Atlanta (+3) at NY Giants
Atlanta will be playing in the playoffs in back to back seasons for the 1st time in franchise history. Despite the success that the Falcons have had since Matt Ryan has been under center and Mike Smith has been on the sideline, the team has yet to win a playoff game with those men. This year they will travel to the Meadowlands where Matty Ice will look to secure his 1st playoff victory. The Giants enter the postseason on a high, after defeating the Cowboys last weekend to win the NFC East crown. They have endured an up and down season, but are up at the moment. One of the keys to the game will be how well the Falcons can keep Matt Ryan protected against the Giants elite pass rush. If Atlanta avoids giving up too many sacks, I see no reason they can't beat the Giants. I picked the Falcons to make it to the NFC Championship in the preseason. I think they get one step closer to that on Sunday. The Giants played their way into the playoffs last week, they will play their way out this week.
Prediction - Atlanta 21 NY Giants 20
Sunday, 4:30
This may not be the best game of the opening weekend, but it is probably the most hyped. Yes, Tim Tebow is playing. That means the media coverage will be wild. But on top of that he is going against the vaunted Steelers defense. Tebow Mania began when the Broncos rattled off 7 wins in 8 games to put themselves in position to make the playoffs. Since then they have lost 3 straight and Tebow has been dreadful. There are not many that believe that he can fare well against Pittsburgh on Sunday. The Steelers have injury concerns though. Ben Roethlisberger aggravated his high ankle sprain last week and will be nowhere near 100%. Rashard Mendenhall is out for the year with a torn ACL. And Ryan Clark will miss the game due to a blood disorder that acts up when in high altitude. The questions to be answered are whether the Steelers can withstand the injuries and whether Tebow can avoid the mistakes to let the Steelers tee off on him. I believe the answers to be yes Pittsburgh can overcome the injuries, and no Tebow can't avoid mistakes against the Steelers D. Even if Pittsburgh isn't 100%, they should be good enough to end the Broncos season.
Prediction - Pittsburgh 23 Denver 7
No comments:
Post a Comment