It has honestly been a long time since the NFL Conference championship games have had 4 teams we wouldn't be surprised make it this far in a long time. The Broncos and Seahawks were heavy favorites coming into the season, and the 49er's and Patriots were in the same position last year. The last time the lowest record of any team in these two games was 12-4 was in the 1998 season, the last year the Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl. Will history repeat itself? Let me break down the games.
New England Patriots(13-4) @ Denver Broncos(14-3)
We all remember that game in Foxboro this past November, but now for Peyton Manning and company there is a nice change of scenery. Unlike the past 3 Manning-Brady bowls, Peyton is hosting this one. The two first ballot hall of fame quarterbacks have met 3 times in the playoffs before, all with the home team winning and eventually going on to win the Super Bowl. I think history will follow the same pattern again with a Broncos victory, here is how it will go down.
Denver's defense will shut down the Patriots run game. New England had 200+ yards against the Colts last week, and 6 touchdowns, but no way that happens again. The Broncos have only allowed 1 100-yard rusher all season long, and that includes the likes of Lesean McCoy and Jamaal Charles. As bad as the Denver secondary has been all year the rush defense has been in the top 10 for the NFL. Don't expect the Patriots to get nearly as much going on the ground.
This is a revenge game for Denver. Last year the Broncos got caught in the Ravens revenge game but this year the Broncos are the one seeking revenge, and they already got it against San Diego. The Broncos won't be blowing any big leads if they get one this time around. The main thing about this game is the fact that it is in Denver. The weather isn't looking all that bad based on early forecasts and the crowd noise will be insane at Mile High Stadium. The home field is what will eventually propel the Broncos to victory over New England.
Broncos 30 Patriots 24
Monday, January 13, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
My Top 5 Best Predictions of 2013
2013 was a crazy ride for the NFL. We saw two games in which a Quarterback threw 7 touchdown passes(0 since 1969 before this year), we saw the Denver Broncos offense become the highest scoring team in the history of the league fueled by it record shattering QB Peyton Manning(55 TD's, 5477 yards in 2013), we saw teams records change drastically(Texans 12 wins in 2012, 2 in 2013), and most importantly we saw a league with good games all around and no one dominate team. The playoff race is wide open, but this is a recap of the 2013 season from my predictions that I made weekly on this blog. Let's see my top 5 best predictions for this past year.
5. Danny Amendola leaving the Saints @ Patriots game with an injury. I know it is an awful thing to predict someone would get injured in a game, but I had this odd feeling it would happen in that game. Oddly enough, it turns out I was correct as Amendola left the game in the 4th quarter after a nasty(but legal) hit.
4. Predicting 3 Vikings upsets. In the last 5 weeks of the season, I called every game the Minnesota Vikings played in correctly. That included 3 upsets of teams with better records. The first was their victory over the Chicago Bears in overtime. The second was their defeat of the Philadelphia Eagles who came in to the game scourging hot only to be cooled by the Minneapolis winter. Finally I called them to beat the Detroit Lions in week 16 by 1 point and that is exactly what they did.
3. My biggest upset pick of the year, Rams over Saints. I sometimes like to read comments on ESPN or NFL Network.com to see what other people were thinking about the upcoming games. No one, literally no one was picking this Rams upset. I even commented on a cocky Saints fans post about how they were going to win by at least 30 and he thought I was insane for picking Saint Louis. Even none of the "experts" on ESPN picked the Rams to win but it turns out they did. So, who do you think got the last laugh?(it was obviously me)
2. Calling the exact score for the Raiders @ Cowboys game. You would think that calling scores for over 200 games would lend itself to many instances like this but you're wrong. It is way harder than you think to get a score exactly right. But that particular Thanksgiving was different as I said I thought the Boys would win over the Raiders 31-24 and that is exactly what happened. Wasn't my only Thanksgiving day victory, as I called every game that day correctly.
1. Predicting Peyton Manning's 51st TD pass. I said before the Broncos @ Texans game that Manning was going to throw his 51st touchdown in the 4th quarter to Julius Thomas to break Tom Brady's record. That is indeed what happened. I couldn't believe my eyes when Peyton threw his way into the record book just the way I imagined it. It was a special moments and as Peyton being my favorite player, it really made me feel good.
5. Danny Amendola leaving the Saints @ Patriots game with an injury. I know it is an awful thing to predict someone would get injured in a game, but I had this odd feeling it would happen in that game. Oddly enough, it turns out I was correct as Amendola left the game in the 4th quarter after a nasty(but legal) hit.
4. Predicting 3 Vikings upsets. In the last 5 weeks of the season, I called every game the Minnesota Vikings played in correctly. That included 3 upsets of teams with better records. The first was their victory over the Chicago Bears in overtime. The second was their defeat of the Philadelphia Eagles who came in to the game scourging hot only to be cooled by the Minneapolis winter. Finally I called them to beat the Detroit Lions in week 16 by 1 point and that is exactly what they did.
3. My biggest upset pick of the year, Rams over Saints. I sometimes like to read comments on ESPN or NFL Network.com to see what other people were thinking about the upcoming games. No one, literally no one was picking this Rams upset. I even commented on a cocky Saints fans post about how they were going to win by at least 30 and he thought I was insane for picking Saint Louis. Even none of the "experts" on ESPN picked the Rams to win but it turns out they did. So, who do you think got the last laugh?(it was obviously me)
2. Calling the exact score for the Raiders @ Cowboys game. You would think that calling scores for over 200 games would lend itself to many instances like this but you're wrong. It is way harder than you think to get a score exactly right. But that particular Thanksgiving was different as I said I thought the Boys would win over the Raiders 31-24 and that is exactly what happened. Wasn't my only Thanksgiving day victory, as I called every game that day correctly.
1. Predicting Peyton Manning's 51st TD pass. I said before the Broncos @ Texans game that Manning was going to throw his 51st touchdown in the 4th quarter to Julius Thomas to break Tom Brady's record. That is indeed what happened. I couldn't believe my eyes when Peyton threw his way into the record book just the way I imagined it. It was a special moments and as Peyton being my favorite player, it really made me feel good.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)