Pick’em Contest: Divisional round match-ups

These ladies are high-stepping with glee at the thought that Denver Broncos Peyton Manning could advance to the AFC Championship game.

Playoff pruning

Welcome to the Divisional Round of the 2012 Water Cooler Sports Pick’em Contest! The field has thinned a bit, and it will get still thinner this week. Perhaps the most impressive accomplishment of the first round is that Paul Rubino advanced over opponent SDL despite not picking a score for any of the games.

Congratulations to those contestants who made it through the first round. Best of luck to you all as you contend with our master prognosticators, whose dominance in the regular season afforded them a first-round bye in our postseason contest.

There is only one NFC North team remaining in the playoffs. The Green Bay Packers travel to Candlestick Park to take on the San Francisco 49ers, one of two teams representing the NFC West. The 49ers defeated the Packers at Lambeau Field in Week 1, so it would be sweet revenge for Green Bay if they were able to escape with a win.

Can the Baltimore Ravens cheerleaders will their elite quarterback to victory this weekend?

Meanwhile the other NFC West team, the Seattle Seahawks, flies into the Georgia Dome in the hopes of driving the NFC South-champion Atlanta Falcons from the roost.

If both the Packers and the Seahawks were able to pull out an upset, that would mean the NFC Championship Game would be played at Lambeau Field. It’s an interesting dilemma for the Packers. Of course, any team wants to play at home whenever possible, but with quarterback Aaron Rodgers at the helm, Green Bay has performed significantly better indoors than in the elements. It’s possible that it would actually be to Green Bay’s advantage to play at Atlanta. All of this is moot until they defeat the 49ers, of course.

On the AFC side, the Houston Texans travel to Foxborough, Massachusetts, to contend with the New England Patriots in what will probably be the most hyped game of the week. Houston wouldn’t be in this position had they taken care of business the last three weeks of the regular season, and they hardly looked dominant against Indianapolis last weekend. Can they stand up to the juggernaut, or will they be routed at the hands of Bill Belichick’s squad?

Rounding out the card, the Baltimore Ravens fly into Denver to take on the resurgent Broncos, lead by quarterback Peyton Manning. Baltimore will be motivated to get the face of their franchise, linebacker Ray Lewis, one more win. On the other hand, the Broncos will be equally motivated to bring one home for the gipper.

No doubt the media will be bubbling all week over the possibilities of a classic Manning/Brady rematch.

Mind the rules

The rules for this week’s contest remain the same as last week. In brief, contestants receive one point for every correctly picked winner, one point, for every correctly predicted score, and five points for every perfectly predicted game. Picking scores in the games is optional but highly recommended, as it improves your chances for scoring.

Here are the Divisional Round match-ups:

• Baltimore Ravens at Denver Broncos (3:30 CT Saturday)
• Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers (7:00 p.m. CT Saturday)
• Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta Falcons (12:00 p.m. CT Sunday)
• Houston Texans at New England Patriots (3:30 CT Sunday)
• Tiebreaker: total points scored in Green Bay at San Francisco game

Submit your predicted winners and scores to nfcncontest@hotmail.com no later than 9:00 a.m. CT Thursday if you want them to be published. Of course, late entries will be accepted up until kickoff of the first Divisional Round game. If you fail to submit your entry on time, your slot will be filled by one of our eager waiting-list contestants.