Blog

Ladies and gentlemen… here we are. Playoff football has officially arrived. Another regular season has came and went with the wind. As we all know, the Chiefs and Eagles will be watching this weekend’s games from their couches. But this time, watching from the couch is a good thing, considering they earned that first-week bye. There are six games to break down. Let’s get into it.

Saturday’s Games

San Fransisco 49ers vs Seattle Seahawks (4:30 PM, FOX)

Geno Smith, playoff quarterback. A sentence that would’ve been laughed at by many at the beginning of the season. Geno Smith, a Seahawks passing record breaker too. While the Seahawks just squeaked in to the last spot in the NFC, the 49ers have been one of the most consistent teams in the league. After starting off 3-4, the team out in the Bay Area have won 10 straight. In six of those games, the Niners have scored over 30 points. Now what if I told you, this was all done with a third-string quarterback who was literally the last pick of the draft.

Brock Purdy out of Iowa State has stepped into this offense and has delivered incredibly. Now yes, he does have the league’s best defense backing him up, but he himself is having a stellar year. As a starter he is undefeated and has thrown for 13 touchdowns and only four interceptions.

In both games this year against Pete Carroll & Co. the Niners have done a great job neutralizing the run game. Ken Walker, the standout rookie running back, has been a huge part of the Seahawks journey to the playoffs. In their most recent matchup he was limited to 47 yards on 12 carries with no touchdowns. With the way this Niners team has been playing, especially at home, I don’t know if I could see a reality where the Seahawks win this.

Prediction: SF 30, SEA 14

Jacksonville Jaguars vs Los Angeles Chargers (8:15 PM, NBC)

If you read, “Jacksonville Jaguars: AFC South Champions” at the beginning of the year, it probably would’ve been really hard to believe. However, four months later, here we are. Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson have found their groove in this offense and it has shown on the field. The Jags are winners of five straight, including a win or go home matchup in Tennessee against the Titans. Trevor Lawrence and Co. are ranked in the top 10 in both total and passing offense. They’ve also scored the 10th most points in the league (404).

For the Chargers, this will also be their first playoff game under the reins of Justin Herbert. The former Oregon star was just under 300 yards away from his second straight 5,000 yard passing season, finishing second in the league with 4,739. The Chargers have been dealing with a horrible injury bug all season. Losing both J.C. Jackson and Rashawn Slater for the year earlier this season, and now dealing with some back spasms with Mike Williams. Slater will not be available to play this week but there is a possibility that he could be cleared for next if they were to beat Jacksonville.

I think this game will come down to a final possession. Both quarterbacks have the ability to get it done and they’ve shown that throughout this year. However, in playoff football, the coaching has to be a different level of meticulous in order to advance. And I trust one coach more than the other in these situations.

Prediction: JAX 28, LAC 24

Sunday’s Games

Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphins (1 PM, CBS)

If the Bills lose this game, I think it would be one of the worst playoff loses of all time. Now yes, I know that the Dolphins aren’t a joke. They have a solid defense led by Christian Wilkins and Xavien Howard and they have two of the best playmakers lined up on the outside in Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, but they are starting Skylar Thompson.

Now of course, this is the NFL playoffs, and anything could happen. But the Bills are way too good to lose in the wild-card, AT HOME, to a seventh-round backup quarterback that has only two NFL starts to his name.

The Bills were 7-1 at home this year. Their only loss… an overtime loss against Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings. You want to know what it takes to beat this Bills team at home?? Well here’s your answer.

Prediction: BUF 33, MIA 13

New York Giants @ Minnesota Vikings (4:30 PM, FOX)

Both of these teams got off to incredibly hot starts and then sort of “fizzled out” towards the end of the year. The Giants started off 7-3 before finishing 9-7-1, while the Vikings started 10-2 before ending the year 13-4. The Giants will make their first playoff appearance since the infamous “boat pic” in 2016, while the Vikings are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

This game will come down to the battle of the players wearing #8. Daniel Jones struggled severely in his first years in the league, but then came Brian Daboll. Daboll has brought life back into this offense and the players have reaped the maximum benefits. Jones recorded his career high in passing yards (3205) and his career low in interceptions (5), showing the right signs of improvement.

Jones wasn’t the only Giant to get back into form, as Saquon Barkley just flat out dominated this year. Barkley, the 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year, had his career high in rushing yards (1312) and made his second Pro Bowl.

Many will be writing off this Giants squad, but I look at it like this. The Vikings have the 28th ranked defense in the league, 31st in pass defense and 20th in rush defense. The Giants can attack that and with Brian Daboll’s great offensive mind, don’t be surprised if you see some calls you haven’t seen from Big Blue this weekend.

Prediction: NYG 17, MIN 13

Cincinnati Bengals vs Baltimore Ravens (8:15 PM, NBC)

I wish I was sitting here and telling you about a Lamar Jackson vs Joe Burrow matchup on Sunday Night. Unfortunately, I am not. There’s a possibility it might even be Anthony Brown vs Joe Burrow. The reigning AFC Champions will be starting their revenge tour against their division rivals.

The Ravens have lost three of their last four games to end the season. In the six games that Lamar Jackson has not finished the Ravens have not scored over 20 points once. The offense has struggled severely without him and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any easier.

The Bengals on the other hand, are walking into this game riding an eight game win streak. Since their loss to the Browns in Cleveland on Halloween, they’ve kicked it up to a whole other gear. Scoring over 20 in each of their last eight games.

Joe Shiesty has once again been activated, as he’s ranked fifth in passing yards (4475) and second in passing touchdowns (35). Now I say this, but the Ravens do have the third ranked defense in the league. So anything is possible, but I just don’t see the Bengals losing at home to a Ravens team without Lamar Jackson running the offense.

Prediction: CIN 27, BAL 16

Monday Night Game

Dallas Cowboys @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8:15 PM, ABC/ESPN)

Now how the hell did we end up here? The 8-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are facing off against the 12-5 Dallas Cowboys. However, the Bucs will be playing this game at home due to their NFC South title. Both teams have top 10 ranked pass defenses, but only one team is ranked in the top 10 for passing offense (Bucs #2, Cowboys #14).

The Bucs have relied heavily on Tom Brady this year to try and carry this offense to victory and I’d say 85% of the year, it wasn’t looking very pretty. Brady did end up third in passing yards (4694), but the offense just wasn’t putting up a lot of points. However, with Playoff Lenny activated, anything is possible.

Now on the other side, Dak Prescott has had a rough couple of weeks to end this season. Despite only playing 12 games this season, Prescott leads the league in interceptions (15) and has thrown an interception in each of his last seven games. On the bright side, CeeDee Lamb has had a career year and Tony Pollard went over 1,000 yards rushing for the first time in his career.

It’ll come down to which quarterback takes better care of the ball. And one of these quarterbacks are undefeated against the other team.

*hint: it’s who you think it is*

Prediction: TB 20, DAL 17

Well there you have it. My NFL wild-card predictions are officially in. Six teams will be going home this week. Who will they be? We’ll have to wait and see. This is YSN, until next time, signing out.