2012 NFL Playoff Predictions

[NEW.ERA]

The only prediction I'm gonna make is that the Seahawks will get slaughtered if they have to come to Lambeau for the Championship Game.

I can get on board with this.

[MEANS]

Cincy over Houston

Green Bay over Minnesota

Indianapolis over Baltimore

Seattle over Washington

Denver over Cincinnati

San Francisco over Seattle

Green Bay over Atlanta

New England over Indianapolis

San Francisco over Green Bay

New England over Denver

New England over San Francisco

If GB beats MIN then they go to SF, not to ATL.

[aci]

Bengals over Texans

Packers over Vikings

Ravens over Colts

Seahawks over Redskins

Bengals over Broncos

49ers over Seahawks

Falcons over Packers

Patriots over Ravens

Bengals over Patriots

Falcons over 49ers

Bengals over Falcons

[tBBP]

The NFC wins the Pro Who Cares Bowl.

An AFC team wins the Super Bowl.

And I still stick by my totally baseless completely unfounded, not-even-from-the-gut off-the-fly prediction that team will be Bengals.

(But I do have crow marinatinf in white wine garlic and basil sauce just in case.)

[epper]

HOU > CIN

IND > BAL

GB > MIN

SEA > WAS

DEN > IND

NE > HOU

GB > SF

ATL > SEA

GB > ATL

DEN > NE

GB > DEN

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The only prediction I can make and feel good about is that Denver wins it all, unless they have to play New England. Then all bets are off.

Of the rookie QBs, I think Russell Wilson is best equipped for the playoffs. If Seattle had a playoff game at home, I'd feel better about picking them to advance deep.

As it is, I see Denver/Green Bay, but no combination of teams in the Super Bowl would surprise me. What I'd like to see is Seattle/Denver, but I don't think it'll happen.

[Lights Out]

Wild Card:

Bengals over Texans

Packers over Vikings

Ravens over Colts

Seahawks over Redskins

Divisional:

Broncos over Ravens

Bengals over Patriots

Seahawks over Falcons

Packers over 49ers

Conference Championships:

Broncos over Bengals

Seahawks over Packers

Super Bowl: Seahawks over Broncos

[jgiff17]

Cincy over texans 28-10

Colts over ravens 17-7

Packers over Vikings 31-17

Seahawks over redskins 35-31

Broncos over bengals 28-13

Patriots over colts 35-17

Seahawks over falcons 31-28

49ers over packers 42-38

Patriots over broncos 35-31

Seahawks over 49ers 28-13

Seahawks over patriots 31-21

[chuckymack]

My goodness. As a lifelong Bengals fan, I'm extremely uneasy about all these people picking the Stripes to win. Just feels... Weird.

Anywho, on to my picks!

Bengals > Texans

Colts > Ravens

Vikings > Packers

Redskins > Seahawks

Broncos > Bengals

Patriots > Colts

Falcons > Vikings

49ers > Seahawks

Broncos > Patriots

49ers > Falcons

Broncos > 49ers

[jgiff17]

My goodness. As a lifelong Bengals fan, I'm extremely uneasy about all these people picking the Stripes to win. Just feels... Weird.

Can't speak for the others but I'm a texans fan and a realist at that. Watching the rise and fall has been worse than the team formerly known as the oilers choking against the bills, so being a die hard football fan that specializes in the texans I can't trust them...not enough heart and soul in every snap and it starts from the head coach and trickles down to everyone else. Horrible secondary, schaub is a robotic joke, special teams is horrible...I will still be backing them and I hope they prove me wrong but all signs point to an early exit.

[HedleyLamarr]

Houston over Cincinnati

Baltimore over Indianapolis

Green Bay over Minnesota

Washington over Seattle

Denver over Baltimore

New England over Houston

Atlanta over Washington

Green Bay over San Francisco

AFC: New England over Denver

NFC: Atlanta over Green Bay

Super Bowl: Atlanta over New England

[NEW.ERA]

Predictions, yo!

Wild Card Weekend

(6) Cincinnati 24 (3) Houston 21

(6) Minnesota 23 (3) Green Bay 28

(4) Indianapolis 14 (5) Baltimore 17

(4) Seattle 31 (5) Washington 24

Divisional Playoffs

(6) Cincinnati 17 (1) Denver 27

(4) Seattle 24 (1) Atlanta 21

(3) Green Bay 34 (2) San Francisco 27

(4) Baltimore 14 (2) New England 31

Championship

(4) Seattle 14 (3) Green Bay 24

(2) New England 20 (1) Denver 23

Super Bowl XLVII

(3) Green Bay vs. (1) Denver

[cameroncrazie07]

I went with 49ers-Texans in early August this year, and was extremely proud of it until a few weeks ago when the Texans forgot how to score touchdowns. I still think that has a very small shot, but there's almost no way that Houston goes on the road to beat New England and most likely Denver in two straight weeks. So I'll change mine up with:

Wild Card

Houston over Cincinnati

Green Bay over Minnesota

Baltimore over Indianapolis

Seattle over Washington

Divisional

New England over Houston

Denver over Baltimore

Green Bay over San Francisco

Atlanta over Seattle

Championships

Denver over New England

Green Bay over Atlanta

Super Bowl- Denver over Green Bay

[Dogeshak]

No one is picking the Vikings to win...

[infrared41]

First off, let's settle this right now. As good as the rookie QBs in the playoffs are, none of them are making the Super Bowl. No on to my guaranteed to be way off the mark predictions.

1/5:

4:30 PM ET - (6) Cincinnati vs. (3) Houston: Take the Texans to win this one pretty easily.

Texans 34 Bengals 20.

8:00 PM ET - (6) Minnesota vs. (3) Green Bay: Tough call. As a Packers fan and owner, it's tough for me to pick against my team. That said, the Pack O-line has some issues, the running game is non-existent, and the defense is sporadic. But...Christian Ponder. If he's decent, I like the Vikings chances. The question is can Ponder be decent on the road? In the elements? In January? At Lambeau? No chance. Peterson will keep it interesting, but the Packers win. The game won't be as close as the final score might lead you to believe.

Packers 28 Vikings 24.

1/6:

1:00 PM ET - (5) Indianapolis vs. (4) Baltimore: My guess is the Ravens will do just anough to win a close one.

Ravens 17 Colts 14.

4:30 PM ET - (5) Seattle vs. (4) Washington: Seattle doesn't have a "strong" road win this season. The closest they came to getting one was beating an already down the tubes Bears team. They lost to Arizona, Miami, Detroit, and St. Louis on the road. Their other two road wins were against Buffalo and Carolina and the Panthers kept it close. I just don't see them going into FedEx field and beating a pretty good Redskins team.

Redskins 31 Seahawks 17.

Divisional Round:

Saturday:

Baltimore at Denver: Peyton Manning hangs 420+ passing yards on the Ravens and the media loses it's mind over the possibility of Manning vs. Brady in the AFC Championship game.

Broncos 38 Ravens 17.

Green Bay at San Francisco: Again, as a Packers fan/owner, it's tough to pick against my team but this is where my dream of complementing my World Series ring with a Super Bowl ring comes to an end. The 49ers do pretty much what they did in Green bay earlier in the season and dominate the Packers for an easy win. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not.

49ers 31 Packers 20.

Sunday:

Washington at Atlanta: To paraphrase the late, great Dennis Green: the Falcons are who we thought they were. No need to crown them. Redskins run roughshod over the Falcons, the media loses it's mind over the possibility of RGIII in the Super Bowl, and the Falcons do what the Falcons always do - lose early in the playoffs.

Redskins 31 Falcons 21.

Houston at New England: The media is in full blown "let's blow each other because it's going to be a Brady - Manning AFC title game" mode. One problem, someone forgets to tell the Texans. In the first (and only) upset of the playoffs, Arian Foster runs all over the Pats defense, Schaub does all the right things, and the Texans punch their ticket to Denver. The media commits mass suicide. Meanwhile, over at ESPN, the halls echo with the sounds of people asking "when did Houston get a football team?"

Texans 38 Patriots 34.

Championship games:

Houston at Denver: What little media that remains after the mass suicide following the Pats loss to the Texans rejoices in the fact that Peyton Manning has led the Broncos to the Super Bowl and that he might face RGIII. Broncos win a laugher.

Broncos 35 Texans 17.

Washington at San Francisco: The 49ers defense and a muddy track combine to shut down RGIII, Alfred Morris, and the Redskins.

49ers 21 Redskins 10.

Super Bowl: The media is in "Oh well, we still have Peyton" mode. Meanwhile, the Broncos defense has an easy time shutting down the 49ers offense, Peyton Manning is good, but not great, and the Broncos add Lombardi trophy number three to the shelves.

Broncos 28 49ers 17.

Then again, I could be wrong.

I sure hope I got the seeding thing right. I'm terrible with that stuff.

[dbadefense1990]

Super Bowl XLVII:

Green Bay vs. Denver

And if it is Packers/Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game, I would expect the refs to succumb to Lambeau fans and try to screw the Hawks the way their Packers were screwed in the Fail Mary.

[NEW.ERA]

No one is picking the Vikings to win...

Believe me. I'm freaking terrified! If Christian Steele Ponder can ever find a consistent deep ball, and Musgrave uses the Play Action. Could be another last team with the ball wins, type of games.

[infrared41]

No one is picking the Vikings to win...

Believe me. I'm freaking terrified! If Christian Steele Ponder can ever find a consistent deep ball, and Musgrave uses the Play Action. Could be another last team with the ball wins, type of games.

You ain't the only one, my friend. This Packers fan/owner is nervous as hell about playing the Vikings. God help us if Ponder plays even decent football.

[Kramerica Industries]

Well, I guess there's no point in holding out forever. If I haven't done my research into these matchups yet, then I'm never going to get around to it prior toSaturday. I almost never watch NFL Network during the week to get any insights that I might otherwise miss, and the only analysts I really like at ESPN are Hoge andJaws.

Saturday 1/5:

Cincinnati vs. Houston (4:30) - this matchup is different from the matchup last season for a couple of reasons. Houston was playing solid football in December entering the playoffs (in spite of losing Schaub to injury and needing to use T.J. freakin' Yates), and Cincinnati was basically an exposed fraud that did well enough over the first eight to withstand the Ravens and Steelers whacking them in the second half. This time around, the Bengals have won seven of eight (and probably should've won the game that they lost), Andy Dalton has finally gotten over the Steelers/Ravens hump by winning that game in Pittsburgh that basically determined their playoff fate, AJ Green is an excellent WR, and, conversely, Houston has lost three of four and there has to be some psychological concerns for them after falling from their #1 perch to #3, and no bye week, in the space of two weeks at the end of the season. It still jars me in some ways how Houston let that getaway from them. At the end of the day, I think home field will still favour the Texans in the end, but this was a team that entering Week 14 looked like a legit Super Bowl contender. Now, I view them as nothing more than divisional round cannon fodder at best - basically, what they were in 2011. For shame.

Texans 24, Bengals 17

Minnesota vs. Green Bay (8:00) - I always love divisional matchups in the playoffs, and I always love Week 17 rematches in the first round of the playoffs. That game they played on Sunday, with the #2 seed for Green Bay at stake and a playoff berth for the surprising Vikings at stake, was oodles of fun. Punch, counter-punch, and Adrian freakin' Peterson putting a cap on what might've been the greatest season a running back has ever had. One thing that should be noted is that the Rodgers-to-Jennings combination looked as lethal as it ever has in that game, and getting Greg Jennings back to the top of his game is crucial for the Packers to make a deep playoff run. Randall Cobb did a wonderful job for much of this season, but he would be the first one to admit that he's not capable of matching Greg Jennings'production. It also seems like Jermichael Finley isn't dropping every fricken' pass thrown his way now. The lack of a ground game for Green Bay doesn't concern me all that much, because they negotiated the 2010 playoff field without one (aside from James Starks' 123 yard performance in the opening round vs. Philadelphia), andwhat killed them against New York last year wasn't the lack of a ground game, but the number of dropped passes that damn near everyone had that day. That, and a very shoddy pass defense that allowed the game-changing Hail Mary. Green Bay's pass defense is much improved this season. As much as Minnesota has shown improvement this year, with quality wins to back it up (wins over Green Bay, Chicago, San Francisco, albeit all at the Metrodome), they have one explosive player on offense, and a passing game that I do not trust at all. Curiously enough, though, Green Bay has lost four of their last six playoff games at Lambeau, so I'm not about to predict massive onslaught. But Green Bay rules the day in the end.

Packers 31, Vikings 21

Sunday 1/6:

Indianapolis vs. Baltimore (1:00) - I'm not going to go with the popular train of thought in this one. As great as the Pagano story has been this season, the Colts have some pretty grisly numbers. Poor point differential (certainly not that of an 11-5 team). Awful turnover differential (ditto). Oodles of close wins, and blowout losses on the road against the Jets, Bears, and Patriots. This is the best defense Andrew Luck has faced this season. I don't envision this game having a pretty ending for them. Baltimore has played pretty poorly of late (if not for check down diddle diddle, Ray Rice up the middle, this is a 1-5 skid to finish up), but they get Ray Lewis back for this game, and they have a stellar home record under Harbaugh. They whipped the Giants in a crucial game to win the division. Baltimore will win this game, and it shouldn't be close. This will be the dud of the weekend.

Ravens 31, Colts 10

Seattle vs. Washington (4:30) - I LOVE this game, with the way both teams are playing coming down the stretch. 'Skins have won seven straight, and the Seahawks have won five straight with some straight up whippings mixed in there. The Washington crowd is going to be amped, given that this is the first playoff game in Washington since the '99 wild card round. I love that Darrell Bevell has finally opened up the playbook for Russell Wilson, because the conservative playcalling early in the season did nothing to take advantage of Wilson's ability to roll outside the pocket and either run for positive yardage, or look for an open man downfield. Russell Wilson's greatest attribute is his deep ball, which has been fantastic for as long as I've watched him. His GW TD pass against New England early in the season should be all the proof anyone needs of that. Likewise, the Redskins have the best running game statistically in the NFL, and Alfred Morris has been the gem of the draft, all things considered (100 YPG out of a 6th round pick - enough said), but with Griffin's knee injury, which he's still not 100% back from yet, that is one dynamic in their offense that is not at its peak capacity. Don't forget that the Seahawks get Brandon Browner back from suspension for this game, and he might be the best #2 CB in the NFL, thanks to having an All-Pro on the other side. This will be a fast moving game, because of both teams strong running games. In the end, I favour the Seahawks in this one, given their physical defense, they're getting Browner back, their excellent play offensively over the past four weeks, and even though their road record is still underwhelming, it's a bit misleading. They won their last two road games, including that game in Chicago back on 12/3 that directly decided which NFC North team ended up getting a wild card spot (because Chicago would've gotten in had they won; as it turned out, Seattle would've made it regardless). I'm not going to hold a couple early season slip-ups in Arizona, St. Louis, Miami, etc. against them now. This is a very good football team.

Seahawks 24, Redskins 21

Divisional Round:

Saturday 1/12:

Baltimore vs. Denver (4:30) - It's hard not to like Denver going into this game. 11 game winning streak, Peyton Manning playing some of the best football of his career, excellent chemistry with Demariyus Thomas and Eric Decker, Knowshon Moreno finally playing like he has always been capable of, and probably the DPOY on the other side with Von Miller fronting the top-sacking team in the league. This game was played a few weeks ago in Baltimore, and the Broncos whacked the Ravens. Baltimore has never been able to figure out Peyton Manning. This will be the final game Ray Lewis plays in the NFL, and it won't be one he was happy to be a part of. Baltimore's simply overmatched in this game, and this time it's at Mile High. Good night.

Broncos 31, Ravens 14

Green Bay vs. San Francisco (8:00) - This one could be a dandy. Classic matchup between two teams that have met many times in the playoffs before, meeting in their usual playoff setting of Candlestick. The Niners physical defense more-or-less shut the Packers down in the opening week of the season, but the Niners have not shown the same defensive prowess in the last few weeks that they had shown for the last 1.5 years. Aaron Rodgers finally has his full assortment back in the passing game, and Randall Cobb has taken the next step forward towards beyond a game-changing WR. Colin Kaepernick hasn't been awful by any means as the Niners starting QB, and the argument that has always persisted towards him starting over Alex Smith is the "upside, upside, upside" ideal, which isn't so much wrong, but Alex Smith did a pretty excellent job getting the Niners the points they needed to win on a regular basis before that. I'm still not convinced that going full-on with Kaepernick was the best decision the Niners could've made, and while Michael Crabtree has taken off, Vernon Davis has taken a step back, and there's just no excuse for that. VD is a top-5 TE in the NFL, and should be utilized as such. Overall, the key will be if Rodgers can solve a defense that pretty thoroughly locked him up last time around. I'll give him the edge.

Packers 31, 49ers 27

Sunday 1/13:

Seattle vs. Atlanta (1:00) - This one gets tricky for me, from an objective/subjective POV. Matt Ryan is 33-6 in his career at home, the Falcons won 13 games, and have the talent to beat anyone in the league. One huge difference from 2010 is that those Falcons didn't have Julio Jones. On the contrary, that team had a much better version of Michael Turner, whereas Turner now looks like a finished starting RB in this league. As mentioned above, Seattle has played very good football over the last month, seemingly solved their road woes, and in addition to that, Russell Wilson has some of the best intangibles amongst NFL QB's. All told, I don't have much faith in Atlanta to win this game (0-3 in the playoffs says it all, frankly), and I'm very relucant to give them the edge in this game. But they have won in Seattle the past two seasons, and there's little reason to really think they can win this time around in the Georgia Dome.

Falcons 21, Seahawks 10

Houston vs. New England (4:30) - Very obvious parallel with this game: Monday Night Football, December 5, 2010, when the Patriots whacked the Jets 45-3 in a statement game between two 9-2 teams, and made it clear which team was the better team. Until they met in the divisional round of the playoffs a little over a month later, and the Jets stunned the Patriots 28-21 instead. That was a tough one to believe, and I can't imagine Belichick and Brady letting that happen again. That, being this matchup against Houston after the Patriots routed them by four touchdowns a few weeks ago in Foxboro. Houston could win this game at home, but they gave up that right by losing their last two games. In Foxboro, forget it. Tom Brady rips up top-notch defenses like none other.

Patriots 38, Texans 17

Conference Championships

Sunday 1/20:

NFC: Green Bay vs. Atlanta - reprise of their 2010 Divisional Round meeting, and I don't think anything has changed here. Aaron Rodgers and that deep receiving unit can tear apart the Falcons defense like no other team in the NFC. The only hope for Atlanta here is that Matt Ryan finally getting that first playoff victory will give him enough of a boost to not shrink on a big stage like this. Green Bay's the better team in this game, without question, in my mind. They will return to the Super Bowl.

Packers 35, Falcons 24

AFC: New England vs. Denver - go figure. Brady vs. Peyton, the Manning brother who he can actually beat. The uniform changes, but the rivalry remains with those two, and I think, once again, the mile high air gives Denver a distinct advantage here. There's a reason Tom Brady has a poor record in games played in Denver over the years. Denver's playing lights out football right now, and as is almost always the case when it's Brady vs. Peyton, the advantage goes to the QB with the crowd behind them. That's Peyton. Super Bowl XXXII rematch, here we come.

Broncos 38, Patriots 31

Super Bowl

Sunday 2/3:

Denver vs. Green Bay - Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers facing off in the Super Bowl is only appropriate. In this game, the advantage has to favour the team with the better defense, because both teams can score at will. The better defense is obviously Denver's. Peyton Manning will draw even with Eli in the Super Bowl department.

Broncos 34, Packers 28

[DarkJourney]

AFC Wild Card Round

Cincinnati over Houston

Baltimore over Indianapolis

NFC Wild Card Round

Green Bay over Minnesota

Seattle over Washington

AFC Divisional Round

Denver over Cincinnati

Baltimore over New England

NFC Divisional Round

Atlanta over Seattle

San Francisco over Green Bay

AFC Championship

Denver over Baltimore

NFC Championship

Atlanta over San Francisco

Super Bowl XLVII

Denver over Atlanta