AFC Playoff Preview

New England Patriots
12-4, #1 seed, AFC East Champ
Games vs 2014-15 Playoff Teams:  Won 43-17 vs Cincinnati, won 43-21 vs Denver, won 42-20 at Indianapolis, won 34-9 vs Detroit, lost 26-21 at Green Bay

Three Reasons To Be Excited
Offensive Playcalling - For anyone that plays fantasy football, particularly those who owned Patriot running backs, you know what I'm talking about.  The Patriots, more than anyone else in football, will tailor their game plan to attack the weakness of their opponent and avoid the strength.  For example, they faced the Jets (twice) and the Lions who both have outstanding rush defenses.  In the first game against the Jets, the Pats ran it 15 times, then ran it 24 times in their second meeting, and ran it 20 times against the Lions in a game where the Pats led by a comfortable margin all of the second half.  Conversely, when the Pats played the Colts, a team that defends the pass much better than the run, the Pats ran it 44 times and won by 22 points.  Whoever they face in any round of the playoffs, you can bet the players will be put in the best position to succeed.

Pass Catchers - Rob Gronkowski gets all the media attention, but Julian Edelmen, Brandon LaFell, and Shane Vereen have all contributed their fair share of help in the passing game as well.  Edelmen is a pass catching machine, LaFell is a big bodied receiver that Brady didn't have last year, Vereen has great hands for a running back, and Gronk is simply a matchup nightmare no matter who they are playing.  It gives Brady a lot more options than he had last year, making their aerial attack tougher to defend when they decide to attack an opponent that way.

Revis Island Is Back - After a year of being stranded in Tampa Bay, Darrelle Revis signed with the Pats in the offseason as they let Aqib Talib walk in the offseason.  Anyone who thought Revis may have lost a step while he was in Tampa has been proven wrong this season.  He is back to being one of, if not the best, shutdown corners in the NFL.  With potential AFC matchups against TY Hilton, AJ Green, Antonio Brown, and Demaryius Thomas on deck, the Pats will need Revis to maintain his elite level of play.

Three Reasons To Be Worried
Depth - I'll be honest, it's going to be hard to come up with three reasons why the Patriots should be worried.  One concern that every team has to deal with is depth.  The Pats have shown they can kind of plug and play with any running back, but receiver is a different story.  If LaFell or Edelmen go down, then Danny Amendola, Josh Boyce, and Brian Tyms would likely be called upon to step up.  If even one of them goes down, you could argue that the Pats would have the weakest receiving corps out of any of the playoff teams, except maybe Carolina.

Rust? - Again, we're reaching here, but a lot of Patriot starters will have had essentially two weeks of extra rest as most either played very little or not at all in the meaningless season finale against Buffalo.  Whichever team they face in the divisional round will be coming into Foxborough off a win, and is sure to be confident.  All it takes is for a team to gain a little confidence and put everything together to pull the upset.  I'm sure the coaching staff is doing all they can to balance rest and keeping players sharp, but you just never know.

Recent History - Since they are the #1 seed, I suppose it's not out of the question to discuss their Super Bowl prospects.  Despite their early Super Bowl success together, Brady and Bill Belichick have struggled recently to capture their fourth together.  They haven't won a Super Bowl since 2005, despite making it and losing to the Giants twice since then.  Peyton Manning's Broncos are still hanging around as well, as the Broncos were the team that ousted the Pats last year.  I doubt that they are personally feeling the pressure to win another one, but the fan base is certainly getting anxious with all these close, but no cigar calls.

Team They Would Hate To See - Baltimore
Team They Would Love To See - Indianapolis

Denver Broncos
12-4, #2 seed, AFC West Champ
Games vs 2014-15 Playoff Teams:  Won 31-24 vs Indianapolis, lost 26-20 at Seattle, won 41-20 vs Arizona, lost 43-21 at New England, lost 37-28 at Cincinnati

Three Reasons To Be Excited
C.J. Anderson - For the second year in a row, this Bronco team has taken a relative nobody and made him into a star.  This team revitalized Knowshon Moreno's bust of a young career last year, and have now turned second year pro Anderson into a workhorse back.  Anderson, buried on the depth chart behind the likes of Montee Ball and Ronnie Hillman early in the year, got his big break in mid-November and has run with the job ever since.  He has 849 yards and eight TDs, despite getting double digit carries in only seven games.  With the Broncos shifting to a more run heavy approach, the young Anderson will be counted on to carry the load in the playoffs.

Defensive Makeover - The Broncos' offseason moves were fueled by the blowout loss they suffered in the Super Bowl to the Seahawks.  Step one was to get tougher and better on defense.  They hit the jackpot by bringing in Aqib Talib, DeMarcus Ware, and TJ Ward.  Oh, and Von Miller was already waiting on the roster as well.  This unit now ranks third in total defense compared to finishing 19th last season.  They have the best defense in the AFC and will need it with Pittsburgh and Indy's aerial attacks or Cincy and Baltimore's ground attacks coming to Denver next weekend.

Revenge - The Broncos, maybe more than any other team in the playoffs, will be extremely disappointed if they don't win, not just make, the Super Bowl.  As I mentioned earlier, everything in the offseason was geared towards going back to the big game and winning it all.  This crusade sort of reminds me of the Spurs last year after they had lost the year prior in heartbreaking fashion to the Heat.  The Spurs didn't care about regular season, seeding, or any of that stuff.  They just wanted to win the title they believed was theirs.  Denver has that kind of feel this season.  Even though they are the number one seed in the NFC, I have a feeling that a lot of Bronco players would love to see the Seahawks as their opponent in the Super Bowl.

Three Reasons To Be Worried
The Curious Case Of Peyton Manning - This year started off like any other for Manning.  Throw for 300 yards here, get another 400 over there.  It was a shock if he didn't throw for three or more TDs each week.  Then came the infamous, and still puzzling, Rams game where Peyton threw it 54 times, but only had one TD to go with two interceptions in a 22-7 Bronco loss.  He performed well against Miami the following game, but has since seen the offense focus on the run as well as seen his performance drop.  Since the Miami game in Week 12, Manning has thrown for over 300 yards just once, and has registered a five to six TD to interception ratio.  Optimists will say that the running game is helping out the offense as a whole and Peyton is fine.  I'm not so sure.  If need be, can he flip the switch to turn into a precision passing machine once again?  Only time will tell.

Back To Foxborough - These past couple seasons, Foxborough has been a nightmare place for the Broncos to play.  Last year, the Pats came back from 24-0 down at halftime to stun the Broncos in overtime.  This year, there was no comeback to be had by either side as the Pats put the pedal to the medal, particularly in the second quarter, to crush the Broncos by 22.  If the Pats and Broncos both survive the divisional round, then the Broncos will have to go back to the East Coast and try to win at a place that has been so unforgiving to them.

The AFC - Like New England, it's hard to find a lot of flaws with Denver.  The AFC field should at least present some matchup issues.  The Bengals just beat the Broncos a couple of weeks ago.  The Colts made it close near the end in Denver the first game of the year, Baltimore has the personnel to stop Denver's rushing attack, and Pittsburgh has arguably the best passing attack Denver has faced.  Throw in New England, who already beat Denver this year, and you have a challenging field to navigate.

Team They Would Hate To See - New England
Team They Would Love To See - Indianapolis

Pittsburgh Steelers
11-5, #3 seed, AFC North Champ
Games vs 2014-15 Playoff Teams:  Lost 26-6 at Baltimore, won 37-19 at Carolina, won 51-34 vs Indianapolis, won 43-23 vs Baltimore, won 42-21 at Cincinnati, won 27-17 vs Cincinnati

Three Reasons To Be Excited
Antonio Brown - I have no idea why there isn't more conversation about him being MVP.  He basically does it all as he's a great route runner, is phenomenal after the catch, returns punts, runs sweeps, and has even thrown for a TD this year.  Big Ben has, and will, look his way early and often no matter who they are playing.  Revis is the best AFC corner, so I am interested to see those two go at it if the cookie crumbles that way.  In the Steelers' six games against current playoff teams, Brown had at least 90 yards in each of them, topped out at 144 against Baltimore, and scored six TDs.

Coming In Hot - To get their lofty seed, the Steelers needed to get hot down the stretch.  The division was still up for grabs as the Ravens, Bengals, and Steelers were all in it.  The Steelers used a home and home with Cincinnati, as well as a trip to Atlanta and a game at home against the Chiefs to earn the AFC North title.  They won all four by at least one TD.  Now they get their division rival with whom they split the season series.  If they clear that hurdle, then it's off to Denver to face Peyton and the Broncos.

Receivers Not Named Brown - Yes, they do exist on this roster.  Markus Wheaton is talented, but needs to be more consistent.  Heath Miller isn't all that talented, but is very consistent.  Martavis Bryant is the big play maker as he is averaging 21.1 yards per catch and is second on the team in TDs with eight.  With Le'Veon Bell out for this game, I expect the Steelers to try and air it out more than normal.  Brown is talented, but he can't do it all.  One, if not all of these guys, will need to step up to make up for the loss of Bell.

Three Reasons To Be Worried
No Le'Veon Bell - This is a huge loss.  Bell is not only a great downhill runner, but he is extremely talented catching passes out of the backfield.  While he struggled in the two games with the Ravens this season, he is still more of a threat than any replacement the Steelers will put in.  Bell is also an above average blocker for Big Ben in the passing game and his presence will be missed on passing downs.  I expect the Ravens to spread their defense and defend the pass and leave the run stopping to the front six or seven guys.  Even with a lack of production in the Baltimore games this year, it will be a significant piece missing in the way this offense works.

Not Your Father's Steelers' Defense - While it's true that they have improved the past four games, they are still nowhere near as frightening as they once were.  They gave up 26 points and 323 yards in their first meeting, and followed that up by giving up 23 points and 332 yards in their second meeting.  Arguably their worst performance of the season came in Week 13 when they lost 35-32 at home to New Orleans.  They gave up 393 yards, allowed a 100 yard rusher, and recorded zero turnovers.  That kind of performance won't cut it against the Peyton Mannings, Tom Bradys, and even Joe Flaccos of the world.

Inconsistent - The Steelers have been a hard team to figure out all year.  They almost blew a 24 point lead against the Browns the first game of the season.  They crushed Carolina on Sunday Night Football, only to come back home and lose to the Bucs at the buzzer.  They get blown out in Cleveland, only to see Big Ben throw for 14 TDs the next three weeks.  Then, they lost in the upset of the season to the lowly Jets, and almost lost a week and a day later in Tennessee on Monday Night.  After their bye was the New Orleans game, before ripping off four straight Ws.  All it takes is four good games to win you the Super Bowl, but it just takes one bad stinker to send you home for the season.

Team They Would Hate To See - New England
Team They Would Love To See - Cincinnati

Indianapolis Colts
11-5, #4 seed, AFC South Champ
Games vs 2014-15 Playoff Teams:  Lost 31-24 at Denver, won 20-13 vs Baltimore, won 27-0 vs Cincinnati, lost 51-34 at Pittsburgh, lost 42-20 vs New England, lost 42-7 at Dallas

Three Reasons To Be Excited
First Round Opponent - The Colts could not have asked for a better opponent in the first round.  Not only is this the same team that the Colts shutout in Week 7, but the latest news is that star wide receiver AJ Green is unlikely to play.  Green didn't play in their regular season matchup and the Bengals struggled to do anything offensively.  They mustered a measly 135 total yards and were completely embarrassed.  Back at Lucas Oil with the Colts healthy and the Bengals Green-less, I think the result will end up the same, though probably not a shutout.

Andrew Luck - Ever since he was drafted, he was seen as the savior of this franchise since Manning departed for Denver.  He has delivered...sort of.  He has gotten them to the playoffs each year he has been there, and even delivered one of the most ridiculous comebacks in NFL history with their come from behind 45-44 win over the Chiefs.  The problem is that in his two other playoff games, he has two TDs, five interceptions, and lost both of those games.  The good news is he's young, and quarterbacks his age are lucky if they have even gotten their teams to the playoffs by now.  One of these years he will perform well in multiple playoff games.  Colt fans are hoping this is the year.

Pass Defense - The Colts' pass defense has very quietly become an excellent unit in the NFL.  Led by cornerback Vontae Davis, the Colts rank 12th in passing yards against to go along with 12 interceptions.  They won't completely terminate a passing game like Seattle, but they will slow it down enough to frustrate an opponent.  This unit is a big reason why Cincy had such a hard time doing anything in their first matchup without Green.  There are plenty of talented pass catchers on the AFC side of the bracket, so this unit could be the difference between a quick or long run in the playoffs.

Three Reasons To Be Worried
Can't Run The Ball - They seem to just give up on it during a game if it's not working.  The Colts are first in the league in pass attempts, but are only middle of the pack in rushing attempts.  Trent Richardson is not at all what they thought they were getting when they traded for him a year ago, and Ahmad Bradshaw's injury left only Daniel "Boom" Herron to pick up the slack.  He's shown flashes, but has also been shut down, particularly the last four games of the season.  This inability to run puts more of the work on Luck's shoulders, which inevitably leads to more interceptions and turnovers that kill drives.  I think they can get away with it against Cincy, but they will need to find some kind of balance in the next round.

Run Defense - While the back end has held its own this year, the front seven certainly has not.  In fact, in the last game of the season, they gave up 94 yards to Shonn Greene.  That's not good.  Exposing the Colt run defense is one way that the Bengals can pull the upset.  Giovanni Bernard was Cincy's lead back in the first matchup as they only attempted 12 runs all game.  Bernard has now been relegated to a backup role as Jeremy Hill has emerged as their starter.  Hill is hot as of late and could very well gash this unit if Indy doesn't commit guys to stop the run.

Letdown - While their prospects for a win this weekend look good, their long term future looks much more grim.  The Colts have fallen pretty flat in most of their key matchups this year.  They are 2-4 against current playoff teams and three of them, Pittsburgh, New England, and Dallas, blew them out.  If the Colts are quickly out once again, Luck will start to carry around the reputation of someone that can get to the playoffs, but are never a real threat.

Team They Would Hate To See - New England
Team They Would Love To See - Baltimore

Cincinnati Bengals
10-5-1, #5 seed, Wild Card
Games vs 2014-15 Playoff Teams:  Won 23-16 at Baltimore, lost 43-17 at New England, tied 37-37 vs Carolina, lost 27-0 at Indianapolis, won 27-24 vs Baltimore, lost 42-21 vs Pittsburgh, lost 27-17 at Pittsburgh

Three Reasons To Be Excited
Jeremy Hill - The rookie out of LSU, Hill has emerged as the number one guy in the backfield for the Bengals and one of the better running backs in the entire league.  He was the change of pace back early in the season to Giovanni Bernard, but now Hill is the one getting 20+ carries a game.  He finished the year strong, rushing for at least 100 yards in each of the final three games.  With AJ Green likely out, Hill will need to perform more like a veteran than a rookie if the Bengals are to avenge their shutout loss to the Colts.

Mohamed Sanu Is Ready - Perhaps when Green missed time in the regular season, it was a blessing in disguise.  Green missed basically the entire month of October, leaving the WR1 position for the Bengals up for grabs.  Sanu stepped up to the plate and went for 299 yards and a TD in the three games that AJ missed.  He had little success once Green returned to the lineup, but will be counted on to be the go-to guy once again.  He proved that he can perform in the starting wide receiver role and will look to carry this limited Bengal aerial attack.

The Game Is Being Played During The Day - With the AJ Green news and the way their first meeting went, the Bengals really don't have a lot to be excited about.  If they're looking for little victories, however, it is that they don't have to play in prime time.  Save for their Week 16 win over the Broncos, Andy Dalton and the Bengals traditionally play poorly at night.  No one knows why, but they just do.  This one will be taking place at noon central time so at least the Bengals don't have to deal with that mental block.

Three Reasons To Be Worried
Andy Dalton - One of the safest bets in sports is to bet that Dalton will lose this first playoff game, as well as perform poorly in it.  The Bengals have reached the postseason the last three years and were one and done each time.  In those three games, Dalton has one TD, six interceptions, and a lost fumble.  This includes a 31-10 beat down by the Texans in the 2011 season, who were led by none other than TJ Yates.  Even if the Bengals win this game, it will be on the back of Hill, not on the arm of Dalton.

Defense - Their defense as a whole, just isn't good.  They're 20th in rushing yards allowed per game and 20th in passing yards allowed per game.  The Colts rolled up 506 yards of offense in their meeting in October.  It would have been worse had the Colts not turned it over twice.  Even though they got a late season win against the Broncos, they still gave up 385 yards that game and followed it up by giving up 346 yards to Pittsburgh with the division title on the line.  Luck will carve this defense up if they don't scheme some ways to confuse the Colts.

History - Three straight one and done playoff years to go along with years of ineptitude from this franchise.  The loss to the Colts earlier in the year is a mental hurdle to get over, even if the players won't explicitly admit it.  They will have to battle the history of losing in the playoffs that surrounds this team each game they get a chance to play this postseason.

Team They Would Hate To See - Pittsburgh
Team They Would Love To See - Baltimore

Baltimore Ravens
10-6, #6 seed, Wild Card
Games vs 2014-15 Playoff Teams:  Lost 23-16 vs Cincinnati, won 26-6 vs Pittsburgh, won 38-10 vs Carolina, lost 20-13 at Indianapolis, lost 27-24 at Cincinnati, lost 43-23 at Pittsburgh

Three Reasons To Be Excited
Run Defense - This isn't a surprise.  For as long as this franchise has existed, they have prided themselves on playing stout defense, particularly against the run.  Nose tackle and run stopping extraordinaire Haloti Ngata will return from suspension for the playoffs.  They are fourth in rushing yards against and have shut down the likes of Le'Veon Bell and Mark Ingram.  Bell being out is just another boost for an already intimidating unit.  I'd be surprised if the Steelers rush for more than 50 yards this game.

The Smiths - Steve Smith came over to Baltimore in the offseason, determined to prove to everyone, Carolina in particular, that he still had plenty left in the tank.  He has responded by leading the team in receptions and yards.  Torrey Smith, meanwhile, took a while to get going this year but has really come on late.  He has yet to clear 100 yards in a game, but is a TD producing machine, as he leads the team with 11, including five in the last five games of the season.  They are a very underrated wide receiver duo and should give the Steeler secondary plenty of problems.

Joe Flacco - When Flacco gets hot, he is one of the best quarterbacks in the league.  The Ravens' 2012 Super Bowl run was almost all because Flacco was unstoppable.  He threw for over 1,100 yards and 11 TDs in four games with zero interceptions.  He's had two red hot games this year, against Carolina and in Tampa Bay.  He went for 327 yards and three TDs in the Carolina win, and threw for 306 yards  five TDs in the Tampa game.  Zero interceptions in both.

Three Reasons To Be Worried
Joe Flacco - With the good Flacco, however, there is also bad Flacco.  Among the good and average games that he puts up, he'll also put up some head scratchers.  Only two weeks after his masterpiece in Tampa, Flacco went into Cincy and threw for 195 yards, zero TDs, two interceptions, and a QB rating of 43.1.  Somehow, they only lost by three.  This is the same guy, who in 2012, posted a 0.3 QBR which rates QBs on a scale from 0-100.  0.3!  He can single-handedly carry a team to a Super Bowl, as well as single-handedly bury a team any given game.

Secondary - The Ravens' pass defense has been roasted this year, particularly by Big Ben.  The Ravens have multiple starters on injured reserve and their replacements haven't fared well.  The healthy Raven secondary held Big Ben to 217 yards, zero TDs, and an interception in Week 2.  A more banged up version gave up 340 yards, six TDs, and zero interceptions in Pittsburgh.  They played better down the stretch, albeit against Jacksonville, Houston, and Cleveland.  They'll face much stiffer tests in the postseason.

Depth - I already mentioned how banged up the secondary is.  They're running out of people to replace them.  Offensively is where the concern is.  With Ray Rice being suspended, the Ravens have been forced to figure out their backfield as they go.  Justin Forsett has been a god send, but there's not too much after that.  The underwhelming Bernard Pierce would be first in line, followed by season long practice squad member Fitzgerald Toussaint.  If one of the Smiths were to go down, wide receiver would be left open for Kamar Aiken, Jacoby Jones, and Marlon Brown.  No thanks.

Team They Would Hate To See - Indianapolis
Team They Would Love To See - New England

Matty O