Pittsburgh Steelers (+9-1/2) at Buffalo Bills: This is a matchup of two teams who were basically left for dead in early December. The Steelers lost back-to-back games to the pitiful Cardinals and Patriots to fall to 7-6. Meanwhile, the Bills were in self destruct mode the first few months of the season, kicking away three (possibly four) winnable games to fall to 6-6. Amazingly, both clubs finished with double digit victories.
Pittsburgh stayed afloat on the strength of a pretty good defense, but were recently dealt a significant blow when pass rusher extraordinaire T.J. Watt (19 sacks during the regular season) was ruled out for this game due to a knee injury. No other Steeler has more than seven sacks, so the pass rush will be nearly non-existent.
On the Bills side of the ledger, they won their final five games of the season to finish 11-6 and capture their fourth consecutive AFC East title. QB Josh Allen, despite mind-numbing decisions resulting in turnovers, is beginning to look like the MVP candidate many projected him to be coming into this season. I expect him to dominate the Pittsburgh defense with his arm and legs.
Buffalo 24 Pittsburgh 6
Philadelphia Eagles (-3) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Even though the defending NFC Champion Eagles started the season 10-1, the general sense was they weren't as formidable as the previous year. Sure enough, Philly lost five of its final six games, resulting in them having to play on the road this week.
Tampa WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin both amassed 1,000+ yards receiving in the regular season with their quarterback being.....Baker Mayfield?!?! Yes for the first time in his career, Mayfield threw for more than 4,000 yards in guiding the Bucs to the AFC South title.
This game features two of the worst pass defenses in the NFL, so the potential for a shootout is definitely there. With Eagles QB Jalen Hurts nursing a dislocated finger on his throwing hand, his productivity looks to be severely limited. Not helping matters is he'll be without his top target in WR A.J. Brown, who will miss this game with a sprained knee. Whomever wins this game probably won't last past the divisional round anyways.
Tampa Bay 28 Philadelphia 27
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