set up an NFC Title game against Seattle and leaving Aaron Rodgers to wonder what if for another season.
Championship games:
AFC Title: Broncos vs Patriots:
Manning vs Brady. Episode 17 would be their 5th installment of the playoff wars. Brady has defeated Peyton in 11 of their 16 encounters but they are 2-2 in the postseason and with a shot at a Lombardi at stake it would maybe be the highest stakes ever between these two. The teams have battled all offseason to build rosters capable of going all the way and I think that just because of home field advantage, if the Pats stay healthy, they will ultimately defeat the Broncos and go on to Arizona.
NFC Title: Cowboys vs Seahawks:
The chances of their being a second successive Super Bowl where the two number one seeds face off seems virtually impossible and while I think it is tough to bet against Seattle the fact is that unless Marshawn Lynch has another installment of beast mode, which granted he can at any given moment, then this Cowboys team is very well capable of winning at CenturyLink for a second time and shocking the world once again. They have all the tools including the know how to win on the road, something some people would argue the Packers don't have, which is why I feel Dallas can win the NFC.
Super Bowl XLIX: Cowboys vs Patriots
Behold the 49th installment of the Super Bowl will see the Dallas Cowboys take on the New England Patriots with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady facing NFC East opposition for a third consecutive time in the big one but this time it isn't the Giants. Both defenses have the ability to cause turnovers but Bill Belichick's winning teams thrive off of this and that is something that this Pats team has. As much as I am a fan of Tony Romo and fight his corner unfortunately I think if he makes it to the big one the moment where he may throw an infamous pick will come around and ultimately "cost" Dallas the game. Eli Manning albeit nowhere near the greatness of his brother Peyton in the regular season has proven he has the ice cold veins to be clutch in the big moments which prized away a potential two futher Lombardi's for Belichick-Brady. As well as that is the fact that the Giants had a head coach in Tom Coughlin who quite frankly is a footballing genius himself and proved a worthy adversary for coach Belichick whereas I feel Belichick would definitely outsmart Jason Garrett and that's with no disrespect intended but 98 times out of 100 Belichick outsmarts any given opponent and that same figure is the same when it comes to Tom Brady and beating any given opposition. In this scenario and my prediction for the 2014 NFL playoffs the Patriots end a 10 year hiatus to finally win their 4th championship providing that Gronk is healthy as I firmly believe and have said all along that with Gronk healthy the Patriots will win the Super Bowl. It sounds like such a huge statement and a bold prediction but the one thing that has derailed the Pats in recent years was injuries to Gronk so taking that in to account with everything mentioned above this is what I believe will happen.
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| Number 4 around the corner? |
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