New Orleans Saints (11-5) vs. Seattle Seahawks (13-3)
Ranks
Offense
Saints – 4th
Seahawks – 17th
Defense
Saints – 4th
Seahawks – 1st
It seems to be a recurring nightmare for the Saints the last few years. Traveling to Seattle to play the Seahawks. They’ve already done so once this season and were embarrassed right from the first kickoff. If New Orleans doesn’t want it to happen again they will have to do one thing. Don’t commit a turnover. Seattle’s defense feeds off their opponent making mistakes. If the Saints start to do that again they will be in for a long game. Drew Brees must play his best game of his career. Yes, even better than his performance to win the franchise’s only Super Bowl title. There must be a perfect balance between them running and passing the football and the defense must play until the game’s final whistle. If they do that they could avoid another early playoff exit. Seattle has a relatively simple task. Cause turnovers and control the ball for as long as they can. If they can accomplish those two things then the Seahawks will be hosting the NFC Championship. If they let Drew Brees run his offense and they can’t get the ball rolling with theirs, then it will be a disappointing end to their season. Marshawn Lynch has been in the Saints nightmares for many years now and if has another field day in the playoffs, it will be tough to beat Seattle.
Matchup to watch for: Saints QB Drew Brees vs. Seahawks defense
Indianapolis Colts (11-5) vs. New England Patriots (12-4)
Ranks
Offense
Colts – 15th
Patriots – 7th
Defense
Colts – 20th
Patriots – 26th
With their Wild Card victory the Colts know that they can’t assume that they will be able to come back and win another game like that again. Indianapolis has to play better right from the start against a resilient Patriots team who will not let up like the Chiefs did. QB Andrew Luck did lead the Colts charge to victory, but he must not throw another three interceptions. They had to abandon the running game being down by so many points last week. That’ll have to change if they want to keep Patriots QB Tom Brady off the field. The Colts learned a lot last week and that should help them going forward. If the Patriots want to crush the hopes and dreams of Indianapolis, they’ll have to do it in a strong fashion. They can’t leave any room for them to jump back into the game. Bill Belichick is one of the game’s best strategists and he will have a good one. He doesn’t allow his players to make terrible decisions at the worst possible time, but when they do he does make adjustments on the fly. They don’t always pane out, but his career in New England shows that he has a pretty good record. Their defense is suspect and they will be exposed. They just hope that their offense can do enough to offset that weakness.
Matchup to watch for: Colts QB Andrew Luck vs. Patriots defense
San Francisco 49ers (12-4) vs. Carolina Panthers (12-4)
Ranks
Offense
49ers – 24th
Panthers – 26th
Defense
49ers – 5th
Panthers – 2nd
San Francisco didn’t have a healthy Vernon Davis for the entire game against Carolina the last time they met this season. For every loss the 49ers have had this year, Davis was either out or missing for most of the game. Also the Niners will WR Michael Crabtree and LB Aldon Smith to face the Panthers. Certainly it is fair to say that the pressure will be on the 49ers for this game since they are the defending NFC Champions. But they have shown their resiliency down the stretch with not so perfect performances. They will need another near perfect performance to defeat the upstart Panthers. QB Cam Newton is making his playoff debut and it will be interesting to see how he performs. The last time we saw him play in a big game it was for the BCS National Championship while he was playing for Auburn. Not many know which Cam will be at the forefront in Carolina’s first home playoff game in some time. If the Panthers offense can match the intensity that their defense will show then Carolina will tough to beat. If Carolina’s offense falters then it will be a short lived season for them.
Matchup to watch for: 49ers defense vs. Panthers QB Cam Newton
San Diego Chargers (9-7) vs. Denver Broncos (13-3)
Ranks
Offense
Chargers – 5th
Broncos – 1st
Defense
Chargers – 23rd
Broncos – 19th
This probably isn’t the matchup that the Broncos wanted to see when Wild Card was over. The last time the Broncos played the Chargers at home it wasn’t a good outcome for Denver. San Diego knows they can beat Denver. It won’t be easy to do it twice, but they know they can. Philip Rivers did a great job with the offense in Cincinnati and the Broncos defense isn’t nearly as good as the Bengals. If the Chargers can get a little more out of their running game then they will be able to keep Peyton Manning off the field. Denver’s task is simple in that they have to score a lot of points. That’s how they’ve been able to be such a dominant team this season. When they score a lot of points they usually win. Their defense has been flawed for much of the year and if they can’t keep the Chargers in check for most of the game more pressure will begin to mount on the offense to bail them out. Peyton Manning can only do so much and he needs the defense’s help to get to an AFC Championship game.
Matchup to watch for: Chargers QB Philip Rivers vs. Broncos defense
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