GRIDLINE's Primetime Plays
National Football League 2013 Season

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

content below posted 02:40SUN19JAN14 cst

Plays for Sunday

We had to wait a little while before we commented on that Denver game last Sunday. In a word, we were livid. Bad enough that the Broncs went into the Prevent way to early (at the start of 4th), they gave up a critical onside kick as well and pretty much had to rely on a single Manning pass to win. It can happen when a coach starts looking at the clock instead of his opponent. Anyway, it was a good play that went terribly bad.

As for the Panther game, they left a lot of points on the board and Rivera started looking at the clock even before halftime. They got 'experienced' right out of the playoffs. In the end, it looked like men among boys. Carolina was a flat out bad play. Funny, in a way, it was easier to take than the Denver loss. Let's hope we have better luck this week.

Broncos -5

Broncos 35 Patriots 26
Computer Projection

HIT: Broncos 26 Patriots 16

There should be lots of fireworks in Denver, just as people are expecting. The Pats pass D isn't bad but you really have to have a better than average pass D to slow down the Broncos. The Pats run defense will suffer if Belichick redirects resources to defending the pass as well. In short, we don't think the Pats can stop Manning and company although, as always, we worry about them stopping themselves.

When the Pats have the ball we don't see the dominant running game that they have displayed at times this season. It's not a bad Bronco run D, especially at home. Brady can still wing it with the best of them, but it hasn't been the Patriots way to do that this season. Tom will have to flash back a few seasons to capture that groove, and his old stanby, Wes Welker, is now catching balls from Peyton. The Pats do have the edge on paper in forcing turnovers, but we don't expect New England's vaunted pass rush to bother Peyton too much. He's the best protected QB in the league.

Call it a lite play on a borderline Best Bet. Our biggest concern is John Fox's deployment of the Prevent gefense, which cost him a Super Bowl run last year and damn near knocked him out of the playoffs again this year. If nobody played it this season the playoffs might look a lot different right now.

What a great game this should be. We could go on and on about how strong these teams are from top to bottom, but the ultimate conclusion is that these are the same two teams. Whatever we say about one team we can say about the other. The one thing we can say about Seattle and not the 49rs is that they are the home team. If pressed, we'll say that the Seahawks appear to have the better pass defense. Not that the 49rs are bad against the pass - they're very good - it's just that the Hawks are the best the league has seen probably this century.

The fat man has definitely got us over a barrel, forcing us to buy the half point at 13/10 odds. Just the minimum play on a game that can't be missed.

Seahawks -3 (buy)

Seahawks 23 49rs 17
Computer Projection

HIT: Seahawks 23 49rs 17

Good Luck Everyone!

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