The SeedSing 2024 MLB Playoff Preview

I'm a day late, but I'm going to do a MLB playoff preview and predictions blog today. I promise you all these were my picks going into the playoffs. I didn't realize they started yesterday until my son told me a game was going on at the time. I thought they started next week. Apologies. Anyway, let's get to it.

I'll start with the AL. The wild card features Detroit facing Houston and Kansas City facing Baltimore. Detroit has an excellent pitching staff and they are coming into the playoffs on fire. They have been on a big time hot streak. The Astros have the experience and know how to move on. They also have a pretty potent lineup. I'm going to go with Detroit since I have family members that are fans and I want to see them move on in the playoffs. In the other matchup, I'll take Baltimore. They are more experienced, they have a better lineup and they can outscore a bunch of teams. The Royals are back on track and have a good pitching staff. I just don't think they have the bats to keep up with the Orioles.

With the Tigers and Orioles moving on, we have the Tigers facing the Guardians and the Orioles facing the Yankees. The Tigers will be coming into this series red hot and they may surprise a few people. I think the Guardians have the players to win and go onto the ALCS. But, I'm going to stick with the Tigers here. They are having a moment and I think that will push them to the ALCS. The Orioles and Yankees are going to score a ton of runs and hit a bunch of homeruns. I'm going to pick the Yankees here. They have a better lineup and Aaron Judge is playing like an MVP.

That means I have the Tigers facing the Yankees in the ALCS. This is where the Tigers run stops. While they have a better pitching staff, I don't think they'll be able to keep up with the Yankees bats. And as big a moment as the Tigers are having, Aaron Judge is having an even bigger one. I have a feeling he is going to crush in the playoffs this year. The Yankees will represent the AL in the World Series.

On to the NL. There are no Reds and no Cardinals here. No team for RD or myself to root for. I've decided to give my fandom to Detroit in the playoffs this season. RD, who knows. But, if I had to guess, he may be sticking up for an NL team, maybe the Brewers since he spent time in Milwaukee and our dad is a fan. As for the wild card matchups in the NL, the aforementioned Brewers are facing the Mets and the Braves are facing the Padres. I do believe the Brewers will beat the Mets. The Mets did come on strong in the middle of the season, but the Brewers have been consistently good all year. They kind of ran off with the NL Central early on. The Braves barely made the playoffs, on the last day of the season, and this will be a short trip for them. The Padres have had the best record since the all star break and they look primes to make a run. If the Braves were fully healthy, this would be a different story. Give me the Padres here.

So, that leaves us with the Brewers facing the Phillies and the Padres facing the Dodgers in the NLDS. I'm going to stick with the Brewers over the Phillies. The Phillies are incredibly potent, but they haven't been as dominant as they were in past seasons. The Dodgers have the best lineup in baseball. They have a solid pitching staff. The only thing that worries me with the Dodgers is their manager. He makes some questionable decisions. That being said, I'll take the Dodgers to beat the Padres. It will close, maybe the best series of the playoffs, but in the end, the Dodgers lineup is too damn good to get beat.

This leaves us with an NLCS of Brewers and Dodgers. Again, I'm going to stick with the Dodgers lineup. Shoei Ohtani is the best player in the MLB and he is going to be the Aaron Judge of the NL during the playoffs.

So, that means I have the Yankees facing the Dodgers in the World Series. The two best teams that money can buy in all of baseball. I'm going to stay with the Dodgers. They are going to be World Series champs and Shoei Ohtani is going to win the MVP of the series.

There it is, my 2024 MLB playoff preview and predictions. 

Ty

Another view

This is a must make the World Series year for the Yankees and the Dodgers. I believe neither team will make the series because both teams have a top half great lineup and average bottom half. Also both teams are lacking a solid #3 starter that you need for a playoff run. Also, also both managers are not great. That said this is how I think each round is going to shake out.

Wild Card Round

Brewers will beat the Mets (great story for the Mets this year)

Padres will beat the Braves

Detroit will beat the Astros (this is the end of the Astros dynasty)

Baltimore will beat the Royals (watch out for KC next year)

Divisional round

Phillies will beat the Brewers

Padres will beat the Dodgers (sorry LA)

Cleveland will beat Detroit

The Yankees will beat Baltimore

LCS

Phillies will beat the Padres

Cleveland will beat the Yankees (The Guardians feel like last year’s Rangers)

World Series

Phillies over Guardians in seven (another heartbreak for the Cleveland faithful)

RD

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The SeedSing 2022 MLB Playoff Preview

The 2022 MLB season has come to an end. For myself here in Cincinnati Ohio it was a disastrous season. The Reds were bad, very, very bad. Thankfully I grew up in St. Louis, so I had something to cheer about with the Cardinals. The regular season is gone, and now it is time for the new six teams per league playoff tournament. Let’s do some predicting.

I want to start with where Ty and I were right in our preseason predictions and where we were oh so wrong. Both of us picked most of the playoff teams. We both did not see the Cleveland Guardians winning the AL Central, and I reached big time on Detroit, but most of the teams we hit on. We both overestimated the Milwaukee Brewers. I think Craig Counsel is done and Milwaukee may go into rebuild mode. I also want to give a shoutout to Albert Pujols and Aaron Judge. If not for their homerun chases, this season would have been fairly predictable and boring. I am very happy that both players reached their goals.

Now on with the playoff predictions.

The excitement kicks off with the Tampa Bay Rays going up against the slept on Cleveland Guardians. Tampa seems to always have a formula to make deep playoff runs, but Cleveland has Terry Francona. I’m going with the manager and taking the Guardians in three.

The other AL series has the young studs of the Toronto Blue Jays going against the other young studs of the Seattle Mariners. These two teams should be battling in the playoffs for the next decade, and this first meeting is a preview of the awesomeness to come. I think Seattle has the pitching advantage and come out on top in three great games.

The first NL series pits the “seemingly underachieving” San Diego Padres against the “choked the division away” New York Mets. Both teams have talent and great managers. The Mets have better pitching, that is why New York wins in two.

The last wild card series pits the old men of the St. Louis Cardinals against the big bats of the Philadelphia Phillies. This will be an easy two games and out series for St. Louis because the Phillies just do not have the talent or experience to match a Cardinals team chasing destiny.

That will set up a Cleveland Guardians vs New York Yankees Division series. I may be crazy here, but I think Cleveland wins in four. New York is the better team, but again Cleveland has the better manager. I also think the Yankees are tired from the Aaron Judge spotlight and manager Aaron Boone will not live up to the moment. He will be fired within hours of blowing this series.

The other AL Division series pits the Seattle Mariners against the Houston Astros. I really, really want Seattle to shock the world, but Houston is just way more talented. Also the cheating scandal has seemingly been forgotten by fans, or the boos just don’t bother the Astro players. Houston will win in a three game sweep.

In the NL the Mets face off against destructive force known as the LA Dodgers. This is a tough series to predict. The Mets have two great starting pitchers and a lights out closer. The Dodgers have a lineup filled with All Stars. I think after five beautiful games of baseball, the Mets will advance.

The last division series will be a throwback to the late 1990s when the St. Louis Cardinals take on the defending World Series Champion Atlanta Braves. I know the Braves won it all last year, but St. Louis has way more postseason experience. Add all that experience with a a lineup that can match the Braves hit for hit, I think the Cardinals win in four.

The ALCS will have the scrappy Cleveland Guardians up against the villainous Houston Astros. The Cinderella story ends here for Cleveland and Houston will win in five.

The NLCS will be a rematch of the epic 2006 series between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Albert Pujols, Adam Wainwright, and Yadier Molina all played in that series. Just like in 2006, the Cardinals will break the Mets hearts in seven games.

That means the 2022 World Series will be another postseason rematch between the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. The last time these two teams met, Houston was in the National League and the Astros bounced the Cardinals out of the playoffs. Pujols remembers that series, as do Wainwright and Molina. Houston won the last game at Old Busch stadium and sent the old place off with a Cardinals loss. The three old men in St. Louis will not let Houston send them off to retirement with a loss. In six games the St. Louis Cardinals will win the 2022 World Series.

There it is, my 2022 MLB Post Season predictions. At the beginning of the year I picked the Cardinals to be a team of destiny and to win it all and I’m sticking with that prediction. Enjoy the postseason and let’s play ball.

RD

RD is the founder and Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The SeedSing NFL Playoff Preview

I've had an entire week now to pour over the upcoming NFL playoffs. First off, this "bombshell" story that ESPN dropped this morning about the Patriots, while very juicy and filled with schadenfraud for me, has no effect on how I think they will play in the playoffs. Apparently this stuff has been going on all year and they still finished 13-3. Also, why is it so crazy to now know that Tom Brady is nuts? I thought this was widely known stuff around the league. The dude has been crazy since he was playing QB at Michigan. This story was not as eye opening as was promised yesterday. It is a big no deal. Nothing new was revealed. I think anyone that has watched football for the past decade could see that something like this was coming. There are far too many egos at every important position in that organization. Nice try ESPN, but this story is tired and boring and pointless. Okay, got that out of the way, now lets get to my playoff preview.

I'll start with the AFC because every team in the playoffs not named the Steelers or Patriots are going nowhere. The AFC is as easy to predict as the NBA Finals. Lets start with the Wild Card games.

In the 4-5 matchup we have Tennessee and Kansas City. Tennessee stinks. How they made the playoffs I will never know, and I picked them at the start of the season. What is even worse for them, DeMarco Murray has been ruled out. Derrick Henry is good, but not as good as Murray. Marcus Mariota has struggled with consistency and injuries all year. The receivers are mediocre at best. Their defense is okay, but not good enough to carry this team. Mike Mularkey is a wildly average coach. Kansas City looked like early season darlings. Then they faltered, and now they seem to have righted the ship. They are giving Kareem Hunt the ball more, which is good, and Alex Smith has looked better as of late. They do have the X Factor, and that is tight end Travis Kelce. He is one of the better tight ends in the league. They have some okay wideouts too. Their defense, while not great since Eric Berry went down week one, has played much better as of late. If the Chiefs don't blow this Titans team out I would be shocked. The Chiefs will win with ease.

The other Wild Card matchup features Buffalo and Jacksonville. Buffalo unexpectedly and amazingly made the playoffs for the first time since 1999. That is great for them. Now they have to play the game, and possibly without LeSean McCoy. If McCoy doesn't play this team has zero shot. He is, by far, their only option on offense. Tyrod Taylor is an okay QB, but he won't win playoff games. They have no real outside threat. Their defense is okay, but not there yet. Jacksonville has a very mediocre offense, especially with an injury to Leonard Fournette, and Blake Bortles at QB. They have okay receivers, but again, Bortles is throwing them the ball. What Jacksonville does have is an awesome defense. They are legit top 3 in the league. They will harass Taylor all day, and if Fournette plays, it will be tough sledding. This game will be ugly, but I have Jacksonville pulling away in the third to advance to the second round.

So that would pit New England against Kansas City, a week one rematch and Pittsburgh versus Jacksonville, another rematch. New England is the best team in the playoffs, and I think they want blood for week one. The game is in Foxborough too, which will prove to be far too much for KC to overcome. While I will be rooting for the Chiefs, the Patriots will most likely blow the doors off of them. Pittsburgh-Jacksonville is a bit of a better matchup. I still like the Steelers, depending on the health of Antonio Brown. The Jags have the 2 best cover corners in the league, but the Steelers have 3 really solid receivers. They also have LeVeon Bell. They also have a defense that can get stops. It will be closer than some think, but I have the Steelers winning by a TD.

That gives us the inevitable Patriots-Steelers matchup in the AFC title game. Pittsburgh got screwed out of a win earlier this year against the Patriots, but this is a new game, and it is in Foxborough. Again, people will be talking about "distractions" from the ESPN story, and Pittsburgh can score a ton against this Patriots defense, but I just think the Patriots will end up winning. They own the Steelers. So that means the Patriots will be returning to the Super Bowl.

Now, the NFC. This conference is so much more up in the air. The teams are better, there are key injuries and it is going to be an absolute bloodbath to get through. We will start with the Wild Card matchups again.

In the 2 Wild Card games we have Atlanta-Los Angeles Rams and Carolina-New Orleans. Atlanta is back in the playoffs, but barely. They have been incredibly inconsistent all year. One week they look great, the next, terrible. Los Angeles is extremely explosive on offense, but they haven't been to the playoffs in a long time. This team is very young too. But, with that being said, I like the youth and inexperience in this game. They won't know what to expect, but that can be an advantage sometimes. They will come out and pour it on if they can. The game is in LA too, which is a big time benefit for this team. Their defense will shut down Atlanta's offense as well. The Rams will move on.

We have an inter divisional game in the other Wild Card game. Which Carolina team will show up? Will it be the competent one, where Cam Newton looks like a former MVP, or will it be the one we saw last week score 10 points in Atlanta? Therein lies the problem with Carolina. New Orleans gets to play this game at home, and they look to be fully healthy. This is also a totally different Saints teams from the past. They control clock and play solid defense. The Saint should, and probably will, win this game with relative ease.

That puts the second round matchups at Philadelphia-LA and Minnesota-New Orleans. The Eagles would have been an easy pick here, but not Carson Wentz is out, and Nick Foles has look dreadful in his place. They have great running backs that can keep the Rams offense off the filed, but it will be tough against that Rams front 7. It will be very cold in Philadelphia, which benefits the Eagles. But, Nick Foles is so bad at QB, and that will be their undoing. I think the Rams will do just enough to push their way to the NFC title game. Todd Gurley is going to be very big in this game.

Minnesota should, and will, win because this game is outdoors, and it will be violently cold. Also, their defense will shut down Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, and Drew Brees has always struggled in cold weather games. The Vikings will win with defense and ball control. It will be a snooze of a game, but that is how the Vikings win. 

That gives us a Minnesota-LA NFC title game. This is way, way off from my preseason pick. The Vikings will dominate the Rams once again. They controlled the game they played earlier in the year, and I see it happening again. The extreme cold will play a factor, and the Vikings defense will come up big.  You are welcome RD, or maybe I should say, you better hope I'm right because my predictions haven't been so great this year. But, I see the Vikings representing the NFC in the Super Bowl, that just happens to be in Minnesota this year.

While the game is in Minnesota, and as painful as it will be to root for the Vikings, I think the stinking Patriots will repeat as NFL champs. They are used to the cold. They are better coached. They have an offense that can move the ball on the Vikings defense. They will find a way to win again.

So there you have it. I have the Patriots beating the Vikings in the Super Bowl. I think the final score will be close, something like 20-14, but the Patriots will find a way. Alright, I am now ready for the NFL playoffs. Bring it on.

Ty

Editor's picks - Let me say that I think the Buffalo/Jacksonville game is the best story of the NFL season. Both of these teams have been terrible for a very long time, no one thought they would be playoff teams, and now they are pitted against each other. One of those teams will win a playoff game. That is awesome.

Who will win the game. Jacksonville will, they are a better team. The other AFC game should be Kansas City, it should be, but Andy Reid is known to blow playoff games. I am going to very reluctantly pick the Chiefs to overcome their head coach and beat the Titans.

The NFC wild card games are more up in the air. Atlanta was in the Super Bowl a year ago, and I know they have been inconsistent this year, but they will beat LA. The Rams are too young in my opinion. Flip a coin on Carolina and New Orleans. I think New Orleans will win a close game.

The Divisional round will have Pittsburgh hosting Kansas City and Jacksonville going to New England. The host teams will win both games.

The NFC will have Atlanta going to Minnesota to play in the Viking's indoor stadium (sorry Ty, their new stadium is indoors, the outdoor University of Minnesota stadium hosted the Vikings last playoff game.) I hate this matchup so much. Matt Ryan is a former MVP, Case Keenum is a game manager. Julio Jones plays for the Falcons, Minnesota does not have the corners to stop him. Atlanta will win this game, and I will be pissed. The other game pits a resurgent Saints team against a Philadelphia team who lost their best player a few weeks ago. The Eagles have not recovered from Wentz injury, the Saints will win.

The championship games will have predictable Steelers v Patriots in the AFC. The Patriots will easily win this home game. The NFC has the surprising Falcons v surprising Saints in New Orleans. That will be a great game, and the Saints will come away with the victory.

The Super Bowl will feature the heavily favored New England Patriots against the no one gives them a chance Saints. Drew Brees will have an incredible game, the Saints will win the game, Brees and Tom Brady both retire. Drew goes to the broadcast booth, Tom goes to write for Goop. The End.

RD

Ty and RD are internet masterminds. They also have a soon to be award winning podcast called The X Millennial Man.

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Green Bay Repeats as Heart Breakers in the Playoffs

How can a little lake town in Wisconsin make me so sad?

So, we had divisional playoff NFL football this past weekend. All the games went chalk, as expected. Carolina used 31 first half points and thwarted Seattle's comeback in the second half, much to my delight. Denver eeked out a win over the extremely short handed Steelers and New England pretty much dominated Kansas City from start to finish in their game. Then, we had Arizona and Green Bay Saturday night.

Now, I picked Arizona to win the Super Bowl on a recent podcast and blog post. I expected them to throttle the Packers. I'm a Packer fan, as everyone know by now, but I didn't think they stood much of a chance in this game. I didn't think their "offensive outburst" against Washington was a sign that they were turning things around. They beat up on an inferior opponent, that's all that game showed me. And now, they had to face, what I consider to be the best team in the NFL, in Arizona. It was a done deal. Nice season Green Bay, let's get ready for next year.

Then the game happened.

Arizona came out flat. They couldn't do much on offense. Much of that was due to mental mistakes by Carson Palmer, but Green Bay's defense played an almost perfect game. They forced Palmer into bad throws, they shut down Arizona's run game and the secondary had their receivers blanketed, helped tremendously by Sam Shields coming back from a concussion. Now, Green Bay's offense wasn't doing much of anything either, scoring only 6 first half points. But, in the second half, Green Bay finally scored a touchdown and gave themselves a 6 point lead. Arizona would cut it to 3 points later in the third quarter, but Green Bay looked poised to pull off the upset. As I said, Palmer was shaky all game and when Green Bay intercepted him in the end zone for the third time early in the fourth quarter, I started to think they'd get the win. They were doing almost everything right.

Then, Arizona got the ball back with about 7 minutes left and drove down the field and scored an extremely lucky tipped pass touchdown with about 3 minutes to go in the game. I was crushed. What made it worse, Green Bay went for a fourth and five the very next drive, missed it and Arizona converted a field goal to push their lead to 7. There was about 2 minutes left in the game when Green Bay got the ball back, but any hope I had was gone. They'd blown it again I figured.

But, on a fourth and twenty, Jeff Janis, a wide out that had 2 catches all season, hauled in a 60 yard pass play to give the Packers new hope. Then they wasted a whole bunch of time trying to get a play off and they were left with 12 seconds at the 40 yard line. They wasted two plays and now there was 5 seconds left. Hope was gone again. They already converted one hail mary this year, no way were they going to get a second conversion, but then it happened again. Jeff Janis out jumped two Arizona defenders and hauled in a 40 yard touch down to tie the game.

A wave of emotions over took me.

I went from upset to elated in less than 10 seconds. They still had a chance to pull off the upset. They were still alive. Then we had the coin flip that wasn't really a flip and after all that ridiculousness, Arizona won the toss and got the ball. On their first play from scrimmage, the very immobile Carson Palmer eluded three sack attempts and found a wide open Larry Fitzgerald for a 75 yard gain, all the way down to the five yard line. Two plays later, Arizona punched it in and the game was over. Green Bay, once again, lost on the first possession of overtime without even getting a chance on offense.

Two years in a row, Aaron Rodgers, arguably one of the best quarterbacks all time in football, doesn't get a chance to tie or win the game. It happened in Seattle last year and now Arizona this year. The NFL's overtime rules are an absolute joke. It's appalling that, if the first teams scores a touchdown, the other team gets no chance. It's downright idiotic, but that's Roger Goodell for you. They need to completely overhaul their overtime to either mimic the NCAA's overtime, or make it so each team gets a chance on offense with the ball. This sudden death, first touchdown wins thing is total nonsense.

Green Bay also should have never put themselves in these situations either year. They dominated and controlled the entire game in Seattle last year, except for the last 10 minutes and overtime. Green Bay had that game won and they blew it, they flat out lost that game. Seattle didn't win, Green Bay lost. But, they never got a shot in overtime and that sucks too. Same thing Saturday night. Arizona should have never been in that position to push the game to overtime. Green Bay dominated the entire game, for the most part. They shut Arizona down all night. But, when they had a chance to really end it in regulation, Sam Shields dropped a for sure pick 6. The ball went right through his hands. A couple of plays later was the tipped pass touchdown that gave Arizona the lead. Green Bay had the miracle hail mary, but their offense was forced to watch as the Cardinals scored in three short plays in overtime. Their season was over with Rodgers, Janis, Starks, Lacy and Jones sitting on the bench. They never got their shot.

The past two years as a Packers fan have been brutal. They've lost their playoff games in spectacular fashion. It sucks that their offense didn't get a chance, like I said before, the NFL's overtime rules are moronic, but they have also completely blown these games. In a word, being a Packers fan these past couple of years has been heartbreaking. They blow these games that they have in their control and then they don't get a chance in overtime because they give up a quick score and the rules are stupid. It's a shame. I hope they get right this off season because they are still a very talented team and they get Jordy Nelson back next year. I think they need to look at a coaching change, be it their head coach or their coordinators. Sure, Mike McCarthy has won a Super Bowl, but so did Mike Holmgren and when his Packer coached teams started to blow leads and games, they were quick to let him go. I still have high hopes because they still have Aaron Rodgers, Eddie Lacy, James Jones and Jordy Nelson and a decent, young defense, but these blown playoff games are starting to wear on me and give me gray hair.

I love you Green Bay, but I wish you'd stop breaking my heart. Come back strong next year, get big enough leads so you don't have to worry about overtime and win that Super Bowl I predicted you to win this year. Make it fun to be a Packers fan again.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is looking forward to replacing his Packer and Wolverine heartbreak with a double championship party in 2017. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty's (first) Annual NFL Playoff Predicitions

Playoff football and chili. Must be January

The NFL playoffs start this weekend and I have given a preseason (NFC, AFC, and postseason) and a mid season report, now I want to give a playoff preview and prediction. Both my preseason and mid season picks were way off the mark, I'm looking at you Indianapolis and Green Bay. But, with the playoffs now set, I'd like to give it one more crack, maybe this time I'll do better.

This upcoming Saturday we get the AFC first round playoff matchups between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals. Both these games should be decent, but I think it's pretty obvious who the winners will be. In the Chiefs-Texans game you have one team, the Chiefs, riding a 10 game winning streak. The Texans were in the AFC South, so 9 wins easily made them the division winners. The AFC South is a joke of a division and while the Texans have a pretty good defense, they have zero offense. They've used way too many quarterbacks this year that are all below average NFL starters. They have had no running game since Arian Foster went down for the season and save for Deandre Hopkins, they have no threats in the passing game. Hopkins is great, but if you can hold him to a 6 or 7 catch game, you can pretty easily beat Houston. The Chiefs aren't much better on offense, but they have way better playmakers. Alex Smith is a much better QB than anyone Houston will throw out there. They have struck gold with their backup running backs, Charcandarick West and Spencer Ware, after losing Jamaal Charles to a torn ACL. They also have a receiver that's almost as big a threat as Hopkins in Jeremy Maclin and they have a much better tight end in Travis Kelce. Oh, and there defense is just as good, if not better than the Texans. Sure, JJ Watt may get a couple of sacks, but what will Houston do with the ball on offense and will they be able to totally shut down the Chiefs? I don't think so. The only thing they have as an advantage is, they're playing at home, but that won't matter. Chiefs win by 10, with the final being 20-10. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati could have been a game, if not for the Andy Dalton injury. Cincinnati gets short changed every season. Sometimes it's their fault, other times, injuries derail this team. They have an okey running game with Giovanni Bernard and Jeremy Hill and they have one of the best receivers in the game in AJ Green, but that won't matter with AJ McCarron throwing and handing the ball off. The Bengals defense is top notch, but they have no one that will be able to slow Antonio Brown even a little bit. The Bengals line may stuff the run and even pressure Roethlisberger a bit, but he will still find Brown. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has an elite offense clicking at the perfect time. They don't have their typical stout defense, but they can and will outscore opponents. I may not like the person, but Ben Roethlisberger is playing elite football right now. And, as I've mentioned before, he has Antonio Brown to throw the ball to. He also has Markus Wheaton, Heath Miller and Martavis Bryant to throw too as well. They lost LeVeon Bell earlier this year and DeAngelo Williams appears to have gotten injured in their finale, so that leaves the running game to Fitz Toussaint, former Michigan running back, but the Steelers don't need to run to win, In fact, I bet they run only 10 to 15 times the whole game. Steelers win in Cincy, crushing the Bengals playoff dreams in the first round once again, final score of 28-14. 

This Sunday we get the NFC first round matchups of Green Bay and Washington and Seattle and Minnesota. Both should be good, hard fought, close games. Green Bay travels to Washington to face the DC team on a roll right now. Whoever thought Kirk Cousins would be this good is a god damn liar. They have an okay run game, but they like to throw and they play some solid defense. Green Bay is a total enigma. They can never seem to get it going until it's too late, or they play to their ability and they blow out inferior opponents. Green Bay cannot protect Rodgers, their run game is non existent at times, but can also be great and their receivers can't get open, or if they do it's too late because Rodgers got sacked. Rodgers deserves a lot of the blame too for those sacks. Sometimes, when he does get good protection, he just holds on to the ball for way too long. Green Bay's defense is sub par at best. One week they totally shut a team down, the next, they give up big plays This is a total toss up, but I'll take Green Bay because of experience in big games. Washington's players haven't really been in big time playoff games and Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers have. Maybe I'm blinded by my fandom, but so be it. Green Bay wins 17-14. In the other game we get Minnesota and Seattle. Everyone and their mother is back on Seattle's bandwagon, but not me. I have to give credit to Bill Simmons for this, I was listening to his podcast this morning, and reminded me that the Seahawks just lost, only scoring 10 points at home to the Rams 2 weeks ago. Everyone wants to forget that because Russell Wilson has been putting up big numbers and their defense is playing better, but the Rams went to Seattle and owned them. The Vikings are a better version of the Rams. They have a better QB, receivers and a better, albeit a child abuser, running back. Their defense isn't as good as the Rams, but it's still good. The game is in Minnesota at noon as well. That means in Seattle, it's 10am. I know that doesn't sound like an advantage, but it is. I truly believe that Minnesota can replicate what the Rams did even better and I think they win this game. That would be great so everyone, including Chris Collinsworth, can shut the hell up about how great the Seahawks are. I'll take the Vikings in a very low scoring game, 14-10.

The following week we'd get the second round games in each conference. The four teams that had byes will all be in play and the big time games start happening. In the AFC the matchups will be Chiefs-Broncos and Steelers-Patriots. The Broncos will lose this game if they start Peyton Manning. Sure, he came in relief last week and they won, but it was their run game and their number one ranked defense that won, not Peyton Manning. Brock Osweiler deserves his shot. The Chiefs are good, as I mentioned above, but I cannot trust Andy Reid to win a big time playoff game on the road, I just can't. The Broncos have a stable of running backs, they have DeMaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders to throw to and they have the best defense in all of football. I don't see how they lose this game, unless they rely on Peyton Manning to make plays. He's a Hall of Famer, but he's done. Let your young QB start, rely on the run game and let your top of the line defense send you to the AFC title game. Broncos win 20-13. The Patriots-Steelers game will be interesting. Pittsburgh is elite offensively, but so is New England, if healthy. They have Gronk, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and a rejuvenated Steven Jackson on offense. But, their O line is very bad and are Gronk, Edelman and Amendola really healthy. Also, Brady took a hit in the Miami game, so who knows if he'll be one hundred percent. Neither of these teams are great on defense, but the Patriots are better. That won't matter because no one can guard Antonio Brown. Sorry New England, but the Steelers will steal this game in Foxborough and head to the AFC title game. Final score, 35-30.

The NFC will feature Green Bay-Carolina and Minnesota-Arizona. Carolina is on fire right now. They're 15-1, they have the MVP in Cam Newton, they have decent and very tall receivers and they have a pretty great defense. They also control the clock with their elite run game. Green Bay is a sitting duck. They've already been beaten once by Carolina this year, one of two teams with a winning record that Carolina has beaten, and they have not learned a thing from that game. Green Bay's season will end and it won't be pretty. Cam Newton is playing fantastic football and they will grind this game out and walk away with an easy victory. Carolina wins 20-7. Arizona and Minnesota will also be a blow out. Arizona has a better defense, a better QB, an equally as good run game and much, much better receivers. Carson Palmer in the runner up MVP and playing some of the best football of his career. Larry Fitzgerald has morphed into the best blocking receiver and best slot guy in all of football. David Johnson has filled in quite nicely for Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington and their offensive line is the best in the NFL. Minnesota had a good run, but it ends in resounding fashion in Arizona. Cardinals win 35-10.

Now we are down to four teams. In the AFC championship we have Denver-Pittsburgh. One relies on offese, the other on defense. Denver has some great corners capable of shutting down Antonio Brown, but I feel like typical Broncos will show up and blow this game. They should win easily. They can rely on their run game to chew clock and keep Pittsburgh offense off the field, but John Elway, Gary Kubiak and Peyton Manning will try to win with Manning being the hero and it will back fire. This game will be close, but Pittsburgh will pull it out and win 27-20. Arizona and Carolina could be a close game, but it won't. Carolina will finally see up close and personal what a real NFL team looks like, with a real offense and a legit defense. They will shut Newton down, they will force them to pass and that will cause turnovers. On offense, Arizona will do whatever it wants. This will be a runaway for the Cardinals. Arizona wins 38-14.

So that leaves us with a Pittsburgh-Arizona rematch in Super Bowl 50. Arizona has the one corner, Patrick Peterson, that can actually give Brown some trouble. They also have an offense that will light up a weak Pittsburgh defense. This game also has the makings of a blowout. I think it will be close until midway through the third quarter and Arizona will run away with the game. Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald will finally get their rings and Bruce Arians will be recognized as one of the best coaches in the NFL. Cardinals roll to a Super Bowl win, final score 35-20.

I feel good about this one.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is working on a fifth alarm for his big game four alarm chili. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.