NFL Playoff Schedule 2015: TV Info, Bracket Predictions and More for Postseason

What more could you ask for out of the divisional round in the NFL playoffs than the eight teams remaining?

You have two of the biggest brands in the league squaring off in the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, Peyton Manning going up against his former team in the Indianapolis Colts, the defending Super Bowl champions facing the Cinderella story Carolina Panthers and the mighty New England Patriots against the No. 6 seed Baltimore Ravens.

Here is a look at the schedule, bracket and predictions for the four games on tap for the weekend.

Matchup	Date	Time (ET)	TV	Predicted Winner
Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots	Saturday, Jan. 10	4:35 p.m.	NBC	Patriots
Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks	Saturday, Jan. 10	8:15 p.m.	Fox	Seahawks
Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers	Sunday, Jan. 11	1:05 p.m.	Fox	Packers
Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos	Sunday, Jan. 11	4:40 p.m.	CBS	Broncos

Intriguing Battle to Watch: Peyton Manning vs. Former Team

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Manning has been incredibly successful with the Denver Broncos, so we don’t have a Michael Jordan on the Washington Wizards or Jerry Rice on the Seattle Seahawks situation. Still, the vast majority of Manning’s career came as the leader of the Colts.

Now he has the opportunity to knock his former team out in the second round of the AFC playoffs.

Manning and the Broncos offense will certainly be a greater challenge than the Cincinnati Bengals without wide receiver A.J. Green and tight end Jermaine Gresham were for the Colts. Indianapolis defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois discussed the matchup, via Stephen Holder of The Indianapolis Star:

"

You're going against a Hall of Famer. You're going against somebody who has mastered the game, knows all the coverages, all the tendencies. ... We know Peyton is going to get his yards, Peyton is going to make his plays. But if we don't let him sit in that pocket and we don't let him move around, we might have us a ballgame.

"

Manning threw for 269 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions in the season opener against the Colts and will look to replicate the success he found with tight end Julius Thomas in that first game. Thomas caught all three touchdowns and tallied 104 receiving yards to set the tone for an impressive first half of the season.

Thomas put up the majority of his numbers early in the year and was limited by injuries, but he did have the bye to heal up as the Colts dealt with the Bengals.

The Colts best chance may be to keep Manning, Julius Thomas and Demaryius Thomas on the sidelines with the rushing attack. Daniel “Boom” Herron ran a season-high 12 times and caught 10 passes against the Bengals and found the end zone. He has given Indianapolis a rushing attack to go with Andrew Luck and could keep the Denver offense off the field.

When the Broncos are on the field, much of the attention will be on Manning. Still, the Broncos will use C.J. Anderson as well, considering the Colts were 3-4 when their opponents topped 115 rushing yards.

Another thing to worry about as an Indianapolis fan is the team’s success, or lack thereof, against teams with winning records. John Breech of CBS Sports highlighted the discrepancy between the Colts against playoff teams and the Colts against losing teams:

"

During the 2014 season the Colts went 0-4 against division winners, 2-4 against playoff teams and 2-5 against 10-win teams. That's 1-5 against 10-win teams and 1-4 against playoff teams if you don't count anything Indy did against the hapless Bengals.

If we look at this even deeper: Six of the Colts' 11 wins in 2014 came against teams that won six or less games. In those six wins, Luck threw a total of 20 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. That means Luck threw 3.3 touchdowns and 0.3 interceptions per game against 'bad' teams.

In the Colts 10 other games, where they went 5-5, Luck averaged two touchdown passes and 1.4 interceptions per game.

"

The Colts defense was only 18th against the run and could struggle against Anderson and the newfound Broncos rushing attack. If Indianapolis has to focus on stopping the run, one of the best quarterbacks of all time will take advantage of the secondary in the second half with an aerial attack.

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

It just isn’t an ideal matchup for Indianapolis.

The Colts do have the league’s top passing offense on the other side of the ball, but the Broncos counter with the NFL’s No. 9-ranked pass defense. What’s more, the Broncos are the second-best rush defense in the league, so the plan of using Herron to keep Manning on the sidelines may not work.

The Colts’ struggles against good teams, combined with the home-field advantage that the Broncos (who were 8-0 in Denver) will enjoy, will ultimately be too much to overcome for the Colts.

Fans could be in for a Manning and Tom Brady battle in the AFC Championship Game. 

Prediction: Broncos 31, Colts 20

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