NFL picks and predictions: Broncos and Patriots heavy favorites

The Denver Broncos are heavily favored to win this weekend according to the NFL analyst's predictions I collected this week. 32 out of 35 (91%!) picked the Broncos to defeat the Colts on Sunday. In contrast 30 (86%) picked the New England Patriots to defeat the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.

From the 38 analysts in my AFC Wildcard predictions post last week only seven of the "experts" correctly predicted a Broncos/Colts matchup in the Divisional round. I predicted the Colts coming to Denver this weekend, but failed to write it down so you'll all just have to trust me :)

This week 35 experts in the table below (three from last week did not have picks at the time this post was written) favor a DEN @ NE AFC championship game over the much-more-awesome BAL @ DEN potential matchup.

Here's how it breaks down: DEN @ NE - 27 picks (77%), BAL @ DEN - 5 picks (14%), IND @ NE - 3 picks (9%), and BAL @ IN - 0 picks (0%)

Who got it right last week?

• Ryan Wilson Wilson - CBS Sports
• Adam Shefter - ESPN
• Chris Carter - ESPN
• Jimmy Traina - FOX Sports
• Neil Greenberg - Washington Post
• Ed Reed - Inside the NFL
• Boomer Esiason - Inside the NFL

Five of the seven above also made picks for this weekend. Four of them predicted the same thing - the Denver Broncos traveling to New England to take on the Patriots. One of the seven, Wilson from CBS Sports, picked a Colts/Patriots matchup.

But what do these guys know? It's fun to look at people's predictions, but it's even more fun to watch the games because it's the playoffs and ANYTHING can happen (I'm looking at you Carolina Panthers).

What do I think? I'm picking a BAL @ DEN AFCCG because . . . well, that's what I want to happen. There's no place like home!

Go Broncos!

AFC Divisional round Predictions

Analyst	IND @ DEN	BAL @ NE	AFCCG Matchup
Pete Baron - Mile High Report			@
Ryan Van Bibber - SB Nation			@
Stephen White - SB Nation			@
Joel Thorman - SB Nation			@
David Fucillo - SB Nation			@
Danny Kelly - SB Nation			@
PFT Commenter - SB Nation			@
Matt Ufford - SB Nation			@
Pete Prisco - CBS			@
Jason La Canfora - CBS			@
Will Brinson - CBS			@
Jared Dubin - CBS			@
Ryan Wilson - CBS			@
John Breech - CBS			@
Dave Richard - CBS			@
Jamey Eisenberg - CBS			@
Allen - ESPN			@
Golic - ESPN			@
Hoge - ESPN			@
Jaworski - ESPN			@
Joyner - ESPN			@
Mortensen - ESPN			@
Schefter - ESPN			@
Schlereth - ESPN			@
Wickersham - ESPN			@
Jackson - ESPN			@
Johnson - ESPN			@
Ditka - ESPN	no pick	no pick
Carter - ESPN			@
Elliot Harrison - NFL.com			@
Peter Schrager - FOX Sports			@
Mike Garafolo - FOX Sports			@
Alex Marvez - FOX Sports			@
Brendon Ayanbadejo - FOX Sports			@
Jimmy Traina - FOX Sports			@
Vinnie Iyer - Sporting News			@
Neil Greenberg - Washington Post	no pick	no pick
Ed Reed - Inside the NFL	no pick	no pick
Boomer Esiason - Inside the NFL			@

This blog post originally had included CBS picks against the spread. It has since been correct to reference straight-up picks. We apologize for the error.