Before the 2014 season started, these are the teams that I thought were the best teams in the NFL:
1. Seattle Seahawks
2. Green Bay Packers
3. Denver Broncos
4. New Orleans Saints
5. Philadelphia Eagles
Now that the season is over, here are my final rankings:
1. New England Patriots (13-3)
2. Green Bay Packers (12-4)
3. Seattle Seahawks (12-4)
4. Dallas Cowboys (12-4)
5. Denver Broncos (12-4)
For the playoffs, instead of ranking teams, I’ll be previewing each game of each round, giving my thoughts on each match-up and my score prediction.
It should be another exciting NFL postseason.
Let’s get it started!
5 Arizona Cardinals at 4 Carolina Panthers
Saturday, January 3, 2015 at 4:20 P.M. ET on ESPN
Carolina did not have a good year this year, but they got into the playoffs. Conversely, the Cardinals boasted the best record in football thru mid-November, but have lost two in a row and are really struggling with Ryan Lindley under center.
This feels like it’s going to be a boring game between two average football teams. Carolina is at home, has the better quarterback and the better defense. I’ll go with them in a slug-fest.
Prediction: Panthers 24, Cardinals 18
Spread: Carolina -5 1/2
Over/under: 38
6 Baltimore Ravens at 3 Pittsburgh Steelers
Saturday, January 3, 2015 at 8:15 P.M. ET on NBC
The Ravens are 0-3 all-time against Pittsburgh in the playoffs. When Baltimore played at Heinz Field in Week 9, they lost in an embarrassing fashion, 43-23.
However, Le’Veon Bell hyper-extended his right knee against the Bengals on Sunday night. From what I can gather, he won’t play in this game. That is a major stroke of good luck for the Ravens. Bell is the best running back in football. In Pittsburgh’s offense, he touched the ball on 44.7 percent of the snaps and accounted for 32.8 percent of the yards from scrimmage.
I think that is the break the Ravens needed, because before this injury, I would not have picked Baltimore. But even if Bell is active, how effective is he really going to be?
Expect Steve Smith, Sr. to be Anquan Boldin 2.0 in this playoff run for Baltimore.
Prediction: Ravens 24, Steelers 23
Spread: Pittsburgh -3
Over/under: 47
5 Cincinnati Bengals at 4 Indianapolis Colts
Sunday, January 4, 2015 at 1:05 P.M. ET on CBS
T.Y. Hilton has been taking it easy over the last two weeks as he’s been recovering from a hamstring injury. On Sunday, he will be ready to go and will have benefited from watching Antonio Brown carve up the Bengals secondary a week prior.
I especially like Indianapolis to win after seeing how A.J. Green was out of sync with Andy Dalton last Sunday night. It’s never a good thing when you’re heading into the playoffs after making multiple, critical mistakes in your last game. Against the Steelers, late in the fourth quarter, the Bengals looked like they were going to take the lead before Green fumbled.
The Colts aren’t a very good team either. Even Andrew Luck deserves blame, as he turned the ball over 22 times this season. But in the end, I can’t dismiss the fact that Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis have a combined playoff record of 0-8 with the Bengals.
What more needs to be said?
Prediction: Colts 30, Bengals 20
Spread: Colts -4
Over/under: 49
6 Lions at 3 Cowboys
Sunday, January 4, 2015 at 4:40 P.M. ET on FOX
This is the best team the Cowboys have had since they won Super Bowl XXX after the 1995 season. Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, and DeMarco Murray are this generation’s version of “The triplets.”
What was true then is true now: the Cowboys offense has no weakness.
The Lions are on quite a different wavelength. They just lost a de facto NFC North championship game to their biggest rival and will be without Ndamukong Suh, after he purposely stepped on Aaron Rodgers’ injured leg during last week’s game.
Without Suh and with an average pass defense, good luck trying to defend Murray and Bryant.
Prediction: Cowboys 31, Lions 24
Spread: Cowboys -7
Over/under: 48.5
