National Football League playoffs, picks against the spread: Chiefs can continue their run

KC shut out AFC South champ Houston, 30-0, last Saturday to advance to the divisional round. Aims for 5th playoff game in row with 97 rating. If he plays well, the Chiefs have a chance for their first AFC Championship game appearance since losing to Jim Kelly and the K-Gun in Buffalo two decades ago. Four great games are slated for Saturday and Sunday: Patriots vs. Chiefs on Saturday at 4:35, Packers vs. Cardinals on Saturday at 8:15, Panthers vs. Seahawks on Sunday at 1:05, and Broncos vs. Steelers on Sunday at 4:40. Brady’s effectiveness is greatly diminished when he’s under pressure. Brady and Edelman make enough plays to eke out a win, but Alex Smith and the pesky Chiefs keep it inside the number. Who knows whether that’s true or not, but the Packers are going to need Rodgers at his free-wheeling best in order to come out with a victory, and if they do, and if Seattle upsets No. 1 seed Carolina, the NFC Championship Game would be played at Lambeau Field. They finished with the second-best record in the NFL.

The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers each find themselves as 7-point underdogs. The Packers can’t win this game without Lacy being a major threat. Arizona’s defense ranks 5th compared to Green Bays 15th. If Seattle wins, I think it’s because they were able to run the football with success, and that only happens with him playing well. In Week 16 this same matchup occurred in Arizona when the Arizona Cardinals beat the Green Bay Packers, 38-8. Palmer and the talented receiving corps have ravaged better secondaries than Green Bay’s this season. Meanwhile, last time we saw Arizona, they got clobbered by Seattle.

Impact on the playoffs: The Panthers posted the best regular season record in the NFL in 2015, during which they became the sixth team in league history to finish a season 15-1. Quarterback Cam Newton likely secured a league MVP award while leading his team to the NFC South title and home-field advantage through the playoffs. It was all capped by Blair Walsh missing a 27-yard field goal that would have won it for Minnesota.

Seattle has never lost to Carolina in the postseason: 2-0 straight-up and against-the-spread.

Jay Busbee, Kevin Kaduk and I argued the point on the Grandstanding podcast previewing this weekend’s games; I’d pick Week 1 of the National Football League season as the best, for reasons I explained near the end of the podcast. This is a Week 6 rematch, won by Carolina at Seattle after Cam Newton completed two – yes, two!

All in all, it’s not too far-fetched to think the Seahawks and Chiefs could meet in the Super Bowl.

Look for the deep ball to help Arizona, and David Johnson to have a big game.

Since the game was so recent, not a lot has changed since then.

Rodgers and company face the unenviable tough task of trying to throw the ball against the Cardinals’ eighth-ranked passing defense, per our metrics.

“It was great to see Peyton Manning smile once again”, said Fouts after he returned to lead the Broncos to a 27-20 victory over the Chargers in the regular season finale. Will anyone ever forget the Cincinnati Bengals meltdown in the final minute to give away a game to the Pittsburgh Steelers?

Brady should have his full complement of receivers for the first time since Week 10 when the Patriots beat the New York Giants. However, Houston was shaky last week at Houston in his first game back from a knee injury and playing with a bulky brace. Landry Jones is his backup. He’ll have to be to match the 3rd best overall offense of the Steelers. If his health is an issue in the game, New England could be in some trouble. Manning may do more handing off than dropping back for Denver, as the Broncos may seek to control the clock and use their running game against the sometimes porous Pittsburgh defense.