In the words of Hank Hill, “An all Texas Super Bowl?“. The Chiefs defense, in particular, could present serious problems up front with some combination of Justin Houston, Tamba Hali, Dontari Poe, Chris Jones, and Dee Ford. Green Bay has covered in nine of its last 12 games as a slight home favorite. This quarterback matchup in this one has drawn considerable interest, as it will be Brock Osweiler starting for the Texans (uh oh) against Connor Cook for the Raiders (that’s not good either).
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Olivier Vernon, “Snacks” Harrison and Janoris Jenkins were among the high-profile arrivals and have collectively finished down the stretch in pretty ominous form by keeping five of their last seven opponents to 16 points or less.
It’s too early to decipher if Oakland’s spirit is broken, but surely they didn’t look too sharp in a 24-6 loss at Denver.
Miami takes on Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh to kick things off, and if they survive, they get to head to New England. On the other side, Matt Ryan and the Falcons own the league’s No. 1 scoring offense. This could be the year that he leads Atlanta to the Super Bowl, having a first-round bye. It would also pit draft classmates Ben Roethlisberger against Eli Manning, both of whom have two Super Bowl titles to their credit. But the three others have a backup, a backup to a backup, or a starter that became the backup but is back up to start. Looking at the initial regular season results of these 34 qualified games, we see the losing team was trounced by an average score of 29.24-17.47 versus an average spread of +0.60 – producing a stunning 2-32 ATS collective mark. That has happened just 11 times since 2002, with the chalk posting a 6-5 SU and ATS record in those games. Plus, Odell Beckham Jr’s endlessly entertaining play.
How do you think the games will play out this weekend?
Here’s how I see it. The comeback attempt fell just short though as Mike Mitchell came up with the game sealing interception.
Another recent Super Bowl rematch as the Packers topped the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. These kind of opportunities to watch your team in the playoffs don’t come around as often as you might expect.
An old NFL-AFL rivalry pits the Chiefs and Packers. The Giants offense added another touchdown and field goal and, despite conceding their first touchdown of the game, an Aaron Rodgers 22 yard pass to Davante Adams, remained fully in control of this game.
Many people who are planning their first trip always seek a hotel near the stadium. That’s not going to keep Bill Belichick up at night. Look for Miami to struggle, and even though Pittsburgh is giving 11 there’s a good chance they will cover. Although it’s certainly hard to imagine either of these teams going into Foxboro and winning, Oakland would probably be the best choice for the Pats based on the caliber of their defense and quarterback situation.
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Tom Brady is easily the most dependable of any quarterback on this list. Left tackle Donald Penn is the anchor of a large and talented offensive line that sends three to the Pro Bowl, and he’s expected to play despite missing some practice this week with a knee injury. With the history lesson backdrop, I guess the victor Sunday afternoon at 3:40 PM will be feeling pretty good about running the post-season table. The NFL is already drooling over the potential of this matchup.
