Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Denver Broncos vs Carolina Panthers – Super Bowl 50

Broncos-PatriotsSuper Bowl 50 – Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers square off in Santa Clara, California

The Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers will square off in Super Bowl 50. The Panthers have a top ranked scoring offense and the Broncos have the No. 1 defense in passing and total yards. Both teams have enjoyed their success due to great defenses. The Panthers are the early 4.5 point favorite. The Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers will be played on Sunday, February 7, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. ET at Levi’s Stadium. The game will be broadcast on CBS.
The Denver Broncos defense demonstrated a great pass rush against New England during the AFC championship game last Sunday. Tom Brady was rushed, hit and sacked throughout the game. Denver forced four sacks and three interceptions.  Denver’s defense had great success against Brady, but the Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has an elusiveness that Brady does not have. Denver quarterback Peyton Manning and the offense have not consistent this season. The Denver offense looked much better against New England but  they will have to face a different caliber of defense against Carolina.
The Carolina Panthers rolled over Arizona in the NFC championship game with an impressive defensive showing as well. The defense forced the Cardinals to turn it over four times in the first half. The key matchup will be the Carolina offensive line against the Denver defensive front. The strength of the Carolina line has been a pleasant surprise led by center Ryan Kalil. Also, Cam Newton has the ability to run with the ball when the defense poses a threat in the pocket. The Panther’s tackles might be over matched by Denver’s outside rushers in Miller and DeMarcus Ware. Offensive tackles Mike Remmers and Michael Oher have held up well, but this will be a tough task. The team that wins the turnover battle usually wins the final game of the season. No team had more takeaways in the regular season than the Panthers. Super Bowl 50 might come down to which offensive line can play the best.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers – NFC Championship Game

carolina-panthers-arizona-cardinalsPanthers host the Cardinals in NFC championship game

The Carolina Panthers held on to beat the Seattle Seahawks 31-24 on Sunday with their 12th straight home win. Now they’ll host the NFC championship game for the first time in franchise history. The Arizona Cardinals beat the Green Bay Packers 26-20 in a wild overtime game on Saturday night to advance. The Panthers and Cardinals have not played this season but this game has a potential to be high scoring. The Panthers averaged more than 31 points this season and the Cardinals were a close second at 30.5. These two teams couldn’t be much closer to one another and home field advantage is the only thing separating them. The NFC Championship Game  between the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers is scheduled for Sunday, January 24, 2016, at 6:40 p.m. ET at Bank of America Stadium. The matchup will be broadcast on FOX.
The Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer threw for 349 yards and three TDs with two picks during their win against the Packers. Palmer had issues hitting his receivers and one of his touchdowns was of a fluke pass that was intended for a different receiver and landed in the hands of Michael Floyd. The other touchdown was a big catch and run by Larry Fitzgerald. The Arizona receivers Floyd, Fitzgerald and John Brown are all very good, and are sure to have a big impact in this game also. For the second game in a row, the Cardinals had trouble running the ball, gaining just 40 yards on 19 attempts.
The Carolina Panthers defense wore down last week after going up 31-0 over Seattle, and had to recover an onside kick to pull out a 31-24 victory. Carolina has a very talented defense however they don’t have a particularly deep unit. Arizona could take advantage of this if they can stay on the field for a majority of the time. The Panthers are going to rely on quarterback Cam Newton during this NFC championship game. Against Seattle, Newton completed 16 of 22 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. The Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart was able to run over 100 yards on the ground against Seattle, who has the league’s best rush defense.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos – NFL Divisional Playoff

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) throws in the fourth quarter of the NFL football game against the Denver Broncos in Denver on Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. Pittsburgh Steelers center Justin Hartwig (62) blocks Denver Broncos defensive end Chris Baker (75). The Steelers won 28-10. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)Denver Broncos Favored To Win Against Pittsburgh Steelers

The Broncos couldn’t have had a better Wild Card weekend. Pittsburgh won giving Denver a shot at taking down Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers. The health of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is a big factor ahead of this game. Denver would be favored by a field goal, at least, even if Big Ben was healthy. It might be the last playoff run for Peyton Manning who will start for the Broncos. The matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos is scheduled for Sunday, January 17, 2016, at 4:40 p.m. ET at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The game will be broadcast on CBS.
The Pittsburgh Steelers finished the year ranked third in total team offense. They averaged almost 400 yards and 26 points per game. Pittsburgh beat the Denver Broncos with a 34-27 win  during Week 15. Roethlisberger was the only quarterback the Broncos faced this season who had more than 300 yards passing. Also, wide receiver Antonio Brown torched the Denver defense for 189 yards receiving in Pittsburgh’s Dec. 20 win. With Roethlisberger and Brown getting hurt Saturday in Cincinnati, the Steelers offense certainly won’t be the same. If Roethlisberger can’t start, expect Michael Vick to be active. Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams has an injured foot and is questionable. The Steelers run game is in the hands of Fitz Toussaint and Jordan Todman. The pair did well against Cincinnati, but things will be different against Denver’s best defense.
The Denver Broncos have had injuries in the offensive line and quarterback Peton Manning’s left foot. The Broncos have played many grind out games. They were 9-3 in games decided by seven or fewer points this season. Denver used the bye week to get several defensive players ready for the next game. Linebacker Demarcus Ware and defensive backs Darian Stewart and Chris Harris are likely to play. The Denver Broncos don’t need to play a perfect game against the Steelers to win. Manning and the passing game will be exciting, but the work they do in the trenches could be the difference.

Friday, January 1, 2016

Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals, Week 17

Cardinals_Seahawks
The Seahawks vs Cardinals finale may not be meaningless

The Seattle Seahawks lost to the St. Louis Rams at home last Sunday for the first time in 10 years which ended their 5 game winning streak. The Seahawks don’t want to go into the postseason playing like they did against the Rams, so they’ll be looking to put up a strong performance. The Arizona Cardinals back on November 15 went on the road and beat the Seattle Seahawks and haven’t lost a game since.  A Arizona Cardinals win combined with a Panthers loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week will give Arizona home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The Week 17 game between the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals is scheduled for Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 4:25 p.m. ET at University of Phoenix Stadium. The game will be broadcast on FOX.
The Seattle Seahawks must rely on quarterback Russell Wilson or the Seahawks aren’t moving the football. Wilson is a man completing 68.1 percent of his passes and averaging 8.4 yards per pass attempt. Running back Marshawn Lynch is still very likely out, and the ground game without both he and Thomas Rawls is virtually not there. The Seahawks offense need to be able to hold off the relentless Arizona Cardinals defense long enough to give Wilson a chance to get set. The Cardinals defense picked up nine sacks on Aaron Rodgers last week and that scheme may not be changing. 15 different players have sacks for Arizona this season. If the Seahawks offensive line problems continue, it could be a long day for them.
The NFL has scheduled both the Seahawks-Cardinals and Panthers-Bucs for 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, so the Cardinals won’t know ahead of time if they have something to play for. The Arizona Cardinals is very likely to start and pull out their starters, if the Panthers start to blow out the Buccaneers. The first player the Cardinals will likely pull is quarterback Carson Palmer, and the second is wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. If those two men are out and the Seattle defense is playing up to par, the Cardinals will have a hard time scoring any more points.