posted
Before I make my predictions, let me just say that for the first time in the last sixteen seasons, less than five teams that made the playoffs this year were teams that did not make the playoffs the year before. In other words, in each of the fifteen seasons before this one, at least five teams that made the playoffs were the same teams that did not make the playoffs the year before.
The four new teams in this year's playoffs that weren't in it the year before are the Colts, the Redskins, the Seahawks, and the Vikings.
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Now for my predictions.
AFC Wild Card Weekend -- Texans over the Bengals Colts over the Ravens
NFC Wild Card Weekend -- Redskins over the Seahawks Packers over the Vikings
AFC DIVISIONALS -- Broncos over the Colts Patriots over the Texans
NFC DIVISIONALS -- Packers over the 49ers Redskins over the Falcons
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS The Patriots over the Broncos The Packers over the Redskins
SUPERBOWL XLVIII The Patriots over the Packers.
-- National
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EDIT
Both games last Sunday didn't go the way I wanted it, as both the Colts and the Redskins lost. The two games the day before were those that went my way. Even though I got those matches right, I'm not as too excited about those because the Bengals/Texans and the GreenBay/Vikings games were very easy to predict. The other two games could've gone either way. Now for the slightly-adjusted predictions for the upcoming weekend.
AFC DIVISIONALS The Broncos over the Ravens The Patriots over the Texans
NFC DIVISIONALS Packers over the 49ers The Seahawks over the Falcons
That Seahawks/Falcons match-up was the toughest one for me to make a prediction. Of all the teams that remain, the Falcons need this win more than the other three teams. They have been terrible in the playoffs over the last few years. Being the Number 1 seed this year, now is not a great time to continue with their terrible tendencies in the playoffs. Their fans might alienate them if they don't come through this Sunday. Seattle is legitimate. If that game were to take place in Seattle, the Falcons would've had very little to no chance of beating the Seahawks in their own building. But being that the game is in Atlanta instead, it becomes a much closer call. The Falcons need this game for their mental good. Having said all that, I still pick Seattle. A bad bounce here and a terrible call there might be the factor that edges Seattle in this game.
-- National
[ January 11, 2013, 10:34 PM: Message edited by: National ]
quote:Originally posted by aka.footjoyboy: Damn, National, I'm glad you are better at taking pictures than you are at making NFL predictions.
So am I.
Sometimes I wonder how other members of this forum would've predicted these matches to go the way it has right before the playoffs started?
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CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP AFC - Patriots over the Ravens NFC - 49ers over the Falcons
Tom Brady, the Greatest Man Alive, and the rest of the Patriots will have to do all of the hard work again. They hate having to do everything themselves after seeing Baltimore win a match they had no business of winning. We'll have to make examples out of Joe Flucco and Co. by claiming another Lamar Hunt trophy.
There's no one in the Ravens that you like. No one likes Ray Rice, no one likes Flucco, no one like Ed Reed, no one likes Ray Lewis, no one likes their cheerleaders. At least everyone either loves or slightly dislikes the Patriots.
Ray Lewis relies on God way too many times. He should know that there's no one who lives up in the clouds, deciding who's going to win SuperBowls. That guy doesn't exist any more than Mody Dick did. We'll let the better team decide who will win that game instead of God.
Having said all that, the Ravens have no reason to fear the Patriots. They've beaten them in the playoffs in up in Foxborough years ago. They've beaten them back in Week 3 of the regular season. They lost to the Patriots in last year's AFC Championship game, but BARELY. They've been knocking on the door to get to the Superbowl several times now, and the Ravens feel that they have something special going on here. The Patriots will be ready.
On the NFC side, no one outside of Atlanta believes in the Falcons. And that's all there is to it. Even though I want the Patriots to win it all, I have to credit the 49ers for being the best team overall. Even though Kaepernick won't run for 180 yards, they have enough weapons on their offense to get the job done. 49ers are solid in their defense, whereas Atlanta's defense is suspect, not quite trustworthy.
So the Superbowl won't have the Packers in there like I originally predicted. But a Patriot/49er Superbowl will be a massive ratings success. Two franchises rich with Superbowl traditions, although the 49ers haven't been to a Superbowl in a very long time.
No one is going to watch a Raven/Falcon Superbowl. What a ratings disaster that'll be. And the NFL doesn't want that. However, they could want a Ravens/49ers Superbowl as they can milk out the storylines about Lewis' retirement and a match up between head coaches who are also brothers.
I'll be watching this Sunday, and I'll be very nervous at the same time because both games should be very, very close, ESPECIALLY the AFC match.
posted
Seriously, Ray? Crying both before and after the game?
The Patriots picked a bad time to have an off-day. Either that, or the Patriots are still paying the NFL back for Spygate. If the NFL pressured Brady and Belichick to tank that game against the Ravens all in favor of the Ray Lewis retirement party that's been the prime story these past three weeks in the AFC, then the NFL should be the most disgraced league of all of America! Regardless, it was a sad and disgusting display, that Ray Lewis crying bit. That guy is pathetic, if you ask me. And so is that entire team, with the exception of Harbaugh. He's too good to be associated with the rest of the garbage that fills up that entire franchise.
Going back to the regular season for a sec, I also think the Pats were screwed back in Week 3 by those crooked replacement refs. In that game, the NFL played up the death of Torrey Smith's younger brother from here to Kingdom Come and gifted him a pair of TDs. Then the NFL gifted the entire Ravens team a win via bad calls and a game-ending field goal which MAY have been good. Who could tell? One would've guessed the replacement refs, but during a time when the refs were making a mockery out of the league with their officiating skills, no one could've been so sure.
Back to the playoffs.
What was even funnier still was the Falcons second collapse in as many weeks, only this time they couldn't pull out another last second miracle (why, by the way, did they not call one of their two remaining time outs after Matt Ryan was injured and they had a fourth down inside the 49ers' 10?).
So the Super Bowl is about to be played between the only two teams featured in Visa commercials (starring Ray Lewis and Jim Harbaugh). Of course, there's the Bud Light "lucky seat on the couch" commercial discussing the last 49ers Super Bowl as well (the ONLY Bud Light "superstition" NFL ad to feature a single team). Coincidence? Perhaps. As, I suppose, the fact that two of the 32 NFL coaches in the world are brothers who will be squaring off against each other in the Super Bowl starring Colin Kaepernick and suspected murderer Ray Lewis with, I'm sure, a nod to the recently deceased owner of the Ravens, Art Modell.
-- National
[ January 23, 2013, 01:12 AM: Message edited by: National ]
posted
I'll say this about this year's game. I don't think the NFL will lose unless it's a lopsided blowout. Even then, this game will be the most watched program on television this year. Without discussing the X's and O's as to why the better team should win, I'll give other reasons as to why I feel that things are leaning in the 49ers favor.
Four reasons:
-- The 49ers recently landed their stadium deal, and the NFL tends to reward teams that sucker taxpayers out of their money.
-- Colin Kaepernick is a budding star and has waaaaaaay more TV appeal than Joe Flacco. -- From what I've heard, bettors have been heavy on the Ravens and Vegas rarely loses.
-- The Ray Lewis deer antler spray story is a nice "out" for the Ravens - they were "too distracted" by the press to do their best, thus dampening any future reporting on such stories prior to this game.
The NFL began the year with replacement referees, and it apparently wanted to end the season the same way. Why was Jerome Boger named to be the head referee? http://www.footballzebras.com/2013/01/15/6661/
And did he know that he and his cohorts could actually throw penalty flags? Never mind Cary Williams from the Ravens shoving the head linesman should have led to an immediate ejection; there were only seven flags in the whole game. Just one pass interference (strangely enough on Chris Culliver of the 49ers, the same guy who made that anti-gay remark just days leading up the game), and not one holding penalty. Not ONE. None on Jacoby Jones' 108-yard kickoff return for a TD, none on the "safety" by the Ravens punter, none during the 49ers fourth down pass play, none anywhere ... except, you know, if you actually saw any of those plays. Like Jim Harbaugh, who publicly complained about the officiating, but has not been fined for the comments he made.
And while the 49ers play calling could (and should) be called into question -- especially when inside the Ravens' 10-yard line with less than two minutes to play -- perhaps the team's preparations should be questioned as well. There's a video out there where some of the 49ers were heading to a strip club, just to "relax?" Perhaps that wasn't the best pre-game ritual.
And lastly, the NFL wants fans to think of Ray Lewis as a perfect spokesman for the league. The guy who admittedly was involved in an unsolved, double-homicide -- but who has since found God, but not enough God to relieve the anguish of the victims' families by apologizing or saying anything more about that night -- and who uses PEDs. And cries. A lot. I'm willing to bet he might have some sort of emotional problem from repetitive head injuries.
posted
Forget about all that, National. The real question is this: Does Joe Flacco deserve $20 million per year now?
Also, wasn't Jacoby Jones (or Anquan Boldin) more deserving of Super Bowl MVP? It's a passing league, but Flacco did less than nothing in the second half.
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posted
When you throw for 3 TDs in a Super Bowl to win, they will always hand you the MVP. Always. I don't know if he deserves all that money just yet, especially when Messrs. Rodgers, Brady, Brees, and Manning still play in this league.
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posted
Yeah, Flacco's not a top-5 QB, and that amount of money should be reserved for the best. I'm not sure if my fifth would be Eli or Roethlisberger, though.
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posted
I think the team will give him the money ... not because they want to or that they feel he deserves that type of raise. They'll hand it to him because they have no other choice. If someone pointed a gun to your head and wanted your money, you'll hand it to them. In essence, that's what's happening here. Flacco is the guy holding the gun, the MVP award is the gun itself, the team will hand it to him because they're being robbed. Flacco winning that MVP made his case stronger at to why he feels he deserves that raise.
A team that has lost its way around the league for many years would have no problem handing the money to him. An owner of another team that's been consistent at winning for years, however, will spit beer in his face and laugh! I would.
As much as I can't stand Eli, he's more deserving of that kind of cash. Winning two Superbowls in two tries against a man who should've had FIVE rings by now deserves credit where it's due.
posted
The Ravens have won consistently, though, and the owner was championing the raise.
I can't stand Eli either...mostly because I'm a Cowboys fan. I find his inconsistency quite frustrating, especially when the pundits are fellating him every game. Flacco's the same way, like in the three-game losing streak they went on late in the season.
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However, they could want a Ravens/49ers Superbowl as they can milk out the storylines about Lewis' retirement and a match up between head coaches who are also brothers. 
