The NFL regular season has come to an end, and America is now ready for the start of the NFL playoffs—arguably, the most exciting time of the year. There are six games, all equally important.
Whether your team is playing or not, you should be watching along with the rest of America because all these games will be very exciting. All games are destined to be interesting, but just look below to see what the main x-factors will be in these games, and what I think will be the outcome of these games.
Los Angeles Chargers at Houston Texans
The first game is between the Houston Texans and the Los Angeles Chargers. The match will be held in Houston. Despite the chargers being on the road, they are favored by 2.5 points. I have the Chargers winning this game 27-17. Mainly because the Texans have looked horrendous in recent weeks. While the Texans have had a disgusting outing on Christmas, losing 31-2 to the Baltimore Ravens, the Chargers are on a 3 game winning streak, proving they can compete in the playoffs. This game will be played at 4:30 PM EST on Saturday.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
The second game is between my Pittsburgh Steelers and their biggest rivals: the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers will be traveling to Baltimore. The Ravens are favored by 9.5 points. The Ravens are on a 4 game winning streak which includes a win against the Steelers. The game ended with a 34-17 rout of pittsburgh. The Steelers, on the other hand, are on a 4 game losing streak. They haven’t looked this bad all season, but this downhill rolling is happening to the team at the worst possible time. The combination of Russel Wilson’s Quarterback play and the thin secondary part of the defense results in a team that should be receiving the first round pick. Not a PLAYOFF TEAM! So I have the Ravens winning 34-24. I see the game being very close to the spread resulting in a nerve-wracking game. This game will be played at 8:00 PM EST.
These are the two games that will occur on Saturday.
Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills
The next game is between the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos. With the two seed, Buffalo gets home field advantage in this game.With its cold weather and lively atmosphere, it will be almost impossible for the Broncos to pull out a win. The Bills are favored by 8.5 points. At the start of the season, everyone saw the Broncos as a team that was not bound for the playoffs. They surprised everyone by making the playoffs on the back of rookie quarterback Bo Nix, and the team being well-coached by Sean Payton. I do see this miraculous season by the Broncos coming to an end in a disturbing manner for any Broncos fan. The final score will be 38-3 to Buffalo. I still think the Broncos fans should be happy with what they have accomplished this year, and Bo Nix shows light to be the franchise quarterback they’ve been looking for since the departure of Peyton Manning in 2016. This game takes place at 1:00 PM EST on Sunday.
Green Bay Packer at Philadelphia Eagles
The next game is between the Green Bay Packers and The Philadelphia Eagles. The Packers will be traveling to the city of brotherly love to face off with the Eagles. I think this will be one of the closer games out of the six. The Packers do look very good with Jordan Love in command, and the addition of Josh Jacobs at the running back position, makes for a very solid offense. On the other hand the Eagles have an even better one two punch with Jalen Hurts, and Saquon Barckley. Saquon has been the best running back this year, becoming the 9th running back ever to reach 2000 yards. The Eagles have looked very solid this year with notable wins against the Commanders, Rams, and Ravens. Their win against the Packers came in week 1 of the regular season in Brazil, and the score was 34-29 favoring the Eagles in a thrilling finish. The Packers have been pretty solid this season with a win against the Lions, who I see as the best team in the NFL. Although they are on a 2 game losing streak, last week’s loss vs the Bears the Packers were without quarterback Jordan Love. On the other hand, 2 weeks ago, when they lost to the Vikings, Love was playing. I see this being a close game, but I think the Eagles will edge out the Packers 28-24. This game is at 4:30 PM EST.
Washington Commander at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The last game on Sunday will be between the Washington Commanders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay, with a week 18 win over the Panthers, secured home field advantage for this game. I think this will be the best game of all the games being played because I have watched these teams throughout the season, and if I can describe both these teams in one word it would be: ELECTRIC! The Buccaneers quarterback, who I see as one of the best in the league ,makes great plays on a regular basis, and when you see Baker mayfield make these plays you think to yourself: how on your earth did he run for that first down, or how did you fit that pass through 3 defenders? Baker truly is game maker. The Commanders should not be frightened, however, because they have a playmaker of their own in Jayden Daniels. Daniels is an explosive rookie with a great arm and great speed with his legs.
I do believe both these quarterbacks lack command sometimes. By this I mean they might throw unnecessary interceptions. I do expect that to happen in rookie Daniels, but not from a veteran in Baker. This will be a very high scoring game but I think the Buccaneers will take it away in the 4th quarter. With the final score being 31-23 Buccaneers. This game will be played at 8:00 PM EST.
These are the three games that will be played on Sunday.
Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams
This is the last game of wild card weekend madness, and it should be a thriller. The Los Angeles Rams host the Minnesota Vikings. This game will be played at the very expensive Sofi arena in Los Angeles, California. I did not have to think heavily about the outcome of this game like I did for the other games. In the NFL, it almost always comes down to quarterback play; it’s that simple.
The Rams quarterback is Mathew Stafford is a very experienced quarterback, but more importantly, he has experience in the playoffs. He also won a super bowl with the Rams in the 21-22 season. On the other hand, the Vikings quarterback is Sam Darnold, who does not have nearly as much experience in the regular season as Matt Stafford. Also, he has never played a PLAYOFF GAME! That, right there, says it all—he has no experience in the playoffs, and he will start his playoff career with a loss. Sam Darnold is known as a Jets reject, and the Jets are terrible so that’s pretty bad, but it came as a surprise to everyone that the Vikings were 14-3. That said, they looked terrible last week vs. the Lions. They did not look like a 3-loss team; they looked like a 10-loss team. Darnold was also a big part of the reason why the Vikings were so good. I just think they lost all their momentum in that loss to the Lions, and I see the final score being 24-14 to the Rams. This game will be played at 8;00 PM EST.
All these games have different stories to be looking at. Whether it’s the big rivalry in the Steelers Ravens game or the importance of quarterback playoff experience in the Rams Vikings game. I suggest everyone watch the games, and if your team is playing in this wild card round I wish them the best of luck.
