Predictions
So It’s The Packers and The Steelers
Jan 24th
Dallas Stadium. Arlington, Texas
With two Championship games that were intriguing but not brilliant, we now know that it’ll be the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers who’ll head to Arlington for Super Bowl 45 on the 6th February.
These are two historic teams that have played great defensive football and that both have a strong offensive game too.
With nearly the full two weeks to go, the Packers are early favourites with the bookmakers giving them a 3 point edge. If it’s that close on the night, we could be in for a treat. But either way, it’s an exciting time for these two teams.
We’ll be keeping an eye on the news and build-up and back early next week with our thoughts for the big game.
Image Credit: Dallas Stadium – Amber Marie
NFL 2010 AFC Championship
Jan 19th
New York Jets @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Sunday 23rd January, 11:30pm UK Time
It seems like a long time ago that Rex Ryan announced shortly into the first episode of Hard Knocks that the Jets were going to win the Super Bowl; that they were the best and this was the year. Now, going into the conference championship for the second consecutive season they’ll be hoping to get past the hurdle they fell at last year.
The Steelers started this season under a cloud of controversy and talk of their starting QB being traded. Coach Mike Tomlin kept the ship steady and really it’s no surprise to see the Steelers competing – again – in the Championship game.
Heinz Field
Apart from the game this season, these teams hadn’t met since 2007. A lot has happened since then, like the Steelers winning the Super Bowl in 2008 and the resurgence of the Jets under Rex Ryan. Let’s take a look at the last few meetings
NFL 2010 NFC Championship
Jan 18th
Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears
Sunday 23rd, 8:00pm UK Time
When these teams both from the same division there is a lot of history and many stories to draw on. It also means that they know each other very well and this one will mean even more than you’d imagine a Conference Championship will.
These two teams have only met once before in the post-season and that was back in December 1941 (7 days after the attack on Pearl Harbour). But with 182 previous meetings between these teams, this is the NFL’s longest rivalry. Chicago currently leads the series 92–83–6, but Green Bay have had the edge in recent meetings.
Soldier Field
Let’s take a quick look at the last two years: More >
NFL 2010 Divisional Weekend: Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Jan 14th
So the wildcard weekend has been and gone and we’re now left with 8 teams who are looking to make it all the way to the Superbowl. We’ve got some tasty matches to look forward to this weekend, and today I’ll be looking at one of them. It’s one of the most physical rivalries in the NFL and a contest which more often than not is pretty close in all aspects. On Saturday 15th January the Baltimore Ravens travel to Heinz Field to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Looking into this game there are literally hundreds of stats I could reel off. These 2 teams are well accustomed with each other and, playing in the same division, face off at least twice a season and have done since 1996 when the Ravens were established as a franchise. So there is a long history there, many games and many scores, many records and many talking points. So instead of waffling on I’ll just note some of the stats that I’ve seen about this lately. More >
NFL 2010 Divisional Round Predictions
Jan 12th
The Jets @ Colts was always going to be close but who thought that the Seahawks would get the win over the Saints? The run by Marshawn Lynch for the go-ahead score was amazing to watch both for the commitment from the ‘Hawks and the shambles that was the Saint’s defense.
This week sees the number 1 and 2 seeds get involved and in every case we have rematches of games that happened earlier in the season. In three cases, the games were decided by 3 points: In Week 6 the Seahawks got a win at Soldier field; week 12 saw the Packers lose in the Georgia Dome; In week 13 the Ravens lost to the Steelers (but beat them in Pittsburgh in week 4 – again by 3 points). The Jets got creamed by the Pats when they were last at Foxboro (week 13, 45-3) but beat them 28-14 back in week 2 at the New Meadowlands.
These are intriguing matchups.
For a list of the games, visit http://www.nfl.com/schedules.
NFL 2010 Divisional Weekend: Green Bay Packers @ Atlanta Falcons
Jan 11th
When Tramon Williams jogged casually out of the end zone, looking for someone to celebrate his game winning interception last week against the Eagles, he didn’t know the play was still going. When he finally went to the ground (and was covered immediately by team-mates) to end the play he’d put Michael Vick and the Eagles out of the play-offs. The Pack’s reward is another rematch, in the shape of a trip to take on the Atlanta Falcons for a place in the Conference Championship.
Matt Ryan Drops Back
Ranked #1 and having looked good right across the season, the Falcons were the class of the NFC. Going 7-1 at home and 6-2 on the road, they set the bar high for everyone else to follow. And yet when you look purely at the stat tables, you wonder how they did it. They rank 16th in both offence and defence. When you look at the wins, you see that at home they were in close games but away they frequently blew out their opponents. They did have a favourable schedule, but they made the most of these games.
More >
NFL 2010 Wildcard Weekend: Baltimore Ravens @ Kansas City Chiefs
Jan 9th
Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens
All 5 Meetings:
2009 – Chiefs 24-38 Ravens
2006 – Ravens 20-10 Chiefs
2004 – Chiefs 27-24 Ravens
2003 – Chiefs 17-10 Ravens
1999 – Chiefs 35-8 Ravens
The Ravens and Chiefs have only met 5 times, Kansas leads the series 3-2. They have never met in the post-season.
With the regular season finished and the play-offs on the horizon we now know the teams who will be battling it out to reach the Holy Grail of American Football, the Super Bowl. There are two matches from the AFC this Sunday, and I’ll be taking a look at the Baltimore Ravens who travel to the Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
NFL 2010 Wildcard Weekend Predictions
Jan 7th
It’s probably fair to say that week 17 shook down pretty much how most people expected it and it’s left us with some great looking games for this week. In both conferences there are very strong teams ranked 5 and 6 travelling to teams that could be considered weaker based on their records. It’ll make for some good games.
Last year we had pretty poor form with our post-season predictions. We’re hoping to do better this year.
For a list of the games, visit http://www.nfl.com/schedules.
Prediction Results – 2010 Regular Season
Jan 5th
So the regular season is over and frankly none of us covered ourselves in glory this year. It’s been a great season for the spectacle, but a difficult one to predict.
I’m last, and am unlikely to change that in the post-season. Craig’s good run over the last three weeks means he comes in equal with Graham. Craig also had the season high 13-3 in week 13. Graham was probably the steadiest across the season, not getting a 6-8 like Craig and I managed.
We’ll be back later this week with out thoughts on the four wildcard games, hopefully including detailed looks at each game. Check the Predictions Box to the right –>
For the full scores and results, have a look at nfl.com
| Andrew | Graham | Craig | |
| Week 1 | 8-8 | 10-6 | 7-9 |
| Week 2 | 9-7 | 7-9 | 8-8 |
| Week 3 | 9-7 | 7-9 | 10-6 |
| Week 4 | 9-5 | 9-5 | 9-5 |
| Week 5 | 6-8 | 8-6 | 7-7 |
| Week 6 | 7-7 | 8-6 | 9-5 |
| Week 7 | 11-3 | 7-7 | 9-5 |
| Week 8 | 6-7 | 9-4 | 7-6 |
| Week 9 | 9-4 | 8-5 | 10-3 |
| Week 10 | 8-6 | 9-5 | 6-8 |
| Week 11 | 12-4 | 12-4 | 10-6 |
| Week 12 | 10-6 | 11-5 | 12-4 |
| Week 13 | 11-5 | 12-4 | 13-3 |
| Week 14 | 11-5 | 11-5 | 9-7 |
| Week 15 | 7-9 | 9-7 | 10-6 |
| Week 16 | 9-7 | 8-8 | 9-7 |
| Week 17 | 10-6 | 11-5 | 11-5 |
| Total | 152-104 | 156-100 | 156-100 |
| Total % | 59 % | 61 % | 61 % |
NFL 2010 Wildcard Weekend: Green Bay Packers @ Philadelphia Eagles
Jan 5th
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Previous 5 Meetings:
2010 – Packers 27-20 Eagles
2007 – Eagles 13-16 Packers
2006 – Packers 9-31 Eagles
2005 – Packers 14-19 Eagles
2004 – Packers 17-47 Eagles
In the regular season Green Bay lead series 24-13 but in the post-season the Eagles are 2-0 against the Pack.
Now this is the sort of game that we think of when the hype gets going for post-season! This great-looking game will close out Wildcard Weekend.
The Green Bay Packers travel back to Philadelphia for a rematch of the week 1 game. All the way back in September the Packers got a costly win with both Ryan Grant and Justin Harrell being lost for the season. That was the start of a long season on injuries and setbacks, with 15 players being put on IR throughout the season and Aaron Rodgers suffering two concussions and missing game time.
But despite those setbacks their 10-6 record could easily be better; those six losses have been very close. 4 of them being by just 3 points (two in overtime) and the other two by 4 points. That’s a total of 20 points which is less – for those of you keeping track of the Seahawks’ bashing – than each of the 9 losses that Seattle suffered on their way to the play-offs. This is a team that could easily be 12-4 and in prime position. As it is, they’re a very dangerous wildcard. More >