NFL Divisional Playoffs - How it goes down

Now things have gotten real. 6 of the 8 teams in this round were in this very round last year. The two newbies being Seattle & Atlanta. Saturday's evening games are between the Baltimore Ravens visiting the Denver Broncos at 4:30 (CBS). At 8pm (Fox) the Green Bay Packers to travel 49ers. In Sunday's match-ups you'll see the Seattle Seahawks head on down to the Georgia Dome to play the Atlanta Falcons at 1pm (Fox). The last game of the weekend will have the Houston Texans leaving the comfort of Reliant Stadium to hit the always frozen & welcoming Gillette Stadium. I'll give you my run-down on who wins...and why.

Ravens @ Broncos:

Gosh, America its really hard picking against Ray Lewis after the emotional ride he took the world through this past weekend at his last home game as a Raven. Boldin also stepped it up a ton in the second half. Anything Flacco threw up, he pulled down. It was a thing of beauty to watch. Not too sure that will work in the thin Denver air though. Major thing though. Can Ray Rice hold on to the ball. The two fumbles he gave away were total drive killers! I don't know people.....It will be very tough to top the Manning-led Broncos who have been on a complete roll. Although the playoffs are not Peyton Manning's specialty, I think whoopin' the Broncos put on the Ravens a few weeks ago was indicative enough on how this game is probably going to go. I'll say the Ravens put forth a better effort this time around though.

HeartLess Picks: Denver Broncos 24-20


Packers @ 49ers:

Anyone else out there think that the winner of this game probably gets the nod as team most likely to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl? Just me? Nahhhhh, couldn't be. But really America, I was hoping this would be the NFC Championship game next week, but I guess another great Divisional Round game in San Fran will do. (Remember last years Epic Saints/Niners game?....of course ya do) Now earlier this year the Niners ran smack over the Packers en route to a 30-22 victory in the early stages of the season. Frank Gore looked purely unstoppable down the stretch, racking up 112 off of just 16 carries. Fast forward to Saturday. Gore still is running like a man on a mission but there's another threat on the ground. Kaepernick. The 2nd year man makes his first playoff start and all eyes will be on him. As they should be, if he can guide the 49ers through a clock-controlled game, they will win. BUT, if they let Aaron Rodgers get hot and find a way to protect him, he'll light that secondary up. Too many weapons for him not to. This has to be the game of the week. No other way around it.

HeartLess Picks: Green Bay Packers 27-24


Seahawks @ Falcons:

I am sure that we all watched the Seahawks game last week. And I'm sure we know how that game turned out and why it turned out that way. No need to even bring it up here, because now we'll see if the Seahawks are a team that's ready to take a giant leap into "Elite-Team" status or is it a "team on the rise". This game will answer the same questions for the Falcons. Is it finally Matt Ryan's time to lead his team to that next frontier? I think it is. The Falcons are just a real complete team that is healthy beyond means right now. If they can out ball Seattle's secondary, this one should be a close but winnable game.

HeartLess Picks: Falcons 21-10


Texans @ Patriots:

I am almost positive this was the LAST place the Houston Texans wanted to travel to after their win last week. They're probably still hurting after slipping so badly during the month of December. But hey, it is what it is and now here comes good ol Tom Brady and the New England Patriots ready to do what they do best in the playoffs.....win. I highly doubt this game will be the blowout the Patriots served the Texans earlier in December, but unless the Texans find a way to contain the very efficient Patriot offense, they don't stand a chance.

HeartLess Picks: Patriots 34 - 24