Sanders's Divisional Playoff Predictions round 2

Divisonal Playoffs Predictions round 2

Green Bay Packers vs Dallas Cowboys

A case for the Packers:

The Packers are probably the hottest team in football right now. No one has been able to match their fire in weeks with the Packers defense preventing opponents from scoring while Aaron Rodgers has lit up defenses for 22 touchdowns and the rest of the offense has been starting to match the production of the Atlanta Falcons offense. While the Packers will not have Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb looked fantastic in his place and this offense has enough depth to just get past Nelson’s absence. The biggest block in the road is Elliot for the defense, and the run game for the Packers. If the Packers can hold Elliot to about 100 yards rushing, and get their own game running, they can match Dallas at their own game and beat them doing it as well.

A case for the Cowboys:

No team is more balanced than the Dallas Cowboys and nobody can argue that. Neither the offense nor the defense are explosive, but they work so well hand in hand that they dissect opponents ever so slowly through games until their opponent either gives up, or Dallas puts on a show to end the game. The defense will be fully healthy and the offense will be ready to let Elliot carry them for another game. However, while many will say this game rides on Elliot (and that’s mostly true), Dak will need to step up his game. Your opponent is Aaron Rodgers and you can’t let Elliot be the only one doing work. While Prescott has been phenomenal, he’s been above average and I don’t think that’s good enough to outpace Aaron Rodgers. Prescott MUST perform elite this game. If he does that, Dallas has got this game in the bag.

Final Judgment:

Dak Prescott is no Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady or even Matt Ryan. It’s a tough task to ask a rookie quarterback to match the hotness of Rodgers or Ryan who are seasoned veterans. It’s not that I don’t trust the Cowboys to win this game or the ability Prescott has shown to be the future of the NFL. I just trust a team with a hot Aaron Rodgers more than any other team in the postseason right now. Unless Dallas manages to slow him down, he’ll rip his way on to another postseason win to play against Atlanta in shootout matchup for the NFC championship. Not to say that Dallas can’t put up points, they showed they could against the Steelers, but the Steelers are a different team now when Dallas beat them. You can say the same for the Packers too.

Cowboys 31  Packers 38 

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Kansas City Chiefs

A case for the Steelers:

The holy trinity that is Ben, Bell, and Brown. These three together bring the most dynamic attack in the NFL (yes, even better than Atlanta or the Packers imo). However, there is a catch to that. While Roethlisberger is without a doubt one of the better quarterbacks of the last 15 years, he has showed some lack of production (6 touchdowns, 7 interceptions) in the last 4 games he has played. It’s fair to wonder if Bell and Brown have made Roethlisberger better recently instead of him making them better. But, on the otherside of the ball, the Steelers have become a swarming defense that can get to the quarterback and stop the run. While the secondary is still vulnerable, it’s a bend but don’t break defense, which is just fine, when you have the offense that you do.

A case for the Chiefs:

The Chiefs have an outstanding formula: An offense that can move the chains through balanced play calling with a turnover happy defense. The Chiefs have one of the highest turnover rates on defense, which is what creates the opportunities for their offense to score, and what keeps opposing teams down and out. However, when the Chiefs don’t win that turnover battle, they fare much worse than usual and lose more often than not. To their benefit, Roethlisberger is not playing his best ball and Bell tends to fumble here and there at times. If the Chiefs can take the ball out of Bell’s hands or intercept a Roethlisberger throw once or twice, they can surely win the game in classic Chiefs fashion.

Final Judgment:

This will probably be the best game of the weekend. Both teams have such strong cases to be made and neither one has a guaranteed way of winning which is what makes this one so tough. However, I am going with Pittsburgh. It’s too hard to deny Bell’s impact on games and how he singlehandedly tires out defenses and opens up the passing game for Roethlisberger to throw to Brown or Rogers. I’m thinking this game comes down to the wire and just like how Pittsburgh tore up a tired defense in the 4^th quarter on Christmas Day, they will do that again and punch in the final score with mere seconds left in the game.

Steelers 27  Chiefs 23