What We Learned: NFL Week 9

Eli Manning

As a Giants fan, I was obviously elated when my G-Men went into Foxboro and took down the mighty Patriots. Eli Manning outplayed Tom Brady and justified his pre-season elite quarterback status claims as he led the offense on an 8 play 80 yard game winning drive with only 1:30 left on the clock. The drive culminated in a Jake Ballard touchdown, and the Giants won 24-20.

What We Learned: NFL Week 7

Tim Tebow

I’ll be honest, I thought Tebow would play much better than he did and frankly he played poorly for the first 57 minutes of the game. He missed receivers left and right and took way too many sacks. To put it straight, he needs to get a lot better. But, and this a massive but, Tim Tebow won the game! He led the Broncos back from 15 points down with 3 minutes to go and eventually won on a field goal in overtime. It wasn’t pretty, in fact it was hard to watch at times but Tebow is a winner and that’s exactly what he did.

2011 NFC North Preview & Predictions

Green Bay Packers

The defending Super Bowl champs haven’t made much noise on the free agent market but that’s because they really didn’t have to. Aaron Rodgers is a legitimate MVP candidate while Clay Matthews leads one of the NFL’s most feared defenses. With all that being said, the Packers play in a tough division, have a pretty rough schedule, and have offensive line issues. However, I still think they’ll come away with the division crown.

Key Arrivals – none really, get back Ryan Grant and Jermichael Finley from injury

Key Departures – Cullen Jenkins, Nick Barnett, Brady Poppinga, Daryn Colledge, Korey Hall, Brandon Jackson, Donald Lee

Prediction – 11-5/First in NFC North

2011 NFC Championship Prediction

Packers @ Bears

Overview

There’s no secret between these two divisional foes. The Packers and Bears know each other inside and out. I think this will be a relatively low scoring affair as a sloppy Soldier Field, hasty weather conditions, and two aggressive defenses will make their mark on this game. The Packers are hot, plain and simple. But at the same time, the Bears were the ones that won their division; the ones that earned a playoff bye and home field advantage, and yet are being somewhat disrespected in the eyes of the media. I think this game will come down to two matchups. The first being the offensive line of the Packers versus the defensive front of the Bears which includes the likes of Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, and Julius Peppers just to name a few. The second matchup being between the quarterbacks, Rodgers versus Cutler. Who will get the most protection? Who will make the clutch throws? Who will protect the football? In my opinion, the quarterback that answers these questions will go onto the Super Bowl and I think Aaron Rodgers will be that guy.    

Prediction

Packers win 21 – 17

 

2011 NFC Divisional Round Predictions

#6 Packers @ #1 Falcons

Overview

The Falcons escaped with a narrow 3-point win at home against the Packers in their regular season showdown, and I see the playoff matchup between these teams will pretty much follow suit. Aaron Rodgers earned his first playoff game last week on the road in hostile Philly against the Eagles. He’s carried the Packers for the entire season, especially during the last few weeks, but I see that all coming to an end against the Matt Ryan led Atlanta Falcons. ”Matty Ice” has only lost twice at home in his entire career and although I think this will be another grind-it-out game that comes down to the last second, I’ll give the slight edge to Ryan and the Falcons. The Falcons have had a knack for coming away with the “W” in close games as they have an impressive 6-2 record in games decided by 6 points or less this season.     

Prediction

Falcons win 26 – 24

#4 Seahawks @ #2 Bears

Overview

The Seahawks come into this game with absolutely no pressure on them yet again as nobody thought they would even make the playoffs, let alone beat the defending champs and play in the NFC Divisional Round. Seattle actually beat the Bears in their week 6 matchup, but I don’t see the same result this time around. The Seahawks will face a much tougher defense in the Bears then they did last week when they beat the Saints. I think it’s safe to say that Marshawn Lynch will not break 8 tackles en route to a 60-plus yard td run and Matt Hasselbeck will not throw 4 td passes against a very stout Bears defense. The only concern I have about the Bears is with quarterback Jay Cutler, who’s the epitome of recklessness and inconsistency. This will be Cutler’s first ever playoff game and while I do think he will make mistakes, in the form of a pick or two, I don’t think the Seahawks will be able to capitalize on them against the Bears’ strong defense.  

Prediction

Bears win 23 – 14