After assessing the chances of each of the AFC teams to make the postseason, let’s look through the National Football Conference (NFC) and what stands between each team and Super Bowl glory.
Atlanta Falcons
No serious contender enters this postseason surrounded by more mystery then the Falcons.
At their best, they combine the most efficient offence in the league with an aggressive, ball-hawk defence. At their worst, they look simply clueless in every phase of the game.
Luckily for Atlanta, their top seed provides them home field advantage until the Super Bowl (which will be, importantly, played in a dome).
Since Matt Ryan was drafted in 2008, the Falcons have gone 33-7 in regular season games at home, and 23-17 away. Importantly, of the 24 games they have played on grass, they have won only 14.
These recent struggles away from home may be due to the fact that they have struggled to move the ball on the ground, and likewise haven’t been able to stop opposing running attacks.
Ultimately, the biggest single question mark surrounding this team is Matt Ryan’s playoff hoodoo.
Ryan will be keen to expunge the memory of last season’s embarrassment at the hands of the Giants, but until he does so, all bets are off.
San Francisco 49ers
The week of, earned as a second seed, should be vital for this San Francisco team, who are somehow in transition heading into the postseason.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh’s decision to stick with the inexperienced Colin Kaepernick at quarterback is certainly the turning point for this entire team’s season.
Kaepernick could provide an aggressive, vertical element to the offence that swings results, or he could fold under pressure and cost his team their season.
We can be sure he won’t be a game manager style quarterback (if Harbaugh wanted this, he would have stuck with Alex Smith) and as such, all roads in San Francisco lead to Colin.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers are another team that can only go as far as their play-caller can take them, but this is simply due to a lack of talent elsewhere.
Since winning a Super Bowl two years ago, the Packers have seen everyone not called Aaron Rogers lose a bit of polish.
The running game has shrunk into insignificance, and a once dominant defence has been embarrassed by powerhouse teams such as the Vikings and the Saints in the midst of their bounty-gate nadir.
Even Mason Crosby, a once dependable kicker, has been afflicted with a brutal case of the yips over the past few months.
It now falls to Rogers to heave the team up and down the field, which he can certainly do, given enough breathing space.
A strong performance from Rogers can also improve the defence, which ranks seventh against the pass and 14th against the run, according to Football Outsiders.
Unfortunately for ‘Cheeseheads’ worldwide, if opposing teams can bully Rogers into anything less than brilliance, things may be grim.
Washington Redskins
Washington have enjoyed success in most elements of the game this season, but their Sunday Night Football performance against the Cowboys demonstrated the importance of a healthy Robert Griffin.
At his best, ‘RG3’ has destroyed some very competitive defensive units. But when he was a half-step slower and slightly less confident on Sunday night, the Redskins offence looked concerning.
Fortuitously, Griffin does have the ability to hand the ball off to breakout rookie Alfred Morris, and the Redskins defence is not without its own stars.
But the Skins have looked their best when their offence was at its most dynamic, and the health of their biggest star may undermine this strength.
Seattle Seahawks
No team carries better form into this postseason than Seattle, who have been frighteningly good through December.
Unlike many of the breakout teams in these playoffs, Seattle haven’t relied heavily on good fortune (outside of a single, atrocious refereeing blunder).
They’ve gone 5-5 in games decided by a touchdown or less, and have gone 5-1 against teams with a winning record: all strong credentials, without a doubt.
Although Russell Wilson gets the lion’s share of the attention for this team’s success, Marshawn Lynch (one of the three best halfbacks in the league this season), and a loaded secondary on defence deserve the most credit.
The only real concern here is the fact that Seattle won’t return home until their season has finished. They were the only team to go undefeated at home in 2012, but their away record was a more worrying 3-5.
The challenge for Seattle is proving they can get the job done without the famed ‘12th man’ at CenturyLink Field.
Minnesota Vikings
Qualifying for the playoffs was an extraordinary achievement for this Vikings unit. But that may be the biggest challenge for the team at this point.
They’ve snuck in as a surprise wildcard seed on the back of a fiery home win over the Packers, who they face again this round.
By overachieving in such a dramatic fashion, they’ve won their Super Bowl already, and backing up again this week will demand a lot from the team.
Another, more quantifiable factor is Christian Ponder: a mediocre quarterback who grew more conservative as the season progressed. However you can certainly achieve deep playoff runs without a great quarterback, just ask the Jets.
The combination of a few more heroic performances from Adrian Peterson and more stout play from an experienced defence provides a tried-and-tested formula for playoff success.
But ultimately, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the Vikings are happy to simply be in the playoffs, and are ripe for an early round let-down.
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