What Will Happen In This Weekend’s NFL Divisional Playoffs?

After a wild and insane wildcard weekend (still can’t believe the Vikings game), we finally have the divisional matchups.

On Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks ride the momentum coming off of their wild win in Minnesota to Carolina, where they’ll face the Panthers, the No. 1 seed in the NFC who went undefeated through week 15. Here our my game by game thoughts and predictions for this weekend. The offensive line is an issue for the Patriots, and the Chiefs have one of the best defenses in the league. They looked dominant against the Texans.

Kansas City isn’t without injury question marks of their own, notably the status of wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

LaFell is a bit of a gamble, but he could play a key role for the Patriots if Julian Edelman and/or Rob Gronkowski are less than 100 percent Saturday.

Others: I actually think Jordan Todman is the more talented back of the two RBs left in Pittsburgh and think he could break a surprise big play or two. The cavalry is supposed to return on Saturday against Kansas City. But with the game in Denver, I don’t see the Steelers Winning, Denver Takes it. They are now riding an 11-game winning streak. Aaron Rodgers played well, and the offensive line did a good enough job protecting him.

But the reality is, the Patriots are banged up, including Brady and Gronk. Palmer has won 10 of his last 12 home starts. The Chiefs are a (+4.5) underdog and are a (+190) bet on the moneyline to win outright. That extra week off definitely helped Jonathan Stewart, and his presence in the running game will be a big difference. The Packers have been absolutely bad the second half of the season after getting off to a tremendous start. In the End, the Cardinals are the better team, especially since they’re at home. The Pack rallied past NFC East champion Washington, 35-18, last Sunday. Devante Adams is not going to play leaving the entire receiving burden on Randall Cobb and a bunch of no names. It is hard for any quarterback to be great when they do not have time to throw the ball.

The Packers can’t let their guard down after they gave up a cumulative 121 rushing yards to the Cardinals last month. I say the Seahawks improve to 3-0 against the Panthers in the playoffs.

The Seahawks “Legion of Boom” secondary has spearheaded the team’s last two Super Bowl runs. So I’m just taking the points and betting against both of these teams. It does not get any better than this. Cardinals coaching staff has combined 166 playoff games, including 23 Super Bowls.

They will miss Tyrann Matthieu, out for the year with a torn ACL, but their defense has coped well in his absence and quarterback Carson Palmer continues to play at an elite level. If you’re a Cheesehead, the majority of that game film can be supressed down deep in your consciousness, like that time you pooed yourself on the trampoline in grade school. This should be the best game of the weekend and I think the Panthers can pull it out.

Flashback: A year ago, the Seahawks waltzed in and knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs. But the Broncos make up for it with their 1st ranked defense compared to Pittsburgh’s 21st ranked defense.

Teams are measured by how each would fare if it played a hypothetical league-average team on a neutral field. Big Ben has his shoulder problems and top target Antonio Brown is in concussion protocol. If the Patriots win, they would have a chance to host the AFC Championship Game if the Steelers upset the Broncos. That would move them ahead of the San Francisco 49ers (15) for the most Conference Championship Game appearances in the history of the NFL. He’ll have to be to match the 3rd best overall offense of the Steelers. However, it stands to reason that Denver will also have trouble moving the football on Sunday as the rapidly aging Peyton Manning, who’s had a penchant for early postseason exits, will be under center. This game will be a defensive struggle throughout, but in the end will come down to offense. Unlike the 34-27 Steelers win over the Broncos this season, I think this game will be low scoring.

In the last ten years, the Broncos as home favorites in the playoffs are 3-3 straight-up and 2-4 against-the-spread. This unit also will be at, or very close to full strength after injuries ravaged it late in the campaign. Sports fans have four great games to look forward to and anybody could win any game.

The Cardinals are among the favorites to win the Super Bowl going into this game, and it’s easy to see why.