There aren’t many positives to come out of the Steelers dismal loss last weekend at Denver, but one of them is that I can now enjoy the rest of the playoff games without any stress. Every game the Steelers play in January takes at least a year or two off of my life and I’m looking forward to the next two football weekends, where I can just enjoy watching the games.
Here’s my best guess at what happens in all of the divisional contests:
Denver at New England
Nobody thought Denver would beat the Steelers, so I’m hesitant to totally write them off this week, but if this game is played 10 times, New England is at least winning 9 of them. New England’s defense is as porous as they come, but I trust their coaching staff to come up with a solid gameplan to defend Tebow. The Pats are going to hold Tebow and Co. to a lower point total than the Steelers allowed them to score last week despite having 1/3 of the defensive talent that the Steelers do. Also: Even thought the Pats have been eliminated early the past two seasons, I refuse to ever pick against Tom Brady in the playoffs. New England 31 Denver 13
Houston at Baltimore
Baltimore is the most well-balanced team left in the chase. Steelers fans have seen how good Ray Rice is and watching him battle Arian Foster will be one of the more entertaining matchups this weekend. Baltimore is more playoff seasoned than the Texans and the Ravens have played really well at home this year. I trust Joe Flacco about as much as I trust TJ Yates, though, so I don’t like the Ravens chances to win the Super Bowl. But Rice and a stout defense will be enough to beat a banged-up Houston team who deserves a ton of credit for still being alive. Baltimore 21 Houston 13
New Orleans at San Francisco
The 49ers aren’t a pretty team and I still have trouble figuring out how an Alex Smith-led NFL team is this good, but they are for real. I’d take San Francisco’s defense over any left in the playoffs, but Drew Brees looks impossible to stop at this point. Even The Steel Curtain wouldn’t be able to contain New Orleans’ offense with the modern rules. The weather looks like it will be high 60s and sunny in San Francisco this weekend and that plays right into New Orleans hands. The Saints defense is about as good as any WPIAL squad but it will take a better field general than Smith to expose them. New Orleans 27 San Francisco 20
New York Giants at Green Bay
Upset special of the week right here. Green Bay has been shaky down the stretch and the Giants match up very well against the defending champs. Jason Pierre-Paul is going to have a huge day against a banged up Packer line. Eli Manning has been outstanding in 2011 as well. The Packers can’t stop anybody and I think Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks will run wild in the secondary. Look for Manning to have some big plays down the field and scratch together enough points to outscore Aaron Rodgers who will be running for his life early and often. New York Giants 34 Green Bay 28
