Cory Puffett
After a perfect opening weekend and a 6-0 start to my
playoff predictions, my hope for a Joe Flacco postseason (11-0 prediction
record) was dashed when the Cowboys and Broncos both lost last Sunday.
Now I’ll try and build on my 6-2 start to the playoffs with
the games on Sunday.
Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks
Sunday, January 18, 3:05pm – FOX
This has definitely been the more difficult of the two game
for me to make up my mind about. The obvious choice is the Seahawks. They have
almost everything going for them.
They have the best home field advantage in the NFL. They won
the Week 1 meeting between the two teams, and teams in Seattle’s position this
Sunday are 6-0 historically. The Seahawks have Beastmode and the Legion of
Boom.
So why am I so hesitant to pull the trigger on them? The
simple answer is Aaron Rodgers, but the real answer goes beyond him.
Aaron Rodgers has one of the best young running backs in the
league with him. If there was anything the Packers were saving him for when
they were giving the reps Eddie Lacy deserved to James Starks early in the
season, it would be for this moment.
The receiving corps Rodgers has is maybe the deepest in the
league. He has one of the best 1-2 combos in Nelson and Cobb and we saw last
week against Dallas that Rodgers has no problems getting the ball to the wide
receivers and tight ends buried on the Green Bay depth chart.
We all know about Seattle, so I’m not going to go into
detail about them. They struggled a bit out of the gate, but they’re back to
the same form they were last postseason. This is, again, a legit championship
contender. But of the three other teams left, Green Bay has the best tools with
which to win in Seattle. The other two teams are just lucky they don’t have to
go to CenturyLink Field.
The reason I’m sticking with the Seahawks this weekend is
because of Mike McCarthy. He’s too unpredictable. Will he take advantage of the
fact that Eddie Lacy is not as banged up as most running backs would be at this
point in the season? Will he use Lacy to protect his quarterback who, while
still playing like the best in the league, is clearly not 100-percent?
I’d like to think that he will, but McCarthy doesn’t always
do the intelligent thing. He’s an overrated coach who rode his star
quarterback’s coattails to a Super Bowl title and has botched every opportunity
to return since then.
Puff’s Pick: Seahawks over Packers, 34-28
Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots
Sunday, January 18, 6:40pm – CBS
No trouble here, I’m taking the Patriots all the way. I
expected the Ravens to give them some trouble, but ultimate I went with New
England last week for reasons I won’t repeat here but you’re more than welcome
to go back and refer to last week’s prediction post.
Now that they shook out the rust from the week off, New
England should be ready to annihilate Andrew Luck and the Colts. Peyton Manning
couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with his deep passes last week. I
expected the run game to come through for the Broncos, which was the only
reason I picked them to win. We’d already seen Manning was falling apart.
The Colts managed to contain C.J. Anderson and so were able
to win the football game. But this week they have to go up against a
quarterback who suddenly looks to be aging much slower than the Sherriff.
Tom Brady doesn’t have the deep receiving corps that Manning
has, but at this point in time he has the better arm. More importantly, he’s
created depth by finally getting on the same page with Danny Amendola. Factor
in the depth in the backfield and the great secondary, and I don’t see anyway
New England loses at home unless Bill Belichick goes senile and decides he’d
have a better chance with Jimmy Garoppolo under center and Michael Hoomanawanui
as the play caller. (Yeah, I just wanted to say Hoomanawanui. What a name.)
Puff’s Pick: Patriots over Colts, 35-10
No comments:
Post a Comment