Championship of Champions

Will Matty Ice send the Georgia Dome off on a high note?

The 2016 NFL season started unpredictably.  The two of us missed handfuls of games that we thought were obvious wins for the eventual loser, and it took us quite sometime to get accustomed to the state of the NFL this year.

Parity seemed to reign supreme.  Following the Week 13 slate of games, three divisions were led by teams that were within two games of the .500 mark.  (Two at 7-5 and one at 6-6.)

The NFL appeared to be a mess of mediocre teams all vying for a spot in the playoffs.

And then those playoffs arrived, and the cream rose to the top like it always does.  The big dogs in the yard barked the loudest, and here we are at the final four: New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, and Atlanta.

The Falcons are the only outlier in the bunch.  New England with QB Tom Brady have won four Super Bowls, Pittsburgh with QB Ben Roethlisberger have won two, and Green Bay with QB Aaron Rodgers have won one.  All three of the those teams are perennial contenders with those QBs at the helm, and it will be up to Matt Ryan and his Falcons to knock off the NFL's equilibrium this season.

Here are our picks for the Conference Championships:

The Literal Divisional Round

Chiefs fans at Arrowhead Stadium could be a difference maker.

There are eight teams remaining in the NFL Playoffs, and fittingly it's all eight divisional champions that will be meeting in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.  The Wild Cards are gone after all four home teams won last weekend, so there will be no Cinderella story this year ... unless the Texans win, they'll need a glass slipper to win the Super Bowl, probably two and a pumpkin to turn into their chariot.

Here's a look at who Austen and I are picking this weekend:

Austen's Eight-Point Pick
@New England over Houston

Austen: My head literally might explode if the Texans win this game. While they have one of the best defenses in the league, they also have an offense that got shut out the last time these two teams played. You don't win a lot (/any) games scoring zero points. When was the last time the worst quarterback in the league beat an MVP candidate in the playoffs? I don't know but I'd have to guess never. 

Score: New England 41, Houston 13

Stally: I hate to be an over confident Patriots fan, but I can't see a way the Texans win this game.  As The Pats destroyed the Texans with Jacoby Brissett at the helm, just wait until Tom Brady gets to lead this weekend.

Score: New England 31, Houston 13

The Wild Wild Card

Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning both have aspirations for
another Super Bowl ring, but only one can win this weekend.

It's playoff season, and that means that Austen is back for the stretch run.  Happy 2017, blog readers!

Let's get into our playoff breakdown:

Stally's Eight-Point Pick
@Pittsburgh over Miami

Stally: This is the only game of the four that I find easy to pick.  The Pittsburgh Steelers are a good football team with a ridiculous amount of offensive talent, and Miami is headed on the road with a backup QB.  I just don't see the Dolphins winning this game.

Austen: No argument here. Matt Moore is more than serviceable (I would have Miami favored over both the Texans and Raiders), but they got a road game with the most dangerous offense in the league. Tough draw for a Fins team that has not made the playoffs in almost a decade and has only won one playoff game this millennium.

Austen's Eight-Point Pick
@Seattle over Detroit

Week 17: Games Worth Watching

The Lions and Packers are neck-and-neck
in the race for the NFC North.

Stally: Week 17 is usually skipped in most fantasy football circles.  This year, more than most, it might be skipped by many of the NFL teams as well.  The AFC has its six teams with only some seeding scenarios on the line.  The NFC still has a division up for grabs (the NFC North) as well as a Wild Card spot that could, but might not, involve the NFC North loser.

Instead of ranking games by confidence like usual, I'll clump together the games worth watching, and the games not worth watching.  There's no need waste type on some of these irrelevant games, and the draft order really isn't something with which I'm going to concern myself at this time.

If Austen returns to the blog at some point, he's more into the draft than I am, so I'll leave that for him.

Must Watch Games

Green Bay @ Detroit (8:30 p.m. NBC)

This is the one game of the day in which there's an opportunity for either team to win and make an impact on their playoff situation.  The winner of this game wins the NFC North and goes to the playoffs.  These teams will know by kickoff if the loser can make it as a Wild Card or not (see the Redskins game below), which could further add to the intrigue.

The Lions have impressed this season.  The Packers have impressed as of late.  I'm going to give the edge to Detroit at home in this one, as I don't think this is the same old lame Lions team we've seen in the past.

My pick: Detroit (3 confidence points)