I am the managing editor and a writer for the Cleveland Browns at cover32.com. Please go check my stuff out if you get the chance but if you don’t here’s one of my recent posts.
Some people cheer for their rivals to lose, no matter what the circumstance or opponent. Others cheer for the opposite and hope their rivals (usually division counterparts) can win out and be good for the image of your team’s division. We all have our different views, superstitions and favorites and well, here are mine for the rest of the 2014 NFL playoffs.
We all know what happened in last weeks Wild Card weekend and it was nothing short of bizarre. Three of the four wild card teams beat their higher seeded opponents and moved on to the Division Championship games this weekend. The four games in order are: New Orleans in Seattle in the early game Saturday 4:25 ET, Indianapolis at New England in the night game Saturday 8:15 ET, San Francisco at Carolina at 1:15 ET on Sunday morning and the last game of the weekend San Diego in Denver at 4:25 ET.
Let’s start at the beginning because it’s a very good place to start and that’s the Saints heading to Seattle against Russel Wilson and the “Legion of Boom”. I’m not going to go into detail about any of the teams in the playoffs because, well, if you don’t already know everything you can check them out at all the individual cover32 sites that…cover all 32 teams! To briefly preview the game I’m going to simply say that I don’t think Seattle can whoop up New Orleans again like they did in the regular season and I think the Saints go into Seattle and steal a game from the Sea Chickens and win the game 24-21. Drew Brees will be the difference, Rob Ryan will dial up crazy blitzes to throw off Wilson in the pocket and the defense gives up enough points to not be able to win despite their often weak offense. The 12th man will be deathly quiet when the clock strikes 0.00 and New Orleans will move on to the NFC Championship game.
After that game in the North West is well over we will switch our attentions to the other side of the country and Foxborough, Mass where the Patriots and Tom Brady face off against the Colts and Peyto…wait, no it’s Andrew Luck. We’ve seen the matchup of these two teams year after year but it’s no longer two grizzled veterans facing off but a veteran and a young gun who is just coming off the second greatest comeback in NFL history. New England is just too hurt to even win a game at home and they just aren’t good or healthy enough to beat off a dangerous Colts team that’s playing with nothing to lose. Colts win 35-28 in a shootout in a cold New England Gillette stadium. (c’mon who doesn’t want to see Luck vs Manning again?)
Moving ahead a calendar day to our normal Sunday games we will first be served a warm dish of classic ground and pound football with two nasty defenses in a matchup of the 49ers in Carolina versus the Panthers. Two of the mobile young QBs who are really changing the look of the NFL will play opposite each other with Cam Newton and Collin Kaepernick trying to not only not lose their games but to help their great defenses win a playoff game. The 49ers just escaped with a win in the frozen tundra of Green Bay while the Panthers sat at home and rested last weekend. That said, I still like San Fran’s coach, veteran lineup and receiving corp with Micahel Crabtree back on the field. 9ers win it 17-13 in a blue collar, nasty hard nosed game that will send San Fran home to a Championship game against the Saints.
Last but certainly not least we have the “hot” Chargers heading to Denver for a rematch against the Broncos who they beat in week 15. Most “experts” seem to have the Chargers as not even just staying around in this game but actually winning it. . I call bull sh**. OK, so the Bolts beat the Donkeys the last time they played and they ran wild with Ryan Mathews and kept Manning off the field..blah blah blah. The Broncos are the best team in football, the best QB ever and the best offense to take a field since…the invention of the game. San Diego had one of the worst defenses in football in 2013 and simply beat the Bengals because Andy Dalton had one of the worst playoff games in recent memory. Chargers get whooped in the one game I’m picking the favorite and beat SD 38-17 in an embarrassing game. Broncos will then prep for Andrew Luck and the Colts and a chance to disprove the haters and show just how great Peyton effing Manning really is.
So that’s where I’m at with this week’s playoffs. Saints, 49ers, Colts and Broncos move on after another crazy NFL weekend that cannot get here fast enough!
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Kevin Gillikin 