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2015 NFL Playoffs March Madness Style – Round one

By Dan Salem

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Anyone can make predictions, so we took all 32 NFL teams and re-created March Madness. Its the 2015 NFL Playoffs March Madness style, round by round, until one team is crowned a champion. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Check out more of the brothers in Seesaw Sports Debate on BuzzChomp. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.

TODD:

The NFL season is fast approaching, but before preseason gets underway, it’s worth examining where we think every team stands. The easiest way to do that is with good ole fashioned predictions. But these won’t be any generic predictions. Predicting each division winner through to the Super Bowl is so played. Instead, I thought it’d be more interesting to throw the entire National Football League into a seeded bracket tournament a la NCAA March Madness!

Here is how the NFL Playoff Bracket looks:

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The rules and seeding were simple. I ordered each team by their 2015 over/under line, as it’s one of the more accurate depictions of what the general consensus is for how a team will perform. Then, I settled all tiebreakers with each team’s 2014 point differential since point differential does a better job of predicting future success than previous win/loss record does. And there you have it, each team seeded one through thirty-two.

It would be impossible for us to run through the whole tournament and agree on every selection. Instead, let’s divide and conquer. For this first round, you pick all games with an even-numbered favorite and I’ll handle all odd favorites.

Starting with the Cortez Kennedy Region, my first game is the top-ranked Seattle Seahawks facing the Oakland Raiders, ranked 32nd. This game isn’t too difficult to select. I actually like Oakland this season, but the seeding does the Raiders no favors here. Seattle is too powerful on both sides of the ball.

Even a great sophomore year from Derek Carr and the rest of the young guns in Oakland wouldn’t bring them up to the level of the Seahawks. The one seed advances.

My other matchup in this region pits the New Orleans Saints against the San Francisco 49ers. New Orleans eked out a rather favorable seed and found a great matchup. I am way down on San Francisco.

It’s bad enough that so many top-level talents decided to retire out of the blue for this team. It also lost a ton of starters in free agency and didn’t do enough to replace the bodies. With a new head coach and a ton of pressure resting on Colin Kaepernick, a shaky New Orleans is still the choice here.

Who do you have moving on in the other first-round games of the Cortez Kennedy Region?

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback

Russell Wilson

(3) looks to pass in Super Bowl XLIX against New England Patriots at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

DAN:

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Turning the NFL into a full on March Madness style tournament is the best idea we every came up with, now if only there was a way to make this profitable… Time to make some picks!

In round one of the Cortez Kennedy Region I get two very even matchups. Starting with the 16th seeded Miami Dolphins versus the 17th seeded Arizona Cardinals, I’m forced to pick one of the teams I truly despise. The Dolphins are trending up, while a shaky quarterback situation, hampered by injuries, has the Cardinals treading water. I like Miami in this round one matchup.

Part of me has to believe that Arizona’s defense takes a hit with the departure of their coordinator to New York. Miami, on the other hand, feels like its due to actually get over the hump once and for all.

The other round one matchup pits an underrated New York Jets team versus an overrated Baltimore Ravens team. Yes the Ravens are good season after season, and yes the Jets stunk last year. But the script has been flipped. New York takes this matchup in our first major upset of the tournament.

The Jets offense will do just enough, but their defense is what sways me. It is lights out good. I also don’t completely trust Joe Flacco, especially during the regular season. Sorry Baltimore, but you lose.

Here’s how the bracket looks so far, and check back on Sunday as we tackle the next region’s matchups.

Dan Salem is a Staff Writer for NFL Spinzone. He’s also Lead Editor, Staff Writer, and Featured Vlogger at BuzzChomp, and a New York Jets Analyst for Pro Football Spot. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or Instagram.

Todd Salem is a Staff Writer for NFL Spinzone. He’s also a Contributing Editor at BuzzChomp, a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, and an Analyst for Tipster Labs, among others. Follow him on Twitter.

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