1. National Championship– This was the matchup that many were expecting to see in December to determine the SEC Championship, but things didn’t pan out that way with Alabama losing to Auburn in late November. Georgia earned that win last week in Pasadena against the Oklahoma Sooners. Football is a game of adjustments and they definitely made them in the second half of that game last Monday. Alabama looked very sharp in the rematch with Clemson in New Orleans. The defense regrouped and the offense did just enough to help the football team win and advance. Atlanta will be the place to be tomorrow night and a national title will be determined. Will Saban win one for the thumb and redeem himself after the loss last year or will the pupil in Kirby Smart lead the Bulldogs to a title?
2. Saints/Vikings– How differently these two teams will look on Sunday! They kicked off Monday Night Football in week one and with how the Saints looked, it seemed as if it was going to be another long season in New Orleans again because the offense struggled and the defense was sloppy and all over the place. This was also the debut of then-Saints running back Adrian Peterson and his infamous stare of Sean Payton. The Vikings have dominated the NFC North this season and you’d figure that they’d play with some added motivation considering where the Super Bowl is this season, right? This will be a fun one to watch next weekend.
3. Jaguars/Steelers– When these two teams met the last time, this was what really made me pay attention to the Jacksonville Jaguars and their defense. They clogged up the running lanes, forced Roethlisberger to throw the football 55 times and they intercepted him a total of five times. That was also one of the biggest wins for the Jaguars during the regular season. For the Steelers, that was their last loss before they started a nine-game winning streak. Jacksonville had to grind out their win today against Buffalo and the Steelers will hopefully be well rested after the bye week. Antonio Brown is expected to be 100 percent healthy, Le’Veon is healthy and Ben will look to redeem himself against this stingy defense.
4. Falcons/Eagles– Saturday night was the most complete effort I’ve seen from the Falcons all season long. We know what they are capable of doing on the offensive side of the football, but last night, the defense was the tone setter and they were physical all game long and forced Goff to beat them. The Falcons are like a boxer in the late rounds of a fight because when you think they’re down, they find a way to get back into the grand scheme of things. The Eagles rolled through the regular season and enter the playoffs as the top seed in the NFC. They’ll look to advance against the only team from the NFC to make it this year who made it last year. All eyes will be on Nick Foles who is taking over for Carson Wentz.
5. Titans/Patriots– What a come from behind win from Mike Mularkey’s football team yesterday in a tough environment in Kansas City at Arrowhead. Marcus Mariota came through with a gutsy performance and Derrick Henry controlled the game and line of scrimmage with his running. It’s a new year and the Patriots are in the same position. Another first-round bye, another top seed and the road to the Super Bowl in the conference will once again travel through Foxboro and Gillette Stadium. Saturday night will mark Tom Brady’s 35th career playoff game and he will begin the quest to win his sixth ring and a record-setting seventh straight appearance in the AFC Title game.
