Even though all four home teams (the Broncos, Patriots, Cardinals and Panthers) opened as favorites of at least a field goal, recent history strongly suggests one of the quartet will lose outright as at least one No. 1 or 2 seed has fallen in each of the last 10 postseasons.
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In order for the Patriots to win, Tom Brady has to get rid of the ball fast. The Panthers are going to be that team that has a great regular season and blows it in their first playoff game. NFL Mobile applications are also another way to stream the Chiefs-Patriots game, which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store, Google Play, and the Windows Store. New England scored almost 34 points per game before Julian Edelman got hurt, and the team’s offense will get a boost with the return of the wide receiver. This round has produced some of the greatest games in National Football League history – the Chargers-Dolphins epic in 1981 (which has a great argument for greatest game ever), Roger Staubach’s Hail Mary at Minnesota in 1975, Jets-Browns in 1986 is an underrated classic, 1974 Dolphins-Raiders and the “Sea of Hands”, the Chiefs and Dolphins in the longest game ever in 1971, the Patriots’ “Tuck Rule” over the Raiders, the Ravens’ miracle over the Broncos three years ago, to name just a few – and hopefully we can add to the list this weekend.
Palmer destroyed the Packers defense the last time these two teams met, and he’ll be looking for the same result here.
In a repeat divisional matchup from past year, the Green Bay Packers face off against the Arizona Cardinals. The key matchup in this battle will be between the Packers’ shaky offensive line and the Cards’ stout front seven.
Now this match up happened earlier in the season and it was a decisive 38-8 win for the Cardinals in Glendale. Cards’ big-play offense also is well-suited to the shootout this game could become. Already without Le’Veon Bell, it is hard to see how the Steelers will win at Mile High if Roethlisberger or Brown – or both – miss the game.
Former center J.C. Tretter, who gave up the safety sack, settled in as a replacement for injured starting left tackle David Bakhtiari. Without Green Bay’s top corner on the field, Cardinals receiver Michael Floyd had six catches for 111 yards in last month’s game.
The Packers also expect cornerback Sam Shields back from a concussion sustained on December 13 against the Cowboys. Green Bay managed to defeat Washington in the first round, but the Cardinals are on another level than the Redskins.
It’s the second week in the National Football League playoffs, which means the top seeds begin their quest to reach Santa Clara for SuperBowl 50. And I figured, with the week off, they’d be reasonably healthy for this round. Cam Newton might be the leading MVP candidate, but the Seattle Seahawk’s quarterback, Russell Wilson, has been the better quarterback this season.
The Seahawks are going to make Newton uncomfortable with their pass rush, and that could lead to some errant throws from Newton.
Carolina Panthers: These two teams have developed arguably the best rivalry in the NFC over the past five years.
Note: “Last week” refers to the Week 18 rankings. The quarterbacks of both teams are playing injured and will struggle to put up points.
All-time, as the top seed in the AFC, Denver is 4-2 straight-up and 2-4 against-the-spread in its first game of the playoffs.
What Steelers need to do – Ben Roethlisberger will likely play, however, he will not be the normal Big Ben.
Manning had been out with a torn plantar fascia, but relieved Osweiler in their 27-20 win over the Chargers on January 3.
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One X-factor I have been talking about all week is Alex Smith’s legs.
