NFL Playoffs Championship Games Predictions

I am not sure why anyone is still reading my predictions, I haven't been particularly accurate. In fact, if you would have simply chosen the opposite of what I said, you'd be 80% accurate. But here are my thoughts anyways.

Jets at Colts: AFC Championship Game
This is a matchup of the No 1 versus No 5 seed. I am a big AFC guy and will be rooting for the winner of this game to go on and win the Super Bowl (I wish it was the Broncos). The Colts decided in week 15 to stop playing and lose to the Jets. The Jets won, and thereby snuck into the playoffs. Now the Colts get to play them at home for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Superior design? Or bad luck? We'd all like to think that the Colts had it planned to work out this way, but it may backfire. The Jets have the best defense in the league as well as the best rushing game. You can't argue with that. I really hope they win and punish the Colts for playing dead and not playing hard throughout the entire season. When they decided to stop playing, that really irritated me and got under my skin. It was very disappointing to see this. I hope the Jets come in, rush well, play good defense, and hang in long enough to pull off a win. Sorta like they did last week in San Diego. (I still can't believe that)

Unfortunately, I think Manning will pull off the win. They have too many weapons. If Revis shuts down Wayne, you still have Clark, Garcon, Collie, and others that can get open. It's a tough task, but the Jets can bring enough pressure to keep the Colts hurried and off balance. We saw that Manning can get rattled. The Ravens did it to him during the season, and the Broncos did to him the week prior to them resting and almost pulled out a win. The Jets sport the best defense and can pressure Manning. Who knows who will win. I want the Jets to beat the Colts, but I think the Colts will win in a fairly tough match up. Something like 21-17 or so. Maybe 24-21. But we aren't going to have either team go well over 30 points.

Vikes at Saints: NFC Championship Game
This is a tough game to figure out. The only game this week that is No 1 versus No 2. The Vikings have a ferocious front line and really get after quarterbacks. I think that will be the difference. The Saint's defense looks better than before, but it's a paper tiger when you really look at their statistics. They haven't played a particularly tough schedule and got ahead so quickly that the defense could blitz and get turnovers after the big lead. The Vikings should run against the Saints, and run often. The Saints defense is horrible against the run when the score is tied or 0-0. The Saint's offensive line is not going to be able to contain the Vikes pass rush. I think Brees will be running for his life all day. Of course, they could sprinkle in some screen plays to slow the rush down, but ultimately the Vikes pass rush will win the day. If Brees and the Saint's offense use faster drops and quick passes they can take advantage of the holes in the secondary and eliminate the pass rush. That is their only hope of winning. The Super Dome is a tough place to play, but teams like Dallas have shown us the way: get after the QB, and the Vikes excel in that department. Running against the Vikes defense, and the Williams brothers, is a futile experiment. Although not as stout as in years past, they will stop your run.

The Favre factor? Favre is more famous for throwing away big games than winning them. He needs to stay within himself and not try and force anything. Which he has done well this year. If he can limit his stupidity and just play within his team and within the game plan, he will do fine. I think the Vikes could run away with this one 24-10 or so.