Wild Card
Minnesota Vikings vs. Seattle Seahawks
The Minnesota Vikings finally dethroned the Green Bay Packers from that NFC North title they always seem to win and took a hold of the division for the first time in some time. The bad news? Now they have to take on the red-hot Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs. Seattle is experienced in these situations and the young Vikings squad led by Teddy Bridgewater may be a little in over their heads come Sunday.
When the two teams faced each other on December 8 in Minnesota, the Seahawks came away with the victory 38-7. So good job on winning the division and everything, but good luck against Russell Wilson, the Legion of Boom and the defending NFC Champions.
Legend Pick: Seattle Seahawks
MVP Pick: Seattle Seahawks
Houston Texans vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The Houston Texans, winners of the AFC South, have finally made their way back to the NFL Playoffs. Unfortunately, the team is still without a legitimate starting quarterback, but their defense led by the heroics of J.J. Watt have turned the team around during the second half of the season.
Kansas City Chiefs coach, Andy Reid has essentially given the keys to the car to a quarterback for the first time ever – which Alex Smith has had comfort in leading the team to a 10-game winning streak. While those wins are only against a few quality teams, the biggest key to playing in the post-season is having momentum – something Kansas has. While the buzz around this game is arguably the fewest, these two teams match-up extremely well, which could result in the best finish among all Wild Card Weekend games this Saturday.
MVP Pick: Kansas City Chiefs
Legend Pick: Kansas City Chiefs
Washington Redskins vs. Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers have been one of the most inconsistent teams this season. One week they look like they finally got it together, then the next they’re losing games in absurd fashion. Of course, it didn’t start out this way, but at some point in the year, things just kept falling apart. Injuries limited Eddie Lacy, Randall Cobb, DeVante Adams and it seemed Aaron Rodgers just couldn’t get anything done on offense.
The Washington Redskins barely survived the trash NFC East and won the division and while Kirk Cousins has been showing out, we still have faith in the Packers when it comes to the post season. There’s no way they go into Washington D.C. and lose in the Wild Card, right?
Legend Pick: Green Bay Packers
MVP Pick: Washington Redskins
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
The million dollar questions this weekend, is whether or not Marvin Lewis will finally win his first ever post-game in a prime-time outing at home. The big news surrounding this game are injuries with both the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers to key players.
Cincy is expected to be without starting quarterback Andy Dalton, which AJ McCarron will get his first stint at a playoff atmosphere in the bright lights. This causes concern for us, as the Steelers defense is known to attack younger QBs in the pocket – if properly motivated by Big Ben. Speaking of which, PITT is expected to be without their only running back DeAngelo Williams, but we still expect the black and yellow team to prevail down the later stretches of the game.