afc vs. nfc for the 2011 superbowl

Tag / afc

afc vs. nfc for the 2011 superbowl

NFC vs. AFC Superbowl Preview. What teams have the best chance?

mark-sanchez

Well, Championship Weekend is upon us. And – while I’m excited, I
need to say that the Divisional Playoff round is my favorite week of
the NFL season? Why – because you can spend 12 hours watching
football! Four games, and eight good teams. Well, this year maybe seven good teams. LOVE the divisional round.

So – let’s take a look at what we have coming up…

In the early game – we have an old school divisional matchup with the
Bears and the Packers. The Packers have gone through four straight weeks of must win games against foes like the Giants, the Eagles, the
Falcons, and yes – the Bears. The Bears are coming off basically the
easiest road ever to a championship game – a home victory against the
7-9 Seahawks.

One thing working in the Packers favor – after playing on a short week
last week, they had an extra prep day this week. And – when it gets
to the playoffs, every extra day of rest is an advantage.

On the field, let’s start with the field itself. The playing surface
at the new Soldier field is no bueno. Limited both in traction, and
apparently rock hard, especially around the sidelines. Scary moment
last week with Seahawks TE John Carlson – hopefully we won’t have any
repeat of that this week. The Packers are obviously more of a speed
and intricate passing game team than the Bears, so the sloppy track
could help the Bears.

One area the Packers have struggled this season is in kick coverage.
Eric Weems burned them for a 102 yard kick off return last week, and
now they need to deal with Devin Hester. They managed to bottle him
up in the final game of the regular season, but that’s definitely
something to keep an eye on.

To the offenses – the Packers have been showing so many different
offensive looks including their version of the wishbone with 3 backs
in the backfield. An offensive look that may have seen some action in
the Bears/Packers playoff game of 1941. And Aaron Rodgers has been
showing the full repetoire. Running, passing, escaping the rush. And
his trademark accuracy… Simply uncanny. He’s also figured out the
way to cure James Jones’ drops… Don’t throw him easy passes…
Make him make the spectacular catch and he’s fine.

The Bears offense has also looked good of late. I don’t know if
anyone expected two Cutler rushing TD’s last week, but he has also shown that he’s a pretty athletic guy. He will still force a ball once in a
while. The turning point of last weeks game with the Seahawks was
Jordan Babineaux not being able to hold onto what could have been a
100 yard pick 6. A pass that Cutler never should have thrown. The
Packers secondary have shown that when they get those opportunities
they convert.

This could be a close game, but I have to go with the Packers to win.
Let’s say, 31 – 20.

One note about the FOX coverage of the NFC. I love the addition of
former Overlord of Officials Mike Perreira to the booth. That guy is
never wrong. Love his analysis.

On to the AFC… The Steelers and the Jets. These two teams met one
short month ago, with the Jets prevailing in Pittsburgh 22 – 17.

Rex Ryan has been oddly quiet this week. Here’s my take… Lots of
people think Rex is just a loudmouth, and loves to hear himself in the
media. I disagree… I think he’s a lot sharper than that. He knew
last week that he and his team could get in the Pats’ head. Plus,
they needed to talk themselves into thinking they had a chance after
the way the Patriots dismantled them in their previous contest. With
their game upcoming against the Steelers, having beat them last month
quiet confidence might be the way to go. PLUS – the Pats don’t have
notorious headhunters like James Harrison and Hines Ward. That’s
right – Hines Ward. He might be a wide receiver but he’s definitely
one of the more feared players in the league.

To me the story line is going to be whether the Steelers have enough
healthy O-linemen to compete. They are just broken down! And the
league wants to go to an 18 game schedule? Based on the Steelers
health this week, and watching the Saints try to compete in the
playoffs with their 7th string running back, I just don’t think the
move to an 18 game schedule is a wise one.

Back to the game on the field… The Jets defense did a tremendous
job against the Pats. They do have a challenge this week that the
Pats didn’t present. Mike Wallace is the best vertical threat in the
AFC. And while the Jets secondary showed that they can dominate
action near the line of scrimmage, if Wallace can get behind them he
can be a game breaker. That said – if Big Ben isn’t getting any
protection, he’s not going to have the time to throw the deep ball.

Meanwhile, the Jets receiving corps have been showing off lately. Santonio Holmes makes the prettiest most artistic touchdown
catches. I think he should be nicknamed Black Swan. For his ballet
moves! (Love that movie. OMG). And Braylon Edwards is living up to
his potential.

Call me crazy, but I see both road teams prevailing this week. Jets 21 – Steelers 16

Rebecca Grant‘s super bowl bound