NFL Playoffs

With the NFL down to only 4 teams and a only a week away from crowning a NFC and AFC champ I thought it'd be a good time to voice my opinion on the championship games. In the start of the year I predicted the AFC Championship game to be NE and Indy. Not too far off there. In the NFC I said the Bears and the Seahawks. A little more off however the Seahawks did have a good year and was flat out outplayed by Favre and the Packers.

NFC - Giants vs. Packers
Both teams I thought would struggle to win 7 games and finish in the middle of their respective divisions. Boy was I wrong there.

The Giants were slow out of the gate losing their first two games and I don't think ever looked like a serious contender until the second half of week 16 against Buffalo. The near win in the week 17 shootout with NE gave them serious momentum and confidence coming into the Playoffs. A huge advantage. With a very week schedule in the middle part of the year the Giants took advantage and won the games they should of. Week's 5-10 included the Jets, Falcons, Niners, Dolphins, and Lions.

In the NFC championship game the Giants have just as good a shot at beating the Packers as they did the Cowboys. If they can run the ball effectively and keep away from turnovers it should prove to be a close game. Look out for the nasty weather in GB in January though.

Green Bay on the other hand surprised me and looked like the class of the NFC central from the start by winning 10 of their first 11 games. Brett Favre was Brett Favre and the emergence of the running game provided by Ryan Grant a one year veteran from Notre Dame sparked what could be the best offense in the NFC.

Early Prediction - Green Bay 28 - New York 17

Both teams in the AFC championship games have veteran depth and both were expected to contend. The Chargers have surprised though by handling Tennessee rather easily and making Peyton look somewhat ordinary.

New England is New England and I don't need to say more.

San Diego, with backups at RB and QB in the second half against Indy, looked very good. Like they actually belong in the Championship game. Michael Turner ran the ball well in place of Tomlinson and Darren Sproles showed his devastating speed by taking a little dump off 50+ yards for a go ahead TD to end the third quarter. Billy Volek came in and replaced Rivers after an injury and scored the game winning TD on a QB sneak with 4:50 left. The Chargers defense, full of speed and play makers, did a great job keeping the Colts out of the end zone in the last 4+ minutes of the game.

If the defense can replicate their play against at NE I would look for a much closer game than the one that was played in week 2.

Early Prediction - New England 31 - San Diego 28