A Wild Wild Card Weekend Bodes Well for Divisional Round
Christian Stoinev
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Wild Card Weekend came to an end on Monday night as the Los Angeles Rams handled the Arizona Cardinals 34-11 in LA. The Rams came out strong and looked like the superior team. They had Kyler Murray rattled throughout and the Cardinals offense never quite looked like itself. The Rams certainly had more pressure on their shoulders as it is well known that they have mortgaged a lot of their future assets in bringing in “win now” players. They’re stacked with talent and their playmakers showed up. They are now advancing to a Divisional Round matchup in Florida against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tom Brady and the defending champs handled business in similar fashion. The Bucs hosted the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday afternoon and at one point had a 31-0 lead. The Eagles fought back in the fourth quarter to make it a more respectable 31-15 final, but truthfully this game was never even in question. Brady looked sharp, the Bucs defense was lights out for the first three quarters, and this now sets up a very exciting second round matchup with the Bucs hosting the Rams. I actually expect a relatively low scoring game with both defenses stepping up. I think Tampa Bay wins, simply because you can’t bet against Brady.
With the Green Bay Packers having clinched the number 1 seed in the NFC they were able to rest this week and await their Divisional round opponent. With the Bucs winning, the winner of the 49ers vs. Cowboys game was rewarded a trip to Lambeau, and this was easily the game of the week.
The 49ers pulled off the upset and beat the Cowboys in Dallas. This game looked like a blowout for the most part with the 49ers up 23-7 entering the fourth. However, the Cowboys offense came to life and started the comeback. The most talked about play of the weekend came with the Cowboys trying to convert on a potential game winning drive. Down 23-17 with 14 seconds left at the SF 41 yard line and no timeouts, the Cowboys called a QB draw with Dak Prescott gaining 17 yards and what ensued was a messy situation with the refs trying to scramble to place the football and the Cowboys getting lined up. The tense situation led to the clock running out on the Cowboys and essentially their season. It was a very weird way to end a ball game, but almost fitting for a team that seemed to struggle with clock management all season long. There’s a lot of blame to go around but quite honestly the Cowboys can look at the first three quarters as the main reason and their lack of offensive productivity there. The Niners present a tough matchup for Green Bay, but the Packers do have home field advantage and it will be cold. Somehow, maybe because of my love for the Vikings, I see this being an upset with the Packers coming out slow after the bye and the Niners advancing to the Championship Game.
In the AFC, the Tennessee Titans earned the number 1 seed and got the bye week. Awaiting their eventual opponent, they are now set to play the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday afternoon after the Bengals pulled off a close victory against the Las Vegas Raiders. With the Raiders down 26-19 with less than a minute left, Derek Carr had a chance to tie the game but threw an interception in the red zone and the Bengals celebrated their first playoff win since 1991. The matchup in Nashville against the Titans should feature the return of stud running back Derrick Henry for Tennessee in a game that I expect the Titans to win.
The Buffalo Bills hosted the New England Patriots, in what was their third matchup of the season. The two teams split the season series, with each winning on the others’ turf, but this game wasn’t even close. The Bills blew out the Patriots 47-17 and handed Bill Bellichick his worst playoff loss ever. The Bills looked superior in every phase of the game and that sets up the possible game of the week this weekend in their matchup in Kansas City against the Chiefs.
The path to the divisional round for Kansas City began with a slow start against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After a couple scoreless drives to start the game for Kansas City and a Steelers touchdown to put them up 7-0 off of a fumble return by TJ Watt, the Chiefs offense came to life and never looked back. The Chiefs won the game by a final of 42-21 and are set to host the Bills on Sunday. I expect a high scoring matchup and the Chiefs to win a close one at home, but this certainly seems to be lining up to be a nail biter with both teams pretty evenly matched.
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