Wildcard Weekend: Game Overviews and Predictions

We are back at wildcard weekend already, and there are some matchups (and reunions) that intuitively point at what should be an awesome slate of games. Tyreek Hill headed back to Arrowhead for the first time since he was traded, Mike McCarthy coaching against his former team, and of course, the most anticipated matchup, Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff facing off against not only each other but their former teams.

There will be two games played on Saturday, three on Sunday, and finish up on Monday night. The schedule is as follows:

Saturday

AFC – 4:30 PM (ET): (5) Cleveland Browns at (4) Houston Texans

AFC – 8:00 PM (ET): (6) Miami Dolphins at (3) Kansas City Chiefs

Sunday

AFC – 1:00 PM (ET): (7) Pittsburgh Steelers at (2) Buffalo Bills

NFC – 4:30 PM (ET): (7) Green Bay Packers at (2) Dallas Cowboys

NFC – 8:00 PM (ET): (6) Los Angeles Rams at (3) Detroit Lions

Monday

NFC – 8:15 PM (ET): (5) Philadelphia Eagles at (4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Some teams caught fire at the right time, some teams stumbled their way in with some help. Regardless, it’s a completely different playing field in the playoffs, so let’s dive into each game and figure out who’s moving onto the divisional round.

(5) Cleveland Browns at (4) Houston Texans

If we’re talking about teams that caught fire at the right time, you’re looking at two of them right here in this matchup. Houston, on the tightrope of potentially missing the postseason, was given back C.J. Stroud for the final two games of the regular season. Needing two wins to secure a spot, Stroud rose to the occasion and won them both.

As for Cleveland, it seems like everyone is pushing for them since they’ve unexpectedly struck gold with Joe Flacco. After stringing off four wins in a row (one of which was against Houston) and securing the five-seed, the Browns were able to rest starters and cruise their way into the postseason. Kevin Stefansky’s merciless defense paired with Flacco’s rocket arm and ability to make big plays makes it hard to bet against Cleveland to win this one.

This should be a dog-fight, but Flacco owns the postseason experience necessary to push through playoff games on the road, and I think their defense will be able to keep him out of stressful situations.

Score Prediction: Browns 21, Texans 17

(6) Miami Dolphins at (3) Kansas City Chiefs

If we’re talking about teams that look like they stumbled into the playoffs, you’re looking at two of them right here in this matchup.

On Miami’s side, they had the AFC East all but locked up before flopping to Tennessee on MNF. A statement win over Dallas helped them secure a playoff spot, but then a steamrolling in Baltimore and dropping the final game against Buffalo bumped them from the two-seed to the six-seed.

For Kansas City, the long term issue for them this season was trouble with catching passes. Although they managed to win the AFC West for the eighth year in a row, some questionable losses and clunky offensive play at points puts a question mark over their heads on their ability to make a run like previous years.

Miami also has had some key injuries added to their plates during the close of the regular season, but with guys returning and their backs now to the wall, I believe their offense can get back to clicking with their fastest guys back on the field.

Score Prediction: Dolphins 28, Chiefs 24

(7) Pittsburgh Steelers at (2) Buffalo Bills

While the Steelers drove through their adversity and managed to keep Mike Tomlin’s streak of winning seasons alive, losing T.J. Watt in week 18 is a massive gut punch to any hope they may have had towards winning a playoff game. The stat differences between him playing and not playing are almost unbelievable.

As for Buffalo, they are fresh off proving just about everyone wrong by winning all five of their remaining regular season games and snatching the AFC East away from Miami. Similar to Flacco, Josh Allen’s ability to create space and big plays with his rocket arm and legs will be too much at this point for a Watt-less Pittsburgh defense to stop.

Score Prediction: Steelers 13, Bills 34

(7) Green Bay Packers at (2) Dallas Cowboys

Aside from how one-sided this game is destined to be, a lot of playoff history exists in this matchup. Most recently, you have Jared Cook’s sensational catch to set Green Bay up for the game-winning field goal in 2016:

And, of course, you have their playoff matchup in 2014 that stunned the NFL world and altered how the game is officiated:

Other than the cool sabermetric of Mike McCarthy coaching against his former team, there isn’t much to say about this game. The mountain Jordan Love would have to climb to persevere in this situation is far too high, and I don’t see Aaron Jones carrying the offense on his back for sixty minutes.

Score Prediction: Packers 21, Cowboys 38

(6) Los Angeles Rams at (3) Detroit Lions

You can’t draw it up much better than this. Two years (now technically three) following the wild trade that sent Goff to Detroit and Stafford to LA, the two will now face each other in what should be the most exciting game of the wildcard round.

On Detroit’s side, the whole city is buzzing since they were crowned kings of the NFC North for the first time in team history. As the season progressed they were able to tighten down against the run, resulting in the number one rushing defense to close out the season. Also, although it’s looking unlikely star TE Sam LaPorta will play, Jared Goff owns weapons capable of creating separation and making big chunk plays.

However, Sean McVay’s offense (albeit on paper) is shaping up to be a nightmare matchup for Dan Campbell’s defense. A healthy Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua can catch just about anything, and Kyren Williams is having an all-pro year as a workhorse back.

If you ask me, you have to lean more towards the Rams here. Williams should produce numbers regardless of what defense he’s up against, and I think McVay will have a much easier time crafting a game plan against Jared Goff than Campbell will Stafford. All that aside, this should be an incredible game from start to finish.

Score Prediction: Rams 35, Lions 31

(5) Philadelphia Eagles at (4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Similar to the Dolphins, the Eagles let their playoff rank (there’s was the one seed) fall through their hands after starting the season 10-1 and finishing 1-5. In those respective spans, their points per game plummeted from 28.2 (weeks 1-12) to 20.5 (weeks 13-18) as the offense as a whole just lost its footing.

What happened? I think that’s the question the entire league is asking.

Luckily for them, the Bucs also lost their footing (almost), as they squeaked by the Panthers in week 18 to win the NFC South. The running joke all season was that someone had to win that division, and I don’t think any of them pose much of a threat now that we’re in the playoffs.

What’s worth noting though, is that in week 18 we saw Giants DC Wink Martindale make Jalen Hurts extremely uncomfortable with his pressure packages, sacking him twice and only allowing 55 yards on 16 attempts. I think Philly will win this game, but I also think Todd Bowles will create some similar defensive play-styles and keep this uncomfortably close.

Score Prediction: Eagles 24, Bucs 20