“Rematch Weekend”

The Divisional round of the NFL playoffs continues this weekend with games featuring the league’s final 8.  Four games are on the schedule this weekend with three, rematches of earlier meetings this season.  

If “Defense wins Championships”, as an old saying goes, then the NFC matchups represent the best of the best.  Each of the four teams in that conference is ranked in the NFL’s top 5 overall defenses.  On Saturday, New Orleans (4th) is making a return to the Pacific Northwest for a second encounter with the Seattle Seahawks (1st).   The Saints are looking to rebound from the 34 -7 thrashing they took at the hands of the Seahawks back in week 13.  In that game the Saints were held to their lowest scoring output of the season.  Tomorrow, even after their first road playoff win in Philadelphia last week, winning on the road against the Seahawks may prove too much for New Orleans to accomplish.   In the Sunday game, the San Francisco 49ers (5th) will be headed to Carolina (2nd) looking to reverse the result of their meeting on the coast.  In that game, Carolina eked out a one point victory, 10 – 9.  Throughout that game the Panthers defense pressured 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick mercilessly.  They sacked him six times and held him to only 91 yards passing and a messily 16 yards rushing.  Look for Carolina to try and force him to stay in the pocket and not break contain as he was able to do against Green Bay, where he was allowed to run wild gaining 98 yards with his legs.

Games in the AFC should have a more offensive feel to them.  Denver (1st) takes on the San Diego Chargers (5th) for the third time this season.  The two teams split their earlier meetings, each winning on the other’s home turf.  How well the Chargers are able to control Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning will be the difference in Sunday’s rubber match.   The New England (7th) / Indianapolis (15th) game is the only one where the two teams did not play one another during the regular season.  Andrew Luck may need to perform another miracle for his Colts to have any chance against Tom Brady and the Patriots.  After giving up 44 point last week to the Chiefs it seems like the Colts 20th raked defense will have a monumental task trying to stop the Patriots attack.   

With just two more wins needed for a trip to Super Bowl XLVIII the pressure will be on each team to perform at their very best.  Winners move on, losers go home.  And it’s a long way to next year…