By Dylan Ehle (@PaleEhle on Twitter)
Last year, I picked the Giants to go the whole way to the Superbowl. That was a bold prediction, and no one believed me until the final whistle sounded.
Everyone wrote them off in the first round against the Atlanta Falcons. When they won that game everyone said it was a fluke, and that they had no chance to beat the Green Bay Packers, who were 15-1, had wrapped up home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and were led by MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers at home in historic Lambeau Field. However, I knew the Giants' front four would present a huge challenge to the Packers and called the huge upset correctly. In the NFC Championship Game, the Giants were again underdogs, this time to Jim Harbaugh's San Francisco 49ers. The pundits all said that the defense of the 49ers would slow down Eli Manning, and that the Giants defense would be gassed from two long games against great offenses. I still stuck with the Giants, and was rewarded with yet another victory, with pushed them into the Superbowl. The Giants just couldn't get any respect that postseason because they were dogs once again, this time to the New England Patriots. I called another Giant upset because of the immense pressure that the front four would create against Tom Brady. Once again I was correct, making me 4-0 in calling the Giants in their entire postseason run.
This year, the Giants were unable to make the playoffs. If they had, I would be tempted to call a similar string of upsets for them. However, since they've been eliminated , my bold prediction for this postseason will surround the team that simply can't beat the Giants, but has shown that they can be pretty much anyone else.
That team is the Green Bay Packers.
I know this prediction is not nearly as bold is mine of last year. The Packers are a very good team and put together a good season. However, this Packers team has not looking nearly as dominant as they have in the last two years. They failed to clinch a bye, and now sit in the wildcard round with the number 3 seed.
They will run the table.
Everyone is overlooking Green Bay for some reason. Vegas has them at +800 to win the Super Bowl and at +400 to take the conference. Those are extremely good odds for a team with arguably the best QB in the game, one of the most dynamic young receiving corps, and an abundance of solid veterans with deep playoff experience. Does anyone remember the Pack going 15-1 last year? Well, not really, at least not until you bring it up like I just did. That's what a one-and-done playoff exit will do to you, but nonetheless this was a very good football team last year, and they played extremely well down the stretch this year after a shaky start. You know who else overcame a shaky 2-3 start to win their division? The current Super Bowl favorite, the Denver Broncos. Nothing against the Broncos, but I don't understand why GB isn't discussed in a similar light.
The Packers have shown resilience all season after their tough start. They overcame injuries to top wideouts Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson, and saw the bright emergence of Randall Cobb and James Jones. Cedric Benson was solid in the beginning of the year, but Alex Green and James Starks were able to do enough to keep the offense moving after he went down with a season-ending injury in week 6. They trailed the Chicago Bears by several games at the midway point of the season, but they kept clawing back, winning divisional game after divisional game. Now, the Packers sit atop the NFC North, and the Bears are sitting at home atop their couch.
The Packers' road to the Super Bowl will not be an easy one. They start in the wildcards against an underrated Minnesota Vikings team that just beat them last week. AP has been unstoppable all year, and should have a good game, but the Packers will come out firing and win by double-digits. The Packers' road will then take them to San Fransisco, where the 9ers hope to erase last year's memory of Kyle Williams' blunders and make a run at the Super Bowl. Green Bay's offense will win out against the 9ers' defense, though, propelling them to the NFC Championship game in a nailbiter. With the Vikings and 49ers out of the way, I think whatever team is left in the NFC Championship game (Falcons, Seahawks, Redskins), will be a walk in the park for the Pack. Having completed their tour of the NFC, the Packers will face likely with the Patriots or Broncos in the Super Bowl (I think the Pats), and will win a shootout.
What makes me so confident in this pick? Aaron Rodgers. The guy has the heart of a champion. He has so many great quarterback traits melded together: a rocket for an arm, quick decision-making skills, accuracy, mobility, and a killer instinct when the game is on the line. Rodgers lost his first playoff game in a shootout against Kurt Warner and the Cardinals, and came back the ensuing season to tear through the NFC playoff bracket and run the table. Last year, he saw another early exit from the playoffs, as a red-hot Giants team destroyed his 15-1 MVP season.
How mad do you think he is this time? I don't think the NFC is ready for the explosion of points that the Packers are about to score. I think the poor Vikings won't know what hit them tomorrow, and they'll wonder how they had ever beaten Green Bay the previous week. With Rodgers' kryptonite of the Giants out of the playoff picture, his path to victory is once again clear. He will bring the Lombardi trophy home to the town of the coach for whom it is named.
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