Note: I’m back! Sorry for the lack of content over the last few weeks. I was traveling and on break for a while, so I wasn’t able to get as many articles out as I would have liked. But, I’m now back and ready to deliver for the playoffs. Enjoy!
Welcome to the playoffs. After the longest season in NFL history, we have 14 teams and 13 games to decide this year’s Super Bowl Champion. It’s a very different field than we’ve seen in years past, which makes this so much more exciting. To get here was a roller coaster, and we’re not even close to getting off. This week features plenty of interesting matchups, with several rematches of games from earlier this season. It should be a blast. With that, let’s get into my picks for this weekend’s Wild Card games:
Bengals 28-24 Raiders 
Saturday, 4:30 PM EST, NBC
Wild Card Weekend kicks off with one of the more interesting playoff matchups I’ve seen in some time. The Bengals and Raiders have two of the longest playoff droughts in the sport when it comes to winning. The Bengals haven’t won a postseason game since 1991, while the Raiders haven’t since 2005. One of these droughts will be snapped in Cincinnati on Saturday evening. When these two teams met in the regular season, the Bengals had their way all day long to the tune of a blowout victory. But, this is the playoffs, and it’s hard to blow a team out twice in a single season. The Raiders fought their tails off to get to the postseason, and they will not go down without a fight. That being said, I still like Cincy to come out on top in this game. Not only do I think they’re the better team, but they rested many of their starters in Week 18 to be fresh for this game. Meanwhile, Vegas played a full OT game on Sunday night against the Chargers. Combine that with the expectedly raucous home crowd of Cincinnati fans waiting to see their first playoff win of the century, and you’ve got a tough matchup for the Raiders. I don’t know if their secondary is up to the task against such a potent passing attack, and they got gashed on the ground in their Week 11 matchup. I expect to see a big day out of the exciting young Bengals offense en route to a long-awaited playoff victory.
Patriots 16-13 Bills 
Saturday, 8:15 PM EST, CBS
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this game. These two teams have proven themselves as incredibly inconsistent as the regular season came to a close, and their two regular season matchups didn’t provide a ton of evidence to work with when it comes to a third matchup. But, seeing as though the conditions in this game are similar, if not worse than the first between New England and Buffalo, it’s hard to foresee this game going any differently than that one. We all remember the Patriots winning despite only attempting 3 passes in the frigid upstate New York cold. Who’s to say they don’t do the exact same thing on Saturday night? It worked the first time, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t work a second time. Moreover, Josh Allen has folded time and time again with his arm in such conditions. Considering it’s going to be in the single digits throughout the course of the game, I simply cannot trust him to step up and make the plays necessary to defeat a team like the Patriots, which already has his number. I think Buffalo’s win condition is their defense, which was the deciding factor in a similar playoff game last year against the Ravens. If they can step up and make enough plays against the Patriots offense, it will surely be enough to put them over the top in what is sure to be a low scoring affair. But, if New England and their offense control this game, then it’ll be too difficult for the Bills to overcome. Considering their matchup earlier this season and the postseason prowess of Bill Belichick and the Patriots, it’s just too hard to pick against them.
Buccaneers 27-17 Eagles 
Sunday, 1:00 PM EST, FOX
For a second consecutive year, Tom Brady and the Bucs begin their Super Bowl quest against an NFC East team that really shouldn’t be in the playoffs. The Eagles had a very nice second half of their season, but down the stretch, they looked very unconvincing against a bunch of bad teams with bad QBs, especially within the NFC East. Maybe a month ago I would have liked Philly’s chances in this game, but they just don’t move me the way they once did. The Buccaneers also don’t move me like they once did, as their final few weeks was as unconvincing as it gets for any team that considers themselves to be a “contender”. Things are just so messy in Tampa, with the whole Antonio Brown drama clouding poor play and a roster that is still as injured as any in the playoff field. They still have enough sheer talent, and the greatest QB of all time on their side, to be able to beat what is likely the weakest team in the NFC playoffs, but it wouldn’t shock me if this game is close for a while. It’s just a matter of whoever gets their head out of their you-know-where first, and in the playoffs, how can I not pick Tom Brady? I picked against him 3 straight times last year in the postseason and he burned me every single time. I won’t make that mistake this week, but I can’t make any promises for the next.
49ers 26-23 Cowboys 
Sunday, 4:30 PM EST, CBS
In my opinion, this is the game of the weekend. How can it not be? The brands, the logos, the history, the old rivalry, the new star power, and storylines galore. It should be a fun few hours on Sunday evening in Arlington. The Cowboys are another team that didn’t move me whatsoever down the stretch of their season. They used some blowouts of remarkably inferior competition to mask a team that still has plenty of problems and isn’t nearly as formidable as they seemed in the first half of the regular season. Their run game has disappeared, Dak Prescott has struggled against real teams, and while their front seven is plenty good, their secondary is anything but. This makes the matchup with San Francisco very, very difficult. The 49ers willed their way into the dance with an incredible comeback OT win last week against the Rams, and I’m glad they did. This is a team that played like a playoff team down the stretch and undoubtedly deserved to be here. Now, they get a fairly favorable matchup, especially offensively. San Francisco prides itself on being able to run the ball with any of their weapons offensively, whether it be Elijah Mitchell or Deebo Samuel or any of their other gadget guys. Once that gets going, Jimmy Garoppolo can play efficient ball and lead plenty of scoring drives to put points on the board. The recent emergence of WR Jauan Jennings and season-long production of Deebo Samuel makes this offense a lot more deadly than it might seem. Moreover, the defense has stepped up in a huge way to get this team into the playoffs, and against a Dallas team that simply doesn’t have the offensive firepower as earlier in the season, I think they’ll do enough to let their offense go out and win the game. I expect this one to be close throughout, and it wouldn’t shock me if it ends up going into overtime. But, I have a ton of faith in the Niners to get the job done and keep their season alive.
Chiefs 30-14 Steelers 
Sunday, 8:15 PM EST, NBC
Ben Roethlisberger said it best himself. The Steelers don’t stand a chance in this game. You can make the argument that Pittsburgh doesn’t even deserve to be here, and you’d have a pretty solid one. It took until the final play of the regular season for this team to get into the playoffs, and if it wasn’t for the incompetence of the Chargers, they might not even have been here. But, they are, and now they get to play arguably the best team playing this weekend. The Chiefs had a blazing hot second half of their season, and while it ended somewhat unceremoniously with a loss to Cincinnati and a close win over Denver, they still were very close to getting a 1 seed. Thanks to a complete 180 from their defense and very good, efficient play from their offense, Kansas City is primed for another potential Super Bowl run. This team may not be as flashy or incredible to watch as the last two AFC Championship-winning teams, but they are still pretty damn good. If anything, they are much better than this Steelers team. And if you need any evidence for that, I suggest looking at their matchup just 3 weeks ago. The Chiefs routed Pittsburgh by nearly 30 points in a game that was over before it even started. In a nearly identical circumstance, it’s hard to see this game going any differently. I think the Steelers will put up a fight, but this is simply too big of a mountain for them to climb.
Rams 23-20 Cardinals 
Monday, 8:15 PM EST, ESPN
The Rams and Cardinals will be making history on Monday night in the first ever playoff game on a Monday in NFL history. I still don’t know how I feel about that, but alas, it’s how things are now. This third matchup between these two division rivals promises to be a good one. The first two games this season were very accurate reflections of where these teams were at the time. The first game early in the season was all Arizona, as they were off to an incredibly hot start in September and October. The second game belonged to the Rams thanks to a complete performance with all of their new acquisitions making an impact. It was the first time the Rams truly looked like the team they had the potential to be, and it kickstarted a blazing hot finish to their season that saw them taking Arizona over in the standings and winning the NFC West. So, what does this matchup have in store for us? If I had to guess, it’d be closer to the second game than the first. The Rams have simply been a much better team over the last couple of months, with their pieces finally gelling and the team finally living up to their potential, as I stated before. Meanwhile, the Cardinals had a fledgling finish to 2021, losing the division race and losing more games than they won. They simply aren’t the same explosive, fun team that they were in the first half of the season. Moreover, their quality of play has dropped substantially, especially defensively. Based on what they’ve shown me in recent weeks, I don’t have enough confidence to pick them to pull off this upset. Los Angeles has simply been the much better team, and if they play up to their potential, there are very few teams in this league that can slow them down. Now is the time to push for a title, and it has to start here.
All stats taken from ESPN.
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