As I mentioned last week, most people consider Divisional Weekend the best weekend of the NFL season. But for me, it’s this weekend. Championship Sunday. Four teams just one win away from playing in the biggest game of the year, the Super Bowl. So let’s take a look and preview both games.
by Nick Stasiak – Wannamakeabet Staff Writer
Jacksonville Jaguars @ New England Patriots (-8.5)
How about that Jaguars offense last week? I don’t think anyone expected the Jaguars to go into Pittsburgh and win in a shootout. If someone told you that the Steelers would score 42 points, I don’t know if anyone would have picked the Jaguars. But if the Jaguars are going to win this week, they need a much better effort from their defense. And this stat courtesy of CBS Sports shows that the Jaguars defense might just have what it takes to go into New England and win.
The 2009 Ravens, 2010 Jets, and 2012 Ravens are the last three teams to beat the Patriots in the playoffs in New England. The 2012 Ravens are an outlier, but the Jaguars defense stacks up very similar to the 2009 Ravens and 2010 Jets. This will be a fascinating matchup to watch between the Patriots number one ranked offense against the Jaguars number two ranked defense. On the flip side, the Jaguars will likely have to run the ball successfully to win. Controlling the clock and keeping Tom Brady and the Patriots offense on the sidelines will be key. The Jaguars ranked first in the league in running the ball, rushing for 141.4 yards per game. The Patriots ranked 20th in stopping the rush, allowing 114.8 rushing yards per game. While I do think the Patriots ultimately win this game, it won’t come as easy as some people think and the 8.5 points seems like a lot.
The Pick: Jaguars +8.5
Minnesota Vikings (-3) @ Philadelphia Eagles
The Vikings won last week in one of the most wild playoff game endings you will ever see. A Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs walk-off touchdown sent the Vikings to Philadelphia for an NFC Championship matchup with the Eagles. And now for the second week in a row the Eagles are home dogs. The Eagles showed last week that even without Carson Wentz, they can still find ways to win games. Their defense stepped up big time and allowed just 10 points to Matt Ryan and the Falcons. While the Eagles defense was great, their offense will need to be much better to win the game. They only put up 15 points last week and now in comes statistically the best defense in football. The Eagles need to get creative or Nick Foles and that offense can be in for a tough day. This game will likely look a lot like last weeks Eagles/Falcons game, a low scoring defensive battle. And while I took the Eagles and the points last week, I just think the Vikings are the flat out better team here and will get the job done.
The Pick: Vikings -3