Pro Football Top 6 Games to Watch
AFC Wildcard Game #1 Cleveland vs. Houston
Late afternoon kickoff (4:30 PM EDT) from NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on 1/13/24. Browns finished a solid 11-6 on the season and are the #5 seed in the AFC playoffs bracket. Texans won the AFC South Division title, finishing 10-7 on the season and are the #4 seed in the AFC. Cleveland won the regular season game in Week 16 (36-22) on the road.
Hardest game to analyze of the Wildcard weekend. Cleveland has won four out of their last five games, but struggled on the road going 3-5. QB Joe Flacco (1616 passing yards, 13 passing TDs) will try to turn the clock back to 2012, and attempt to carve up the Texans secondary. WR Amari Cooper is trending up the last two weeks (374 receiving yards, 3 TDs), and will be licking his chops to put a stamp on this matchup. Houston rookie QB C.J. Stroud (4108 passing yards, 23 passing TDs, 167 rushing yards, 3 rushing TDs), exceeded all expectations. RB Devin Singletary (898 rushing yards, 4 TDs) and WR Nico Collins (1297 receiving yards, 8 TDs), will stretch the bend but don’t break Browns defense.
Prediction: Could be a score fest due to both QBs winging it and slinging it. Houston finds a way to win by 4 points and stay alive in the playoffs for another week.
AFC Wildcard Game #2 Miami vs. Kansas City
AFC Wildcard Game #3 Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo
Pittsburgh had a bumpy season due to injuries and lackluster effort, but somehow they won ten games. Three game winning streak to close the season helped, but this squad has gapping holes on both sides of the line of scrimmage. QB Mason Rudolph gets the starting nod, but he hasn’t played on the big stage since his senior season at Oklahoma State in 2017. Time for RB Najee Harris (1035 rushing yards, 8 TDs) to put this team on his back and carry them. Buffalo was sitting at 6-6 heading into their bye in Week 13, and then they decided to start playing serious football. Five game winning streak carried the Bills to the AFC East Division title, and now they can go on a deep playoff run. QB Josh Allen (4306 passing yards, 29 TDs) had a decent season, but was prone to throw game changing INTs. Allen quietly ran for 15 TDs, so his dual threat tool box is ready to go. If the defensive unit tightens up and the offensive unit loosens up, watch out, these boys can play with any opponent.
Prediction: Buffalo is a big 10.0 point home favorite and they win by 14+ points
NFC Wildcard Game #4 Green Bay vs. Dallas
Year one of the post Aaron Rogers era of the Green Bay Packers started auspiciously at 3-6, as new QB Jordan Love was learning the ropes in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. Going 6-2 over the second half of the season, has the fan base realizing this roster can win now and into the foreseeable future. Love (4159 passing yards, 32 TDs) is the real deal and just needs guidance from his supporting cast. Two deep RB corps and six deep WR/TE corps need to focus on moving the chains and limiting turnovers. Dallas had moments during the 2023 regular season, where they looked like the best team in the NFL. Then they would believe the talking heads hype in games against top tier teams (San Francisco, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Miami), and lay an egg. This is the ultimate Forrest Gump team in the playoffs, because “you never know what you’re going to get.” Toss in the fact that head coach Mike McCarthy seems jinxed in the postseason and this could be a trainwreck.
NFC Wildcard Game #5 Los Angeles Rams vs. Detroit
Symmetry doesn’t just work in architectural design and mathematical numbers, it happens in professional football matchups as well. Starting QBs were traded for each other prior to the 2021 NFL season, with Matthew Stafford moving to Los Angeles, and Jared Goff heading to Motown. Stafford led the Rams to a memorable win in Super Bowl 56 after toiling in Detroit for twelve seasons. Goff was headed into the primetime of his playing career after spending five seasons with Rams, when he unceremoniously shipped to the Midwest. Amazing how things have transpired during the 2023 regular season to have this matchup line up. Staffford has engineered a four game winning streak to climb up the ladder in the NFC West. Goff had a monster statistical season (4575 passing yards, 30 TDs) and has extra motivation to pay back his old employer. Get ready America, Lions head coach Dan Campbell is about to become a media darling during the next four weeks.
NFC Wildcard Game #6 Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay
Eagles were cruising along at 10-1 after Week 12 and QB Jalen Hurts was validating why he signed the biggest NFL contract in history during the offseason. A blowout loss at San Francisco in Week 13 (42-19), caused a freefall dive for the entire squad. Philadelphia has lost five out of their last six games and need to find their mojo again fast. WR A.J. Brown (1456 receiving yards, 7 TDs) has been ruled out with a knee injury. RB D’Andre Swift (5 TDs) and WR Devonta Smith (7 TDs) will pick up the slack. Tampa Bay welcomed free agent QB Baker Mayfield (4044 passing yards, 29 total TDs), and he led the offensive unit to a new tier. WR Mike Evans (1255 receiving yards, 13 TDs) had an impressive bounce back season and was injury free. Buccaneers DL and LBs will have their hands full trying to contain Hurts and keep the scoreboard close.
Prediction: Philadelphia imposes their physical will on both sides of the line of scrimmage and win by 10+ points.
Storylines Heading into Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs
- Which coaches are on the hot seat after the Wildcard Round of the playoffs?
- Crank up the hype machine for the divisional round games of the 2024 NFL playoffs
Same bat time, same bat channel next week. I’ll review the results of Pro Football Wildcard Round and try again in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.
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