Steve:Section 102

1: Seattle: they are playing well and have a lot of confidence.
2. Green Bay: Aaron Rogers.
3. Houston: They won't stink it up again. I expect a dog fight.
4. Baltimore: They lack the firepower to go toe to toe with Manning.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

fxkane

1) Green Bay

2) Baltimore

3) Seattle

4) Houston

alvinnf

GB
Den
Atl
NE

Rob0729

The 2001 team:

Snow Bowl - The Pats were down 13-3 until the 4th quarter (down 7-0 at the half)

The 2003 team:

Against Tennessee, shut out in the second half until they scored the game winning field goal at the end of the game.

The 2004 team:

Against Indy, only up 6-3 at the half and then scored 14 unanswered points in the second half.

Again, you are revising history. The Pats were far from consistent in the first game of any playoff game in Super Bowl winning years. And years they went to the Super Bowls and lost, they were inconsistent in the AFC Championship games (against Baltimore last year and against San Diego in the 2007 season).

josh24

1) GB - The (apparently) best defensive player of SF has a torn triceps. That kept Ray Lewis out for more than half of the season. Not sure if Justin will be at 100% if/when he plays. If he's out, I don't see Aldon Smith (aka Invisible Man since that Brady INT) putting Rodgers in a lot of trouble. Aaron Rodgers and his slew of top receivers are playing great football, while 49ers #1 CB Carlos Rogers absolutely blows this year. The Alex Smith's situation will payback in this playoffs. This might be the right time.

2) SEA - The Falcons can't run the ball. They were 29th in rush yds, while SEA defense was 10th. Sorry Matt Ryan, you're not a Drew Brees to make this a competitive game without running the ball. ATL has a chance if they throw the ball to Julio Jones, who will be facing Brandon Browner. Browner is very physical, but he's not even close to Sherman in coverage. He got burned many times by Garcon last Sunday. We'll see a lot of Thomas/Chancellor helping in Browner's side. On the other side of the ball, I don't see Lynch fumbling in a dome. He's the best RB left in this playoffs. I still doubt on Russell Wilson on the road, especially facing a secondary who allowed the least passing TD this season.

3) HOU - For the Texans, the key for this game will be Matt Schaub. And his effort might not be enough. Is not a secret we will double cover Andre Johnson. His next passing weapon is Daniels, but I think our LBs are good enough to slow him down. Not to say he has been battling some injuries this season. But then there is Arian Foster. When he is hot in a game, he's nearly unstoppable. He and Ray Rice are probably the best RBs out of the backfield. I think NE run defense can stop him, but they MUST keep him out of the red zone. Their only TD at Foxborough (when they still had a slim chance) was in the red zone. He had 4 bad games in the season, and HOU lost 3 of them. NE offense is #1 by far for a reason. As long as NE minimize the turnovers, they won't a have a lot of problems against HOU defense.

4) BAL - I just don't see Manning losing this one. BAL defense couldn't stop him in the past, when they were peaking. What makes anybody think they will now, older and with less talent? Yes, they're inspired because his great leader is leaving. Too bad that's not enough. The playbook for Flacco will be hand it Rice, and throw Hail Marys...as usual. I wonder if we're gonna see Pitta getting involved in the offense; DEN has struggled this season against TEs. How BAL win this game? Establish the ground game to slow the game up, get rid of the ball quick before you meet Von Miller & Elvis Dumervil, and pray for a bad weather to affect Manning's game and create some turnovers.

rookBoston

1) Seattle - this should be a pick'em. Atlanta is not that much better
2) Houston - giving 9 points is disrespectful. Houston is a quality team.
3) Green Bay - their D will fold against the Niners, but if Rogers can get a lead they could do it
4) Baltimore - they are lucky to have lasted this long. I look at Baltimore and I see lots of mediocrity.

__________________
"We want to build a big, strong, tough, smart, fast, disciplined football team that will consistently compete for a championship."
-- Scott Pioli, from the Patriots scouting manual

PatsDeb

This is my order too.

ALP

1. GB over SF, really either team can take that one
2. BAL over DEN, the fact that denver hasnt faced a team that will bite back in a long time is evidence enough, when they played earlier ravens were not doing so bad till Flacco through a pick in the redzone, if that were a TD, it would be a tight game, and that BAL then sucked, the team that played this past weekend looked much better, those factors together, and i would not be that surprised if DEN loses
3. HOU over NE: I hate to put this here, but it just goes to show you how much little faith I have in SEA actually winning that game...that falcons team is not going to live last year over again, not to a mediocre SEA team, not to a rookie QB, no rookie QB is gonna out duel Matty Ice anytime soon
4.SEA over ATL: not gonna happen, though HOU is a good team, which is why I think they still have a chance against us and rank #3

__________________
Last time I lived in New England the Pats became a Dynasty

Then I moved away and they haven't won since

...now I'm moving back, and a Lombardi I predict

ivanvamp

Cool thread. Here's my shot at an answer....

1. Seattle. Losing Clemons really hurts, but this Seattle team is rolling, and they're very good. I could see them potentially putting a hurting on the Falcons.

2. Green Bay. For the reasons you mentioned. I think this Packers team is capable of losing to anybody, really, because they have some serious holes, but a HOF-caliber QB can cover up for a lot of them. We saw what Brady did to SF once he got it going, and Rodgers is just as good with just as many weapons.

3. Houston. The Pats *should* win this game, and relatively handily (hence the Vegas line), but really, Houston absolutely has a legit shot in this one.

4. Baltimore. I can see almost no scenario, barring Manning getting knocked out of the game, where Denver loses this game. Manning always beats Baltimore, and Denver is home, and they are better in every conceivable phase of the game. Oh, and just recently, they waxed the Ravens. So I'll be shocked if Baltimore pulls this one out.

My predictions:

Sea 27, Atl 24
SF 24, GB 21
NE 31, Hou 24
Den 34, Bal 13

ivanvamp

I don't want Pollard anywhere near this Patriots' team. Even if the Pats crush the Ravens, he'll find a way to injure a key player on the Pats. Stay far, far away.