January 18, 2006
NFL Conference Championship Predictions
January 18, 2006, 7:17 PM | 1 Comment
First of all, last week was probably one of the most exciting weekends of football that I’ve seen in a long time. All 4 games were hard fought battles.
Indianapolis. I can’t believe it ended this way. I suppose that makes a bit of a case for teams in the future that clinch everything early… don’t rest your starters. I feel bad for Mike Vanderjagt, who missed the tying field goal opportunity, but let’s get one thing straight; that’s not the only mistake that killed the Colts on Sunday, it was just the final nail.
What about Peyton Manning? Is he the new Dan Marino? Arguably the best quarterback of his time, but he can’t win the big one. At least in Marino’s case, he actually made it to the big one. I’m a big fan of Peyton Manning and I think he’s an incredible football player. But until he wins in a big game, this will dog him and he’ll probably be looked at as a sure fire choker.
Anyways, enough dwelling in the past let’s talk about this week’s games.
Here are my picks for this Sunday’s Conference Championships!
Pittsburgh Steelers (13-5) at Denver Broncos (14-3) - Let’s face it: last week Pittsburgh dominated the Colts for most of the game. They came into this game with everyone giving them ‘no chance’ to win and shut down one of the best offenses in the NFL. Not only that, but they proved to everyone that if given the chance, their offense can put up points fast too!
Ben Roethlisberger pretty much made everyone who was questioning his passing ability collectively shut up with his performance in Indianapolis on Sunday.
Denver knocked off the New England Patriots to effectively end all of the three-peat talk. They played quite well against the Pats and showed no signs of ‘rust’ from their first round bye.
Even though Pittsburgh is the sixth seed in the AFC, I don’t think there’s a clear favourite in this contest after what the Steelers did to Indianapolis last week. If the Steelers can force the same pressure on Jake Plummer this week as they did on Manning last week, Denver will have a very tough time putting up points. As much as I like the Broncos and respect their record and home-field advantage, I’m going to pick the Steelers to be the first ever 6th seed to ever make it to the Superbowl. Pick: Steelers.
Carolina Panthers (13-5) at Seattle Seahawks (14-3) - Congratulations to Mike Holmgren and everyone in Seattle for finally winning a playoff game. Last week wasn’t really pretty, but the Seahawks got the job done.
Carolina showed me that they are a true contender last week in their win over Chicago. Going into the game, I didn’t think much about the Pathers defense, but they held their ground and really were the reason that the Panthers are in the NFC Championship game this Sunday. Jake Delhomme and the rest of the Panthers offense showed a lot of poise last week. No matter what the Bears defense threw at them, they handled it.
This week I think will be a very tough game for the Panthers. Seattle is very tough at home, their fans are always behind them and really pride themselves on playing the role of ‘the 12th man.’ Qwest Field is one of the loudest places in the NFL and more offenses are called for false starts than in any other stadium in the league. Add to that the fact that the Seahawks are now 9-0 at home this year. This is what home-field advantage is all about.
Honestly, this is a tough game to predict, but I think Seattle has the slight edge. Pick: Seahawks.
Picks Summary
AWAY - HOME - PREDICTION - RESULT
Steelers - Broncos - Steelers - Steelers √
Panthers - Seahawks - Seahawks - Seahawks √
UPDATE: 2-0 this week to bring the playoff total up to 6-4. Can’t wait for Superbowl XL which should be a really great game!
Posted in: Sports