Happy New Year! While it may be a new year, it is not a new season for the NFL. The 2012 Playoffs are set to begin. Today, I'll be looking at and breaking down the AFC Wild Card matchups. On Thursday I'll be looking at the NFC Wild Card matchups. It's been an interesting year in the NFL this year, and week 17 proved that on both the AFC and NFC side of things, shifting many playoff positions, changing many fates of teams that continue on this season. For now, let's take a look at the first matchup of the AFC playoffs:
#6 - Cincinnati Bengals @ #3 - Houston Texans
Saturday, January 5th, 4:30pm EST
A few weeks ago, the Houston Texans were the best team in football. They looked unstoppable and were only a single win from clinching not only the AFC south, but homefield advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs. And then New England happened. After a 42-14 drubbing at the hands of the Patriots, the Texans clinched the AFC south with a victory over Indianapolis at home. After that, their offense failed to show up against Minnesota and Indianapolis, which allowed Denver and New England to leapfrog them in the standings. Instead of resting up for a Divisional Playoff game at home in two weeks, they're in a rematch of last year's wild card home game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals are back in the playoffs to many surprised people. After a rough patch in the middle of the season, the Bengals stabilized themselves and finished with a 10-6 record, beating the likes of Washington, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and San Diego, the Bengals look to go through the playoffs with a tough defense and serviceable offense. While the Bengals don't look fragile right now, their schedule reveals a weak schedule, along with mediocre wins at poor times. 6 of their 10 wins came against sub .500 teams, while only two came against playoff teams. Their resume is just not impressive, and while Houston is playing sloppy right now, they should be able to pull it together for another first round playoff win, and earn a rematch with New England.
Prediction: Houston - 24, Cincinnati - 13
#5 - Indianapolis Colts @ #4 - Baltimore Ravens
Sunday, January 6th, 1:00pm EST
Until the last month of the season, the Baltimore Ravens were among the short list of Super Bowl favorites. After losing four times in December, and firing offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, the Ravens look shaky, confused and old. Their defense is thin because of injuries, their offense is weak because of lackluster quarterback play. Yet still, they're the Ravens. They have Playoff experience, and have been to two of the last three AFC Championship games. They're also desperate for one more Super Bowl run, because for their leaders Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, this is most likely it. If the Ravens don't win one here, they may not have another chance for a long time.
The Indianapolis Colts on the other hand will have many chances in the future. This year has been tough for them, as coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia around Week 3, forcing him off the field until Week 17. The Colts season has surprisingly been stable. They've had streaks of 3 and 4 wins along with a couple of wins early on and are currently on a two-game streak. They're led by rookie quarterback Andrew Luck. Luck has thrown a lot of interceptions this year, but his defense has picked up the slack surprisingly when his team has needed it. Since Pagano has recently returned the questions are when the emotions will get the better of them and if the coaching change from interim to regular head coach will have an impact or not? If it doesn't happen this, it most certainly will in the second round, in what may be a showdown between the Colts and Broncos.
Prediction: Indianapolis - 31, Baltimore - 13
That's it for my AFC wild card predictions. On Thursday I'll look at the NFC wild card games as well as make my predictions for them.
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