New Orleans Saints at the Seattle Seahawks
Saturday January 11th 4:35 P.M. on Fox
The New Orleans Saints are coming off a road win in the wildcard round against the Philadelphia Eagles which marked the first time in their franchise history that they won a road playoff game. This got the monkey off of the Saints back and Drew Brees and company return to Seattle where they were beat down by the Seahawks on Monday Night Football in week 13 by the score of 34-7. I don't see that happening again because the Saints have the talent and smarts to correct their mistakes and play better against a team like the Seahawks. The Saints have to continue to run the ball as well especially because they are on the road, against the Eagles they ran for 185 yards on 36 carries averaging 5.1 yards a carry. While they had success against the Eagles the Seahawks are a far different team but as I have already stated I don't see the Saints being blown out here.
The Seahawks clinched a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs and had a record of 7-1 at home in 2013 which shows how big an advantage playing at home is for them. While the Saints have a powerful and high flying offense the Seahawks have one of the best defenses in the league, they only gave up 14 points a game in 2013 and rank first in yards allowed per game at 273.6 yards a game. The one thorn in their side heading into the playoffs has been the play of Russell Wilson who only surpassed 200 passing yards once in the final 4 games of the season and threw 4 touchdowns to 3 interceptions. 2 of those games were at home and 1 on the road, their overall record in that span was 2-2, if the Seahawks want to win they need better play out of him. Experienced playoff teams like the Saints will take advantage of poor play and win those games.
Prediction:
The Seahawks win and Russell Wilson finds himself again, they win by a score 20-13.
San Francisco 49ers at Carolina Panthers
Sunday January 12th 1:05 P.M. on Fox
The 49ers played well against the Packers in Greenbay and left with the win with the help of the defense and especially Colin Kaepernick's great play not only with his arm but with his legs that helped extend plays and also pick up yards on the ground. Kaepernick struggled this season but was able to turn things around and Michael Crabtree's return has been one of the reason's for his turnaround. As for any team in the playoffs and especially on the road a solid run game is a must, the 49ers ranked 3rd in the regular season in rushing and ran for 167 yards on 30 carries for an average of 5.56 yards a carry. The 49ers must keep that up and use that to set up the play action to get the ball to Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree and if they can do that there is no reason to think they can't pull out a victory here.
The Carolina Panthers started off the season in a sluggish manner and it seemed that they were doomed to have another down season where high expectations would not be met, but that did not last long. The Panthers found their groove and their defense played exceptionally well to help propel them to their first NFC North title since 2008 which also happened to be the last time they made the playoffs. The Panthers were able to go on the road and beat the 49ers back in week 10 by the score of 10-9. At that point in the season Kapernick had been struggling to put together a good game, but since that he has turned things around. The Panthers do have the advantage by being at home but they will have to continue to play great defense in order to win this game.
One last thing about the Panthers is that receiver Steve Smith said he will play this weekend against the 49ers which will mark the first time he will play since he sprained his PCL in week 16. That was reported on nfl.com by Marc Sessler.
Prediction:
The Panthers win another close one 27-23, Steve Smith will make an impact by being back.
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