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Christian Living

thefinishline 01/20/11

Bears, Packers, Steelers, Jets: Who's Going to North Texas?

by Shawn Brown

Well,  after a weekend of surprises in the NFL Divisional Series the Packers are headed to Chicago, and the Jets are headed to Pittsburgh. Please allow me be the first to confess that I (along with several others) was very wrong about the outcome of the playoffs.

Most football analysts, reporters, and even fans base their opinions largely on stats. What did the particular player do while on the field? How did he perform against this team…that team etc? What did this team’s defense do against this style offense or that style offense and vice versa? The problem with analyzing like that is… this is football!

Whichever team makes the least amount of mistakes and capitalizes on opportunities presented during a given game, they win. Case closed. Such is the case with the Seattle Seahawks. Who would’ve thought they would have defeated the New Orleans Saints. They came up short against the Bears, but the point still holds true. Any team can win on any given Sunday, Monday, or Thursday.

With that in mind, I thought  I’d  take a jab at predicting the outcome of the AFC and NFC championship games this weekend.  For the NFC Championship I really would love to see Chicago Head Coach Lovie Smith get another shot at a Super Bowl Championship, but I can’t deny that Aaron Rogers and the rest of the Packers have been exceptionally impressive this season.

Though the Pack are ranked #3 in total offense this postseason behind the Bears who are at #2, I’m going with the Packers in this match up.  By the stats it would seem the Bears might have the edge. After all, they are ranked #3 in passing yards, and #1 in rushing this postseason. But the Packers defense is Ranked 3rd in total defense in front of the Bears. They are ranked 6th in pass defense and 3rd in rushing defense. While this match up would seem to be close, I’m going with my gut on this one simply because the Packers just defied the odds and did what many other teams could not…beat the Atlanta Falcons in their house! Based on that fact alone, again, I’m going with the Packers.

 Now the AFC Championship on the other hand, is a much tighter matchup. In this match up I’m going with…the Steelers! Why? Because this will be a defensive game. The Steelers are ranked #1 in total defense. Specifically, they are #1 in pass defense, and #2 in rushing defense. Though the Jets are ranked #2 in rushing and rushed for 106 yards the last time these two teams clashed, that was without the Troy Polamalu moving towards the line of scrimmage. He will be the key to stopping the Jets ground attack. 

The Jets air assault looks promising but again the Steelers are ranked #1 in pass defense this postseason. Now that’s just the stats. As I stated any team can win on any given day, but on experience alone. I’m still going with the Steelers. They’ve been here before and know how to get it done. The Jets were just here last year at this time but came up short against Peyton Manning and the Colts. Will their hunger be enough to handle Big Ben, Troy Polamalu and the rest of the Steelers crew? Well, it will all come down to Mark Sanchez whose confidence, I must admit, is at an all time high.

So who’s going to North Texas…. The Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers!                 

 

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