NFL playoff pressure tightens grip around contenders

Marty Schottenheimer was a good NFL coach and a great example of someone who succumbed to the peril of playoff pressure.

He won 200 regular-season games, good for seventh place all-time between a couple of guys named Paul Brown (213) and Chuck Noll (193). Yet Marty's legacy is his 5-13 playoff record.

After losing two AFC title games in Cleveland, he found even greater disappointment in Kansas City and San Diego. Since the NFL adopted a 12-team playoff format in 1990, No. 1 seeds are 38-14 (.730) in the divisional round. Marty went 0-3.

The Chiefs in 1995 and 1997 were 13-3. They went one-and-done in the divisional round. The Chargers were 14-2 in 2006. They lost, too. Schottenheimer was fired and never coached another NFL game.

A decade later, the pressure on coaches and players to win is even greater. Reputations are made and broken in January. So as we head into this weekend's NFL divisional playoff round, here are the hottest pressure points in the four games:

Andy Reid has coached in a Super Bowl, so his postseason misery never will match Marty's. However, Reid's fourth season with the Chiefs will take on a Schottenheimer-esque, what-do-we-do-now? flavor if the AFC's No. 2-seeded Chiefs (12-4) don't beat the No. 3-seeded Steelers (12-5) at home Sunday, a game pushed back seven hours to prime time because of a winter storm.

Reid has 173 regular-season wins. He is 43-21 in four years with the Chiefs. But he's also 11-11 in the postseason, including 1-2 in Kansas City.

The Chiefs haven't won a home playoff game since Joe Montana was their QB in 1994. To do so, their No. 1 priority is stopping Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell.

In Week 4, Bell ran for 144 yards on 18 carries (8.0) in a 43-14 win over the Chiefs in Pittsburgh. Kansas City ranks 26th in run defense (121.1).

Prediction: Steelers 28, Chiefs 26

When the Packers were 4-6, Aaron Rodgers had 25 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 96.0 passer rating. Since then, the Packers are 7-0 with Rodgers throwing for 19 TDs, no interceptions and a 121.7 passer rating.

But the pressure isn't on Rodgers when the NFC's fourth-seeded Packers (11-6) visit top-seeded Dallas (13-3) in the first game Sunday.

Heading into that matchup, Elliott was on his way to his first rushing title while Green Bay ranked No. 1 in run defense. The Cowboys, without receiver Dez Bryant, won 30-16 with Elliott pounding out 157 of Dallas' 191 yards rushing. Elliott averaged 5.6 yards a carry.

This week, Elliott told reporters in Green Bay that the Cowboys "just won the line of scrimmage" and "wore them down." The Packers disagreed, saying they lost the turnover battle (4-2) and had missed gap assignments that are easily correctable. We'll see who's right Sunday.

Prediction: Packers 30, Cowboys 27

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, the likely MVP this year, led the league with a 117.1 passer rating, the fourth highest in NFL history. But that guarantees nothing. Five years ago, the Packers went 15-1 while Rodgers won MVP with an NFL-record 122.5 rating. They earned the No. 1 seed and went one-and-done.

As much as any other player or coach this postseason, Ryan's reputation will reach a crossroad when the NFC's No. 2-seeded Falcons (11-5) play host to No. 4-seeded Seattle (11-5-1) on Saturday.

So, tough matchup or not, it's time for Ryan to start digging out from under his 1-4 playoff record.

A win would boost his reputation immensely. Seattle has some uncharacteristic blemishes, but the Seahawks are also playoff-tested, still ornery defensively and going for their third Super Bowl in four seasons.

Prediction: Seahawks 31, Falcons 24

On the one hand, quarterback Brock Osweiler and coach Bill O'Brien have nothing to lose when the AFC's fourth-seeded Texans (10-7) play at top-seeded New England (14-2) on Saturday night.

After all, they are 15½-point underdogs going up against four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and a Patriots team that needs this presumed layup to advance to a record sixth consecutive conference title game.

Osweiler is the $72 million man O'Brien gambled on last offseason and had to bench late in the season. And O'Brien is the coach who went into Foxborough and lost 27-0 to third-stringer Jacoby Brissett when Brady was still under suspension back in Week 3.

Prediction: Patriots 34, Texans 9