NFL Predictions – 2014 Conference Championships
The Matchups –
Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots
Last Meetings : Colts lost 42-20 week 11 at home, Lost 43-22
in the Divisional Playoff Round last year
Jonas Gray. Does that name ring a bell? Oh right, he’s the
guy who ran for four touchdowns in one game and then disappeared. He didn’t
just score four touchdowns, he scored four touchdowns and ran for 200 yards on
a division leading team in the Colts. That was the Colts in Week 11, fast
forward two months till now, they are playing for a chance at the Superbowl.
Think they won’t show up around this time? Probably not. Does that mean they
will win? That’s a different story.
They’ll need to squeeze as much juice from their run game as
they possibly can because they will need every bit of it to succeed against the
Patriots stingy pass defense. It really seems like Revis and Brandon Browner
are playing lights out. I watched the game last week against the Ravens and
there were a few questionable penalties against Revis that would have turned
the game otherwise. I expect him to be at the top of his game. In order for the
Colts to do anything through the air, they’ll need to use a lot of underneath plays
to set up the deep ball. T.Y. Hilton will need to get some separation from
these defensive backs of the Patriots or else they might be in for a long day.
The Colts lost to the Patriots in Foxboro last year behind 4 touchdown from LaGarette
Blount (sense a theme here?) and 6 touchdowns on the ground overall. This year,
I’m not seeing anything different. The Patriots albeit a NFL record low 16
rushing yards last week will find some running lanes this week to work with. Patriots
will jump out to a big lead before the Colts come rushing back. But will they
have enough time to push for a lead? Probably not. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski
will have something to say about that.
Colts 27 – Patriots 37
Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks
Last Meetings: Packers lost 16 – 36 NFL Opener 2014, Lost
12-14 in the infamous Fail Mary game in 2012
NFL Season Opener 2014 the Packers walked into Seattle with
one goal: Reaching the Superbowl. The Seahawks were then newly crowned Champs and
they were ready to defend their title. And they did. In fact they dominated
both sides of the football opening day. The Packers look lost with a bunch of
rookies and young players contributing on every level. The Seahawks looked
primed to repeat. Fast forward to the NFC Championship game, it’s the two same
team that started the season will end it for the NFC side of things. The
Packers are a much confident team. Rookie Center Corey LInsely was playing with
Aaron Rodgers for the first time. Eddie Lacey struggled and the Packers defense
struggled to stop the run, also playing with a rookie in Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix.
After almost a full season of improvements the Packers will try once again to dethrone
the Champs.
The Seahawks have been playing some of the best defense in
the NFL this year in their last 7 games giving up only a whopping 8 points per
game. Russel Wilson is the NFL’s most dangerous dual threat quarterback and
Marshawn Lynch over the last couple of games has been running like a madmen and
no one seems to be able to figure out that defense. The Seahawks gameplan this
week seems to be much easier given the health of Aaron Rodgers. This game
should be a cake walk for them if they can just contain Rodgers and stop the
run. Right?
Wrong. The Packers will walk into Seattle’s turf and
surprise everyone by running over them. Eddie Lacey should have been the focal
point of the offense last week before his asthma took him out for much of the
2nd and 3rd quarter. Even playing in Seattle he will look to have that
monstrous game we all thought he would have in week 1. The Packers will have
two weeks for Rodgers to get healthy for the Patriots.
Packers 28 – Seahawks 19
Packers vs Patriots in the Superbowl
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