Overall: 4-4
New England Patriots over Jacksonville Jaguars: As someone who resides in the heart of Patriots country, this game is really weird for me to assess. The parade of nuclear takes being dropped (BLAKE BORTLES CAN'T POSSIBLY BEAT TOM BRADY, THIS IS THE EASIEST PLAYOFF GAME IN PATRIOTS HISTORY, BRIAN HOYER IS GOING TO BE FORCED TO START FOR AN INJURED BRADY, TOM COUGHLIN IS GOING TO POSSESS DOUG MARRONE'S BODY AND BEAT THE PATRIOTS IN ANOTHER PLAYOFF GAME) in the lovely public opinion forums of social media and talk radio along with the news of Mr. Pliability's hand injury has managed to make this matchup of seemingly untouchable dynasty versus young, hungry upstart team even murkier. However even with all this drama that's emerged over the past 48 hours, I just don't have enough confidence in the Jaguars ability to play a clean, well-executed game for 4 quarters against a Patriots team that prides themselves on delivering in crucial situations. A hobbled Leonard Forunette is going to have a hard time establishing the running game the Jags offense needs to succeed, the Pats carousel of dynamic running back is tailor-made to shred Jacksonville's aggressive style of front seven play and despite all the paranoia surrounding the status of Brady's throwing hand, I'm not convinced that his ailment is serious enough to prevent him from making the throws he needs to dismantle Jacksonville's gifted, but burnable defense.
Minnesota Vikings over Philadelphia Eagles: Case Keenum. Nick Foles. One of these journeyman veteran quarterbacks that started the season as a backup is going to lead their team to an unlikely Super Bowl berth once the final gun sounds at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday night. Despite advancing to this game because of an absolute prayer of a play that will go down as one of the most insane in the history of the NFL, I can't in good conscious pick against the Vikings this week. In this battle of tough defenses, Minnesota's much more functional, balanced offense has a clear advantage plus it's hard to ignore that a weaker Falcons squad was merely yards away from beating the Eagles last week in a game where they played like absolute horse shit throughout.
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