NFL Playoff Schedule 2015: Dates, Matchups, Bracket, More for Divisional Round
Good luck finding a better stretch of football than the one on tap for pigskin fans in the coming days.
Between the national championship game on the college side and the divisional round in the NFL playoffs, you are going to need to reserve a spot on the couch for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
The NFL playoffs are particularly intriguing, with games pitting a Cinderella story (Carolina Panthers) against a powerhouse (Seattle Seahawks) and a legend (Peyton Manning) against his former team (Indianapolis Colts). Here is a look at the complete schedule and bracket information for the divisional round.
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| 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 |
Cinderella vs. Defending Champs: Carolina Panthers vs. Seattle Seahawks
This is getting to be a pattern.
Saturday’s game will mark the fourth time in the past three years that the Seahawks and Panthers have played, and Seattle won the first three. They already met once this season back in Week 8 in Carolina, and the Seahawks won an ugly game, 13-9.
Seattle finally found the end zone for the contest’s only touchdown when Russell Wilson hit Luke Willson on the game-winning 23-yard pass with 47 seconds remaining.
While the Panthers offense was virtually nonexistent, the defense proved it can contend with the league’s top rushing attack when it held Marshawn Lynch and Wilson to a combined 97 yards on the ground.
Larry Stone of The Seattle Times noted that these are not the same Panthers, though, which could have Seahawks fans worried:
"This is a team that, despite losing six consecutive games at one point this season, comes into CenturyLink with two huge intangibles on their side: Momentum (a five-game winning streak, capped by the 27-16 wild-card playoff victory Saturday over Arizona), and the liberating underdog’s mindset of having nothing to lose.
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Despite the three consecutive wins for Wilson over the Panthers, Carolina actually held a second-half lead in all three games.
The Panthers also have five wins in a row if the playoff victory over the Arizona Cardinals is included, and two of those victories came in blowout fashion on the road over the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons.
Carolina is not the only red-hot team in this game. Seattle started 3-3 but won nine of 10, including six in a row to finish out the season. It once again looks like a powerhouse, but there was a time when the playoffs weren’t even a sure thing.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera discussed the Seahawks, via Jonathan Jones of The Charlotte Observer: “They are the Super Bowl champions and have been playing their best football late in the season. They have a great home-field advantage, but nothing comes easy at this stage of the playoffs. We will not be able to make some of the mistakes we made last week.”
If Carolina is going to pull the upset on the road, it will need to play better on the offensive end than it has in the past against Seattle. Cam Newton has led his team to the end zone one time in the past 28 drives against the Seahawks, which isn’t going to cut it in the playoffs.
A lack of production against Seattle is certainly understandable considering it was No. 1 in yards allowed this season and scoring defense. In fact, the Seahawks only allowed a single team to score more than seven points since a Week 11 loss.
The Seahawks also finished the season first against the pass and third against the run, and the defense looks like the group that spearheaded the Super Bowl run last season.
The Panthers have Newton at the helm at quarterback, but they do most of their damage with the run. Jonathan Stewart and Newton lead a rushing attack that finished seventh in the league in rushing yards per game and must find a way to control the tempo of the game by staying ahead of the chains against this defense.
Still, consistently moving the ball on the ground or through the air is nearly impossible in Seattle.
Carolina will counter with a strong defense of its own, led by linebackers Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis. The Panthers have only given up 59 points in the past six games and will look to keep the league’s best rushing attack in check. Lynch ran for 1,306 yards and 13 touchdowns, while Wilson added 849 rushing yards and six touchdown runs of his own.
That Carolina defense has played much better down the stretch than it did earlier in the season (hence, why it was still only 16th against the run and 11th against the pass with a strong finish), but dealing with Lynch and Wilson will be a challenge.
Even in defeat, Carolina proved that it can hang with the defending champs in the past three meetings with second-half leads. Still, the Seahawks have won 24 of their past 26 at home and will have the deafening 12th man on their side.
The Seattle defense is simply playing at too high of a level to bet against it in this game. The Panthers will keep it close, but their inability to punch the ball in the end zone in the second half will prove costly on the road. Lynch will score the clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter to secure yet another Seattle victory over Carolina.
Prediction: Seahawks 20, Panthers 13
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