The 2013 NFL playoff picks are going to be difficult to make, and in this one, the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots are set to do battle with one another. Check out our Ravens vs. Patriots predictions and the keys to the AFC Championship Game for Baltimore vs. New England.

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#4 Baltimore Ravens @ #2 New England Patriots
Ravens vs. Patriots Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
Ravens vs. Patriots Date/Time: Sunday, January 20th, 6:00 p.m. (ET)
Ravens vs. Patriots On TV: CBS

Key #1: The Ravens need to figure out how to keep from being on the field for 80+ snaps
There are only so many snaps that a defense can be on the field for. The Baltimore defense has been on the field for exactly 87 plays over the course of the last two weeks against the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos. The team only allowed three field goals against the Colts, and though there were 35 points allowed to the Broncos, 14 of those points were allowed on special teams. Conceding 21 points in over five quarters on the road to the No. 1 team in the AFC is nothing to be ashamed of. Though emotion has gotten this team thus far, and LB Ray Lewis has been tremendous in his farewell tour, there is still only so much that can be asked of for a team that allowed 350.8 yards and 21.5 points per game this year. QB Tom Brady is the master of running play after play and taking advantage of a tired defense. He did it all last week against the Houston Texans, and he might be able to take advantage of that against the Ravens as well. New England ran 77 plays when these two teams met the first time. If it does that again, Baltimore is going to be in a heck of a lot of trouble. If the Ravens can get the job done on defense and keep control of the ball on the ground with RB Ray Rice, this could be a very interesting game.

Ravens @ Patriots Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
Baltimore Ravens +9
New England Patriots -9
Over/Under 51
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Key #2: The Patriots have to get over all of their injuries
Brady might be healthy and ready to get back to the Super Bowl for the second straight year, but he doesn’t quite have the healthiest team in the world around him. TE Rob Gronkowski is out for the rest of the year with his second forearm injury of the campaign, and RB Danny Woodhead might be out of the lineup as well. Granted, last week, we saw RB Shane Vereen step up with three total touchdowns, and RB Stevan Ridley had himself a great game, too. Ridley only had 37 yards on 13 carries when these two teams met the first time around, and both Woodhead, RB Brandon Bolden, and WR Julian Edelman were the three offensive touchdown scorers. Bolden will likely have to suit if Woodhead sits, and Edelman’s season is said and done with. All of a sudden, there is a huge difference from entering last week’s game when the Pats were as healthy as they have been all season long, and now when they have a few vital injuries that could prove to be costly. Just about everyone is going to be on notice this week to get into the lineup for New England, and whomever it is that is out there is going to have to be at his best beat the Ravens.

Key #3: Joe Cool has to stay calm and continue to deliver the big time throws
QB Joe Flacco ended up with a raw deal last year. He is still looked upon as the man that is never going to take his team to a Lombardi Trophy, yet in the AFC Championship Game, he still played his heart out. On a day when RB Ray Rice and RB Ricky Williams combined for just 89 yards on 27 carries without a touchdown, and on a day where the weather was awful and the New England defense was swarming, Joe Cool threw for 306 yards and two TDs against one pick. What’s worse for Flacco is that he delivered the ball right on the money that would have won the game if it weren’t dropped by WR Lee Evans, and it’s anyone’s guess as to whether he would have won the game in overtime had K Billy Cundiff not missed that chip shot of a field goal attempt. Over the course of the last two weeks, Flacco has thrown for 613 yards and five TDs without tossing a pick, and the argument could be made that it is the best stretch of football that he has played in his entire career in the postseason. If that continues, the Ravens will have a shot at winning once again. If it doesn’t continue and Flacco resorts back into the quarterback that is largely known for blowing it when the games count the most, Baltimore has no chance.

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The 2013 NFL playoff picks are going to be difficult to make, and in this one, the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons are set to do battle with one another. Check out our 49ers vs. Falcons predictions and the NFC Championship Game keys to the game for San Francisco vs. Atlanta.

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#2 San Francisco 49ers @ #1 Atlanta Falcons
49ers vs. Falcons Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
49ers vs. Falcons Date/Time: Sunday, January 20th, 3:00 p.m. (ET)
49ers vs. Falcons On TV: FOX
Key #1: Vernon Davis has to be a factor for the Niners
We know that the 49ers have been a remarkable team all year long, and they put up an outstanding effort against the Green Bay Packers last week. However, if there has been a knock on QB Colin Kaepernick, it is that he just hasn’t really figured out how to get a great rapport consistently with any of his receivers. Last week, the Falcons were just destroyed by TE Zach Miller, who finished the day with eight receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown. Miller isn’t the only tight end this year to light up the Falcons. Five tight ends since November 29th have put up at least 50 receiving yards against this Atlanta defense. Davis was expected to have a heck of a season, but he only had 41 receptions for 548 yards with five TDs. He also had just one catch against the Packers, but it did go for 44 yards. That now gives Davis just seven receptions in his last seven games dating back to Week 12 against the New Orleans Saints. If Davis isn’t going to be able to figure out how to get the job done, Kaepernick might have a tough time trying to get together with his receivers. Only WR Michael Crabtree had more than two receptions against Green Bay, and with DB Asante Samuel matched up with Crabtree all day on Sunday, someone else will have to step it up. Davis is the perfect man to do just that.

49ers @ Falcons Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
San Francisco 49ers -3.5
Atlanta Falcons +3.5
Over/Under 47
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Key #2: The Falcons have to get some pressure on Colin Kaepernick
DE John Abraham spent most of the game on the sidelines with an ankle injury in the Divisional playoff game, and as a result, QB Russell Wilson was able to run all over the field. Wilson finished with 385 passing yards and 60 rushing yards, and a lot of what he created over the course of the game came on the move. QB Colin Kaepernick has proven that he has ice water in his veins, and he isn’t going to be worried about playing on the road in this situation. He beat the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints on the road in the regular season, and in his first playoff start, he rebounded from throwing a pick six on the first drive of the game by rushing for 181 yards and two TDs and throwing for 263 yards and two TDs. Atlanta did get two sacks on Wilson, but that just wasn’t good enough, especially in the second half. With Abraham certainly in doubt for this coming week’s game, someone else is going to need to get into the backfield and force Kaepernick to throw the ball, because if he gets on the run like Wilson successfully did time and time again on Sunday, it is going to be a long day for this defense.

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Key #3: Atlanta absolutely has to run the football
Sure, you can pick on what the Falcons had done in the past in the playoffs and you can say that QB Matt Ryan and Head Coach Mike Smith had never won a playoff game since coming to Atlanta. However, the real NFL expert handicappers that disliked the Falcons did so because they didn’t run the ball well all season long, and they really didn’t play great defense. In the first half against the Seahawks, they did both of those items. They held twice on defense in the red zone, and they rushed the ball for 133 yards. In the second half, they allowed three touchdowns on the first three drives of the half on defense, and they only rushed for 34 yards. Needless to say, with as close as the Seahawks came to winning on Sunday, the Falcons are lucky to be here. If they don’t find a way to run the ball against a San Francisco defense that allowed just 94.2 yards per game this year on the ground, this game won’t be even close, as Matty Ice proved last week that he probably isn’t winning the NFC by himself without the help of RB Jacquizz Rodgers and RB Michael Turner.

Our 2013 NFL playoffs predictions continue on Sunday, January 13th with the Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots. We are set to make our Texans vs. Patriots predictions, tips, and keys to the game for this crucial duel in the Divisional round of the playoffs.

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#3 Houston Texans @ #2 New England Patriots
Texans vs. Patriots Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
Texans vs. Patriots Date/Time: Sunday, January 13th, 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Texans vs. Patriots On TV: CBS

Key #1: Houston has to come to Gillette meaning business
We just can’t imagine that the Texans are going to come into this one the same way that they did the first time around. Everyone on the team was given a letterman jacket just before going up to Foxboro a month ago, and the club got the living heck beaten out of it. The lasting impression of that game was that the Patriots were playing the game against the Texans on Monday Night Football as all business, while Houston was really there overconfident in itself. This time though, it has to be 100% business for the Texans, who are playing in the biggest game in franchise history. This win would be the best thing that ever happened to the Texans in their 10-year history, but they can’t ultimately get caught up in the moment. This is just too big of a game to ultimately come up here thinking that it is going to be fun and games in Foxboro against a team that clearly is going to be taking this game as pure business.

Texans @ Patriots Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
Houston Texans +9.5
New England Patriots -9.5
Over/Under 48.5
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Key #2: The Patriots have to figure out how to slow down JJ Watt again
The Cincinnati Bengals just couldn’t do it last week. DE JJ Watt was remarkable against the Bengals, and though he only finished up with five tackles and a sack, he was all over the field and caused chaos for QB Andy Dalton and the gang. The Houston defense absolutely cannot play better than it did this past week, as it held the Bengals to just 198 yards of offense and kept them without a third down conversion. Of course, the catalyst of this team is Watt, and it really seems as though when he is non-existent, the defense is non-existent. When the Pats and the Texans played five weeks ago, Watt had just two tackles and two assists, but more importantly, he didn’t have a single sack, nor did he really get his hands on QB Tom Brady. The end result? Brady went 21-of-35 for 296 yards with four TDs and no picks. It is clear if Brady gets time to sit in the pocket and throw the football, he is going to pick any secondary in the league apart, especially against this Houston secondary that has been prone to giving up some big time plays.

Key #3: Arian Foster can’t have an off day after a huge day against the Bengals
RB Arian Foster rushed for 140 yards on 32 carries against the Bengals in the Wild Card round of the postseason, and he is now the only player in the history of the league to rush for at least 100 yards in each of his first three playoff games. What was amazing is that Foster did that against a great defensive front, and he didn’t have a single carry for more than 17 yards on the day. Foster now has eight 100+ yard games this year. The team went 8-0 SU and 6-2 ATS in those games. There were only four games in which he was held to 50 yards or fewer, and the team lost three of those four outings. In the one exception of a game against the Tennessee Titans, RB Justin Forsett rushed for 64 yards to pick up the slack. Of course, one of those games where Foster was held down came against these very same Patriots, as he had just 46 yards on 15 carries. He did score a touchdown on the day, but it wasn’t nearly good enough to get the job done. New England did finish the year ranked ninth in the NFL against the rush, but there were better defenses that Foster has run against in his career.

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Our 2013 NFL playoffs predictions continue on Sunday, January 13th with the Seattle Seahawks vs. Atlanta Falcons. We are set to make our Seahawks vs. Falcons predictions, tips, and keys to the game for this crucial duel in the first round of the playoffs.

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#5 Seattle Seahawks @ #1 Atlanta Falcons
Seahawks vs. Falcons Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Seahawks vs. Falcons Date/Time: Sunday, January 13th, 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Seahawks vs. Falcons On TV: FOX

Key #1: The Seahawks have to keep up this mojo against playoff teams
You really don’t think of the Seahawks as an outfit that ultimately did tremendously well against playoff teams this year, but when you go back and look at it, this is a team that did a heck of a lot better than you would think against the best teams in the league. Granted, we know that the win over the Green Bay Packers should have never happened, but the club ultimately went 5-1 SU and 6-0 ATS, including last week’s 24-14 win over the Washington Redskins to conclude Wild Card weekend. There’s more than that, too. Seattle also beat the Chicago Bears on the road and the Dallas Cowboys at home this year, and those were both wins that, had they not been had, would have cost the team a spot in the second season. This Seattle outfit also ultimately didn’t lose a game this year by more than seven points on the campaign. This team is a heck of a lot better than your average 11-5 team, and it has the longest winning streak of any team in the NFC right now at six games.

Seahawks @ Falcons Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
Seattle Seahawks +2.5
Atlanta Falcons -2.5
Over/Under 46
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Key #2: The Falcons have to get back to the fundamentals of football
Teams that win championships run the ball and play good defense at this level. Even when the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl a few years ago, they managed to find their way to make some big time defensive plays en route to the title. The Falcons do neither of these things well. They didn’t have anywhere near a 1,000-yard rusher this year, and they ultimately ranked 29th in the NFL in rushing at just 87.3 yards per game, and they allowed 365.6 yards per game. They did the job by allowing just 18.7 points per game, but anyone that has watched this team this year knows that this is a team that is just waiting to implode and allow 40 points in a game if it isn’t careful. But back to the ground game for a second. RB Michael Turner only rushed for 803 yards and 10 TDs this year, and he averaged just 3.6 yards per carry. We understand that Turner is coming up towards the end of his career and he is more of a plodding back right now, but the fact that RB Jacquizz Rodgers averaged just 3.9 yards per carry as a spunky, change of pace back doesn’t speak well for this offensive line. If all of this doesn’t improve, it will be a year of disappointment for the Falcons.

Key #3: The Georgia Dome can’t turn on Matty Ice
It’s easy to see why the fans of the Falcons are frustrated at this point. They have never won a championship, and they haven’t won a playoff game under the direction of Head Coach Mike Smith and QB Matt Ryan. Don’t get us wrong, as Atlanta is lucky to have Ryan under center as opposed to QB Chris Redman and whatever other garbage the team had before. However, at 0-3 SU and ATS in three playoff games, it is easy to dismiss Ryan as a quarterback that just can’t play in the big time game in his career. He has never thrown for even 200 yards in a playoff game in three tries, and he has just 584 yards with three TDs and four picks in those games. Last year against the New York Giants, he didn’t even get a single point on the board offensively in a game that was ultimately lost 24-2. That just doesn’t cut it, and it won’t get the job done in the playoffs against any team, especially one that is as hot as the Seahawks ultimately are.

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The 2013 NFL playoff picks are going to be difficult to make, and in this one, the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos are set to do battle with one another. Check out our Ravens vs. Broncos predictions and the keys to the game for Baltimore vs. Denver.

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#4 Baltimore Ravens @ #1 Denver Broncos
Ravens vs. Broncos Location: Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver, CO
Ravens vs. Broncos Date/Time: Saturday, January 12th, 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Ravens vs. Broncos On TV: CBS

Key #1: The Ravens need another inspired effort defensively
The statistics on the win against the Indianapolis Colts weren’t the prettiest in the world for the Ravens, but when push came to shove, they got the job done against a very good offensive unit. The Colts did move the ball quite a bit, getting 25 first downs and 419 total yards, but the defense managed 12 pass defenses over the course of the day and picked up three sacks, 2.5 of which came from DT Paul Kruger. LB Ray Lewis, playing in his final home game of his career, had nine tackles and four assists, and he looked like his old self. QB Andrew Luck only completed 51.9 percent of his passes and was picked off once, and a lot of his yards came after the game was a bit out of reach. The Ravens aren’t going to be able to afford allowing over 400 yards to the Broncos if they want to win, but they do need to play with that same sort of intensity, especially when Denver gets down in the red zone if they want to have a chance of pulling off the upset against the top seed in the AFC.

Ravens @ Broncos Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
Baltimore Ravens +9
Denver Broncos -9
Over/Under 45.5
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Key #2: The General has to continue to command the field
There aren’t many quarterbacks like QB Peyton Manning out there. Manning came back this year after missing the entire 2011 season with a neck injury, and he really is as good as he has ever been. Manning completed a whopping 400 passes and finished with 4,695 yards and 37 TDs against 11 picks. Manning averaged 297.5 passing yards per game over the course of his last 14 games of the season after getting his feet wet with his brand new team. He has posted 13 straight games with at least a 90 quarterback rating and has had nine games in his last 14 with at least three touchdown passes. The bugaboo on Manning though, is that he really hasn’t been able to win the biggest games of his career. Little brother, Eli has one more Super Bowl title than does the elder Manning brother, and little Eli has beaten QB Tom Brady twice, something that has always plagued Peyton. This isn’t the biggest game in the world that Manning has ever played, but it comes against a team that has a defense that really can frustrate him. That being said, in nine games against the Ravens in his career, Manning has averaged 275.2 passing yards per game, has completed 64.7 percent of his passes, and has an 18/5 TD/INT ratio. With a suspect running game, Manning needs to keep that up if he is going to lead his team to the AFC Championship Game.

Key #3: Ray Rice has to hold onto the football
Over the course of his entire 77-game career, RB Ray Rice had only fumbled the ball seven times and lost six of them. He had never had a game with two fumbles ever, but he was stripped twice last week by the Colts, and the team lost both fumbles. Granted, that paved to way to a 100+ yard day for backup RB Bernard Pierce, but this time around, we know that it is going to be Rice that has to be the dynamic one to win this game. The Ravens have run for 396 yards in their last two serious games (forget about a Week 17 loss that meant nothing to the Cincinnati Bengals), but in Week 14, they only ended up with 19 carries for 56 yards as a team against these very same Broncos. Rice had just 38 yards on 12 carries, and he really hasn’t looked totally the same since that point. We’re going to go out on a limb and say that the Ravens need to account for at least 120 yards on the ground to have a chance in this one, and means that Rice has to not only hold onto the football, but continue to rumble through this stout Denver defense to have a chance at the upset.

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The 2013 NFL playoff picks are going to be difficult to make, and in this one, the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers are set to do battle with one another. Check out our Packers vs. 49ers predictions and the keys to the game for Green Bay vs. San Francisco.

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#3 Green Bay Packers @ #2 San Francisco 49ers
Packers vs. 49ers Location: Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA
Packers vs. 49ers Date/Time: Saturday, January 12th, 8:00 p.m. (ET)
Packers vs. 49ers On TV: FOX

Key #1: Green Bay absolutely has to get a running game going
We have talked about this all season long for the Packers. They absolutely have to find a running game in the playoffs, or they aren’t going to win the Super Bowl. In the first meeting of the year between these two teams, Green Bay’s leading rusher was QB Aaron Rodgers, who rushed for 27 yards on five carries. RB Cedric Benson had just nine carries for 18 yards and was the only running back that touched the football. It was unbelievable to think that the team threw the ball 44 times (and was sacked three times) against just 14 runs. Rodgers has proven that he can get the job done against some of the elite defenses in the league, but in the end, all of the games that were won included a rushing attack. Against the Chicago Bears, Green Bay rushed for 113 yards in spite of the fact that no one had more than 35 yards on the ground. Against the Houston Texans, though Rodgers threw for six TDs, the ground game accounted for 99 yards on 31 carries. The average wasn’t great, but the yards were what was key. Same thing against the Bears the first time around this year. Green Bay had 106 rushing yards on 28 carries. Last week, Green Bay got away with not having a rushing game thanks to the fact that QB Joe Webb looked like a fish out of water. It won’t get that benefit this week against the 49ers.

Packers @ 49ers Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
Green Bay Packers +3
San Francisco 49ers -3
Over/Under 46.5
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Key #2: The moment can’t be too big for Colin Kaepernick
Head Coach Jim Harbaugh made one of the most controversial decisions that a coach has made this year when he benched QB Alex Smith and started QB Colin Kaepernick. Now, the franchise rests in Kaepernick’s hands. The team has had a mixed bag of results since the change. The club lost to the St. Louis Rams and was blown away by the Seattle Seahawks, but on the other hand, Kaepernick orchestrated road wins against both the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints. Still, what Kaepernick hasn’t seen much of this year is a truly elite defense. He did put up a 32-7 victory over the Chicago Bears, and granted, he has stood toe to toe with some fantastic offensive teams. However, the only great defense of a playoff team that he faced was that of the Seahawks, who beat him 42-13. The question here? Will we see the Kaepernick that really stunk up the join against St. Louis for a game and a half, or the one that tore apart the Patriots for four touchdowns a few weeks ago? It has to be the latter, not the former, or the Packers will sneak up on this team.

Key #3: The offensive lines have their work cut out for them
Both of these teams can rush the passer for sure, and what this game might come down to is which team can stop the other team’s superstar on the defensive side of the ball. LB Clay Matthews was a monster against the Minnesota Vikings last week, picking up two sacks and generally making life a living hell for backup QB Joe Webb. He now has 15 sacks in 13 games played this year. LB Aldon Smith picked up 19.5 sacks in his 16 games this year for the 49ers. When these two teams met the first time, about the only thing that kept Green Bay in the game is the fact that Matthews logged 2.5 sacks. Of course, on the other side of the ball, Smith had his first sack of the season, and that was one of the three sacks that the 49ers managed to pick up against Rodgers. These two offensive lines have some great potential, but they both have their hands full for sure to stuff up some of the best pass rushers that the entire NFL has to offer. Whichever does the better job protecting their quarterback will clearly be on the inside track to victory.

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Our 2013 NFL playoffs predictions continue on Sunday, January 6th with the Indianapolis Colts vs. Baltimore Ravens. We are set to make our Colts vs. Ravens predictions, tips, and keys to the game for this crucial duel in the first round of the playoffs.

Click Here For The 2013 NFL Playoff Bracket, the 2013 NFL Playoffs Schedule, and all of our NFL Playoff Game Previews

#5 Indianapolis Colts @ #4 Baltimore Ravens
Colts vs. Ravens Location: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
Colts vs. Ravens Date/Time: TBD
Colts vs. Ravens On TV: TBD

Key #1: The stage can’t be too big for Andrew Luck
You’re not going to find a rookie quarterback that put up a better year in 2012 than QB Andrew Luck. The highly touted No. 1 pick of last year’s NFL Draft immediately came in as the starter for the Colts, and he is clearly the face of the franchise and looks like a future Hall of Famer. Luck finished the year with 4,374 passing yards, the most ever for a rookie, and he had 23 TDs against 18 INTs. Yes, those 18 picks were clearly far too many, but he has five scores without a pick in his last three games. The problem that Luck has though, is that he really didn’t play well in the biggest games of the year. He hasn’t completed more than 54 percent of his passes in any game that he has played since Week 12, and he tossed three picks in games both against the New England Patriots and the Chicago Bears. The Ravens don’t have the same type of defense that they have had in the past, but they are still going to be revved up for this one and could put a heck of a lot of pressure on the rookie to get the job done, something that is rare at this level.

Colts @ Ravens Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
Indianapolis Colts +6.5
Baltimore Ravens -6.5
Over/Under 46.5
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Key #2: The Baltimore defense has to be fierce
When you look at the stats of the Baltimore defense this year, you have to be underwhelmed to say the least. The team finished by allowing 350.8 yards and 21.5 points per game, and the squad allowed 25.0 points per game against teams that finished .500 or better this year. However, when you really look closer at it, S Bernard Pollard missed three games, LB Ray Lewis missed 10 games, DT Haloti Ngata missed two games, LB Terrell Suggs missed eight games, and LB Jameel McClain missed three games. It’s still early in the week, but as of Sunday night, it seems as though all of these players are going to be able to give it a go in the playoffs. Suggs is the most suspect right now with a bicep injury. It’s not about the yards, or even so much the points as much as it is the fact that the team has to be intimidating. It has always been a nightmare for an offense to go into Baltimore to play a game, especially with men like Lewis and S Ed Reed waiting in the wings to get the crowd and the rest of the defense fired up. When Luck gets under center, Lewis needs to look him square in the face and strike some fear into him and the rest of these young offensive players for the Colts. If that turns out to be the case, everything should be just fine for the Ravens. If Luck and the gang get some confidence right away though, there could be some real problems.

Key #3: Baltimore has to pound the ball on the ground
When the Ravens have been at this best over the years, they have always been able to run the ball in the most crucial of situations. Recently though, they have put more on the back of QB Joe Flacco, and this year, the team actually threw the ball 35.0 times per game, as opposed to the 27.8 rushing attempts per game. That’s why it really didn’t feel like the greatest year in the world for RB Ray Rice, who only finished up the campaign with 1,143 yards and a total of 10 TDs. Whether it be Rice or RB Bernard Pierce, it is clear that the Ravens are going to need their rushing offense to get the job done in this one. The Colts had a rush defense that was absolutely atrocious at times this year, and this has really always been the soft underbelly that this club has brought to the table in the playoffs. Indy’s rush defense ranked 28th in the league this year at 137.5 yards per game allowed, and the team allowed 352 rushing yards against the Kansas City Chiefs just two weeks ago, proving that it is a team that can still be had for sure.

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