NFL Wild Card

Today is the start of the NFL Postseason, which means it's wildcard time. There are two games today, in the AFC my favorite team the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6) travel to Cincinnati (12-4), the Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) take on the Houston Texans (9-7). On Sunday the Seattle Seahawks (10-6) play the Minnesota Vikings (11-5) and finally the Green Bay Packers (10-6) play the Washington Redskins (9-7).

First I will look at the Steelers-Bengals match-up, where both teams are dealing with significant injuries. The Steelers were already without their starting running back after a severe knee injury, but now their second string running back,who was doing very well, is out after rolling his ankle. The Bengals also are without a major piece, Andy Dalton is still out after fracturing his throwing hand against the Steelers late in the season. So what this means is this game will likely be very similar to the Steelers-Broncos game earlier in the season. I think that this game will be decided by what the Steelers defense does to stop the Bengals offense, if they can limit them to under 20 points I think the Steelers will win this game. Prediction: Steelers 23 Bengals 17.

The other game today is between the Chiefs and the Texans, and not many people are giving the Texans a shot to win this game. Those people are probably right, Texans just don't have enough offensive firepower to challenge the Chiefs great defense. Prediction: Chiefs 27 Texans 13.

One NFC Wildcard game is between two pretty average teams, and the other could feature the eventual Super Bowl winner. The former would be Green Bay versus Washington. Green Bay is not what it used to be, it could just be for this season, but they haven't looked good for the majority of the season. And Washington was a team that nobody really expected to be in the playoffs. However right now Kirk Cousins has the Redskins on a four game win streak, while the Packers have lost two in a row. Momentum is important, prediction: Redskins 31 Packers 30.

The Seahawks however are probably the best team in the NFL right now, and have been to the Super Bowl two years in a row. Personally I don't think the Vikings stand a chance, which is unfortunate because I think they are the second best wildcard team in the NFC. Prediction: Seattle 34 Minnesota 21.