At this point in the season, we’re down to the eight best teams in the NFL, still fighting for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. Four teams are playing some of their best football after winning last week to advance, and the four top teams are hoping that an extra week off was a good thing, and that they won’t start things off slowly.
All four games this weekend are going to be great, entertaining games; with electric, talented offenses and stingy, hard-nosed defenses. These are my picks for the top performer in each game:
Baltimore Ravens vs. Denver Broncos
Top Performer: Peyton Manning: In my opinion, Manning is one of the top-five best quarterbacks of all time. After missing all of last season and moving west to Denver, Manning has had an NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award worthy season; throwing for 4,659 yards (seventh best), 37 touchdowns (third best) and only 11 interceptions. He has a career 6-4 record at home in the playoffs. With Ray Lewis back for the Ravens, running back Knowshon Moreno probably won’t have nearly as good of a game as he did in Week 15 (115 rushing yards and a touchdown); which means that Denver will lean more heavily on Manning and the passing game.
Stat Prediction: 275 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49ers
Top Performer: Aaron Rodgers and Colin Kaepernick (Tie): This is easily going to be the game of the week. A rematch from Week One, when the 49ers went into Lambeau and beat the Packers 30-22. Alex Smith (who will be watching from the bench this time around) had a better day than Rodgers, with two touchdowns and a 125.6 passer rating.
The Packers will benefit from having Charles Woodson back on defense, but they’re going to have to do a better job of containing Kaepernick and Frank Gore than they did against the Vikings last week. Rodgers is dominant in the playoffs (5-2 record) and if the offensive line can give him enough time in the pocket, the Packers have too many receiving threats (James Jones, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley and Tom Crabtree) for the 49ers to successfully cover.
On the flip side, Kaepernick is making his first ever playoff start; but you can’t deny that he has made the 49ers offense more electric since taking over. He has the ability to scramble for a 70 yard touchdown at the drop of the hat, as well as throw a 60 yard bomb across his body while rolling out to the weakside. The Packers’ secondary matches up well against the 49ers receivers, so we may see Kaepernick run a little more than usual (which the Packers have had a ton of trouble stopping all season).
Stat Predictions: Rodgers 310 passing yards and three touchdowns. Kaepernick 180 passing yards, 110 rushing yards one passing and two rushing touchdowns.
Seattle Seahawks vs. Atlanta Falcons
Top Performer: Russell Wilson: He already has more playoff wins than Falcons’ quarterback Matt Ryan (0-3 career playoff record). He had a great game last week on the road against the Redskins and there’s absolutely no reason to believe that the Falcons’ lackluster defense will be able to contain Wilson through the air and on the ground.
Stat Prediction: 250 passing yards, two touchdown passes and 75 rushing yards.
Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots
Top Performer: Tom Brady: Did you expect anyone else? Brady is dominant at home in January, with a 10-2 record (16-6 overall). With tight end Rob Gronkowski finally healthy, Brady gets his favorite target back. Gronkowski, fellow tight end Aaron Hernandez, and wide receivers Brandon Lloyd and Wes Welker will prove to be too much for Houston’s secondary to hope to contain.
Stat prediction: 330 passing yards and four touchdowns.