deeshopper Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Nice article by John Clayton breaking down the AFC playoff teams. Here are some excerpts. The AFC playoffs feature extremes. In fact, only three teams look like playoff teams -- the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. You have three teams that look mediocre -- the Broncos, Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals. 1. Who has the quarterback advantage? If the importance on scoring carries over to the postseason, the Ravens could have problems. The Ravens have averaged only 19.7 points a game in Flacco's seven postseason games. Of course, Flacco has played all seven on the road, which makes it tougher to score. 2. Who looks like a one-and-done? Houston. The Texans may have finished as the No. 3 seed, but they've lost three consecutive games heading into the playoffs. 3. Is home-field advantage vital? Not very. Since 2005, the lower seeds in the divisional round have a 7-5 record, thus New England and Baltimore can't be complacent about obtaining a bye and home games in the second round. 4. Which team is most affected by injuries? The Ravens are in the best shape. 9. What can we tell from how these teams did against other playoffs teams: A lot. The Bengals went 0-7 against teams that made the playoffs. The Broncos beat Cincinnati 24-22 in Week 2, but they lost by an average of 27 points to the Packers and Patriots, the only other playoff teams they faced. The Texans went 3-2 against playoff teams, the Steelers 3-4 and the Ravens 6-0. The Patriots went 1-2 against playoff teams. 10. Who is the favorite for the Super Bowl? Injuries to Roethlisberger and Mendenhall clearly give the edge to the Patriots. They are at home and they have Brady. The Steelers could be a great No. 5 seed, but they will be challenged to pass the ball with a quarterback nursing a high ankle sprain.The Bengals, Broncos and Texans don't have the look of teams that could win two games in the playoffs. That could set up a Ravens-Patriots championship. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7410737/john-clayton-examines-afc-playoff-picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varaven45 Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Nice article Dee! The Ravens need for Houston to win, then get knocked off at M & T; Steelers to knock off Broncos then the Pats. That leads to a 3rd showdown with the Steelers at M & T. That's our best scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cravnravn Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 How are we in the best shape, when our #1 WR is out, Yanda is hurting and Ed Reed wont tackle because he is injured too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmax Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 How are we in the best shape, when our #1 WR is out, Yanda is hurting and Ed Reed wont tackle because he is injured too. It won't matter if all 53 Ravens have a broken leg if you continue to put the Curse on their opponent like you did to the Bengals.The world won't have an answer for how the Ravens got to and won the Super Bowl but all of us here will know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc. Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 With a week off you can expect Boldin and Yanda to be in solid shape. And imagine what it could do for Reed... not to mention every other player who's played without a break since the bye... Ngata, Suggs, most of the OL, Ray Rice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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