Friday, January 2, 2015

2014 NFL WILD CARD ROUND PREDICTIONS (UPDATED)

And thus, another regular season is over and only eleven playoff games remain for the 2014 NFL season. Before we get to the predictions proper, first, a little housekeeping- how did I do with my predictions?

2014 Regular Season Record: 157-98 (.616)

Meh, not great. For the record, I accurately predicted 64.3% of the games in 2013, so I did nearly three percent worse this year compared to last.

But with that said, let's get on with the Wild Card predictions.

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers

Breakdown: The Cardinals have a great defense and a remarkable next-man-up mentality, but Ryan Lindley isn't a viable starting quarterback to me. The Cardinals limped into the postseason after a great regular season. The Panthers, meanwhile, are hot, winners of their last four games.

With that said, the Panthers went 1-4-1 against 2014 playoff teams. And against teams with winning records, they were 1-5-1. This team hasn't exactly been great either.

I can see either team coming away with a win, but with the Panthers offense clicking compared to the Cardinals same unit and with home-field advantage on their side, I like the Panthers, if only a little.

Pick: Carolina

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

Breakdown: The Ravens have faced the Steelers twice before in the Joe Flacco/John Harbaugh era, and both times resulted in Raven losses. Not helping matters is Ben Roethlisberger having a career year and the Ravens passing defense being less than stellar.

With the game being played in Pittsburgh, this is shaping up for a Steelers win, though the game will be close, just because it's Ravens/Steelers.

Pick: Steelers

Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts

Breakdown: It's not in prime time, but it's still a high-pressure game, so that's working against the Bengals. Also, the last time these two teams played, the Colts steamrolled the Bengals to the tune of 27-0.

If the Bengals are going to win, they NEED to run the ball at least two-thirds of the time and capitalize on the inevitable Colts turnovers. Even if they do that, I still see this not ending well for the Bengals.

Pick: Colts

Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys

Breakdown: Ndamukong Suh will play in the game, which is bad news for the Cowboys. Also bad news for the Cowboys: they're playing at home, where all four of their losses this year occurred (though, in fairness, they haven't lost at AT&T Stadium in over a month).

This is the one playoff game where I can see either team losing rather than winning. The Lions defense was great this year, boasting the NFL's top run defense. But against the pass, they were merely so-so. I don't know if you heard, but Dez Bryant is pretty good.

The Cowboys defense is flat out not good. They were eighth in the league against the run, but were absolutely dreadful against the pass. This could be a shoot out and like I said earlier, I could see either team losing. I'm going with the Cowboys, just because I think they're the better team overall.

Pick: Dallas

***

I picked the home team for every game this weekend, which pretty much guarantees I'm not going to run the table. With that said, I don't think I'll go 1-3 like I did for last year's Wild Card Round. We'll see, anyway.

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