🏈🏈🏈🏈
Saturday Games
LA Rams at Green Bay - The Packers worked hard to earn home field advantage throughout the playoffs. But they did earn it, and have now taken some of the benefits from it, having enjoyed a week off while all the other remaining NFC teams were in action. Now, they will reap the other major benefit from the top seed, which is, of course, home field advantage. It is expected to be cold, but not particularly brutal, for Saturday's game. Still, the Rams are a warm weather team, and playing at Lambeau Field in mid-January can be a bit of a hindrance for many teams. After all, it should be more or less mild by northern Wisconsin standards for this time of the year, but it will be cold, and the Rams are a warm weather football team who play home games shielded in a dome. Yet, the Rams did earn a big victory last weekend at Seattle, outplaying their division rivals. They put in a huge effort, and were rewarded with a road postseason win, and a chance to play on. But the Rams are not as familiar with the Packers as they were with the Seahawks. This will be an intriguing match, because it pits the number one offense against the number one defense. My guess is that the Rams defense will have their hands full, although if they can pressure Aaron Rodgers and that dangerous Packer offense, they will give themselves a shot. More troubling, however, is the Rams offense, which has looked very pedestrian too often this season. They were held to 20 points or less in half of their games this season, and it seems likely that they would need more than 20 points to be able to win this one. I suspect that the Rams defense will keep it close for a while, but that the offense will not produce enough to take full advantage. Inevitably, I see Green Bay taking over in the second half and pulling away to advance to a second straight NFC title game. My pick: Green Bay
Baltimore at Buffalo – This is a very tough game to predict. Both teams are among the hottest teams in the league right now, and it is not difficult to envision a scenario for either team to win. The Bills have home field advantage, although it should be quite mild by Buffalo area standards for mid-January. Still, they are playing some lights out football, and have to be feeling good after their first playoff win as a franchise in a quarter of a century. But the Ravens also are coming in with a ton of momentum. They look like the elite team that they appeared to be earlier this season and through most of last season. The offense is, once again, tough and unpredictable, with Lamar Jackson capable of burning teams either with his arms or his legs. They could keep Buffalo's decent, but not quite elite, defense stretched out and with their hands full all game long. The Bills themselves have an explosive offense themselves, ranking second in the league behind Green Bay. But the Ravens also have the number two ranked defense, which means that this will be a real battle. This feels like it could go either way, frankly. I could see this going down to the wire, a very close game that could be for the taking in the final minutes. But my gut is telling me that, somehow, the Ravens will find a way to win this one, edging out the Bills in the end. My pick: Baltimore
No comments:
Post a Comment