Wild
Card Record (2-4)
NFC
Green Bay Packers Vs San
Francisco 49ers
The Packers are coming off of a huge win over
the Cowboys and now come rolling into San Francisco on fire! A big reason why
is Aaron Jones came back from injury and has pretty much been averaging about
100 yards per game the last five or six games. The 49ers are, by far, one of
the most talented teams in the league and come into this one healthy and ready
to go! Christian McCaffrey had one of the best seasons of his career and Brock
Purdy hasn’t lost a step since he stepped in as starter for the team. The edge
in this matchup will be the 9ers defense. They will need to stop the run and
force the pressure onto Love to make mistakes. The 9ers shouldn’t have a
problem with this and may even force some turnovers. The offense can control
the game on the ground and make the big plays when needed against the pretty
soft Packers defense. Deebo Samuel is difficult for anyone to tackle and this
will be a problem for the Packers. The 49ers have too much talent for the
Packers to stop in this matchup.
49ers over Packers
31-21
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Vs
Detroit Lions
Detroit is coming off of one of the biggest
wins of their entire franchise, hopefully they don’t keep riding that high into
this week because this is a new game and nobody cares that you finally got a
playoff win. The Bucs are, by far, one of the most surprising teams in the
postseason because once Tom Brady left we all assumed they’d be trash and turns
out they aren’t half bad. Their defense is lights out and will make things
difficult for the Lions to get going on the ground, which means they will have
to ride the shoulders of Jared Goff, who has had a solid season, but he has had
a problem with turnovers at critical moments throughout the season. The Bucs
offense has been extremely inconsistent, one game they will blow you up, and
the next they will be lucky if they can score a field goal. These
inconsistencies usually magnify once you hit the postseason against a good team
like the Lions. Detroit has a stout defense who have made quarterbacks lives
hell all season long and that was a big reason why they got the win last week
against the Rams. I feel like the defense will come into play, yet again, and
cause some issues for the Bucs on offense and the Lions will move onto their
first Conference Championship game!
Lions over Buccaneers
24-17
AFC
Houston Texans Vs Baltimore
Ravens
It’s been a great turnaround for the Texans
this season, and it’s extremely shocking that they have made it this far with a
rookie quarterback and coach! C.J. Stroud has really held it down and didn’t
look rattled at all in his first playoff game last week, unfortunately, for him
he is going up against a buzzsaw in this matchup. The Ravens defense takes no
prisoners and have been one of the top defenses all year. They lead the league
in sacks and have no issues causing turnovers. Then you turn to the offense and
Lamar Jackson has elevated his game to a whole new level! He is a pocket passer
who has been tearing defenses up, but still can kill you on the ground. The
Ravens have the best ground attack in the league and I don’t believe the Texans
defense will be able to handle them. It’s been a good run for the Texans, but
the Ravens are legit and should take care of the Texans easily!
Ravens over Texans
28-20
Kansas City Chiefs Vs
Buffalo Bills
Over the years this matchup has turned into a
marquee rivalry. In my opinion, it can’t be considered a rivalry until Josh Allen
and the Bills win one of these matchups in the postseason. The Chiefs come into
this one playing fairly mediocre football for the entire season, but they’ve
been able to get by and hang on and here they remain. Even though the Chiefs
won last week, all of their problems were there, poor in the redzone, dropping
passes, and just not looking that dominant as they have in the past. They just
went up against an awful opponent who was never going to win that one on their
best day. The Bills, on the other hand, have been one of the hottest teams
headed into the playoffs. They had a rocky start, but finally found a ground
attack and have been on their way to winning. The Bills defense has also been a
big reason for the wins, and I believe they will play a huge role in this
matchup. While no defense can really contain Patrick Mahomes, you can force him
into some bad positions, and get some turnovers, and I believe that’s what the
Bills will do. Mahomes has had to carry the load all season and his entire offense
has let him down for the most part, at some point that will catch up to you,
and I believe that this week is when that will happen.
Bills over Chiefs
27-20