Football is back!!! It has been too long that we’ve had to wait to watch the best sport in America. Matt and myself continued our tradition by picking the winner of every NFL game. You can see those here and here. Now we move on to the playoffs.

For a refresher of who I had in the playoffs, here our how the conferences finished the year.

Playoffs
AFC

1. Indianapolis
2. Denver
3. New England
4. Pittsburgh
5. Kansas City
6. New York

NFC

1. Arizona
2. Green Bay
3. Dallas
4. Atlanta
5. Seattle
6. Minnesota

Wildcard
(3) New England over (6) New York
(4) Pittsburgh over (5) Kansas City
(3) Dallas over (6) Minnesota
(5) Seattle over (4) Atlanta

The Jets were lucky to make the playoffs thanks to a really easy schedule. Their luck completely runs out against division rival New England. The Pats may have lost a lot of their defensive talent but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have enough to handle the Jets. Pittsburgh’s ground game will rumble them through Chiefs defense. LeVeon Bell is a stud and Ben Roethlisberger will probably light it up versus a young KC secondary. Dallas proves to be too much for this young Minnesota team. The offensive line keeps Romo clean for way too long. Seattle might be a wildcard team but it doesn’t matter. They will run Atlanta out of their own building.

Divisional
(1) Indianapolis over (4) Pittsburgh
(2) Denver over (3) New England
(1) Arizona over (5) Seattle
(3) Dallas over (2) Green Bay

We get some absolutely fantastic matchups in the second round. Pittsburgh’s patchwork secondary folds under the wieght of Andrew Luck and company. Manning vs. Brady returns to the playoffs for another round. Manning gets the better of Brady in this one as that same Patriots defense fails to hold up against Denver’s diverse passing attack. The better matchups are actually in the NFC though. Arizona and Seattle face off as the two best teams in the conference. Arizona’s steady offensive play and smothering defense proves to be too much for a shaky Seattle o-line. Dallas finally gets its revenge at Lambeau and finally we can all put the Dez catch talk to bed.

Conference Championships
(1) Indianapolis over (2) Denver
(1) Arizona over (3) Dallas

Sure it is kinda lame to have the two number one seeds going on but they both deserve it. Peyton returns to where he began and falls against his replacement. Luck and his new veteran friends Frank Gore and Andre Johnson defeat the Broncos once again and Manning must once again consider retirement. People think I am too high on Arizona but the Cardinals were undefeated last year in games that Carson Palmer started. A revamped offensive line with Mike Iupati means that they keep him clean and defeat Dallas.

Super Bowl
Indianapolis over Arizona

This is probably Carson Palmer’s best shot at a ring. However, that isn’t enough for them to overcome Andre Luck and the Colts. Luck is primed for a huge season in a contract year and some new weapons. The Colts are crazy deep at wide receiver and the defense gets Robert Mathis back. Arizona will be tough to beat with a great defense. However, the running game just isn’t enough to keep that potent Colts offense off the field enough. Luck wins his first of what I’m sure will be many Super Bowl appearances.

So that’s it. The whole season predicted from start to finish. Check out Matt’s playoff picks here  and enjoy your season!