With a great Wild Card round, it's time to get into the Divisional round of the 2013 NFL Playoffs! Will there be upsets? Who will win? Check out the preview and the predictions for the AFC.
Denver Broncos vs. Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens may be coming off an impressive and dominant Wild Card playoff win against the Indianapolis Colts, but the odds against them beating the Broncos this week are a mile-high.
Sports experts and pundits were quick to highlight the return and imminent retirement of Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis a week ago, but many were also just as quick to say Lewis would only get to play "one more week." Though Lewis sat out the last game between these two teams, it will take more than just having the defensive juggernaut back in action for his team to get to the final playoff game before the Super Bowl.
The Baltimore Ravens are notorious for their defensive prowess, thanks in part to the contributions Lewis made to the team over his 17 years in a Ravens uniform. Offensively, the two biggest stars on this team are quarterback Joe Flacco (317-531, 3,817 yards, 22 TDs, 10 INT) and running back Ray Rice (257 carries, 1,143 yards, 9 TDs).
Flacco may be fighting to be considered a truly "elite" quarterback, but it's tough to put him in that category when opposing teams sacked him 35 times this season for a loss of 227 yards. Flacco is surely good, and at times he's even great, but to be one of the greatest of all-time, he needs to put up much better numbers and avoid more sacks.
Playoff games are where a quarterback can erase the bad memories of a tough season, but Flacco will have to be near perfect to outshine his counterpart in Saurday's contest.
Peyton Manning (400-583, 4,659 yards, 37 TDs, 10 INT) comes in as a true legend of the game, and his first year as a Bronco proved to be a rousing success so far. He'll come into this game well-rested and ready to show Flacco what elite quarterbacks can really do.
Manning's backfield may not include a runner as talented as Rice, but Willis McGahee (167 carries, 731 yards, 4 TDs) has the exact same per-rush average on the season as Rice compiled (4.4), though McGahee had 90 fewer carries on the year. Knowshon Moreno (138 carries, 525 yards, 4 TDs) complements McGahee well, and when the Broncos have to run they are fully capable of getting that crucial first down when they need it.
The team's offense racked up 380 total first downs on the season, allowing only 287 first downs for opposing teams. The Broncos are the only team in the playoffs right now that ranked in the top 5 in most defensive and offensive categories alike for the 2012 regular season. That is the X-factor for this team coming into this all important game.
Baltimore's defense will have a tough time shutting down all of the Broncos' best weapons. Flacco and Rice just simply can't compete with such a high level offense balanced by one of the league's best defenses on the other side of the ball. Added to the clear advantage the Broncos have in this game is their home stadium being at such a high altitutde.
The Ravens won't be used to playing in that type of environment, and it could be argued that their performance last week could be a result of their home crowd throwing Lewis a huge retirement party by being louder and more supportive than ever.
Prediction: Manning and the Broncos roll to an easy victory in this one. Manning will throw for at least 300 yards and notch four touchdowns, proving he is ready to make a real push for the Super Bowl. Baltimore will struggle early on offense, and Flacco will throw at least one key pick. He'll be lucky to score two touchdowns through the air against the superior Denver defense.
Final Score: 34-17, Broncos.
Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots
This game is a rematch of a Week 14 blowout in which the Patriots scored 42 points to just 14 for the Texans. The Texans had a great start to the year, but they barely squeaked by the Cincinnati Bengals last week by the smallest margin of victory put up in the Wild Card round game.
Meanwhile, Tom Brady's Patriots are back at full-strength with tight end Rob Gronkowski (55 rec., 790 yards, 11 TDs) back in the fold after sitting out a few weeks with a broken forearm.
Brady (401-637, 4,827 yards, 34 TDs, 8 INT) will set a record for most playoff games won by a quarterback (17) if he can repeat the result of that week 14 victory against the Texans. This is a team that managed to adjust well after some early-season hiccups saw them lose back to back games against the Arizona Cardinals and the Ravens.
Three weeks after losing to Baltimore by a point, the Seattle Seahawks then beat the Patriots by a single point. After their bye week, the team finished the season by winning seven of their last eight games. Their only loss in that stretch came against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 15, a game they lost by the margin of a single touchdown.
It turned out to be the widest margin of victory they lost by on the year, and the previous highest margin of defeat was their two-point (20-18) loss to the Cardinals in Week 2. Totaling up all four Patriot losses this year, the total margin of victory for those who managed to beat the squad was just 11 points.
The Texans waited until Week 6 to drop their first game, the only time a team matched what the Patriots put up against the Texans later in the season. The Green Bay Packers ended the undefeated run of the Texans with a 42-24 whipping in that Week 6 contest. Though the Texans managed to put another win streak together after their first loss (ended by the Patriots), they dropped their last two games of the season against two teams that were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs: the Minnesota Vikings and the Colts.
The Texans offense is good, but by no means as great as what the Patriots bring to every game. Matt Schaub (350-544, 4008 yards, 22 TDs, 12 INTs) and Arian Foster (351 carries, 1,424 yards, 15 TDs) proved to be a great combination over the bulk of the regular season, but even the Patriots and their under-par defense kept the Texans to just two total scores.
Schaub and Foster will have to put up career days to compete this time out. Schaub used plenty of receiving targets this season, and none of them scored more than six touchdowns.
The story of the Texans this year really starts with defensive end JJ Watt, who amassed 69 solo tackles, 12 assists, 20.5 sacks, and 4 recovered fumbles. Watt also became known for effectively batting down multiple passes, something that the Patriots didn't seem to be bothered by in the previous game featuring these two squads. The Patriots will have to neutralize Watt again to come out with the win.
Though the Patriot defense is not nearly as daunting as it has been in past years, there's been vast improvement through the course of the season.
Their rushing game is also surprisingly vicious this year despite saying goodbye to "The Law Firm" BenJarvus Green-Ellis in the off-season. Four of the team's backs (Ridley, Vereen, Woodhead, and Bolden) put up at least a 4-yard-per-rush average on at least 50 carries with Stevan Ridley leading the team with 290 carries for 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Prediction: The Patriots will dominate again in the rematch. The defense will probably give up at least a touchdown more than they did in the previous meeting, but the offense will still score enough to gain another victory. The Texans will mount a late comeback that will fail miserably.
Final Score: 38-21, Patriots.
