Buffalo Bills (+2-1/2) at Houston Texans: A fun matchup here as it features a high powered Texans offense led by young stud QB Deshaun Watson against a Bills D ranked #3 overall in terms of yards allowed.
The Texans defense gets a major boost as all-world DE J.J. Watt returns from a torn pectoral muscle (WUT?!?!) to harass what is already one of the worst pass offenses in the NFL (Buffalo ranked 26th in pass yards). If Buffalo can get a lead early, they have a solid running game in the duo of Devin Singletary and Frank Gore, who would likely be able to gash a porous Houston run defense
Buffalo 20 Houston 13
Tennessee Titans (+4-1/2) at New England Patriots: For the first time since the 2009 season, the Patriots will play on wildcard weekend. The Brady-Belichick Pats have never gone to a Super Bowl in a year where they did not have a first round bye. I believe that trend will hold this season but I don't believe their run ends this week.
New England 24 Tennessee 14
Minnesota Vikings (+8) at New Orleans Saints: For the first time since early November, the Vikings will have their full complement of offensive players as RBs Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison have been declared ready to go. However, an already vulnerable Vikings defensive backfield took a huge hit as nickel corners Mike Hughes and Mackensie Alexander have been declared out. That makes this a matchup nightmare for my favorite squad as the Saints high powered offense has been the highest scoring since week 10, averaging 36.3 points per game in that time frame. You have to believe QB Drew Brees and WR Michael Thomas are licking their proverbial chops going into this one.
The Saints have suffered kick-in-the-nuts losses in back-to-back postseasons (The Minneapolis Miracle 2 years ago; the no-call pass interference on the L.A. Rams last year). In what may be Brees' final season, you know they're poised to get that second ring.
New Orleans 38 Minnesota 28
Seattle Seahawks (-1-1/2) at Philadelphia Eagles: For the third straight season, the Eagles rode a hot month of December into the playoffs. This year is even more inexplicable when you consider how decimated they have been by injuries on both sides of the ball. However, QB Carson Wentz, who missed the previous two postseasons due to injury, has been the stalwart of this team. Despite not having a WR log more than 500 yards receiving (TEs Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert had 916 and 607 yds respectively), Wentz threw for more than 4,000 yards in the regular season.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks had to coax RB Marshawn Lynch out of retirement after a series of injuries at that position. Once again, QB Russell Wilson has been the one constant for this team which has endured incredible turnover on the offensive side of the ball over the past two seasons. Combine that with the Seattle D no longer resembling the "Legion of Boom" from their Super Bowl appearances in 2013 and 2014, it makes Wilson's leadership that much more indispensable.
Neither team is anything special on the defensive side of the ball but I still look for this to be a slog (not slug) fest.
Seattle 17 Philadelphia 13
-----------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment