Championship Games

In contrast to Wild Card week, I went 4 for 4 so I'm at .500 when it comes to picking. From that we can deduce that I will get one game right and one game wrong.

1. New England Patriots at Denver Broncos - I didn't watch most of the New England game so I only saw the break away when the wheels came completely off for Indianapolis. New England looked good, but anyone can look good when they break for 50+ yard runs and the other team has been forced to abandon the running game while only having one good wide receiver. In contrast to many of the sports writers out there, I didn't think that Denver looked that good. San Diego did a very good job of keeping the offense in check and it was the same passing failing that we saw in the first half of the Cincinnati game that kept San Diego off the scoreboard for three quarters. Even with a depleted offense, I don't see Tom Brady missing as many of those wide open receivers. But, New England's defense is not as big or strong as San Diego and Indianapolis was able to put 22 points on the board (keeping it to within one score) until things fell apart in the second half. The first meeting this season was close and New England rallied to win at home. I'm going to stick with Denver, only because I think Tom Brady is still missing a genuine go-to guy.

2. San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks - Seattle's offense is still mediocre at best. New Orleans had a real shot to win that game, especially if Marshawn Lynch is removed from the equation. It is true that San Francisco has not won in Seattle for several seasons now, but Seattle hasn't won in San Francisco either. San Francisco has more weapons than they had in their last meeting and they did a pretty good job against a good defensive team in the form of Carolina. Carolina arguably has the better offense as well and the Niners did a good job containing them. I picked a Denver-Seattle Superbowl and I'd still like to see that, but I'm not feeling Seattle at this time. They seem to be lacking something, despite that great defense. I'm going to pick San Francisco to get over the hump in Seattle and take the rubber match, although I think it will be a close match.