BORA BORA – It is finally here. The 2014 NFL Playoffs! There’s a lot to get to in this week’s column; Super Bowl prediction, AFC and NFC Championship game predictions, and my predictions for Wild Card Weekend. Leggo!
Wild Card Weekend
AFC Match-ups:
San Diego Chargers (No. 6 Seed) at Cincinnati Bengals (No. 3 Seed): The Chargers could barely beat the Kansas City back-ups last weekend just to get into the playoffs.The Chargers’ luck runs dry in Cincinnati as everyone get’s off Bengal’s quarterback Andy Dalton’s back. Bengals: 24-17
Kansas City Chiefs (No. 5 Seed) at Indianapolis Colts (No. 4 Seed): The possibility of having linebackers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali back in the lineup together for Kansas City will prove to be too much for quarterback Andrew Luck and his Colts. Chiefs: 27-20
NFC Match-ups:
New Orleans Saints (No. 6 Seed) at Philadelphia Eagles (No. 3 Seed): Drew Brees and the Saints are a different team on the road, and not in a good way. Eagles: 45-35
San Francisco 49ers (No. 5 Seed) at Green Bay Packers (No. 4 Seed): Like Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Culter, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be rusty. That rust may cost Green Bay the game. 49ers: 31-24
AFC Championship Game – Cincinnati Bengals (No. 4 Seed) at Denver Broncos (No. 1 Seed): Let’s face it, the AFC is a mediocre conference this season. Each of the six playoff teams have holes in their rosters but the Broncos and Bengals have the least. It’s hard to bet against Peyton Manning with this offense or to envision any team beating this team in Denver. I love the Bengals to come out of Wild Card Weekend and find themselves playing in the AFC Championship game. These are the top two offenses in the AFC and would be great championship match-up. However, you have to go with the veteran lead Broncos squad in this one. Denver’s offense is too strong. Broncos: 35-20
NFC Championship Game – San Francisco 49ers (No. 5 Seed) at Philadelphia Eagles (No. 3 Seed): Yup, you read that right. The way I see it, the 49ers are the most well rounded team in the NFL and the Eagles can score enough points to beat anyone any day of the week. What worries me about the Eagles in this match-up is their defense. Sure they can put up a lot of points, but can they stop the three-prong attack of San Francisco? The abilities of quarterback Colin Kaepernick, running back Frank Gore, wide receiver Anquan Boldin, and tight end Vernon Davis will prove to be too much to handle for Philadelphia. Win or lose, it’s been a great run for Eagles first-year head coach Chip Kelly, who deserves the NFL Coach of the Year award. 49ers: 31-28
Super Bowl XLVIII – San Francisco (NFC) v. Denver Broncos (AFC): If this were any other year and the Denver Broncos were playing with a healthy team, I would tell you they would run away with the Super Bowl. But this year is different. Denver is way too banged-up to win it all. The 49ers have a physical defense that will be able to get after Peyton Manning, making it difficult to throw the ball down the field to Eric Decker or Wes Welker; who may not even be healthy. Manning will have to pull off a miracle to earn his second Super Bowl ring and first in Denver, but I just don’t see it. 49ers: 35-31
