***SWAMPER SPECIAL EDITION MUCK 4, DIVISIONAL ROUND***
OH BABY! It's the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs, AKA the Swamp has officially become a DO NOT ENTER zone. Four great battles on tap, gotta love it! I must say real quick however, just how dissapointed I am in the NFL and the outcome of that last game last weekend. The Lions got hosed, and I will just leave it at that....anyway it is what it is, now let's focus on the matters at hand shall we?! First up:
***NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS -7***
Today I do believe that we will witness just how good this Patriot team can be. With an extra week to prepare, I really like this coaching staff and QB to be fully ready to unleash the business on the poor Ravens. If you were ever a SwampReader, you already know the SlimeMan loves a good dawgie, so for me to go ahead and tell ya to lay the wood in a playoff game, I must be convinced. I think we are yet to find out how dominant this Patriot defense is and that today we get our first dose. Revis and Browner are arguably the best CB tandem on paper in the league, and have potential to be an absolute shutdown tandem. With Revis seeming to be getting stronger and more like his old self more and more each game, and Browner coming into play late in the season after serving a suspension from last year, their peak is still on the horizon. They will take on the brothers from other mothers in the Smith WRs which is no easy task but I firmly think that they win that battle and give Raven QB Flacco trouble finding an open man. Sleeper LB/DEs in Rob Ninkovich and Jamie Collins are highly underrated and will be in Flacco's face as well. As far as this Ravens defense, their front seven is awesome, there is no denying that. I am a big fan of Suggs and Co., especially their young talented LB core. However, I think Brady knows he has to get rid of the ball quickly today and will do so to Wes Welker evil clone WR Julian Edelman and freakazoid TE Rob Gronkowski who seems to be finally healthy AKA unstoppable. If that is the case, this Raven secondary is in big trouble this afternoon. This is a bad matchup for Baltimore, they looked strong last week but I also believe they caught Pittsburgh in a bit of a funk without their stud RB LeVeon Bell and Big Ben having an off-game as a result. In a nutshell I see the Patriots taking it to the Black Birds at home today in the cold weather of Foxborough and limiting the Ravens to very little on the scoreboard. That being said, eat the chalk in this one as Mr. Brady and his family advance to the AFC Championship.
***CAROLINA PANTHERS +11.5***
The Panthers defense is peaking right now. Behind their young ProBowl LB Luke Kuechly, these guys have turned it around just in time. They have moved around some pieces in their secondary and have seemed to have found the perfect mix as they have been playing lights out and look more like the playoff team that we saw last season. I know they faced what looked like a high school QB last week in Arizona's backup to the backup Ryan Lindley but after watching that game I think any NFL QB would struggle against this defense right now. That being said, I think they suprisingly keep this one within the number tonight in Seattle. I am not a fan of Sir Cam Newton by any means but if he can just limit the bonehead mistakes and keep the ball on the ground and with the recent surge from their running game with RB Jonathan Stewart, I think they can put up some consistent FGs here. The Seahawks offense can at times struggle against a good defense ever since letting their X-Factor in WR Percy Harvin go in a trade to the Jets. If the Panthers can somewhat shutdown BeastMode AKA Hawks RB Marshawn Lynch, (easier said than done I know) they can get after Wilson and make him try to make things happen on the fly as he is accustomed to doing so often. However with that type of erratic play at QB, mistakes are bound to happen, especially against a mean defense like Carolina currently has. Whenever these two teams get together the past few times it ends up being a low scoring defensive battle and I don't see tonight's game being any different. While I definitely think the Hawks advance to the NFC championship here, I don't think it will be as easy as some may think and will gladly take the generous points with the Cats here.
***GREEN BAY PACKERS -5.5***
Don't even get me started on this Dallas team, I don't think they even deserve to be in this round but that is a whole other conversation/debate. Regardless, they are here and it is a classic battle of NFL Darlings (just how the NFL likes it), "Ice Bowl 2" I believe it has been dubbed. It is no secret that the Cheese are lights out in Lambeau. It will be freezing temperatures and that doesn't bode well for the Cowboys. Call me crazy but I don't see "WR-Diva" types like Dez Bryant embracing this too much and I got to believe it will effect his game as well as some others even just a little bit, which is huge. They will be out of their comfort zone in this one and the Packers will have the opposite effect. This is what Green Bay football is all about. I see Packer RB Eddie Lacy pounding the rock effectively all day here, running defenders over and bringing the hurt. I am also not buying the injury talk in the media about Packer QB Aaron Rodgers. This guy will be ready, and he will dominate as usual. Maybe it won't be with his legs, but he will absolutely have little problem lighting up this weak secondary. On the other side of things I believe the Packer defense is underrated. They have ball-hawks in their secondary who just seem to often be in the right place at the right time. Against a gunslinger like Cowboy QB Tony Romo, this could spell interception a couple times which will surely be costly for Dallas. Once they fall behind on the scoreboard and they will, their beloved running game won't be enough and GB's defense can pin their ears back. This will allow veterans like Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers will be able to do what they do best, hunt QBs. I see Romo under a lot of pressure tomorrow just like he was in the first half against Detroit and this one turning ugly for Dallas early second half. The Pack Attack rolls at home here, and launches themselves to Seattle for the NFC Championship!
***INDIANAPOLIS COLTS +7***
The last game of the weekend presents us with the Sherriff of the NFL, Denver Bronco QB Peyton Manning hosting his old team the Indianapolis Colts and the man that replaced him, young stud QB Andrew Luck. Luck has put this Colts team on his back and been everything for them. He is truly great, and I believe he finds a way to make this a game tomorrow despite his team being thoroughly outmatched on paper. That being said, the I think the Colts play a solid game tomorrow and keep this one fairly close. The Broncos seem to have really relied on their running game as of late, and I think they will continue to do so tomorrow being that the Colts are not the greatest at stopping it. I got to say however, this Colt defense has impressed me recently, especially their secondary. It looked as though there was literally not one open target for Dalton last weekend. CB Vontae Davis has established himself as a shutdown corner and playmaker. I don't know if Peyton is hurting or maybe it is just age weakening his arm, but he does not seem to be himself as of late and playing his best football. We all know how he can sometimes get in the playoffs also and tends to make things interesting. I am willing to bank on the fact that he will be just average Peyton tomorrow, and they will try to run the ball but not have as much success as they may have planned to have against Indy. Therefore when they turn to the passing game, after a week off it may be a little rusty. Luck will be under more pressure than he was last week with passrushers like DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller in his face, but I believe he knows this and will have some success in quickly finding one of the many targets that he has in his arsenal to counter. The Colt running game has looked good as well if their RB Herron can manage to hold onto the ball. I can see this one starting slow and then turning into a shootout in the second half, ending with Denver victorious by a small margin to send them to the AFC Championship and set up Brady vs. Manning one last time.
Enjoy the games everyone, and remember Swampy loves ya!!!
