2016 Playoff Discussion

[JO_75]

Similar to last year, I'm making one big thread where we can discuss the run to Super Bowl 51 in Houston. 

 

[Divisional Round preview here http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/topic/71928-2016-playoff-discussion/?do=findComment&comment=2539014 ]

 

 

Wild Card Round:

Raiders @ Texans: After Derek Carr suffered a broken fibula, the Raiders first round bye and AFC West hopes went out the window. The Raiders will now rely on third string QB Connor Cook who will finally join the rookie quarterback starting club of 2016. The Texans meanwhile have their own QB issue and with Tom Savage hurt, Brock Osweiler returns to quarterback the Texans in this playoff game. That's right... Connor Cook vs Brock Osweiler, the dream QB matchup ESPN/ABC wanted all along.

Lions @ Seahawks: After the Redskins loss to the Giants, the Lions and Packers were given free rides to the NFC playoffs. Unfortunately for Detroit, they find themselves in Seattle where the 12th man is always loud, and somehow get the calls in primetime games. With the Lions confirming Jim Caldwell and company returning in 2017, can he do the unthinkable and pull off the upset in Seattle? Also how will Devin Hester kill the Seattle offense starting position... tune in Saturday Night!

Dolphins @ Steelers: The last time Miami played Pittsburgh, they beat them 30-15 behind RB Jay Ajayi who rushed for 204 yards and 2 TDs. Can the Dolphins defense get to Big Ben once again or will the Steelers offense be too much for the Dolphins? Matt Moore gets the start with Tannehill injured and they may have to lead on Ajayi in the running game to keep the Steelers off guard. 

Giants @ Packers: The Packers seem to be the hot team this year running the table all the way to the NFC North title. It seemed everything was going wrong for The Pack, Mike McCarthy was getting put on the hot seat, then the Packers rose from the dead and welcome a New York Giants team that..... oh boy. Packers on a 6 game winning streak against Playoff Eli Manning. Going to be a good game, best game of Wild Card weekend and this game could go either way.

Edited January 12 by Moderator 3
Added link to Round 2

[allblackraven]

I'm a Chiefs fan this post season. KC - GB super bowl would be nice.

[K-Dog]

Raiders @ Texans:  Back up QB vs. Back up QB.  Could be a train wreck of an exciting game really.
I pick the Raiders.

Lions @ Seahawks:  I don't know much about either team this season.  I want the team Devon Hester is on to lose.
I pick the Lions.

Dolphins @ Steelers: I can't imagine what colossal mess up Pitts-burgh would have to commit to lose this one.
I pick Pitts-burgh.  ( bleck )


Giants @ Packers: I don't know much about either and really don't care either way.
I pick Green Bay.

[Moderator 3]

I'm a huge Dolphins fan this week, just for the hell of it.  Otherwise, Go Pack Go.

[baroquenspirit]

Over the next month, the seasons of 11 NFL teams will end with a disappointing, perhaps crushing, defeat. It's a certainty, like the sudden arrival of Cowboys bandwagon fans, Patriots controversies and Robert Griffin III congratulating himself for being Robert Griffin III. One team, however, will emerge from that cloud of dust to win the Super Bowl. - Chris Chase. 

My picks for the first round:

Texans - their Defense will be enough with Carr out. 20-13

Seahawks - Hawks grind out a home field win. 21-18

Steelers - During their winning streak, the Steeler defense went from 23 to 7 and ultimately finished 10th. 31-17

Giants - This is my upset special. Green Bay running game sputters, Eli has a good day. 28-27

Edited January 6 by baroquenspirit

[ALI624]

I'm going Raiders, Steelers(throw up a little), Seahawks and Giants.

[baroquenspirit]

19 minutes ago, ALI624 said:

I'm going Raiders, Steelers(throw up a little), Seahawks and Giants.

Don't worry. If the Steelers advance to play the Chiefs, everyone in here will be able to legitimately pick against them next week! 

[JO_75]

My picks for this weekend, Raiders over Texans. Lions upset the Seahawks, Steelers and Packers on Sunday. 

[Pats]

Hawks, raiders,steelers and giants. But I could see every match being 50/50

[allblackraven]

I can't believe so many of you are picking Giants over GB

[Pats]

33 minutes ago, allblackraven said:

I can't believe so many of you are picking Giants over GB

They beat the packers last 2 times they played in the playoffs, then they made superbowl and beat us twice. Playoff manning and that defense is not something to chuckle at.

[redrum52]

4 hours ago, allblackraven said:

I'm a Chiefs fan this post season. KC - GB super bowl would be nice.

Ideal scenario.

[redrum52]

8 minutes ago, Pats said:

They beat the packers last 2 times they played in the playoffs, then they made superbowl and beat us twice. Playoff manning and that defense is not something to chuckle at.

Which teams worry you in both conferences?  No need to name the Giants either...

[redrum52]

3 hours ago, Moderator 3 said:

I'm a huge Dolphins fan this week, just for the hell of it.  Otherwise, Go Pack Go.

Live in South FL.  Dolphins fans feeling themselves WAY too much.  Don't mind Steelers this week to remind them who they are.

[Pats]

9 minutes ago, redrum52 said:

Which teams worry you in both conferences?  No need to name the Giants either...

Well then my second would be the packers honestly, when the packers pass rush wanna play they are really a pest. Plus rodgers is pretty great. For the AFC it has to be the chiefs because of hill and the defense. But i'm not too worried about the AFC. NFC is very tricky to figure out.

[redrum52]

13 minutes ago, Pats said:

Well then my second would be the packers honestly, when the packers pass rush wanna play they are really a pest. Plus rodgers is pretty great. For the AFC it has to be the chiefs because of hill and the defense. But i'm not too worried about the AFC. NFC is very tricky to figure out.

Funny you say that.   My friend and I have basically said its Giants or Packers SB to lose.  Was hoping they wouldn't have to meet until NFC championship, but it is what it is.  Only "comp" you really have is Steelers and Chiefs, but would've been interesting if Carr was never hurt.

[Pats]

1 minute ago, redrum52 said:

Funny you say that.   My friend and I have basically said its Giants or Packers SB to lose.  Was hoping they wouldn't have to meet until NFC championship, but it is what it is.  Only "comp" you really have is Steelers and Chiefs, but would've been interesting if Carr was never hurt.

Well from a pats fan perspective this is all set out perfectly for us. Green bay and NY are horrible threats to us but one has to be eliminated by week 1. In the AFC no team I think beats us but the two I mentioned will play next week if the steelers beat miami and thus eliminating another potential threat. I feel abd for oakland I thinkt hey could have made the afc title game, them playing the steelers would have brought back some good old memories. I dont trust atlanta or dallas. And yes you are right miami fans have this weird cockiness about them despite not being relevant since the marino days.

[Cville-Raven]

4 hours ago, Pats said:

Well from a pats fan perspective this is all set out perfectly for us. Green bay and NY are horrible threats to us but one has to be eliminated by week 1. In the AFC no team I think beats us but the two I mentioned will play next week if the steelers beat miami and thus eliminating another potential threat. I feel abd for oakland I thinkt hey could have made the afc title game, them playing the steelers would have brought back some good old memories. I dont trust atlanta or dallas. And yes you are right miami fans have this weird cockiness about them despite not being relevant since the marino days.

Yeah the pats have about as easy a road as they've had in a while. If the Steelers get dropped before the AFC title game then I think it's pretty much a lock that they're going to the SB. 

[Pats]

24 minutes ago, Cville-Raven said:

Yeah the pats have about as easy a road as they've had in a while. If the Steelers get dropped before the AFC title game then I think it's pretty much a lock that they're going to the SB. 

Agreed, i'm actually kinda disappointed how easy the road is. Oakland without carr, houston and miami really don't excite me in the least as a neutral fan of good teams.

[JoeyFlex5]

dolphins @ steelers: i think the steelers win this one easy. i just dont see any scenario where the dolphins can hang with them. they lose in all phases. 

Raiders @ texans: i like bill o'brien a lot, and i think he plays the whole "underdog in our own stadium" card and he plays it well. osweiler will play a decent game, they will run the ball well, and turn their defense loose on connor cook and their defense will dominate. still, because of average offensive play and game management from osweiler, it will be a close one, but i think the texans win just because they are more motivated. 

lions @ seahawks: i think the seahawks win pretty easily, the lions are on a tailspin at the moment and i dont think they play well rounded enough to win in seattle against a team who really turns it up and plays good playoff football 

nyg @ packers: i think the packers pull off a close one, they finally get that eli monkey off their backs. 

 

DIV ROUND 

steelers @ KC: i think KC comes out on fire, their defense shuts down the run and gets after ben. ben throws a few picks. tyreek hill has a big game with a gameplan designed to get him the ball, hes gonna have a few big plays, maybe a return, a screen, or a reverse, dont know how but i think hes gonna be a huge difference maker with big plays and travis kelce will have 10 catches and 2 touchdowns. KC wins. 

texans @ patriots: lol. the underdog card only works for so long. they arent the 2000 ravens, their defense isnt like that. 

packers @ cowboys: cowboys are gonna win this one. the packers dont have the matchup here. they wont stop the run and zeke is gonna just go absolutely ham. 

seahawks @ falcons: seattle is gonna take this one, atlanta will have to throw it all day and thats a bad recipe against seattle, seattle will play balanced on offense and keep the ball moving, and they will force turnovers. 

CHAMPIONSHIP 

KC @ patriots: i think KC shocks the world here and beats bill at his own game. creative plays, balanced smallball offense will break off big plays at times, and the pats will try to do the same but the KC defense shows up more than the NE defense does and they contain the offense while the patriots slip up on occasion and let the small gains turn to big plays a few times which becomes the difference. 

seahawks @ cowboys: seattle with the upset, dallas wont be able to run the ball as well as they usually do because theyre finally facing a good defense, they cant throw it at all because seattle stays in their base defense and their secondary is gonna shut down the passing game in basic cover 2 and 3, dak cant pick up the slack because he hasnt had to face a great zone defense yet and he makes mistakes and holds onto the ball for too long. 

SB: KC vs Seattle: this will be a seriously exciting matchup, theyre both similar teams, and i wouldnt be able to even call this one. but id like to see it.

 

[DomMcRaven]

7 hours ago, redrum52 said:

Live in South FL.  Dolphins fans feeling themselves WAY too much.  Don't mind Steelers this week to remind them who they are.

Also living in FL, I honestly haven't seen that (near Orlando). The Dolphins fans I come across are just happy they made it and nothing more. 

[redrum52]

11 minutes ago, DomMcRaven said:

Also living in FL, I honestly haven't seen that (near Orlando). The Dolphins fans I come across are just happy they made it and nothing more. 

I'm right out of Broward so its a bit different.

[RavensPunkXVX]

Any recent Ravens in the post season? I saw Courtney Upshaw's name pop up for the Falcons. 

[allblackraven]

53 minutes ago, RavensPunkXVX said:

Any recent Ravens in the post season? I saw Courtney Upshaw's name pop up for the Falcons. 

Lots in Detroit, KO

Edited January 7 by allblackraven

[Pats]

39 minutes ago, RavensPunkXVX said:

Any recent Ravens in the post season? I saw Courtney Upshaw's name pop up for the Falcons. 

Devin hester seattle.

[RavensPunkXVX]

Oh yeah, forgot about KO. Happy for Boldin to be back there. That hester signing, not sure about that one. I understand it, but could come back to bite them.

[RaineV1]

For Wildcard weekend, I'm picking:
Dolphins over Steelers

Raiders over the Texans

Lions over the Seahawks

Packers over the Giants

[allblackraven]

2 hours ago, RavensPunkXVX said:

Oh yeah, forgot about KO. Happy for Boldin to be back there. That hester signing, not sure about that one. I understand it, but could come back to bite them.

They lost their guy to broken leg, had to try something

[Steve0x]

As i see it 

Steelers over Dolphins because Steelers playing at Home 

Raiders over the Texans

Seahawks over the Lions Because Seahawks playing at Home 

Packers over the Giants

[Willbacker]

Steelers. Ugh!

Lions. Something weird gonna happen here. Seahawks don't seem to have the same mojo.

Packers, Just seem to be on such a roll right now and they aint sleeping on the Giants. Jared Cook will be the difference maker.

Texans. I like the Raiders O better but that Texans D is righteus.

Edited January 7 by Willbacker