The Denver Broncos are on their way to the AFC Championship Game for the first time since 2005 after a 24-17 win over the San Diego Chargers where the Broncos grabbed an early lead, seemed in command and then survived a couple nervous moments at the end to close it out. Here’s the Notebook Nine points that we take away from the Denver-San Diego game that concluded the divisional round of the NFL playoffs…
The final spot in the conference championship round of the NFL playoffs will be filled late Sunday afternoon when the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos renew their AFC West rivalry in the last game of the second round (4:40 PM ET, CBS). Here’s our nine points of preparation, the Notebook Nine, to take into the San Diego-Denver game…
The San Francisco-Carolina game is, at least according to the oddsmakers, the best matchup of the four games going in this second round of the NFL playoffs. The kickoff is Sunday at 1 PM ET, with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the call for Fox, and here’s the Notebook Nine points to take into the game, drawn from history, Las Vegas and the personnel matchups…
A rivalry that has defined the NFL for a younger generation of sports fans enters a new era on Saturday night, as the Indianapolis Colts visit the New England Patriots for a second-round game (8:15 PM ET, NBC). Here’s our Notebook Nine points of preparation, for the Indianapolis-New England divisional playoff battle…
The second round of the NFL playoffs starts late Saturday afternoon when the New Orleans Saints visit the Seattle Seahawks (4:35 PM ET, Fox). Here’s our Notebook Nine points of preparation for the New Orleans-Seattle game…
NBC’s final NFL telecast of the season will be Saturday night’s New Orleans-Philadelphia playoff game (8:10 PM ET). As we say goodbye to Al Michaels and Cris Collingsworth—for better or for worse—let’s review the nine key points to take into the prime-time battle in Philly…
The NFL playoff picture remains fluid as we get set for the final week of the season on Sunday (there are no Thursday or Monday games for this week, it’s a full 16-game Sunday). The following remains up in the air…
The results of this past week have altered the NFL playoff picture, with a couple new teams moving into the current projections, two first-round byes changing hands and one of the teams going from a bye down to wild-card status. Here is the rundown on notable changes, the reasons why and how TheSportsNotebook sees the NFL playoff picture ultimately shaking out.
My approach was conservative. I took whatever I felt would be the chalk pick in a game–if the teams seemed fairly even, I just deferred to the home team and I didn’t pick any upsets. Here’s how the results came out..
It’s time preview the NFL first round playoff matchups on Saturday and Sunday. We’ll use the same basis format for all four games—a basic outline of how the teams match up with each other, some historical context, how Las Vegas sees the game and then wrap it up with TheSportsNotebook’s predictions—and keep in mind, those betting against my bowl picks are turning a profit this holiday season. Here we go with Cincinnati-Houston (Sat, 4:30 PM ET, NBC)…
There’s a theory floating around NFL fandom and the media that says homefield advantage in the playoffs no longer matters—or at the very least is no more than an incidental edge. We can give our main thanks to Eli Manning for this theory, and to a lesser extent to Aaron Rodgers. Over the last five years, Eli’s Giants and Aaron’s Pack have won a combined three Super Bowls coming out of the first round, with a road record of 8-0. Conversely, those same quarterbacks have each seen their team lose in the second round as #1 seeds (2008 Giants, 2011 Packers). So is the theory true? Is getting to the dance all that matters, or is there still something to be said for favorable seeding?
The Notebook has taken the last two days and looked at both the offenses and defenses of the remaining NFL playoff teams. Today let’s look at the coaches, but with a different twist. Which one has the most pressure on them conming into this weekend? We’re not talking about the pressure to win or lose […]