NFL Playoff Divisional Round Preview

     The NFL Divisional Round playoffs open this upcoming weekend with 4 Divisional Games on tap. These second round games should be very interesting and entertaining. The first round of Wild card games were full of suspense and intrigue so this round should even be better. The carousel of Head Coaching vacancies were mostly filled this past week with the exception of the Titans HC position which is rumored to be Josh McDaniels after the Patriots run in the playoffs. The  Detroit Lions were the final team to decide on their HC for next year and they chose to retain HC Jim Caldwell for at least one more year! All 4 Road Teams won last weekend for the 1st time in NFL Playoff History. Here is a quick breakdown of the games this weekend.
     In the first game of the weekend, it is the KC Chiefs at the New England Patriots. The Chiefs coming off a dominant win at Houston could be without star WR Jeremy Maclin and also Justin Houston and Tamba Hali. The Chiefs who have won eleven straight games will be facing a rested but also injured Patriots team on Saturday. Bill Belichick will have his team ready and a win will fall on the shoulders of QB Tom Brady and his depleted corps of receivers. Forecast will be a wet and raining game and ball control will be very important for both teams.
     The second game on Saturday features the Green Bay Packers at the Arizona Cardinals. The Packers moved on to play the Cardinals after putting on an explosive offensive show for the first time in a long time in beating the Redskins to advance to a rematch with the Cardinals. The Cardinals used the extra week off to rebound from the shellacking they took from the Seahwaks and to rest their injured players on both sides of the ball. In week 16, the Cardinals tore apart the Packers and won easily 38-8. This time the game should be much closer with each team focusing on moving onto the NFC Championship game with a win. The weather will not be a factor at all as they are playing in Arizona.
    On Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks travel to play the Carolina Panthers  in a game that weather could play a part in with a chance of light snow in the forecast. The Seahawks prevailed in Minnesota as the Vikings missed a game winning FG in the waning seconds and allowed Seattle to move on. The Seahawks will have RB Lynch back for this game and the Panthers after a week of extra rest, should have most of their injured starters back for this game. Both teams faced off earlier this year in Seattle in a game which was won in the final seconds by the Panthers. This should be another great defensive game and not turning over the ball will be crucial to winning the game.
     The second game on Sunday pits the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Denver Borncos  in a rematch of the game in week 10 that saw the Steelers overcome a huge deficit and beat the Broncos late in the 4th quarter. The Broncos had a extra week off and rested their players and should be ready to go. QB Manning is expected to start for the Broncos. In the meantime, the Steelers won a wild and very physical game against the Bengals that saw QB Roethlisberger hurt his throwing shoulder and star WR Antonio Brown go down with a concussion. Brown is out for this game and Big Ben will play but how long he can play and how well he plays is still up in the air. Weather will not be a factor as of right now, the weather will be a balmy 40 degrees and sunny on Sunday afternoon.
     Cooper the #NFL Analyst was 188-58 in his picks during the season, he was 3-1 in the Wild Card games and We will record his picks and how He does throughout the NFL playoffs.   @cupofjoeintheD

Cooper playing after making his NFL Playoff picks for this weekend.

 

			NFL Playoffs - Divisional Games
						CupofJoe		Cooper
Kansas City at New England						NE		NE
Green Bay at Arizona						Arizona		Arizona
Seattle at Carolina						Carolina		Carolina
Pittsburgh at Denver						Denver		Denver