How Every Remaining NFL Playoff Team Can Win the Super Bowl

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Regular season record: 11 - 5
This week's matchup: @ Seahawks (Saturday, 4:35 P.M. ET)

The Saints finally got the metaphorical monkey off their back by winning their first road playoff game in franchise history this past Saturday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Maybe this is a sign of good things to come because New Orleans will need that type of optimism heading into CenturyLink Field where they were absolutely demolished by the Seattle Seahawks, 34-7, in early December. If the Saints don't want to experience deja vu this time around, they'll need to get out in front early. A quick, first possession score could do wonders for them. It will control the crowd a little bit, put some pressure on the Seahawks to respond and potentially set a pace for the rest of the game. 

In their matchup during the regular season, the 'Hawks eliminated Drew Brees' deep ball threats, Kenny Stills and Lance Moore, to the tune of three catches for 15 yards. As a result, Brees was forced to repeatedly hit his checkdown man, which explains why Darren Sproles led the team in receptions with seven. Brees isn't at his best when he can't get his deep ball going. In addition to establishing the pace early, Brees will need to find the confidence in throwing the ball over the top a couple of times. 

In what may have been the biggest surprise for the Saints on Saturday, Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson combined for 142 rushing yards on 26 carries. Not a bad day at the office for a team already missing their usual starter, Pierre Thomas. Throughout the regular season, the Seahawks showed that they could, at times, struggle to stop the run. Recently, Seattle has improved in that aspect, but they are always susceptible to a breakout performance. Does Ingram have another 90-plus rushing yard game in his system? 

If the Saints do manage to upset the Seahawks, the defense will become the focal point in determining whether or not they make it to the Super Bowl. Rob Ryan will need to craft the perfect gameplan that will effectively stop the dual threat quarterbacks, Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton. Plus, as the No. 6 seed, the Saints will be expected to win every NFC game on the road. New Orleans just improved to 1-8 after defeating Philly. Two more road wins may be too much to ask out of this team.

Regular season record: 9 - 7
This week's matchup: @ Broncos (Sunday, 4:40 P.M. ET)

The Chargers. A team that does everything good but nothing great. Their quarterback, Philip Rivers, isn't going to light up a scoreboard like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, but he still manages to get the job done. Their running game which features a dual-threat running back in Danny Woodhead and 1,000-yard rusher in Ryan Mathews keeps defenses honest. Their No. 1 receiver is rookie Keenan Allen, who nearly retired because of his lack of initial playing time, but has found his stride and emerged as Rivers' favorite target. Antonio Gates isn't the same player he was two or three years ago. He's been slowed down considerably by injuries and age, however, Gates is capable of having a breakout game at any moment. Again, these players are good, no doubt. But none of them strike fear into the heart of opponents. But does that mean that these other AFC squads should take them lightly? Absolutely not!

Earlier in the season, the Chargers beat the No. 1 seed Broncos in Denver. Could we be in for a repeat performance on Sunday? Currently, the Bolts are riding a five-game winning streak and there are some who see shades of the 2007 and 2011 championship Giants teams in them. During their winning streak, we have seen an emergence from Ryan Mathews, who has rushed for 90+ yards in each of the last four regular season games. Meanwhile, when Rivers tries locating receivers, he should look often in the direction of Allen, who not only runs clean routes but has the size and speed to play the deep ball and get plenty of yards after the catch. 

As for how they can continue winning, it may be as simple as maintaining that same level of scrappy play to their game because even though it may not look pretty, the W is what counts. And recently, that's all they've been doing.

Regular season record: 12 - 4
This week's matchup: vs. 49ers (Sunday, 1:00 P.M. ET)

Plain and simple. The Panthers' success lies squarely on the shoulders of Cam Newton. No pressure. While we've seen a new, more mature Cam throughout the season, can he exemplify that same mentality when the stakes are even higher? It doesn't hurt that Carolina plays their first playoff game at home against the San Francisco 49ers, who they beat earlier in the season. But all that is irrelevant once the playoffs roll around, especially against an experienced team.

For the Panthers, it's about building Cam's confidence up early. Consecutive completions to build up confidence, effectively mixing in the run and option plays and marching the team up the field early will be the key going forward. Because if Newton starts to feel frustrated, his game will suffer. And while the defense has proven they can remain a force regardless of the opponent (see: game against the Patriots), it's up to the offense to match that intensity. All of these things will be especially important with a potential matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on the horizon.

The Panthers definitely have a chance to make some waves in the playoffs but they'll only go as far as Cam takes them.

Regular season record: 12 - 4
This week's matchup: vs. Colts (Saturday, 8:15 P.M. ET)

If you looked at the Patriots' roster prior to the season and we were to tell you that they would go 12-4, you would look at us like we were crazy. The Pats started off the year with no big name offensive star aside from Tom Brady. Their receiving corps consisted of an injury prone Danny Amendola, an unproven Julian Edelman and rookies Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins. Nothing special, but the Patriots made it work.

If there is one way to stop the Patriots, it's by putting the clamps down on Brady. He's the leader and if an opposing team can rattle the Pats franchise quarterback, opponents have a legit chance of beating them. But how exactly do they do that? Pull out those tapes from their two Super Bowl losses to the New York Giants. Getting pressure is the key to victory. Force Brady to become flustered in the pocket, get a few three-and-outs and score whenever possible. It was frustrating to seeing how many points the Chargers left on the board by repeatedly settling for field goals in the red zone or failing to move the ball once the team reached the opposition's side of the ball. With the Pats, it's about scoring often and if you can't match them on that, you've already lost.

And speaking of offense, if the Patriots defeat the Colts next Saturday, it could set the stage for an offensive shootout against the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. And that is exactly what the Pats would need to do, regardless of the opponent. Ramp up the throwing and scoring, and never look back.

Regular season record: 12 - 4
This week's matchup: @ Panthers (Sunday, 1:00 P.M. ET)

Yesterday, the 49ers defeated the Green Bay Packers, 23-20, by executing a balanced offensive attack with an aggressive, smash-mouth style of defense that we've grown accustomed to throughout Jim Harbaugh's tenure as head coach. If the 49ers plan on advancing past the Carolina Panthers, the team must play that same balanced style of play on offense. The defense will continue being the force that they've been all season long, however, the success of the team as a whole depends on the presence of a decent running game starring Frank Gore, which will open things up big time for the receivers and more importantly, Colin Kaepernick.

If you're a Niners fan, you can't help but wonder what quarterback you're getting in  Kaepernick. At times, Kaep has looked unstoppable while in other instances, he's looked awfully normal, especially in their Week 10 matchup against the Panthers earlier in the season. With only 91 yards on 11/22 passing and 16 yards rushing, Kaep was shut down by Carolina's defense. Their rematch has all the makings of a defensive battle which should still probably favor the Niners, regardless of how their last meeting turned out. 

At the end of the day, the 49ers have practically the same roster that went to last season's Super Bowl. They know what they need to do to win and push themselves when the pressure is on. And, you know, pray for no mid-game blackouts. 

Regular season record: 11 - 5
This week's matchup: @ Patriots (Saturday, 8:15 P.M. ET)

The Colts have a tendency of starting off slow and playing catch-up the rest of the game. Usually, it works to their advantage. Case in point, did you see Saturday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs? That come from behind thing needs to end this week or their magical little playoff run is coming to an end. You don't want to play from behind early against the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick coaches as if the league is determined by BCS rankings. He doesn't take his foot off the gas, even if his team is winning by 20 points. What does it all mean? 

Indy needs to score early and often. Getting T.Y. Hilton involved from jump will be the key to starting up the offense, similar to the gameplan they had against the Chiefs. Keep Tom Brady off the field for as long as possible, which is what they did to Peyton Manning in their regular season game against the Denver Broncos. Because even though Brady is working without Rob Gronkowski, this offense is still a well-oiled machine capable of putting up 30-40 points, night in and night out. If the Colts do manage to make defensive stops, it will come from Robert Mathis, and his league-best 19.5 sacks. However, given the fact that the Colts gave up 44 points to a mostly Jamaal Charles-less Chiefs team on Saturday, it seems as though Indy's best bet to beat the Pats is by matching offenses. And that same mentality holds true with a potential rematch with the Denver Broncos, if they make it out of Foxboro alive. 

As much praise as Luck is getting right now, the second-year quarterback will need to step his game up even more, if that's even possible for these next two potential matchups. 

Regular season record: 13 - 3
This week's matchup: vs. Chargers (Sunday, 4:40 P.M. ET)

For the Broncos, it's that simple philosophy of "if ain't broke, don't fix it." Peyton Manning's ability to evenly spread the ball around to Eric Decker, Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker and Julius Thomas will give defensive coordinators fits for the next month. Then, of course, you can't sleep on Knowshon Moreno, who still ran for 1,038 yards during a year in which Peyton broke the single-season passing yards record. Their offense is borderline unstoppable once they get the ball rolling. Their defense, on the other hand, has holes in it. The biggest one may be the spot vacated by Von Miller and his pass rushing expertise which would've come in handy against quarterbacks like Andrew Luck and Tom Brady.

If a team is going to beat the Broncos in the playoffs, they are going to do it by taking control of the play clock. Keeping Manning off the field is the best defense. Think of it like this, the Chargers can shave off six or even seven minutes and score a touchdown. In Denver's ensuing possession, they go three-and-out and punt it back to the Bolts who take another four minutes off the clock but don't score. You've nearly used an entire quarter, keeping Peyton at bay, preventing him from getting into a passing groove while impeding the crowd from getting audibly into the game. 

If a team is unable to work the clock, they might as well start packing their stuff because once Manning is in control of the game, it's over. If the Broncos do advance to the next round and face, say, Tom Brady and the Patriots, we could be in for another classic. If you recall, Denver lost to the Pats, 34-31, in overtime at Foxboro. Brady has had Peyton's number in their head-to-head contests, winning 10 of 14, but can Peyton change his fortunes and lead his team to victory?  We hope we get a chance to see if Peyton can do it.

Regular season record: 13 - 3
This week's matchup: vs. Saints (Saturday, 4:35 P.M. ET)

The Seahawks are most effective when they are playing at CenturyLink Field and they've got home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. So, just give them a ticket to Super Bowl XLVIII, right? Not so fast. As of right now, Rob Ryan has probably watched tape from that Cardinals/'Hawks game from Week 16 about a million times. Everyone knows how effective the Saints offense can be when they are clicking, so let's focus on the defensive side of the ball. 

As the Cardinals proved in December, the way you defeat the Seahawks is by beating them at their own game, which is why it's imperative that Russell Wilson shows flashes of that quarterback who threw for 310 yards, rushed for 47 yards and had three touchdowns in Seattle's regular season matchup against the Saints in early December. Marshawn Lynch will get his yards, no doubt. But, Wilson is still capable of having a bad game where he barely eclipses 150 passing yards and throws only one touchdown. The 'Hawks defense, coupled with that ridiculous crowd noise, will keep them in this game, so it's up to Russell to help propel them to the W. 

Going forward, Seattle could face either the Carolina Panthers or San Francisco 49ers. This season, they played both teams, beating the Panthers in Week 1, 12-7, while splitting their series with San Francisco. For the Seahawks, it's all about containing Frank Gore. Colin Kaepernick gets all of the headlines and attention, but Gore's effectiveness will determine how well Kaep can utilize play actions to find open receivers and even run options when the Seattle defense over-commits to Gore. 

As for the Panthers, it's hard to gain anything from that game. It was Week 1 and Newton is a different quarterback from the one we saw early in the season. Still, for Cam, it's as simple as getting into his head. Newton is still really young at 24 years old. If Seattle can force a turnover early or the crowd noise starts frustrating Cam when he tries to audible or call a play. The combination of a skilled defense and relentless crowd should be a recipe for a championship, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.