Divisional Round Predictions

[mgcolby]

My Divisional round predictions:

Indy @ Baltimore – Baltimore’s defense vs the Indy offense should be a fun one to watch. Indy has struggled on the road this season after beating Denver and NE on the road in back-to-back weeks, they are 0-4. They have been held in check by the Cowboys, Titans, Jags and Texans scoring over 17 points only once (24 against Houston) that doesn’t bold well for Indy going into Baltimore who is only allowing 12 PPG. The Ravens are rested and fairly healthy. They have a battle tested QB in McNair and the Colts defense struggles mightily on the road. I think the Colts score about what they averaged on the road over their final four road games (which was 18).

Ravens - 23
Colts - 17

Philly @ NO - Philly has been the hottest team in the NFC over the 2nd half of the season winning some very meaningful games on the road. NO has played well all season against what looked like a very tough schedule at the beginning of the year. It ended up being a middle of the road schedule. Conventional wisdom says that NO’s offense comes out -guns blazing against an injured secondary, but I think the playoff tested Eagles pull off the minny upset.

Philly - 27
NO – 24

Seattle @ Chicago - Not much to say on this one. Seattle sucks! Chicago will handle them with ease.

Chicago - 38
Seattle - 10

Pats @ Bolts – How do we stop LT? We don’t, we simply contain him (115 – 1 TD). We stop Gates and force Rivers to progress through his reads and make the right decision with the big three bearing down on him. I think he forces some throws that lead to a pick or two. The key on offense DON’T FUMBLE THE FOOTBALL!!! Use the 3 wide offense with Graham in the slot (to help Light with Merriman) that we did against the Jets for most of the game, limiting their pass rush or at least forcing them to show their hand. I think we will see a lot of screens and play action passes this week. Turn to the power running game inside the red zone. Basically a similar script to last week. I think the Pats match their road average.

Pats - 27
Bolts - 17

 

[patsfan13]

My Divisional round predictions:

Indy @ Baltimore – Baltimore’s defense vs the Indy offense should be a fun one to watch. Indy has struggled on the road this season after beating Denver and NE on the road in back-to-back weeks, they are 0-4. They have been held in check by the Cowboys, Titans, Jags and Texans scoring over 17 points only once (24 against Houston) that doesn’t bold well for Indy going into Baltimore who is only allowing 12 PPG. The Ravens are rested and fairly healthy. They have a battle tested QB in McNair and the Colts defense struggles mightily on the road. I think the Colts score about what they averaged on the road over their final four road games (which was 18).

Ravens - 23
Colts - 17

Philly @ NO - Philly has been the hottest team in the NFC over the 2nd half of the season winning some very meaningful games on the road. NO has played well all season against what looked like a very tough schedule at the beginning of the year. It ended up being a middle of the road schedule. Conventional wisdom says that NO’s offense comes out -guns blazing against an injured secondary, but I think the playoff tested Eagles pull off the minny upset.

Philly - 27
NO – 24

Seattle @ Chicago - Not much to say on this one. Seattle sucks! Chicago will handle them with ease.

Chicago - 38
Seattle - 10

Pats @ Bolts – How do we stop LT? We don’t, we simply contain him (115 – 1 TD). We stop Gates and force Rivers to progress through his reads and make the right decision with the big three bearing down on him. I think he forces some throws that lead to a pick or two. The key on offense DON’T FUMBLE THE FOOTBALL!!! Use the 3 wide offense with Graham in the slot (to help Light with Merriman) that we did against the Jets for most of the game, limiting their pass rush or at least forcing them to show their hand. I think we will see a lot of screens and play action passes this week. Turn to the power running game inside the red zone. Basically a similar script to last week. I think the Pats match their road average.

Pats - 27
Bolts - 17

Agree with your picks except Philly and NO. Philly has been screwed by the NFL, they have to play Sat after having the late game Sunday, so they are playing on a short week while NO has had the BYE week, too much to overcome, especially when you take into account the loss of L Shepard.

 

[nukin]

My Divisional round predictions:

Indy @ Baltimore – Baltimore’s defense vs the Indy offense should be a fun one to watch. Indy has struggled on the road this season after beating Denver and NE on the road in back-to-back weeks, they are 0-4. They have been held in check by the Cowboys, Titans, Jags and Texans scoring over 17 points only once (24 against Houston) that doesn’t bold well for Indy going into Baltimore who is only allowing 12 PPG. The Ravens are rested and fairly healthy. They have a battle tested QB in McNair and the Colts defense struggles mightily on the road. I think the Colts score about what they averaged on the road over their final four road games (which was 18).

Ravens - 23
Colts - 17

Philly @ NO - Philly has been the hottest team in the NFC over the 2nd half of the season winning some very meaningful games on the road. NO has played well all season against what looked like a very tough schedule at the beginning of the year. It ended up being a middle of the road schedule. Conventional wisdom says that NO’s offense comes out -guns blazing against an injured secondary, but I think the playoff tested Eagles pull off the minny upset.

Philly - 27
NO – 24

Seattle @ Chicago - Not much to say on this one. Seattle sucks! Chicago will handle them with ease.

Chicago - 38
Seattle - 10

Pats @ Bolts – How do we stop LT? We don’t, we simply contain him (115 – 1 TD). We stop Gates and force Rivers to progress through his reads and make the right decision with the big three bearing down on him. I think he forces some throws that lead to a pick or two. The key on offense DON’T FUMBLE THE FOOTBALL!!! Use the 3 wide offense with Graham in the slot (to help Light with Merriman) that we did against the Jets for most of the game, limiting their pass rush or at least forcing them to show their hand. I think we will see a lot of screens and play action passes this week. Turn to the power running game inside the red zone. Basically a similar script to last week. I think the Pats match their road average.

Pats - 27
Bolts - 17

The superbowl is going to be the Pats vs the Saints - Philly may be hot, but I think Garcia will revert to his lioness self.

 

[mgcolby]

Agree with your picks except Philly and NO. Philly has been screwed by the NFL, they have to play Sat after having the late game Sunday, so they are playing on a short week while NO has had the BYE week, too much to overcome, especially when you take into account the loss of L Shepard.

I agree but there are two reasons for my pick. 1) Those are the types of situations that prideful teams thrive on.
2) All 4 home teams won last week - historically more than 1 road team wins between wild card weekend and the divisional round. Other than the Pats and Eagles I can't see a road team winning. Indy sucks on the road and Seattle just outright sucks.

I was hesitent to pick Philly and at first was going to pick NO, but ultimately because of the home team thing I changed my mind.

 

[patsfan13]

Historically only about 1 in 4 road teams win in the divisional round this year it will be the Pats

 

[nickelbolt]

The superbowl is going to be the Pats vs the Saints - Philly may be hot, but I think Garcia will revert to his lioness self.

You judge Garcia by his time spent with the Lions?

Philly is going to beat New Orleans.

And I guarantee you... if LT gets more than 100 yards rushing this weekend, the Chargers will win. So you might want to reconsider your idea of what keeping him under control really means.

 

[mgcolby]

You judge Garcia by his time spent with the Lions?

Philly is going to beat New Orleans.

And I guarantee you... if LT gets more than 100 yards rushing this weekend, the Chargers will win. So you might want to reconsider your idea of what keeping him under control really means.

LT will need 150+ for them to beat us, because that would guarantee at least one long run. 115 on 25-30 carries is hard fought day, that doesn't lead to much scoring from the Chargers.

 

[nickelbolt]

LT will need 150+ for them to beat us, because that would guarantee at least one long run. 115 on 25-30 carries is hard fought day, that doesn't lead to much scoring from the Chargers.

Really? So there's no way that the DBs will bite on play action if he's getting about 4yds a carry?

Couldn't he conceivably break a couple of 20-30 yarders and then grind it out?

And have you considered that LT might not be the only one carrying the ball? Michael Turner is going to get carries too.

From what I know of the Pats this season, they haven't fared very well when the opposing team's RB gets over 100yds. Am I wrong about that?

 

[mgcolby]

Really? So there's no way that the DBs will bite on play action if he's getting about 4yds a carry?

Couldn't he conceivably break a couple of 20-30 yarders and then grind it out?

And have you considered that LT might not be the only one carrying the ball? Michael Turner is going to get carries too.

From what I know of the Pats this season, they haven't fared very well when the opposing team's RB gets over 100yds. Am I wrong about that?

Happened once all year. No reason to think it will suddenly become a problem now.

He could conceivably run for 200 yards but it doesn't mean it is going to happen.

If we hold him to under 100 yards then you guys get slaughtered, but I don't think it will be blow out and that will be a direct result of LT carrying the team.

 

[nickelbolt]

Happened once all year. No reason to think it will suddenly become a problem now.

He could conceivably run for 200 yards but it doesn't mean it is going to happen.

If we hold him to under 100 yards then you guys get slaughtered, but I don't think it will be blow out and that will be a direct result of LT carrying the team.

Actually, I know for a fact that Denver had a back go over 100 and so did Miami. I think there was another back too (Travis Henry?), but the Denver and Miami games were losses. So there's evidence to support the notion that "containing" LT to 115 and a TD could lead to bad things for the Patriots. Right?

 

[SoonerPatriot]

Actually, I know for a fact that Denver had a back go over 100 and so did Miami. I think there was another back too (Travis Henry?), but the Denver and Miami games were losses. So there's evidence to support the notion that "containing" LT to 115 and a TD could lead to bad things for the Patriots. Right?

I know the last time the Bolts beat NE in San Diego he went for over 200 and SD won by 7. In the 2005 matchup, he had 134 and SD won 41-17. Sometimes less equals more.

 

[primetime]

I think the Chargers and the Colts win this weekend.

I will be extremely happy if the first does not come true and still somewhat happy if the second does. But I'm preparing for the worst.

 

[bakes781]

Saints over Eagles

Philly's had a nice run, but the Saints have too many offensive weapons for them to overcome.

Seahawks over Bears

I know Chicago wooped them in the regular season, but Seattle wasn't at full strength at the time. Look for Alexander to expose the Bears run D.

Ravens over Colts

Colts are a completely different team defensively on the road. Ravens will not only force TOs they will more than likely bring at least one to the house.

Chargers over Pats

I hate to say it, but the Chargers just have too much talent for our boys to overcome. My heart says Pats can squeak this one out, but my head says SD advances. :bricks:

 

[PatsDeb]

My predictions:

Saints over Philly, 28-17

Seattle over Chicago, 24-17 (no one else but me thinks the QB (either Grossman or Griese) is going to screw it up for Chicago? And their dominant D is suddenly dormant

The two AFC games are really hard to predict. The Pats and Colts are two teams that can come out of the gate looking very different (flat and inept or "on" and unstoppable). These predictions are more what I hope will happen rather than what I think will happen, because I just don't know (although I am more confidant of the Baltimore/Indy prediction than the other):

Baltimore over Indy, 20-17
Pats over Bolts, 28-24 (we get into sort of a shoot out, and our offense pulls it off in the end)

GO PATS!!

 

[tatepatsfan]

I posted in another thread the rest of my playoff predictions but without scores, so here it goes for the divisional round

Baltimore 27, Indy 17

New Orleans 31, Philadelphia 30

Chicago 17, Seattle 6

Pats 31, Chargers 23

 

[FloridaPatsFan]

Baltimore 23

Colts 20

--------------------
Bears 34

Seahawks 10
--------------------
Saints 24

Eagles 19
--------------------
Patriots 37

Chargers 16

 

[mgcolby]

Actually, I know for a fact that Denver had a back go over 100 and so did Miami. I think there was another back too (Travis Henry?), but the Denver and Miami games were losses. So there's evidence to support the notion that "containing" LT to 115 and a TD could lead to bad things for the Patriots. Right?

I was referring to biting on the play action. Not 100 yard rushers.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Colts 21
Ravens 17

Eagles 24
Saints 10

Bears 31
Seahawks 10

Pats 28
Chargers 17