It’s Rematch Weekend in the NFL Playoff’s

This weekend three of the four playoff games will be rematches from the regular season, how much does it mean? I don’t think much. In today’s NFL teams are scouted so well I don’t think there are many surprises. Sure there are the fake punts and on-sidekicks but over all teams know what to expect and they need to game plan to put their best players in position to make a play.

Sunday afternoon the Houston Texans will return to New England where the Patriots blew them off the field 42-14 in week 14. Will it happen again? It sure could. Tom Brady and his Patriots are a battle tested team and will be ready to play. The Texans will have a couple of players back that didn’t play in week 14, but Houston will have their work cut out for them. For the Texans to win this game their defense will need to hit Brady non-stop for 60 minutes, get a couple of turn-over’s and keep the Patriots offense off the field with a solid running game. I’m not sold on Houston; they didn’t play well the last month so I think New England wins.

Saturday night we have a rematch from game one of the season as the Green Bay Packers go to San Francisco to play the 49ers. The 49ers won that game but that was so long ago I don’t think it means anything to this playoff game. Both teams have good defenses and can make big plays on offense, so who wins? In most cases in a game like this you give the home team the edge, but I like the experience the Packers bring to the game. I know the 49ers where in the NFC title game last year, but this is the first playoff game for Colin Kaepernick who has started just seven games. I think this will be a close game but I think the Packers win it.

The first game Saturday is a rematch from week 15 as the Baltimore Ravens come to Denver to play the Broncos. Denver won that game 34-17, but the Ravens didn’t have a few guys on defense that they will have this time around. Will it make a difference? You bet even after 17 seasons Ray Lewis can play football. Here is how I see this game. Both teams can play defense, so don’t expect a lot of points in this game. I think the game comes down to the offenses. The Ravens have the 16^th best offense in the league and the Broncos have the 2^nd best defense. If Peyton Manning and his Broncos break the 21 point mark, I think they win.

The other game which is not a rematch from the regular season has the Seattle Seahawks going to Atlanta to play the Falcons. The Falcons come into this game as the #1 seed in the NFC (again) without a lot of respect and for good reason. The Falcons are 0-3 in the playoffs with Matt Ryan at QB. Both teams can play defense and both teams can put up points, so who wins? I think this should be a close game but I think the Falcons will push the ball down field with their speed, get a couple of big flags and Atlanta finally wins a playoff game. 

Enjoy a great weekend of NFL Playoff football.