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NFL Divisional Round Playoff Picks

Find out which road underdog will win this weekend.

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We struck gold on three out of our four picks last weekend, and this Saturday and Sunday we will attempt to strive for perfection.

The eight teams remaining have elite or near elite quarterbacks and this proves to those teams picking at the top of the draft that if you don’t already have a great quarterback, you better do all that’s possible to get one.

Let’s get to the picks:

Ravens vs. Patriots

We’ve heard all week about how Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh “own” the Patriots (and we know that they’ve won two of three at Gillette Stadium in the playoffs). Although that statistic is true, New England has never had the level of defense that they do now, and those three Ravens victories came with Ray Rice in the backfield.

Justin Forsett seems to be slowing down as the season progresses and the Ravens’ offensive line is banged up. Baltimore still has Steve Smith, who is one of the best receivers in postseason history, but the Patriots will match him with Darrelle Revis.

New England has a balanced attack, but you can expect them to attack the Ravens’ weakness on defense, which is their secondary. These are different circumstances than the previous playoff meetings – the Patriots are a better team and the Ravens simply aren’t. Therefore…

Patriots 24, Ravens 20

Panthers vs. Seahawks

The Panthers come into this game banged up, and even at full strength they don’t have a single unit on offense or defense that can compete with the Seahawks in Seattle.

The Panthers are playing with house money as they’ve already won a playoff game. As if stopping the league’s best running game isn’t tough enough, Carolina will be without Star Lotulelei at defensive tackle.

Seattle doesn’t seem to be quite as good as they were a year ago, but this is no contest.

Seahawks 31, Panthers 10

Cowboys vs. Packers

If there’s a chance that a road team wins this weekend, it’s this game. History also tells us that at least one road team will win. You can see where this is going.

The Green Bay Packers can beat anyone in football on any week, anywhere with a healthy Aaron Rodgers. Unfortunately for the Pack, Rodgers has a partially torn calf muscle and nobody really knows what to expect when he begins running at top speed.

The Cowboys overcame a horrible start last week and shook off the butterflies and found a way to get a tough win late in the game. Tony Romo should have forever shed the label of unclutch, but everyone knows that if he struggles in this game or even if he doesn’t and the Cowboys lose, he will shoulder much of the blame.

Neither team has anything resembling a great defense, and they depend on their offenses to put them in favorable situations. Neither quarterback will look great in the cold weather, but despite being a dome team, the Cowboys are better suited to play in weather.

Cowboys 20, Packers 16

Colts vs. Broncos

The Indianapolis Colts are essentially a one-man team that is in Year 3 of a complete rebuild. Indy has been in the playoffs in each of Andrew Luck’s three seasons, but as a roster they really haven’t progressed much.

Indy had a 2-4 record against playoff teams in the regular season and they were just a .500 team outside of the AFC South, which they swept.

The Denver Broncos have been largely dismissed as a Super Bowl contender in the past month or so, but they are still the defending AFC champs. They also have a first-ballot Hall of Famer at quarterback and more importantly have found a running game with a nasty defense.

Peyton Manning will play a solid game and the Broncos will put their red zone woes to rest for at least one week. C.J. Anderson will run the ball well and the Denver defense will force some turnovers. This one doesn’t seem like it will be particularly close.

Broncos 45, Colts 24

Charlie Bernstein is the managing football editor for Football Insiders and has covered the NFL for over a decade.  Charlie has hosted drive time radio for NBC and ESPN affiliates in different markets around the country, along with being an NFL correspondent for ESPN Radio and WFAN.  He has been featured on the NFL Network as well as Sirius/XM NFL Radio and has been published on Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated, ESPN as well as numerous other publications.

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