NFL Conference Championships: Mike Tanier’s Game Previews and Score Predictions

January 21, 2016   ·   Mike Tanier   ·   Jump to comments

Playoff pressure is real. Even old guys who have been around forever have to cope with it. 
Bruce Arians admitted to reporters this week that both he and Carson Palmer entered last week's game against the Packers with an "I don't want to screw this up" attitude. Arians has been in the league for decades but had never won a playoff game as a head coach, Palmer is in Year 12 and had never won in the playoffs and their combined nerves showed as the Cardinals played conservatively (Arians' own words) and almost screwed it up.
The next day, the Panthers built a 31-0 lead against the Seahawks and then began to play, in Cam Newton's words, with their "butts tight." Ron Rivera lamented that the Panthers got away from their style of football. Like Arians and Palmer, Rivera and Newton were trying to advance to the conference championship round for the first time, and they felt it deep in their cores.
The pressures are different in the AFC, where Tom Brady and Peyton Manning h...

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