2013 NFL Playoff Predictions

Walker Minot

Wildcard 

AFC

Cincinnati Bengals over Houston Texans: the Texans do not look good to me right now. They have a very good team and have had a great season, but succeeding in the NFL playoffs is about peaking at the right time. From watching the Texans the last two weeks it looks to me like they've peaked and are playing their worst ball at an unfortunate time of year. The Bengals have won three in-a-row (almost eight in-a-row if they hadn't lost by one to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14) and the Texans have limped into the playoffs, missing out on a bye they should have had. They will come out flat and the Bengals will take advantage.

Baltimore Ravens over Indianapolis Colts: Ravens have not been playing well of late, however, they are a better and more experienced team than the Colts. Ray Lewis's last game in Baltimore will give him and the Ravens defense enough motivation to stop a very talented but inexperienced Andrew Luck.

NFC

Seattle Seahawks over Washington Redskins: it's hard not to like Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III, but easier not to like his team against the Seahawks in this game. The Redskins struggled to beat a mediocre Cowboy team last weekend at home; RGIII can't run well and Alfred Morris won't be able to save them against a Seattle team that has a stingy defense (unlike the Cowboys) and is riding high.

Green Bay Packers over Minnesota Vikings: Adrian Peterson is so ridiculously good at running the football that I was tempted to pick the Vikings here. But I didn't. The Packers aren't a great team, but their defense will be able to contain Peterson enough so the Aaron Rodgers-led offense will win it.

Division

AFC

Denver Broncos over Cincinnati Bengals: the Broncos are the hottest team in the NFL right now (winners of 11 straight) with a great quarterback, good running back, and solid defense. An extra week of preparation for an all-time great like Peyton Manning is unfair, not to mention the Broncos have home-field advantage in a tough place to play.

New England Patriots over Baltimore Ravens: the Patriots are a much better team. Well-coached, great quarterback, excellent receivers, good rush defense (granted their pass defense is horrendous), plus they get the Ravens in Foxborough for this one. Baltimore will be playing hard for Ray Lewis's career to end with a win, but the Ravens just aren't good enough.

NFC

Seattle Seahawks over Atlanta Falcons: battle of the birds. For some reason I've never liked the Falcons this year. I've felt they were overrated despite their terrific record and number one overall seed in the NFC. I can't think of any reason why I would be biased against them (Iowa City native and City High/University of Iowa alumnus Tim Dwight ran a kickoff back for a TD for them last time they were in the Super Bowl so I should like them), but I just can't get on their bandwagon. And Seattle has been playing really well.

San Francisco 49ers over Green Bay Packers: the 49ers have a terrific team. Great defense, excellent coach, and really good running game. The Packers are good but they won't be able to score more points than San Fran, and when that happens, you lose.

Conference Championship 

AFC

Broncos over Patriots: I'm really excited for this match-up  Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have been bitter rivals for years and I'm delighted to see it continuing with Peyton in Denver. The Patriots will lose to the Broncos for the same reason they have lost in the playoffs for the last five years: poor defense. (As alluded to earlier, their pass defense is ranked 29th in the league in yards allowed. Who doesn't think Peyton won't carve that up?) The Broncos are good to terrific in all facets of the game, and while Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are amazing, their not-being-amazing-enough-to-win-the-Super Bowl-with-a-defense-that's-as-leaky-as-a-sieve streak will continue.

NFC

Seahawks over 49ers: a game of great defenses usually comes down to field goal kicking (think of the first game between LSU and Alabama last year). Are 49er fans confident that they can win that battle with Billy Cundiff and David Akers trying to kick it through the uprights? I don't think so (again, recall the first Bama-LSU game last year in which Bama was the superior team but lost because of bad kicking). Plus, Colin Kaepernick will throw multiple interceptions at very bad times, dooming San Francisco (that probably won't happen I just want to see some sort of vindication for Alex Smith, who was unceremoniously benched after stoically leading the 49ers through seven-and-a-half mostly awful years).

Super Bowl

Broncos over Seahawks: this will not be a close game. The Broncos are an excellent, well-rounded team that's playing their best football at the best time. Peyton Manning is pissed that Eli has one more ring than he does because, let's face it, Eli is an excellent QB, but he's no Peyton.

Bottom Line 

I'm not as confident as I was last year, but I'm happy to take my chances with these picks. What I'm most worried about is the Seahawks. Any time you pick a rookie QB to lead a team to the Super Bowl it's debatable. I could see them losing any of their playoff games, and if RGIII were fully healthy I would have picked the Redskins in the first round game. Maybe he will be, maybe he won't, either way, it will be fun to find out. I look forward to the bragging and the shaming that will commence.

Giants at 49ers Preview

Walker Minot

A fun Sunday is on the way. Two playoff games to decide who plays Super Bowl XLVI (personally I'm most looking forward to Super Bowl L, or even Super Bowl C).

The NFC Championship game features two teams few expected to see. The New York Giants went 9-7 during the year, but they have gotten hot at the right time, brushing aside the Atlanta Falcons and taking down the 15-1 Green Bay Packers last week. The San Francisco 49ers went 6-10 last year, but under new coach Jim Harbaugh rode a dominating defense, great running by Frank Gore, and solid QBing by Alex Smith to a 13-3 record and victory over the New Orleans Saints.

I picked the Giants to win the Super Bowl this year upon the start of the playoffs, a pick of which I am increasingly proud. I saw them play against the Cowboys in the final week of the season and was immediately reminded of the 2008 Giants team that got hot at the right time and shocked everybody by beating the New England Patriots for the championship. I picked them this year because I saw the same look in their eyes and believed them to be the most balanced team in the NFL. All other great teams this year had glaring weaknesses. The Patriots, Saints, and Packers all had very bad defenses (although the Pats D has really stepped it up), the 49ers had Alex Smith as their quarterback, the Ravens had Joe Flacco as their quarterback. I picked the Giants because they had a fantastic defensive line: Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Jason Pierre-Paul. At QB they have the experienced Eli Manning, who is having a career year. At running back they have Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, who are solid with over 1,000 yards this year between them. Jacobs is excellent at punishing tired defenses at the end of games. And at receiver they have record breaker Victor Cruz (fantastic!) and UNC alum Hakeem Nicks. There are no weaknesses on the team. Balance wins championships.

The 49ers I did not pick to be here. I underestimated them. Alex Smith came through in the clutch last week in a big way and here they are. I am holding to the Giants in this game, but I do see a path to victory for the 49ers. Their defense is fantastic. They could easily shut down the Giants running game, but the key will be stopping the pass as well, no team has done that to the Giants in awhile. If the 49ers can stop both the run and the pass, then Alex Smith will have to go to work. Frank Gore will have a reliably good game, but they need Smith to step up, and they need the offensive line to hold off the ferocious pass rush of the Giants, who will be gunning for Smith, trying to make him uncomfortable from the get go.

I'm predicting a close, but solid victory for the Giants. The Giants will not turn it over 200 times in this game like the Saints did last week. I do however see a path to victory for the 49ers if their defense holds them, forces turnovers, and Alex Smith gets it done. But I'm betting on the more experienced and balanced Giants to make it to the Super Bowl for the second time in five years.

Giants: 24

49ers: 14