Round one of the 2011 NFL Playoffs is over, and the teams in the next round all look pretty familiar, especially to one another.
In the AFC Rex Ryan and the New York Jets will play their AFC East rivals, Tom Brady's New England Patriots. They split their regular season series, and on their last meeting the Pats shredded the Jets 45-3. The war of words began for this rematch last week when Ryan couldn't manage to compliment Colts QB Peyton Manning without throwing a left-handed dig at Tom Terrific. TV cameras and microphones are going to orbit Rex Ryan like satellites around a big, green, planet this week, waiting for him to open his smack-hole about the number one seeded Patriots.
The two teams from the AFC North also split their regular season games, and closed 2010 with identical 12-4 records. The Pittsburgh Steelers took the AFC North crown by virtue of a tiebreaker, but the Baltimore Ravens are every bit as formidable as the Steelers. Both teams have hard-hitting defenses, and plenty to play for. You may have seen these two duke it out in the past, but this won't be a rerun by any stretch of the imagination.
The NFC Divisional games may not be between division rivals, but both games are rematches, right down to the home field advantage. The Green Bay Packers met the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome in Week 12, and the Falcons managed to hold on and win a close game, 20-17.
And of course, the Seattle Seahawks met the Chicago Bears in Week 6, and beat them by a field goal 23-20. So both of the NFC games are rematches of games that were won by a single field goal.
Now doesn't that sound like an exciting weekend of football? I'll be once again manning the SB Nation Chicago Playoff Bunker all weekend long. And armed only with my laptop, some hot wings and a variety of nutritional beverages, I will bring you all of the weekend's proceedings right here.
So keep your eye on SB Nation Chicago, we will be keeping you updated on all the week's NFL news along with live reports during every game. Add @sbnchicago and @BabylonDon1 to your Twitter account, and be informed of every 2011 playoff update on SB Nation Chicago.