Here we are. There are three more games left in the NFL season. Four teams left standing, three of which with MVP quarterbacks, and three quarterbacks with Super Bowl victories. The Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are all going to be fighting for a Lombardi Trophy this Sunday. The Bucs will be heading to the frozen tundra that is known as Lambeau Field as the Chiefs will be hosting the up and coming Bills at Arrowhead on Sunday night. The matchups are writing itself. Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers for the first time ever in the playoffs and two of the leagues best young quarterbacks (Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes) squaring off to have a chance at glory will be very exciting to watch. Let’s dive into the predictions.
No. 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5) at No. 1 Green Bay Packers (13-3)
Tom Brady and the Buccaneers are coming off a massive victory against their divisional rivals the New Orleans Saints last weekend, showing the world that no matter what happens in the regular season anyone can go home in the playoffs. This also goes against the Bucs though, because in week 6 the Bucs thrashed Green Bay 38-10 in Tampa. Theres two main keys to this game for each team to win. For Tampa it’s going to be to establish the run game and how to get pressure to Aaron Rodgers. In their week 6 matchup the Bucs got to Rodgers five times while Ronald Jones rushed for 113 yards and 2 TDs. Jones is playing with a nagging quad injury but they also have pro-bowl running back Leonard Fournette who last week vs New Orleans rushed for a solid 63 yards along with Jones’s 62. Fournette has also been a valuable option out of the backfield recently as he caught 5 passes for 44 yards and a TD. Without Antonio Brown this week Scotty Miller, Tyler Johnson, and Rob Gronkowski are going to have to step up in the pass game. The Packers have the #14 ranked rushing defense while the Bucs are #1, so the battle in the trenches will play a huge part in this one. Even though the Rams were the #1 defense in the league, Aaron Donald was playing with fractured ribs so they weren’t at full force last weekend. The Bucs front 7 of Shaq Barrett, Vita Vea (possibly for the first time since his week 5), Jason Pierre-Paul, Ndamukong Suh, Devin White, and LaVonte David should be able to get after an offensive that is without their best player in David Bakhtiari. However, that is easier said then done, because one of Aaron Rodgers most lethal abilities on the field is his ability to extend the play outside of the pocket. Coming off of a year throwing for 48 TDs and only 5 INTs Rodgers is playing his best in years, arguably the #1 pick for this year’s MVP. This will be Rodgers fourth NFC Championship game since his Super Bowl victory in 2011 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The two main factors for Green Bay’s desired victory will be to attack the Bucs 21st ranked pass defense and to get pressure to Tom Brady. The Rodgers to Adams connections is absolutely unstoppable as Adams hasn’t had a game with under at least six catches since week 2. I love this matchup, I think us as fans are in for some great football this weekend, and I also think it’s going to come down to the last possession. I’m going to go with my gut right here with this pick, let’s see how it pans out.
Final Score: Buccaneers 26, Packers 21
No. 2 Buffalo Bills (13-3) at No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs (14-2)
This is either going to be an offensive explosion or going to be a 13-10 game, there’s no in between. However, this game rests on one HUGE factor, Patrick Mahomes’ health. After getting knocked out of last weeks game with a concussion the Chiefs, led by career backup Chad Henne, squeaked by the Browns with a 22-17 win after arguably the most ballsy 4th down call ever by Andy Reid. This game is pretty even, as both teams are ranked outside the top 10 in total defense while having quarterbacks throw for 37+ TDs this year. While Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs have seemed unstoppable this year, on the other side Mahomes has that same exact connection with both Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. As Diggs was first in both catches and receiving yards this year, Kelce was second in yards and fifth in catches. And besides Kelce was his speedy teammate Tyreek Hill who finished 8th in yards with 87 catches himself. I have picked against the Bills in both of their two playoff games this year, and they’ve been close. If Lamar Jackson doesn’t get picked off in the redzone for the first time in his career or gets hurt, we could be looking at a different championship game matchup right now. If the Colts decide to kick the field goal instead of go for it at the goal line on 4th down things could have also been different. Regardless of the if ands or buts, the Bills have clawed their way to this game and have made their presence felt throughout this season. However, there is still one issue that I can’t ignore. Their lack of a running game. Last game the Bills leading rusher was Devin Singletary with 25 yards and the game before that was Allen with 54. Regardless if they win this game or not, they cannot win a Super Bowl with a non-existent rushing attack. You can’t be one-dimensional in this league and win championships. If the Chiefs get back their MVP quarterback and star rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, it’ll be very difficult for the Bills to steal this game. However, they’ve proven me wrong twice already. We’ll just have to wait and see.
