New England Patriots: Picks and predictions for the NFL playoff games

NFC

#4 New Orleans Saints at #1 Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles believe in Nick Foles, but you know they have to be missing Carson Wents. They don’t look like a #1 seed at all, and New Orleans is going to make it obvious with a blowout victory.

Drew Brees is going to find a way to score early and often for the Saints, and the Eagles will struggle to keep up. The Saints won a very competitive division this year, and they are battle tested. This one won’t be close at all, and people are going to have to open their eyes to the potential that this New Orleans team has in the playoffs.

Prediction: Saints 42, Eagles 24

#3 Los Angeles Rams at #2 Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings want to be the first team to play in the Super Bowl in their home stadium, but they will have to face a great Rams team in their first game of the playoffs. It will be a great offense-defense battle, but we all know that defense usually wins out.

Minnesota allowed just 15.75 points per game this season, the best in the NFL. Everson Griffen tallied 13.0 sacks this year and Danielle Hunter added 7.0 of his own. In the back end, Harrison Smith had a tremendous season with 5 interceptions and 61 tackles. Jared Goff is going to have nightmares after facing this defense, and the Vikings — with their third string QB — will run away with this game down the stretch.

Prediction: Vikings 21, Rams 10