No, the Ravens didn’t quite have the season we all expected, but life and the NFL season goes on. Now, we’re onto the wild, playoff weekend that’s on tap for Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday 4:20 PM: Kansas City @ Houston (HOU +3.5)
Classic Houston, getting the early Saturday playoff matchup nobody wants to watch. Yawn. Texans Head Coach Bill O’Brien and his boy Brian Hoyer are facing an uphill battle, going against the hottest team in the tournament. Kansas City has won 10 straight after a dismal 1-5 start, and Andy Reid is right in contention for NFL Coach of the Year honors. Really tough draw for Houston, but that’s what happens when you win the worst division in football at 9-7.
The key to this game will be the turnover battle, and which mediocre QB can hold onto the football for their team when it matters most. Alex Smith has thrown 4 of his 7 INT’s this season the last 4 weeks of the regular season, and hasn’t thrown for over 200 yards since week 12. Not exactly how you want to be rolling into the playoffs with your star RB sidelined. Adding to a sub-par Alex Smith, the Chiefs are going up against the perennial Defensive MVP JJ Watt. Do we all hate JJ for being the whitest human being on planet earth? Yes. But what the man does to opposing QB’s can’t be overlooked.
Preditction: Watt gets after Alex Smith, forces some late turnovers, DeAndre Hopkins goes OFF, Texans win 23-13.
Saturday 8:20 PM: Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati (CIN +3)
In the late AFC matchup, we have the most interesting game of the weekend in my opinion. Backup QB AJ McCarron leads the Bengals in their search for Head Coach Marvin Lewis’ first playoff W in his 12 year stint as head coach. How in the world this guy has retained his job year-after-year-after-year is beyond me. Being a head coach in the NFL is nearly impossible in this “what have you done for me lately” league, yet here’s Marvin, 12 years later, with zero playoff wins under his belt.
Back to McCarron; we really have the chance for a serious QB controversy in Cincinnati because injured-starter Andy Dalton also has a goose egg in the playoff win column. McCarron has all his receivers healthy and ready to go against an extremely weak Pittsburgh secondary, who surrendered nearly 300 yards to Ryan Mallett (Ryan Mallett!) just a few weeks ago. Huge advantage for them playing at home, and loving the thought that Dalton could be soon forgotten.
Prediction: AJ Green comes up big for Cinci, Bengals underrated pass rush gets to Big Ben, despite an Antonio Brown stat line from 84, Bengals win 30-24.
Sunday 1:05 PM: Seattle @ Minnesota (MIN +5.5)
Seattle seems to be everybody’s hot pick for the playoffs, and for good reason…kind of. HUGE win last weekend at Arizona that shocked the football world. Alright, that’s all well and good. But let’s go back to Week 16 when they lost, at home, to the 7-9 Saint Louis Rams. The Legion of Boom isn’t what it once was, Marshawn is back, yes, but is he going to be the same Beast Mode? Probably not. I’m hesitant to give them nearly a TD on the road.
You know what’s not hot? The well-below freezing temperatures in the Twin Cities Sunday afternoon. It’s going to drop down into sub-zero temperature, and I can’t imagine another running back I would want charging at a defense other than Adrian Peterson. He may break his own single-game rushing record this weekend against the once-dominate Hawks defense.
Prediction: Marshawn struggles in his return, Peterson DOMINATES, Wilson can’t throw the ball in the cold, Vikes win a tough, hard fought game 20-10.
Sunday 4:30 PM: Green Bay @ Washington (Pick ’em)
You want to hear some Kirk Cousins stats from this year? Kirk Cousins had the 5th highest passer rating in the NFL in 2015. Kirk Cousins last 3 games: 11 TD 0 INT. Kirk Cousins completed 69.8% of passes in 2015. Kirk Cousins passer rating in the 1st Quarter his last 4 games: 152.7. YOU LIKE THAT? This guy is playing as well as you possibly could be playing. Yeah, I like that.
On the other hand, Aaron Rodgers seems to be a shadow of himself, and hasn’t been able to perform without Jordy Nelson. Green Bay’s defense hasn’t played well either, nothing that Captain Kirk can’t handle.
Prediction: Washington gets out to an early lead, Kirk takes care of the football, Rodgers looks more like an aged, gun-slinging Brett Favre with 2+ INT, Skins win 27-16.
’til next week. Go Terps.
Mike Long
The Win Column 