Will we see two upsets in Saturday's NFL playoff games? Can the Baltimore Ravens will on the road against the New England Patriots?
That's a real possibility, Sporting News NFL analyst Ross Tucker says. There are good reasons to believe the visitor will win.
Can the Carolina Panthers beat the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL's loudest venue? They are a huge underdog, and Tucker sees one chance for them to win.
PICKS: Troy Aikman | Vinnie Iyer | David Steele | Weather report | Scoreboard
First, Ravens at Patriots, which begins at 4:35 p.m. ET. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady continue to power the Pats' machine. However …
Baltimore has had the Patriots' number in the postseason ever since Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh have been there, for whatever reason," Tucker says.
"Three times up there in New England they've gotten the better of the Patriots."
True, they won twice in Foxborough.
Call this one of the NFL's best recent playoff rivalries, The Linemakers' Mike Wilkening says: "Baltimore is no ordinary underdog."
MORE: Props | AccuScore pick | Quants' divisional round picks
The Pats are a touchdown favorite. But the Ravens know the formula for beating them, as David Steele learned this week from former Ravens linebacker Bart Scott. If any team is equipped to pressure Brady, it's the Ravens.
How about the Panthers-Seahawks? Well, remember the teams played a close game in Week 8, a 13-9 final that was the latest in the teams' contests to be low scoring and close.
Still, Seattle is an 11-point favorite, The Linemakers' Larry Heartstein says. Tucker agrees.
"You've got to go with the Seahawks," Tucker says. "Cam Newton is going to have to have the game of his life for Carolina to have a chance."
Picks and projections don't decide games. We'll get answers on their field, first from Gilette Stadium, and then from Seattle in an 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff.
That's half the final-eight games. Sunday begins with the Dallas Cowboys at the Green Bay Packers and a 1:05 p.m. ET kickoff. Then comes the Indianapolis Colts at the Denver Broncos at 4:40 ET.