I just realized as the owner of a blog that dabbles in sports discussions, I have to get some NFL playoffs predictions posted before the action begins tomorrow.

Wildcard Round

Houston over Cincinnati. Against another opponent, I would be tempted to pick against the sagging Texans. But the Bengals don’t have the juice to pull the upset and I think Houston might get their act together this week.

Green Bay over Minnesota. Rogers and company are going to be pissed after losing to the Vikings in the final seconds of last Sunday’s game.

Indianapolis over Baltimore. Picking purely with my heart, here. I think the Colts have a chance. I don’t think it’s that good of a chance, but a chance nonetheless. I fear the Ravens will gouge the Colts’ D early and then the D will overwhelm Luck as he tries to lead another comeback. But I’m still taking the Colts. Because you never know.

Seattle over Washington. Seattle is getting healthy, RGIII is still on the mend, and I think the Seahawks’ D is perfectly suited to containing him. Plus, I’ve picked against them constantly this year and they keep surprising me. Might as well jump on the bandwagon and ruin it for them.

Divisional Round

New England over Houston. I can see Foster running all over the Pats’ D. But I think Brady wins a shootout.

Denver over Indianapolis. Indianapolis fans have a week-long migraine leading up to this one. In the end, it’s not close. CBS revels in this game, which sets up next week’s dream match up. The post-game handshake between Luck and Manning becomes the most photographed moment of 2013.

Seattle over Atlanta. I want to believe in the Falcons. I just can’t the way they closed out the season.

San Francisco over Green Bay. If the Pack had a defense, they’d have a shot here. But I think the ‘Niners defense gives Rogers fits all day.

Conference Championships

Denver over New England. Manning struggles but the Broncos’ defense makes life equally miserable for Brady. A tight, tense affair won on a late field goal.

San Francisco over Seattle. Another ugly, D-fest.

Super Bowl

I thought about this one for quite a while.1 The ‘Niners have the better defense, but the Broncos aren’t slouches on that side of the ball. Denver clearly has the better offense, and by a bigger margin. I make my pick based on the size of those gaps.

Denver 22, San Francisco 13

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  1. A solid 30 seconds. ↩