NFL Playoffs: Division Round Predictions

Week 19 of the NFL season kicks off on Saturday, January 12 with the Divisional Round of the playoffs. For a brief overview of the various rounds of the NFL playoffs on the road to the Super Bowl, my article "A Beginners Guide to the NFL Playoffs" should answer your questions.

Before beginning with the Divisional Round Predictions, we'll start with accountability for the "Wild Card Weekend" predictions.

National Football Conference (NFC) Games

Giants at Buccaneers
Prediction: Tampa Bay 23 - New York Giants 20

Actual: New York Giants 24 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14

Contrary to my assertion that the Giants had spent the totality of their emotional and physical currency in their effort to defeat the Patriots in Week 17 and that the Buccaneers' resting of Jeff Garcia would combine for a Tampa victory, it would seem the opposite. While the Giants' Eli Manning had a good day - 2 touchdowns - and didn't make the mistakes that have been costly elsewhere. Garcia, on the other hand, had two interceptions and one touchdown. Manning wasn't brilliant, but didn't have to be as the Giants defense manhandled the Bu cs offense.

Redskins at Seahawks

Prediction: Seattle 27 - Washington 20

Actual: Seattle Seahawks 35 - Washington Redskins 14

Wasn't even close. The Redskins Jason Campbell didn't make the start, and instead started journeyman Todd Collins, with whom they have had some success, but in the end Collins gave the ball away twice, as did Matt Hasselbeck, but did so in costly fashion while the Seattle defense came up big; the Seattle defense was the story of this game.

American Football Conference (AFC) Games

Jaguars at Steelers

Prediction: Pittsburgh 20 - Jacksonville 17

Actual: Jacksonville Jaguars 31 - Pittsburgh Steelers 29

Big Ben Roethlisberger coughed up 3 interceptions in the first half, but almost put together one of the biggest comebacks of his career as the Steelers engineered a 19 point 4^th quarter, only to have the Jaguars' David Gerrard bring the Jaguars back on a 4^th down run. That run helped position the ball for a go ahead field goal with :40 seconds left on the clock. The defense we've seen this season for Pittsburgh wasn't evident, but working out from under 3 picks is never easy.

Titans at Chargers

Prediction: Tennessee 23 - San Diego 17

Actual: San Diego 17 - Tennessee 6

The Titans took a shut out into half time, but if history is any guide, no one expected that to stand. Titans quarterback Vince Young has been plagued by interceptions this year, throwing a 2:1 ratio of interceptions to touchdowns, and this game was not an exception. He was picked off with a little more than 3 minutes left, trying to throw the Titans back into the game. If the outcome wasn't what I predicted, the San Diego score was as Phillip Rivers bore out my suspicions of him.

Division Round Preview and Predictions

Giants at Cowboys

Prediction: Dallas Cowboys 35 - New York Giants 17

Dallas is scoring better than 28 points a game, second in the league only to New England. Their defense is a middling 13^th in the league, allowing 20 points a game. The Giants are 23 points a game and giving up 22. However, the other part of the story is Dallas scoring 29 points a game against playoff teams and allowing 30 - to be sure, some of that is skewed due to their meeting with the Patriots earlier in the season; New York is giving up 31 points and scoring 23, their contest with the Bucs in the Wild Card round pretty much indicative of their offensive prowess. The Dallas defense is better than the Tampa defense, as is their offense; they'll score more and allow less. Big time win here for the Cowboys

Seahawks at Packers

Prediction: Green Bay Packers 30 - Seattle Seahawks 20

Green Bay is that much better than Seattle and it will be demonstrated in this match up. If Seahawks' quarterback Matt Hasslebeck has the game he did against Washington, the Packers will eat him alive. The Packers are scoring 27 points a game and allowing 18; against playoff teams, they're scoring between 27-28 and allowing 22. Seattle gave me no reason to believe the Packers will have to do anything other than that which they have been doing all year to make it past the Seahawks.

Chargers at Indianapolis

Prediction: Indianapolis Colts 33 - San Diego Chargers 14

Indianapolis had the third highest scoring offense in the league this year, scoring 28 points a game and allowing the fewest points in the league at 16. Not bad for a much maligned defensive unit over the years. This combination is usually deadly to opponents in the playoffs, and I expect it will not be any different for the Chargers given their mediocre quarterback play. To win this game, the San Diego defense will have to force Peyton Manning into uncharacteristic mistakes and Philip Rivers will have to be perfect. Neither will happen here.

Jaguars at Patriots

Prediction: New England Patriots 38 - Jacksonville Jaguars 23

New England had the most prolific offense in the history of the NFL scoring more points than any other team ever has and finished up averaging about 37 points a game. The defense, perhaps because of their offensive prowess, gave up the 4^th fewest points in the league at 17 points a game. Against playoff teams this year, they're scoring 38 points and allowing 19. Before pasting the Steelers, the Jaguars were scoring 21 points a game against playoff teams and allowing 21. The Patriots don't have as good a defense as the Steelers, but they won't have to given their amazing offense. With Tom Brady and the arsenal of weaponry at his disposal, David Gerrard will be forced to throw the Jaguars back into the game, and will made some serious mistakes.