Divisional Weekend 2011

Baltimore Ravens (13-4)  @ Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)

The two AFC playoff match-ups make for great television. The Steelers and Ravens already play each other twice a year, always in prime-time, seemingly always in a bloody, gutsy nailbaiter. Now they have created an even bigger stage for their third battle of the year. You don't have to stretch the memory muscles too much to recall the 2009 AFC Championship Game, one of the hardest hitting games I've ever seen. LB Ray Lewis, LB James Harrison, S Ed Reed, S Troy Polamalu. It makes sense, it's Steelers-Ravens.

Two seasons removed from the 2009 AFC Championship, QB Joe Flacco has improved and added RB Ray Rice and WR Anquan Boldin to his arsenal. The Steelers have remained the strong, AFC front-runners they have always been. The Ravens and Steelers won't be surprising each other, they know they are in for a grinding battle. The last four match-ups have been won by a late field goal. This is Steelers/Ravens, this is prime-time football.

KEYS FOR BAL: Anything close to the production out of TE Todd Heap will be crucial. For all of the Steelers glory and S Troy Polamalu, their secondary is actually easier to exploit than the superb young Kansas City group. Baltimore dominated time-of-possession in the Wild Card and can't count on that happening against Pittsburgh but 3rd downs are looking comfortable for Joe Flacco.

KEYS FOR PITT: Get those terrible towels moving. QB Ben Rothlisberger has had a couple weeks to rest his many injuries but it's the Steelers vaunted run game needs to step up. The run game been more Steeler myth than Steeler fact in the past few years, with RB Rashard Mendenhall putting up inconsistent numbers. If they are forced to play the 'new Steeler' way, WR Mike Wallace needs to make some big plays.

Green Bay Packers (11-6) @ Atlanta Falcons (13-3)

The regular season match-up between these two teams was a thriller. With two go-ahead scores in the final two minutes. Two good young QBs, two young, tough defenses. The future of the NFC will likely float around these two teams for awhile. Both teams, both quaterbacks are on the cusp of elite status. As always, the place to make that case is the postseason.

We all expected fireworks last time (also in the Georgia Dome) but we received a defensive game. Although the two masterful 4th quarter go-ahead drives from both young QBs took over the headlines, we remember the D's. It is hard to not expect fireworks this time as well! It's tempting to say "QB Matt Ryan, QB Aaron Rodgers, WR Roddy White, WR Greg Jennings... the firework show". It could go either way, as almost anything can (and does) in the NFL.

KEYS FOR GB:  The Green Bay O-line needs to make things easy for RB James Starks again. There has been much made that Starks isn't a hard worker, and doesn't practice well (a large reason Coach Mike McCarthy didn't play him much during the season) but a solid running game will take a lot of weight off Rodgers, which is crucial as the opponents get better and better.

KEYS FOR ATL:  RB Micheal Turner, the O-line, and the D are no longer shouldering Matt Ryan, but neither is Ryan carrying them. This is a very well-balanced team and they will need every bit of that to fundamentally overwhelm the Packers, who have had injuries affect their depth. WR Micheal Jenkins needs to emerge as a threat with Roddy White and TE Tony Gonzalez likely taking a lot of the Pro Bowl Packers secondary players with them on their routes.

Seattle Seahawks (8-9) @ Chicago Bears (11-5)

Chicago safeties need only pop in the tape of Seattle's upset over New Orleans, watch the Saints safeties and do the exact opposite of everything they did. QB Matt Hasselbeck and QB Jay Cutler are two roller coasters and it's hard to say what we'll get out of each offense. When these teams met in the regular season, the entire Chicago offense was awful.

Chicago loved the bye week, getting their aging linebacker core healthy and replenishing the legs of their speedy weapons, RB Matt Forte and WR Devin Hester. Most of the media had Chicago pegged as underdogs no matter who they played in the divisional round (of course, that was before Seattle actually won). Now, the Bears have everything to lose, they are expected to dominate, how will they respond?

KEYS FOR SEA: Without the 12th man, Seattle has historically struggled. The D is strong, especially on early drives. S Earl Thomas, LB Aaron Curry are looking good but they can't hold out forever. Many games were lost because the offense just couldn't hold onto the ball. RB Marshawn Lynch may have impressed the NFL with his run but he can't overpower every player, he's got to watch out for that notoriously opportunistic Bears D.

KEYS FOR CHI: LB Brian Urlacher and LB Lance Briggs have to shut down the run early.  If Briggs and Urlacher can step in those holes and shut it down. It will be a long night for a Seattle offense that has had troubles on the road. O-Co Mike Martz also needs to be a calming presence on QB Jay Cutler who has never played in the postseason (in the NFL or in college). Martz's big-game experience should help.

New York Jets (12-5) @ New England Patriots (14-2)

The Jets say they want this. They say they are looking forward to going into New England, a shot at redemption.And it really is a great shot at redemption. How the bluff and blustering, sexual harrassing, tripping opponents on the sideline Jets became the good guys over the quiet confidant Patriots I will never know. You will be hard pressed to find another AFC Divisional season with two hotter rivalries than this weeks, New York/New England is as hot as it has ever been.

QB Tom Brady wont be phased, nor caught off guard after Baltimore marched into Gillette Stadium last year and  manhandled the Pats. QB Mark Sanchez needs to play better, the Pats are healthier, stronger and deeper than the battered Colts. Yet still, the Colts really had Sanchez's number.

KEYS FOR NYJ: Pound the ball with Tomlinson and RB Shonn Greene, keep the ball out of Mark Sanchez's hands. He may pout about it but I say again, the Jets O-line has been strong and was the difference over Indianapolis (though RT Damien Woody will not play). CB Darrelle Revis can't stay on one player all game, with the way Brady spreads the ball it won't do any good. In the Week 14 drubbing Brady never once threw the way of Revis, he didn't need to.

KEYS FOR NE: The key for almost every team, in the cold January playoffs,  is the run game. The Patriots though, may be the best cold weather passing team in the history of the NFL. Brady and his gang of receivers, tight ends, and running backs use the knowledge of the routes to their advantage. Pressing and pressing for that one defender to slip. If there is snow out there, don't count Brady out of the game. Meanwhile, cold weather will be a tough test for the young Pats D against a strong run game.