I have Changed the Pole to reflect the next round.

Well, it's finally here.

There is no tomorrow.

Each team has to show up or go home for the season. Who is going to get beat up on and who is going be giving the beat downs? I have removed the normal team list, as the above teams are what we got until next year. Of course we can discuss other teams, coaching changes, possible trades/drafts and other what not. But, really. It's Playoff Time!!! The big dogs are out to play and the boys will be sent packing.

In case your wondering, I am excited about the playoff's this year!!!

OK, I want the Colts to win so we can spank them the next week, I think the Chargers are going to win, at least I hope so as I know we can beat them.

Not sure about the NFC, I just know I don't want to face either the Saints or the Seagulls in the Superbowl. So, I picked against them.

Colts - I think the Chiefs are too banged up on D and Smith won't lead his team on offense the way Luck can.

Bengals - Overall I think the better team, but it will be a close game.

Eagles - Simple tendencies here. Eagles are the hottest team going into the playoffs (7-1 in the second half), and the Saints are a bad road team and worse when the weather is cold. Forecast in the area calls for snow Thursday and Friday, with Saturday a high of 33. More balanced team offensively with the Eagles, and their defense has a bend-dont-break feel to it and make big plays late in the game.

49ers - This will be a wild one and with Rodgers back, the Pack is a different team. That said I think the 49ers are more dynamic and also better than their record considering they played in the toughest division this year.

All the road teams.

Good luck with the Saints...

From the last thread

Whisenhunt got Ben Roethlesberger off on the right foot, did a good job using play calling to compensate for Kurt Warner's unique strengths and weaknesses, and has markedly improved Phillip Rivers mechanics. He's a good coach and a good playcaller. Other possibilities would be Lovie Smith, who is respected enough that he could bring in a really strong OC. Schwartz never did, I suspect for fear of the OC getting promoted into his job. That's frequently a problem when a defensive coach gets their first head coaching job. There's some other good prospects around too; offensive coordinators from some of the playoff teams will be hot prospects for sure, and as I said, Detroit is probably the best available job.

My picks:

I got Colts over the Chiefs.
Bengals beat Chargers
Saints defeating the Eagles
Packers beating the 9ers

I'm not saying thats what I want to have happen but just how I see things going. I would really like to see SanFran win over Green Bay though.

I'm surprised to see the 49ers being picked so heavily. Rodgers coming back completely changes that dynamic. I did still pick the 49ers, but thought there would be plenty of people taking the Packers at home, and I wouldn't argue the point with those who did. I think that's the closest call of the weekend.

Full brackets from the previous thread, which I stuck with for the poll.

AFC:

Chargers at Bengals...I take Bengals in a rout.

Chiefs at Colts...much tougher to call, but I'll take Chiefs

Which would mean

Chiefs at Broncos...I'll take Broncos

Bengals at Patriots...I'll take Patriots

Which makes the showdown Patriots at Broncos, and I'll take Patriots as AFC champs.

NFC...

49ers at Packers...close, but I'll take the 49ers

Saints at Eagles...I'll take the Eagles over the not-road-warriors

Which makes

49ers at Seahawks...the showdown, and Seahawks win again at home

Eagles at Panthers...the young Panthers are a little too satisfied, let down, and lose

so NFC championship, Eagles at Seahawks and Eagles get mauled.

Chiefs over Colts are the only thing I'm %100 about

1: Colts. The Chiefs surprised most people this year. Especially since they had the worst overall record last year and hadn't been really good for quite a while. But The Colts has more experience in the payoffs. It might come down to who has the better offense since KC's D is banged up and the Colts' D is usually not good. And Andrew Luck in my opinion is a better QB than Smith despite being his second season.

2: I don't know much about both teams. So I'm only picking the Bengals because they have a better season record. SD does seem to be consistent at being inconsistent. (Upsetting KC and Indy while getting beat up by lesser teams.) So I guess it really depends on how bas Cincy wants it or if SD has a good performance.

3: I picked Saints in the Poll but now I'm thinking I don't know who could win. The Saints does have an overall better record than Philly (I think) But Philly does seem to be quite hot in the second half of the season. I guess it probably comes down to who's offense is better.

4: I picked the 49ers. It probably will be a good game now that Rodgers is back, especially since Green Bay wants payback from Week One and their playoff loss last year. But SF will probably win a close one because I feel that they have a better rounded team than Green Bay. This year showed how much a difference Arron made to the team, given their bad secondary and makeshift O-Line.

Colts over the Chiefs

Bengals over the Chargers

Iggles over the Saints

Niners over the Packers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_mRefbHy1M&feature=youtu.be.

I'd say the sure thing of the weekend is Bengals over Chargers myself. The Chargers just squeaked past the Chiefs' second string. They have no business at all playing Cincinnati.

There is something real satisfying about watching Reggie Rivers lose. Probably because he is such a sore winner.

At least he's consistent...he's a sore loser too. And yeah, I'll watch the Bengal game to the bitter end, even if it is an epic blowout, just to see him throw a tantrum.

Colts over the Chiefs - In looking at the season's schedule, the Colts had a better record considering the opponents they faced. Not saying the Chiefs had it easy, but they had it easy.

Bengals over the Chargers - Bengals know the Chargers well that the "unpredictable" gameplay is predictable. Plus, bias.

Saints over the Eagles - Playoff history may not mean a thing for these two teams, but alas, I can't ignore it. The Eagles seem to just get all twisted about in the playoffs. Nervousness? Anxiety? Pride? Who knows, but I'm not confident they've overcome this.

Packers over 49ers - Call it a hunch, but Green Bay tends to be one major force in the latter part of the season, which is generally a good sign of playoff wins. Without any bye weeks, this momentum can actually be in their favor. Not sure if it's strong enough for the Superbowl, but they'll fight to get there.

I tend to notice teams with byes tend to do worse than those teams who don't relax. The final game, usually taken as a loss, often has key players sitting out to prevent injury. Given this, plus a bye, no amount of practice makes up for the real thing. Maybe it's just me, but I don't find this a coincidence.

Right, Patriots one game short of a perfect season?

Thanks for answering this from the previous thread. Fortunately Detroit fired OC Scott Linehan along with Schwartz so we don't have to worry about him getting promoted to Head coach. I also heard a lot of talk about Lovie Smith being the number one candidate for the Tampa Bay job for reasons I don't remember.

It's the Bengals though, who at any moment could be the 'Bengals'.

That might only make sense to me cause I live in Cincinnati.

If the cheifs can get past the wild card, I'll be a happy man about the cheifs season. Well, I already am, but if we get into the actual playoffs that would be an amazing turnaround

Chiefs over the Colts
Bengals over the Chargers
Eagles over the Saints
49ers over the Packers.

Looking objectively I'd say a lot of those 'Bengals moments' were just the reality of getting as far as they had the talent to go. I don't recall many cases where they lost when they were really the better team. Generally speaking teams that have a 'playoff let down' according to their fans are really just reaching their natural limit and getting beaten by a better team. In the playoffs that is.

Just about every team lays the occasional egg in the regular season that can't be explained. Look at the Eagles. They went 7-1 in the second half of the season, scoring points like there was no better team on the planet...and their one loss they got blown out by the Minnesota Vikings.

True to an extent, but then I can point to several play-off rounds when my Chiefs should have at least progressed past the first round(since I've been a fan(around 20 years now), they have NEVER made it past first round in playoffs), for example: The year we went 15-1 when Joe Montana became our quarterback. We lost to the *multiple expletives deleted* Dolphins >< We didn't lose to a better team then, we were not our limit, or anything. Chiefs just have a curse on them when it comes to the playoffs. Kinda like the Red Sox did for so long. Hopefully we finally break that curse this year.

I picked Colts, Bengals, Saints, & 49ers to move on. If I get one of them right I'll be happy.

Gotta say your timing is bad...21 years ago they made it to the AFC championship game. Unfortunately that's the last time they won a playoff game. Don't tell anyone, they might blame you. There's a curse breaking ritual where they light a fan on fire.

If you go to http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/kan/playoffs.htm it lists all their playoff games. There are definitely some that would have been tough to call going in (the season KC and Denver slugged it out for the division with KC going 13-3 and Denver going 12-4) but nothing where KC would have been heavy favorites. When they went 13-3 they lost to teams that were at least 12-4, and the year they lost to the Dolphins they were 9-7 and probably significant underdogs going into Miami against Dan Marino...even with Montana. Montana was well past his prime and Marino was at the top of his game.

Good news in my opinion though. Andy Reid is a heck of a coach, Peyton Manning is going to get old really soon, and the Chiefs are likely to be the power in the AFC west for most of the next fifteen years. Just hang in there.

Chiefs over Colts. This one could be close, though.

Bengals over Chargers. I just do not see San Diego being good enough and Cincinnati is a good all-around team.

Eagles over Saints. I think Philly is too good and with the Saints troubles on the road this year...

Packers over 49ers. San Fran is a better team overall, but Green Bay just has "something" that gets it done.

Welcome to how it usually feels to be a Falcons fan.