NFL Playoff Bracket 2015: Divisional-Round Picture, Scenarios and Predictions

Only one quarter of the NFL's 32 teams remain alive in the postseason as the divisional round approaches. The second stage of the playoffs commences Saturday when both No. 1 seeds will be in action.

Kicking things off will be the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks doing battle with the scrappy Carolina Panthers. The mighty New England Patriots will then gear up for a revenge matchup of sorts with the surging Baltimore Ravens.

An intriguing showdown at Lambeau Field pits the Green Bay Packers against America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys. Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos then play host to his former team, the Indianapolis Colts, to cap off Sunday's action.

If they win, both Seattle and New England hold home-field advantage, but should Carolina or Baltimore pull off upsets, the victor in the other matchups will get an unexpected home game in the conference championship. That succinctly covers all of the potential playoff scenarios.

Here is a look at the updated picture and bracket, along with final score predictions and analysis for each game in the divisional round.

AFC Divisional-Round Predictions

Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV	Prediction
Saturday, January 10	Baltimore Ravens (6) vs. New England Patriots (1)	4:35 p.m.	NBC	Patriots 24, Ravens 20
Sunday, January 11	Indianapolis Colts (4) vs. Denver Broncos (2)	4:40 p.m.	CBS	Broncos 34, Colts 21

Gillette Stadium has been a fortress in Foxborough for the Patriots—except when the Ravens come to town, it seems.

Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post highlights a potential issue New England could have in blocking Baltimore's pass-rushing tandem of Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil:

"

The Patriots’ offensive line couldn’t handle the Jets’ defensive front. Good luck against this Ravens rush.

— Bart Hubbuch (@BartHubbuch) January 4, 2015"

Yes, the Ravens were relentless and torched Pittsburgh's offensive line in the Wild Card Round. That doesn't mean it will happen again, because the Steelers, who yielded five sacks in the game, were largely one-dimensional without Le'Veon Bell.

Pittsburgh features a quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger who likes to hold the ball for a long time and extend plays, which partially explains its Football Outsiders 5.8 percent adjusted sack rate. That ranked 14th in the league, while the Pats are second in that category.

Tom Brady's quick release, hyper-competitive fire and huge opportunity to win a fourth Super Bowl after he was severely doubted early this season will help drive New England. Those factors can stymie the pressure.

Ben Volin of The Boston Globe also astutely observes how exceptional the Patriots have been at home this year:

A deep backfield featuring receiving specialist Shane Vereen, bruiser LeGarrette Blount and even Jonas Gray gives the Patriots the personnel to stay fresh and pound away at Baltimore's front seven. Another weapon the Ravens' thin secondary can't account for is New England tight end Rob Gronkowski.

In a game that should feature stellar pass protection on both sides and quite a few offensive fireworks, look for Brady to gash Baltimore's cornerbacks more often than his counterpart Joe Flacco lights it up against the likes of Darrelle Revis and Devin McCourty.

As for the duel everyone will be discussing between Manning and Colts stud signal-caller Andrew Luck, it's all going to be on the youngster if Indianapolis is to have any chance at topping the Broncos.

If the following numbers from ESPN Stats & Info are any good at forecasting what's to come, perhaps Luck is up to the challenge:

No matter how many yards Luck puts up, though, it's going to be difficult for his leaky line to ward off Von Miller and a better-than-advertised Denver defense. Luck needs a near-perfect game, something not likely to happen due to his tendency to turn the ball over.

On the other side, Manning has benefited greatly from a rushing attack featuring C.J. Anderson as the workhorse. Andrew Mason of DenverBroncos.com highlights just how special Anderson has been:

Having a threat like Manning under center helps open running lanes, yet there's no denying the impact Anderson has had and how much pressure he's lifted off the legendary QB.

As much deserved fanfare as Luck and Manning will garner, Anderson will prove to be the big difference, and Luck will be forced to do too much to get to the AFC Championship Game on the road.

NFC Divisional-Round Predictions

Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV	Prediction
Saturday, January 10	Carolina Panthers (4) vs. Seattle Seahawks (1)	8:15 p.m.	FOX	Seahawks 19, Panthers 10
Sunday, January 11	Dallas Cowboys (3) vs. Green Bay Packers (2)	1:05 p.m.	FOX	Packers 38, Cowboys 31

For those hoping an upset is in store in one of these NFC matchups after seeing predictions that send New England and Denver through, the oddsmakers don't agree.

CBSSports.com's Will Brinson highlights how the top two seeds are prohibitive favorites:

And it comes as little surprise. The Seahawks are playing a team in Carolina that finished 7-8-1 in the regular season and looked sloppy in beating a Ryan Lindley-led Arizona team in the Wild Card Round.

Still, there's reason to believe the Panthers are cut out to keep things close at CenturyLink Field. Carolina coach Ron Rivera weighed in on making the journey to the Emerald City, per the team's official website:

"

It is one of the toughest places in the NFL to play. You are playing a great team in front of a loud crowd. We benefitted from a great crowd against Arizona and now we will have to be ready for the other side of the coin. I do think playing on the road late in the season at New Orleans and Atlanta should help us because they were basically playoff games for us. We’ll just have to deal with it. They are a good team wherever you play them.

"

If both Jonathan Stewart and Cam Newton are up to the physical task of pounding the rock against Seattle's ball-hawking defense, the score could be closer than the initial spread suggests. The Charlotte Observer's Joe Person brings up another relevant point:

The glaring weakness for the Panthers is that they lack a huge playmaker beyond still-learning rookie Kelvin Benjamin and sure-handed tight end Greg Olsen.

The Seahawks' Legion of Boom secondary is well advertised, but their linebackers in Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, Marcus Smith and Bruce Irvin are all athletic enough to cover the likes of Olsen. They can even get safety help depending on the coverage.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Newton hasn't been able to extend the play as well as he has in the past, while Seattle dual-threat QB Russell Wilson is arguably the best at doing so in the NFL. That improvisational unpredictability compensates for the fact that the Seahawks are mediocre, or inexperienced at best, in the receiving corps.

It's just downright rare for the reigning Lombardi Trophy bearers to lose at home, as Wilson owns a 22-2 career record there. Thus, these possible upset rankings by The MMQB's Greg A. Bedard make sense:

Running back Marshawn Lynch can generate yards after contact among the game's best, which will be necessary in facing Carolina's resurgent defense led by sure-tackling linebackers Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis.

In a close contest bound to feature some of the hardest hitting in recent memory, Seattle will hold court at home with a second Super Bowl so close in its sights.

Tony Romo orchestrated an improbable fourth-quarter touchdown drive to lead the Dallas Cowboys to the divisional round.

Overcoming a stout Detroit Lions team that held DeMarco Murray to 75 yards rushing and sacked Romo six times showed that the savvy veteran is a different player than the one who fell short in the postseason in the past.

An easier opposing defense is on the horizon. The bad news is that Romo's teammates will have to try to stop Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers' prolific offense, featuring a tough running game of its own thanks to Eddie Lacy's form.

This stat from Week 17 shows just how hot Lacy has been:

That has to scare Cowboys fans, along with the fact that Rodgers was 8-0 at Lambeau Field in the regular season with 25 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Even Dallas' own perfect record on the road seems a moot point.

If Romo could find a way to notch wins in Green Bay and Seattle and then go on to win the Super Bowl, it'd be impossible to question his legacy. Regardless of what happens in what should be a shootout next Sunday, he will likely take considerable blame for the Cowboys' loss.

The reality will be that Dallas' injury-riddled defense will finally rear its head against a truly elite, balanced opponent. Then the four best regular-season teams will deservedly meet in a duo of conference championship games that shouldn't disappoint.