And here I am, writing about sports for the first time in almost nine months. While this NFL season has brought a whole lot of ups and downs with COVID-19 coming in to play, we as fans are still 100% invested. You have teams stumbling into this years playoffs with 7-9 & 8-8 records ready to become upset stories. It’s to take a deep dive into this weekend’s matchups, let’s go.
Saturday Matchups
No. 7 Indianapolis Colts (11-5) at No. 2 Buffalo Bills (13-3)
This game depends on one thing and one thing only. The man with nine children, the trash talking legend, Phillip Rivers. The Colts already have a top-10 offense with their main star being their rookie second-round pick Jonathan Taylor who finished the year third in rushing with 1169 yards and 11 TDs. Taylor is an extremely special back who is equally a threat out of the backfield catching passes. Last week against the Jaguars, his 253 yards became the 9th most in a game in NFL history. Remember, he’s a rookie. On the defensive side they are led by newly acquired DeForest Buckner and 2x Pro Bowler & All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard. The key to success for the Colts this game will be using their #2 ranked rush defense to completely take Zack Moss and Devin Singletary out of the game for the Bills. However, this Bills team is definitely not going to roll over and let them walk all over them, especially at home with Bills Mafia in attendance for the first time this year. The #2 offense in the league is spearheaded by the dynamic duo of Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs. Diggs, the league leader in both catches (127) and yards (1535), is going to pose an extremely hard challenge to a defense without one of their starters in Rock Ya-Sin. The Bills only “weakness” on their offense is the lack of a running game, ranked 20th in rushing. If the Colts front seven can zero in on that, they have a chance. Now I know that Josh Allen has been nothing short of ridiculous this year, but for some reason in my gut I smell upset. I have a very strong feeling that this game will end in a Rodrigo Blakenship field goal (rec specs legend). Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
Final Score: Colts 30, Bills 27
No. 6 Los Angeles Rams (10-6) at No. 3 Seattle Seahawks (12-4)
The key to this matchup is Jared Goff’s status for the game. After suffering a broken thumb against the Seahawks in week 16 and getting surgery Goff was back at practice this week. The Rams and Seahawks split their season series this year with the Rams winning the first game 23-16 and the Seahawks taking the week 16 matchup 20-9. Russell Wilson started off the year on an onslaught of the league but slowed down a little towards the end finishing up with 40 TDs and 13 INTs. His opposing quarterback Jared Goff had a slightly different year with 20 TDs and also throwing 13 INTs. Not essentially a bad year, just not an eye-popping year. Goff didn’t need to have a crazy year anyway, as his defense is ranked in the top three in both passing (1st) and rushing (3rd) defense. With a fully healthy squad, I really can’t see the Seahawks losing. Especially since the status of Goff is currently in the air, with their fifth ranked rushing defense, the Seahawks can zero in on the Rams rushing attack and take advantage of that.
Final Score: Seahawks 27, Rams 13
No. 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5) at No. 4 Washington Football Team (7-9)
The Washington Football Team man… Led by the second ranked passing defense in the league, the football team has stumbled into the playoffs winning the NFC East at 7-9. Defensive Rookie of the Year Chase Young has grown into a leader, captain, and a major force in the front seven with 7.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. Their offense is highlighted by the incredible resurgence of Alex Smith, star wideout Terry McLaurin, and the running back duo of Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic. You have to give credit where credit is due, and that goes to their head coach Ron Rivera. He came into a dysfunctional organization and put heart into a team that looked like an absolute joke just last year. However, they are facing the #1 rushing defense in the league this week in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Even without Devin White (COVID-19 protocols) the Bucs have LaVonte David, Shaquille Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Ndamukong Suh in their front seven. It would’ve been even more dangerous if they didn’t lose Vita Vea to a season-ending injury earlier in the season. And now for their offense. 43 year-old Tom Brady threw for 40 TDs and was third in passing yards (4633). With a healthy Ronald Jones & Leonard Fournette, Washington will have to be ready for the air raid and the run game this Saturday. Star receiver Mike Evans suffered a hyperextended knee injury last week against Atlanta but is slated to make his return just in time for this week’s game. With Evans, Chris Godwin, Rob Gronkowski, & Antonio Brown, the Bucs offense at its best is lethal. Although Washington will be looking on how to prepare for the six-time champion Brady, they also have their own worries at the quarterback position. After injuring his calf late in to the season, WFT QB Alex Smith is questionable this weekend and Riverboat Ron is looking at the possibility of rotating him with backup Taylor Heinicke. It’ll be an interesting game for sure, but I don’t think it will be a blowout like many are saying.
Final Score: Buccaneers 28, WFT 13
Sunday Matchups
No. 5 Baltimore Ravens (11-5) at No. 4 Tennessee Titans (11-5)
A lot of dudes playing in this game that are simply… built different. Reigning MVP Lamar Jackson is looking to win his first playoff game while Mr. 2K Derrick Henry is looking to continue his reign of terror across the NFL. These two teams have a history with each other as of late. The Titans came into Baltimore last year and knocked off the heavily favored 14-2 Ravens. However, I have a feeling this year will be different for both teams. The Ravens come in to this game with a rejuvenated offense and a team with a five game win streak while the Titans squeaked by the 4-12 Texans by 3 and got 40 pieced by the Packers. With Lamar Jackson becoming the first ever QB to rush for back-back 1,000 yard rushing seasons, the Ravens offense looks to terrorize a shaky and injured Titans defense. While the Titans are the #2 best rushing team in the NFL, they’ll be facing the #1 rushing team in the league this Sunday. This will be the Titans downfall this week, as they are the 24th ranked defense in the league while the Ravens are ranked 2nd. It’ll be another battle like the 30-24 overtime bout in week 11, but I’m going with Baltimore in this one.
Final Score: Ravens 24, Titans 19
No. 7 Chicago Bears (8-8) at No. 2 New Orleans Saints (12-4)
How the hell did we end up here? The Bears started the season at 5-1, proceeded to go on a six game losing streak, and then won their last 3 of 4. Which to Bears ownership must mean one and only thing. Extending Matt Nagy and Mitch Trubisky. Which clearly isn’t the answer, but I digress. The Bears will face a familiar foe this Sunday in the New Orleans Saints, who they lost to in an overtime thriller earlier this year. The Bears are going to have to massively pick it up this Sunday to have a chance at winning this game on the offensive side of the ball. They are currently ranked very low in total passing (20th) and rushing (25th) on the year. Running back David Montgomery and wideouts Allen Robinson & Darnell Mooney have been bright spots on a rather lackluster offense this year and they will need to rely on them heavy this Sunday. They will be coming across the leagues fifth best defense and the workhorse that is Alvin Kamara. Kamara leads all running backs with 83 catches on the year and is ready to go this Sunday after missing last weeks game with COVID-19. The Saints do have a history of folding in the playoffs but if Kamara is on the field, I really can’t see them losing this one.
Final Score: Saints 33, Bears 14
No. 6 Cleveland Browns (11-5) at No. 3 Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
Here is my upset pick of the year right here. No Odell Beckham Jr., no Joel Bitonio, no Ronnie Harrison, and I still have the Browns taking the W here. Now hear me out, Baker is playing the best football of his career right now, throwing 16 TDs and only 2 INTs since Week 7, Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb are the best 1-2 punch in the league, and they won 6 out of their last 8 to finish the season. The Steelers however are a different story. After starting 11-0 they lost 4 of their last five games with losses to a Ryan Finley led Bengals team and to the Washington Football Team. The key here for the Browns, just like the Colts defense against the Bills, is to zero in on the run game. The Steelers have throughout the year relied on Big Ben to throw 50+ passes and they got away with it in the beginning but the flaws came to light down the stretch. With a top-10 rush defense (9th), the Browns have a very good chance to win this game. If Nick Chubb goes over 120 rushing yards and the Browns get pressure to Big Ben successfully, I don’t see how they can’t win this game.
Final Score: Browns 23, Steelers 17
That wraps it up for wildcard weekend, this will be the first time that there will six wild-card and as any football fan should be, I’m all for it. We are going to get some great football this week and I’ll be back next week with predictions and analysis. This is YSN, signing out.
