Following multiple victories for road teams in the wild card playoff round, the National Football League playoffs shift to the conference divisional round.
The Green Bay Packers, New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens took care of business on the road to move on to the NFL playoffs as the favored defending Super Bowl champions, New Orleans Saints, came up short against the unfavored Seattle Seahawks.
In the American Conference Football league, the New York Jets defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 16-14, to move on and face their AFC East division rivals, the New England Patriots.
The Jets are clearly not favored across the board to beat the unstoppable Patriots in New England but Jets' coach Rex Ryan continues to preach his team is going to win the Super Bowl this year.
I am a Jets fan and optimistic about the Jets' chances to pull a upset but anything is possible when a team has its back against the wall and nothing to lose. My prediction is a Jets upset over the Patriots.
As for the other AFC playoff game, the Ravens face their AFC North rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Like the Jets, the Ravens are a dangerous match-up for the Steelers because both teams know each other inside and out and the Ravens have nothing to lose.
The Ravens are a dark horse to me because this team is capable of anything with the outstanding defense it has but its offense is always a question to some and the offense is the obstacle in the way of Raven from becoming a championship team.
I pick the Ravens to beat the Steelers this week because I have faith in the Ravens offense coming through in this game.
Now moving on to the National Conference League, the Packers who are clear favorites to reach the Super Bowl, head into Atlanta to face the Falcons.
Despite being the No. 1 team in the NFC, no one is sold on the Falcons because the team is not taken serious. The Falcons have been successful in past seasons and continued the success this season behind quarterback Matt Ryan.
On the other hand, the Packers were picked before the NFL season to win the Super Bowl but the team lost key players through injuries which set the team back. The Packers managed to rally back and make the playoffs in the final weeks of the season.
Packers quarterback, Arron Rodgers, was one of the key players to sit out with concussions but now he looks to be healthy and on top of his game.
The match-up will be a exciting, hard fought match and football fans should not be disappointed in this game. I pick the Packers in this game because I feel the Packers are a runaway freight train on its way to the Super Bowl.
In the other NFC playoff match, the surprisingly Seahawks, with first year coach, Pete Carrol, head on the road to face the Chicago Bears.
No one expected the Seahawks to be playing this far into the NFL postseason following a horrible season last year but the Seahawks found a way to make the postseason with their 7-9 season record.
No one had the Seahawks winning at home against the Saints but the Seahawks disproved everyone and won the game.
Once again no one will have the Seahawks beating the Bears on the road this weekend. I predict the Bears winning easily because of their great defense and good offense.
In summary: I predict the Jets and Ravens to be playing in the AFC championship game and the Packers and Beats to be playing in the NFC championship game following this weekend.
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