NFL Picks & Pans: Divisional Round Edition

Wild Card weekend went exactly as I predicted, going 4-0 in my picks, including of course the Baltimore Ravens 24-9 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Hopefully, the Ravens will shock the football world and get their revenge on the Denver Broncos, but you'll just have to wait for my 'Preview & Prediction' post this afternoon to read my outlook on the game.

In the meantime, here's my take on the other three games this weekend:

Packers over 49ers (Saturday, 8pm ET): While it would be real sweet to have a Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh Super Bowl match-up, the odds of that happening are among the longest of all the possible combinations. This season, we have seen San Francisco beat Green Bay, but tie and lose to the St. Louis Rams plus get drilled by the New England Patriots. There is definitely a chink in the 49ers defensive armor and if any offensive powerhouse can find it, it's Aaron Rodgers and company. Despite the game being on the left coast, I just have to go with the experienced QB over the young kid with all the chips on the line.

Falcons over Seahawks (Sunday, 1pm ET): I so want to go with Seattle in this game and a lot of people will be picking them to come back to the east coast and win on the road again.However, I actually will be taking Atlanta and Matt Ryan to finally win a post season game for the first time in his career. The home field advantage will give them the edge and having to come from the west coast to DC one week, then back home, then back to the east coast again will catch up with a solid Seahawks team that has played lights out the last month or so.

Patriots over Texans (Sunday, 4:30pm ET): Just because a team crushes another one in the regular season does not mean they will do it again in the post season (See Ravens-Broncos). However, it also doesn't mean the outcome will be any different either. New England is just too good to lose this game and while I could see the Ravens going to Foxboro and beating the Pats next week, I don't see Houston doing so this week. Their defense has just not been as impressive lately as it was for most of the regular season and against an offensive juggernaut like Tom Brady and his crew, I just cannot see Matt Schaub rising to the next level after dropping from the #1 overall seed to the #3 seed on the final critical weekend of the regular season.

Last Week: 4-0

Season Record: 168-92-1

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