6:00 ET • CBS

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AFC Championship • 3:00 ET • CBS

NY Jets vs Indianapolis

The AFC comes full circle here. Having already dispatched Cincinnati in the Wildcard Round the Jets have the opportunity to take out the other team that essentially gifted them a playoff spot. Indianapolis had a 15-10 lead after the 1st drive of the 2H in the 1st meeting when they pulled Manning & the rest of the starters. At that point Indy had 16-7 FD & 254-115 yd edges & the Jets TD came when Brad Smith returned the 2H’s opening KO 106 yards for a TD. However the combo of Jones & Greene had 68 yds (4.5) rushing in the 1H. The Jets #1D sacked Indy QB Painter on his 2nd series forcing a fumble which they returned to take the lead & the run defense took over. Last week was a story of 2 halves for the Jets as while they were outgained 212-99 in the 1H they allowed just 1 TD as San Diego missed 2 FG’s. In the 2H the Jets had a 163-132 yd edge & held San Diego to just 9 yds on their 1st 4 drives of the 2H. Indianapolis quieted doubters about how ready they would be after shutting it down for the final 2 games. The Colts #18 defense used their impressive team speed to hold Rice to just 67 yds (5.2). Manning is 4-1 vs a Rex Ryan defense avg 227 ypg (62%) with a 9-2 ratio.

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Tomorrow’s Blog will have the forecasts for the remaining two NFL Divisional games. Coming up on Monday I will have the teams hit hardest by players leaving early and also the teams that have the best returners that turned down the NFL.

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AFC WILDCARD • Sunday 1:00 ET • CBS

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AFC WILDCARD •  Saturday 4:30 ET • NBC

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Kansas City at Denver

Denver started the season 6-0 but is just 2-7 since winning the yardage battle in just 3 games and outscored 24-19. Defenses know that Orton struggles with the deep ball which allows them to keep LB’s close to the line and slow down the run game. KC is one of the worst teams statistically this year  and since October they have not been ranked higher than 27th on offense and 29th on defense though the fact they enter the game +1 TO’s, I admit, is surprising. Denver has a traditionally had a nasty tendency to play down to the level of their foes (Oakland 2 weeks ago) and Cassel now has an idea of what McDaniels will throw at him. I do think Denver will get the win here but the Chiefs will make this tougher than expected as the players know that a slew of changes are coming and they need to impress for 2010.

FORECAST: DENVER 26 Kansas City 23

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Here are my selections for this week’s NFL Action:

Seattle at Green Bay

Including playoffs this is the 4th straight season with a meeting between the teams. In their last meeting Green Bay went into Seattle and beat them 27-17. Green Bay had a 313-177 yard edge vs a very depleted Seattle team that started its #3 quarterback due to injuries. Seattle had a 17-3 lead when the Packers scored 24 unanswered points then allowed a garbage TD late in the 4^th quarter. Green Bay QB Rodgers had 208 yards (70%) with 2 TD’s. Green Bay’s #2 rush defense which is allowing 89 yards per game (3.9 ypc) at home this year vs weak Seattle rush attack. Rodgers has averaged 269 yards per game (66%) with a 13-3 ratio at home this year and has only been sacked 6 times in the last four games prior to Pittsburgh. Seattle’s #16 pass rush has been balanced this year pulling in 12 sacks on the road but are allowing 290 yards per game (71%) with a 15-4 ratio on the road. Seattle has been outgained by 138 yards per game in the 4 games prior to Tampa Bay as their defense wears down & defenses have figured out how to expose the offensive line. Green Bay has lots to play for as they want the #5 seed, have a road trip to Arizona on deck & Seattle simply doesn’t travel well with their only road win this year being vs a St Louis team that started Boller.

PHIL’S FORECAST: GREEN BAY 27 Seattle 10

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Here are my selections for this week’s NFL action:

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CAROLINA AT NEW ENGLAND

	Rush	Pass	PTS	TO’s	ST’s
CAROLINA	130	185	13	2	#32
NEW ENGLAND	140	345	26	2	#24

Last week was the 1^st time since mid-2006 the Patriots lost back to back games. They had their chances vs the Dolphins but were SOD on the 6 & Brady’s Int in the EZ cost them the game. The frustration is showing as Brady called out his teammates afterwards & Belichick sent 4 players home after being late this week. Brady hasn’t practiced yet this week but it wasn’t due to finger/rib injuries & he knows the NE system inside & out so that isn’t much of a concern. What is a concern is NE’s #28 pass rush vs a power rush oriented CAR offense that will try do all it can to help out Matt Moore. The loss of defensive starters like Vrabel, Bruschi, Harrison, Seymour was a big blow to NE’s leadership but I think the Patriots neutralize the Panther run game with offense here. Read more…