The NFL playoffs' divisional round rolls on Sunday with two top-flight matchups as teams look to punch their ticket to the AFC or NFC championship game. The Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers emerged as Saturday's winners, and now sit one win away from Super Bowl XLV in Dallas. Looking to join them are the Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, New York Jets, and New England Patriots. As always, the TV schedule indicates that Sunday's games will be broadcast on FOX and CBS.
We continue our playoff preview with Sunday's late game. Tom Brady leads the high-powered New England offense against Mark Sanchez and the visiting New York Jets. These divisional rivals have already faced each other twice this season, and each result couldn't have been more different. In Week Two the Patriots traveled to New York and lost 28-14 to Rex Ryan's crew. The next time around was a very different story, however.
The two met again in Week 13, with both teams sitting on 9-2 records. The tensions were high, the trash talk was flying. It was supposed to be the game of the year, yet it ended up being one of the most one sided Monday Night Football games in the history of the broadcast. Bill Belichick and his squad thoroughly embarrassed the Jets, 45-3, on the heels of four Tom Brady passing touchdowns (each to different receivers: Deion Branch, Brandon Tate, Wes Welker, and Aaron Hernandez), two BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushing touchdowns, and three defensive interceptions (by stud rookies Devin McCourty, Brandon Spikes, and veteran James Sanders). Since then the Patriots have looked unstoppable, winning three of their last four games by 29 points or more. Still, as the New Orleans Saints can attest to, anything can happen in the playoffs. Will New England roll? Or will New York shock the world? Tune in Sunday night to find out.
Here is the NFL playoff schedule:
Sunday:
Bears vs. Seahawks (FOX, 1:00 pm ET / 11:00 am MT)
Patriots vs. Jets (CBS, 4:30 pm ET / 2:30 pm MT)