What a relief. The first quarter of last Sunday’s Wild Card game had me cursing whatever has been ailing the Green Bay Packers’ offense. Down 11-0, having given up a safety and not getting going on offense was making all of our nightmares through the last half of the season culminate into a sudden death, poor effort outing in Washington. Suddenly, in the second quarter, the offense came alive. The Defense was arguably good for the whole game, producing one turnover and getting a handful of sacks, along with holding the Redskins to 18 points. The offense has been our crutch for a while, and this time they got it done. However, Washington was likely the worst team to make the post season, Kirk Cousins doesn’t have big game experience, and their defense was ranked 22nd or so, which means Green Bay’s efforts are already being talked down by analysts all over the Internet. Having to go to Arizona doesn’t bode well either, after the trouncing they handed the Packers in week 16, but it’s not so likely that a rematch will go exactly the same way. I still believe in my team, and think they can pull out the win. They were in similar positions back in 2010/11 when they made their last Super Bowl run, though they had a much better passing offense at the time. Here’s the current framework for the remaining playoff games:

Kansas City vs. New England

The Chiefs put a stomping on the Texans, putting up 30 points and not allowing any. Hoyer put on the worst performance by a playoff QB over the weekend, hell it might be the worst playoff performance by a QB ever. Kansas City’s reward? Heading to Foxborough to face the Patriots, who despite being human and losing a couple games during the regular season are still the team to beat in the AFC; the defending Super Bowl Champions with one of the best QB’s in the league. Kansas City looked strong, but the Texans aren’t much of a threat. As much as I’d like to see Alex Smith get another win and see the Pats go down in flames, I don’t see it happening. Patriots 31, Chiefs 24

Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals

This is a tough call. My loyalty to the Packers means I want them to win. They faced similarly difficult odds and were the underdogs through the 2010 playoffs that culminated with them winning the Super Bowl, so I know that they can win big, tough games. However, in games where they should have won in previous post seasons (like last year’s NFC Championship game) they had dropped the ball. Arizona whipped them good a few weeks ago. Arizona is the #1 offense and top ten defense in the league. The numbers don’t lie, but anything can happen on any given Sunday. I’m going to pick the Packers anyway, and put my faith in their ability to win. Packers 24, Cardinals 21

Seattle Seahawks vs. Carolina Panthers

This could go either way. Honestly I don’t really care. The Seahawks should have won last weekend, but the wide kick from Blair Walsh had other plans. I’d much rather see the Seahawks out of the playoffs sooner than later, so I’m calling Carolina to win it. Panthers 35, Seahawks 24

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos

Another game that could arguably go either way. Denver lucked into the #1 seed, and it appears that they are going to start Peyton Manning, which is probably a mistake. Not to say that Manning isn’t a great QB, but he’s sunsetting, and his play was so bad that he was benched earlier in the season, along with being injured. He’s also terrible in the post season, outside of that one Super Bowl win. I would have went with Osweiler personally. Provided Big Ben isn’t as seriously injured as was first believed, I think the Steelers take the game. Steelers 27, Broncos 19

We’ll see how things shake up. It’s likely that some of these will be wrong, as I scored 4 for 4 last weekend, and all four road teams won which has never happened before in playoff history. I don’t see myself being that lucky again, but it’s always a possibility. See ya next week.