The divisional playoff round was great, AND I was able to get one pick right against the spread (ATS)! I predicted 3/4 winners correctly and went 1-3 ATS, which brings me to 5/8 for my predictions and 1-7 ATS overall. Wow, that's not so good, but better than last week! So what happened in all of those thrilling matchups over the weekend? Here is your recap.
New England Patriots defeat Baltimore Ravens, 35-31
What a great start to the weekend. It looked like the Ravens were on the path to upsetting the Patriots again. However, Brady and Belichick worked their playoff magic (along with a little help from former Kent State quarterback, Julian Edelman), and will be playing in their 9th AFC Championship game together. The Ravens match up well against the Patriots, so new England must feel great about getting past Baltimore. However, another difficult game is waiting for them, as the Colts will head into Foxborough, looking to a renew a rivalry, which started as Manning vs. Brady. However, I think Brady would rather be playing Manning than Luck at this point in his career.
Seattle Seahawks defeat Carolina Panthers, 31-17
The Seahawks had the clear-cut easiest matchup of the Divisional Round, so I think it's a little too early to be planning the Repeat Super Bowl Victory Parade in Seattle. The Seahawks will get a real playoff test in the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers. However, maybe the Seahawks are happy about this, as Dallas was the only team able to defeat Seattle at Century Link Field this season. Meanwhile, the Panthers' magical run to the Divisional Round of the post-season is over. However, Carolina can be proud, as they played Seattle tough. The game was closer than the final score would indicate. The Panthers' defense kept them in the game, until Cam Newton threw a critical pick-6, sealing the Seahawks trip to the NFC Championship game. I thought this game would be the one to finally break my winless record ATS, but a couple of big plays for Seattle towards the end of the game ruined my expert prediction. I was off to an excellent 0-6 start ATS. Truly incredible. I should probably go back to my old ways, which led to my success in the 2014 playoffs. Usually I just make picks based on a coin flip. Unfortunately, I lost my coin before the playoffs started. I just gotta find where I put that damn coin... It was much smarter than me.
Green Bay Packers defeat Dallas Cowboys, 26-21
The Packers squeaked by the Cowboys in a thrilling contest, that saw two top teams battle it out until late in the fourth quarter. I may as well only talk about the Dez Bryant non-catch because the rest of the game may as well not have happened, considering the fact that this play was the only thing that media outlets were covering in the post-game. Obviously, by the rule book, it was not a catch. The rule is in place to eliminate some gray area about when the receiver truly completes the catch. Unfortunately, like most rules added to the NFL rule book, it mostly just complicates things further. In defense of the rule, Dez lost control as he came to the ground. In defense of Dez, he took two steps after making the catch and came down on his elbow before the ball contacted the ground. The rule seems awful through the lens of this one play. However, let me pose a hypothetical. For the sake of argument, let's say Dez was not contacted by a defender while going to the ground and it was not fourth down on the play in question. If Dez totally lost control of the ball when he hit the ground and fumbled the ball to the Packers, wouldn't it have looked more like an incomplete pass? Wouldn't calling that play a catch and fumble have been ridiculous? That is why the rule is there. However, the rule fails in this case, in the sense that, the moment Dez's elbow hits the ground, he could be considered down by contact. It takes away a great catch on a technicality. It's a tough call, but the rules of the NFL aren't perfect. The Cowboys had more chances than just that one play to win the game. You can't blame the entire game on one play, even though it had incredible significance at that moment. Ultimately, the important thing to note is that this is the only game that I have predicted accurately ATS in the playoffs so far. Amen.
Indianapolis Colts defeat Denver Broncos, 24-13
Was this the end of Peyton? Peyton and the Broncos collapsed at the end of the season. When news came out that Manning had been playing with a torn quad, things seemed to make more sense. However, the truth of the matter is that Peyton is getting older, and if his body cannot hold up over a 16 game regular season and a potential 3 game post-season, his time in the NFL might be up. The Colts defense really stepped up in this game, but the story will be Manning's weak throws, wobbly deep balls, and just poor overall performance. Luck came through for his team, but he really only needed to play adequately, in order to grab one of the biggest victories of his young career. The Colts now head to hostile New England, where Luck and the Indianapolis defense will have to step their game up if they want to grab themselves a ticket to Glendale.
For the second straight season, four of the best teams have made it to the Conference Champion Round of the playoffs. Earlier, I would have argued that the Broncos deserved the spot currently occupied by the Colts; however, due to their poor end of season form, I believe the Colts are the rightful owner of this spot in the AFC Conference Championship Game. We have two great games ahead of us. The matchup for Super Bowl XLIX will be decided this Sunday. My predictions will be coming in later this week. Get excited!
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