Justin's Divisional Predictions

Well, I got three out of the four games right. New York vs. Tampa, on paper, looked like a battle of who was worse. I didn't get a chance to watch the game but it appeared as though New York won with a surprisingly balanced attack, utilizing 30 running plays to 27 passes. Good strategy. Time for predictions:

NFC

Seattle @ Green Bay

This is a game that is surprisingly very very close to call. Looking at records alone, Green Bay is the far superior, but as long as both teams play to their best, then they are very very even teams. The outcome of this game, in my mind, depends on two factors: the weather and Shaun Alexander. Weather.com has the Saturday high at a chilly 26 degrees. If it dips below that, it may actually favor Seattle as history and the game against Chicago in Week 16 shows that Brett Favre is surprisingly poor in cold weather. The Seattle defense also plays an important role in this game. If they start pressuring Favre early in the game, he will start getting wild with his passes as Week 13 against Dallas showed. Shaun Alexander's role in this game is huge. If he brings his A game and takes the pressure off of Hasselbeck and the passing game, then the game may be Seattle's to win. It's a risky call, but I'm choosing Seattle in what should be a very close game.

New York @ Dallas

Under normal conditions this game would be easy to call. Dallas at full strength is a much better team and matches up well with New York. If Terrell Owens wins, this game is a victory. If Terry Glenn plays also, then it's a blowout. This is a game that is almost impossible to predict due to the mystery of who exactly is going to play for Dallas. I will go out on a limb and say that even if he is at less than 100 percent, TO will not miss this game. Dallas will win, but not by as much as they are fully capable of.

AFC

Jacksonville @ New England

Jacksonville beat a better defense in Pittsburgh by using a balanced attack and a very good running arsenal. It was a close victory, but a victory in which Jacksonville scored 24 points on the league's best defense. I think as long as the Jacksonville defense can keep Tom Brady's receiving corps under close cover then they can win this game. New England's rushing defense is good, but they are going against the second best rushing team in the league. Between Fred Taylor, Maurice Jones-Drew, and David Garrard, Jacksonville can throw a lot in the Patriots direction. Obviously this is a risky prediction to make, but I think Jacksonville wins this game.

San Diego @ Indianapolis

I'm not going to play the garbage "this team has this team's number" game because with free agency and trades and what not, teams aren't the same year to year. What I will look at is a San Diego team that struggled against Tennessee. San Diego's only chance of winning this game is having LT run the ball at Indy's league average rushing defense. All in all I just don't see San Diego scoring enough to hang with Indy from Week 17, much less an Indy that has Marvin Harrison back. I say Indianapolis wins this one. The big question is whether it is a shootout or a blowout.

If my predictions are correct, then we have a rematch from last year's Wild Card of Dallas against Seattle and a very good matchup of Jacksonville against Indianapolis. My predictions may of course change as injury reports come out.