2016 NFL Playoffs Championship Round

NFL Playoffs Championship Round

AFC Championship

New England Patriots at Denver Broncos

What a treat for the fans to get another Manning-Brady Bowl in the playoffs! Unlike previous games, the quarterbacks are at what seems to be way different stages. Manning looks like this will be his last run at a ring, while Brady played like the MVP. Will Manning use everything in the tank and propel his team to the Super Bowl much like Ray Lewis did in his last season, when he went out on top and beat the Patriots in Foxborough? Or will Tom and the Patriots end Manning's career by avenging their loss in Denver from earlier this season? I'm going with the latter. After some extensive research (Patriots record when playing team twice) and I can't completely confirm this is true, but it looks like: in the Brady-Belichick era, they have only lost twice to teams they lost to in the regular season when playing that team again in the playoffs, which does not including divisional foes, where they played 3 times in a season. Those 2 teams were the 2005 Broncos, led by Jake Plummer, who were 13-3 and the #2 seed, and the other team was the 2006 Indianapolis Colts, who won the Super Bowl. In my opinion those are some pretty good teams to lose to twice in a season and on the road, as well as that Manning was in the prime of his career while Brady and the Patriots were slightly inferior to both teams. These sound like excuses, but those are the facts. Just like in 2001, when the St. Louis Rams beat the Patriots during the regular season by a TD, the Patriots got their revenge in the Super Bowl. Same will happen on Sunday. And just like last year, the Patriots lost their last game of the season, finished 12-4, and then went on to win the Super Bowl. Like last year, both teams finished 12-4, but the seeding was switched around, Denver was the #2 seed and New England was the #1 seed.

Reasons why the Patriots will lose:
1) Brady is 2-6 in Denver in his career, beating Danny Kanell and Tim Tebow. 2) Denver's defense is if not the best defense in the NFL. 3) Peyton Manning is going to play like the Manning he used to be rather than the broken self he is right now. 4) The Patriots have no run game and Denver will be able to get to Brady forcing him to turn it over or get sacked.

All the reason are valid, but I think the Patriots have more reason why they will win rather than lose.

1) Brady is 11-5 against Manning in his career. Yes, Brady lost to Manning last time in Denver during the AFC Championship, but that Manning was much better and healthy. 2) The Patriots have their 2 star receivers back and somewhat healthy, Gronkowski and Edelman. These 2 alone make a huge difference. 3) New England's defense is very good this year, finishing 10th in points allowed. 4) Denver's offense is not good and has not been playing well. This is the game that having a stagnant offense will kill them and end Manning's career. 5) Like I said earlier, the Patriots rarely lose twice to a team in the same season. 6) Chris Harris is banged-up and won't be able to play as well as he normally does. 7) Never bet against Tom Brady.

My gut is telling me that the Patriots will be up and the game will come down to a potential Peyton Manning game winning drive except he isn't going to score and his run will end. Patriots win this one by 4, 27-23.

NFC Championship

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers

This is the match-up everybody wanted to see and now we're getting it. 2 teams, not a lot of people picked to go to the Super Bowl before the season are now the 2 best teams representing the NFC. The Panthers are having one of the best season's in NFL history and the Cardinals are having one of their best season's in franchise history. To me, this game is really up in the air to who wins. I can see it going either way. Arizona has a crazy offense and fast defense while Carolina can dominate on the ground, force turnovers, and last but not least are led by the most likely MVP, Cam Newton. Unlike the Patriots, I think most fans of game really like both franchises and like most of the players on both teams. Cam is a fan favorite and everybody is wondering how he will do in the biggest game of his career. It's the same for Palmer as well, because he has always struggled in the playoffs and has never made it this far. The cool thing about this QB match-up is that both are Heisman winners and former #1 draft picks.

After watching last week's games, I would have to say the edge goes to Cam. To get out to a 31-0 start against the defending NFC champions was totally unexpected and showed everyone that the Panthers are ready to win the Super Bowl. Yes, they did not score in the 2nd half and nearly let Seattle comeback and steal the game, but the Panthers are if not the best team in the NFL and know how to win games in every situation.

I'm sending the Panthers to the Super Bowl to play the Patriots. Carolina wins 30-27.

Super Bowl 50

New England Patriots vs Carolina Panthers

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