The Playoffs

Well, I usually reserve my opinions, because Erik tends to have spot-on analysis on his blog, and I don't want to step on any toes, but since he couldn't be bothered to share with us this week, I thought I'd write a little on my own.

This week's matchups are tough. Home field advantage is important here, but it will be a real battle.

Pittsburgh has a harder time dealing with quick Running Backs, so look for Tatum Bell to be the more productive of Denver's backs, with his ability to get to the edge and turn the corner. Of course, the opposite is true of Denver's defense, and the pounder (Jerome Bettis) will be more successful than Willie Parker.

There will be no more than two sacks on Plummer. Pittsburgh was only successful getting to Manning because his team never made any good adjustments to the blitz package. Denver won't have this problem.

Denver will continue to play their Defensive Backs off of the Wide Receivers, giving Roethlisberger the opportunity to find open receivers and pack on some yards, but this will come at the cost of at least 2 turnovers.

It will be a close game, and there's a 70% chance that it will be kept inside of a touchdown difference, but Pittsburgh depends on jumping out to a lead and running the ball to control the clock after the lead's been established. Unfortunately for them, Denver has the best first quarter and first half scoring differential in the league not only this year, but they've been the best at it over the past decade.

So with two similar teams, two similar playing styles, and two similar coaches, the team that has been more successful with this type of gameplay will take it 27-24.

As far as the Panthers and the Seahawks, it's a toss-up. The Panthers have a long way to the Superbowl, (like Pittsburgh, they had 3 road games to make it there), but they've been playing strong. Seattle's the only time besides Denver that has been perfect at tome this year, but containing Steve Smith in the playoffs seems impossible. If anything, I say that Seattle wins due to home field, and because they're a bit healthier.