Wild Card Weekend Matchup Predictions/Discussion
 

To pass some time...

http://static.nfl.com/static/content...4_video_cp.jpg

My early outlook...

BUF/HOU: The X-factor here might be Will Fuller. His health is up in the air, may or may not play. He makes a big difference for their offense and I think it probably will determine the outcome.

TEN/NE: Derrick Henry is the key here. If he can be successful, I don't see New England winning. Hard to imagine the Pats getting above 21 points.

MIN/NO: Minnesota may have a better roster overall, especially excluding the QBs. But home field is big here. Saints should win and go to Green Bay.

SEA/PHI: Wanted to say that there's no way Philly could win with all their injuries... but then I realized Seattle is just as worse off probably. Should be a good one that comes down to a final drive (where I'd bet on Wilson earning a bid back to San Francisco).

I’m going all home teams

Houston
Pats
Saints
Eagles

I swear Houston has the annual Saturday morning playoff game every year

Right now I lean

Bills
Titans
Saints
Seahawks

I am tempted to take the Bills but ultimately I think the Texans skill positions make up and over for the better Bills defense. Texans in a somewhat boring, deserving of the early Saturday game 17-10.

I’m all in on the collapse of the Empire. Just don’t see how the Pats stop Henry. 24-17 Tits.

Minneapolis Miracle revenge game. One side has Drew Brees. The other Kirk Cousins. 38-20 Saints.

The last game is the hardest to pick in my opinion. Basically, at this point, two even teams. Philly is at home where the already lost to Seattle once. Is Seattle so much better than Philly that they will sweep a “road and road”? When in doubt, you take the better coach and better QB. Pederson is a better coach than Pete Carroll. Both have one SB, only one has pissed one away in what can be argued is the biggest coaching gaff of all time. For his career, Wilson is absolutely better at this point. But give me Wentz as the guy playing better right now. Most competitive game of the first round. 17-16 Eagles.

Texans
Titans
Saints
Seahawks

It was my understanding that the playoffs don't start until Sunday 1/12 @ 3:05pm in Arrowhead...

:shrug:

Texans should be able to beat the Bills. The Bills have a far better defense, but offensively they're pretty anemic. particularly at QB, HOU has the much better signal-caller in every respect except sheer mass.

The Titans on paper are a better team than the Pats, but how will they handle being in the playoffs playing Belichick and Brady? The Pats might be able to smoke-and-mirror their way to a win here, if they can find a way to contain Henry. If they can't, the Titans will steam-roll the Pats, and it will be a very ugly loss for Bill and Brady.

Kirk Cousins showed a couple flashes this season, but he's going to revert to form against the Saints. Plus, the Vikes have some key injuries (Cook being the worst one), so the Saints should beat the Vikings pretty easily.

The SEA/PHI game might be the most interesting of the lot. Neither defense is top shelf, but both units play hard. injuries on both teams are going to be a factor. SEA has the better QB, the running games probably cancel, and the Seahawks probably have the better WR group. The exception being Ertz, who's better than anyone the Seahawks have.

If I had to bet the game, I'd probably take the Seahawks to win outright, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Eagles managed to steal a win. A lot is going to depend on Carson Wentz.

Are we going to see bad Carson, that holds the ball too long and makes bad decisions with it late in the game, or good Carson that get rid of the ball quickly and lets his play-makers do the heavy lifting? Of course, the caveat is whether the Eagles receivers will actually catch the ball instead of dropping it as they have all season. If the Eagles WR group plays as they have most of the year, the Seahawks will run away with this game in the second half.

Huh, pretty much (well, if you live in Hawaii, I take it)...
2019
2018
.
2016
2015
.
.
2012
2011

It's the equivalent of March Madness not starting until the first Thursday.

texans, patriots, saints, seahawks

Texans
Titans
Saints
Seahags

All we need is one of the road teams to win. Buffalo and Tennessee are both physical teams with good running games and defenses. Would be nice to have Baltimore play one of them first.

I think it goes:

Bills
Patriots
Saints
Seahawks

Texans, Titans, Saints, Eagles

Texans 27-13
Titans 27-23
Saints 38-17
Eagles 23-20

I think the winners will be:

Texans, and it won't be close.
patriots in a very close one marred by oddly disrupted headsets, gaps in the stadium game clock, and mysteriously damaged Titans equipment during shipping.
Saints, and it'll be closer than the score indicates.
Seahawks in a relatively boring game.

Should be:

Texans
Titans
Saints
Seahawks

WADR, that sounds like an AIDS fire from an entertainment perspective so I hope you are wrong. :thumb:

Morning?? It's 3:00. In what way is that a morning game?

They pointed out on the "Around the NFL" podcast that Henry ran around 35 times to get the rushing record on Sunday. Said, backs that have that many rushes tend to have an off-week the next game (the Larry Johnson effect). That could weigh in heavily when the Titans take on the Patriots.

I didn't say it's what I wanted. I'm just predicting the future.

I hope it'll be Buf, Ten, NO, Phi, I guess. I'm torn on NE/Ten because I think NE is the weaker team, but I just don't trust them at all to play a clean game. And I'd probably rather see Min advance than NO from a competitive perspective, but NO is more entertaining and Brees isn't nearly as irritating as Cousins.

i really don’t care...all i want is a chiefs win next weekend and a ravens loss.

This!!

The best team to give the Ravens a tough time is the Titans

I’ll go with:
Texans over Bills: 23-20
Patriots over Titans: 20-17
Seahawks over Eagles: 24-20
Saints over Vikings: 34-13

If both Fuller and Watt come back? Texans.
I think the entire Pats team will have a chip now. As mentioned they run Henry ragged this Sunday so this will hurt them, imo.
Pats
Another playoff loss for Zimmer.
Tough one. Home team.

Texans over Bills, 21-10
Titans over Patriots, 24-17
Seahawks over Eagles, 30-14
Saints over Vikings, 35-20

.....and I wanted to avoid the Texans.

I love how the Patriots have to motivate themselves by saying this year's playoffs are their "Revenge Tour" - First Tennessee for beating them in 2018, then KC and Baltimore for beating them this year.

That's some serious weak-sauce, gentlemen*.

*and I use that term loosely around here. *grin*

I'm going to be in Vegas this weekend, and I am going to do the opposite of what my gut tells me. Probably won't stick with this thought process, but oh well. LMAO

New Orleans -8 at home, -400 money line. I want to bet New Orleans win. 400 bills to win 100 kind of.....sucks.

Philly Seattle is a complete bipolar shitshow. Both teams are inconsistent as hell, and Seattle has to travel cross-country to an decimated Philly team.

New England -4.5 -213. I think New England is going to win and win convincingly. Have to falsely rebuild up a giant for the Chiefs to destroy

Houston -2.5 -143. Houston will stomp a mudhole in a team that played a dogshit schedule, Buffalo's coaching is dogshit, etc.

^

I feel like the Bills are not getting enough love. Granted Houston might be getting some legit game changers back. Still I feel like Buffalo's season won't just end up a 1 and done. Perhaps Houston going dormant has made me overtook them.

He works 3rd shift stacking pallets at the dog food factory. 3pm is his "morning".

Brian Daboll.

Sean McDermott.

They beat the Titans when Mariotta was still playing QB. That's their only "quality" win.

I don't see it, and the spread is insanely low.

They did beat the Steelers and Cowboys. Now granted in retrospect maybe those weren't as big as originally thought, especially the Dallas game. But they also played New England tough twice. Perhaps none of that is thrilling evidence but I expect them to hang around in that game.

Vegas agrees with you, so you are probably right.

Based on my picks from week 17 I shouldn't be trusted with anything. Granted that's a hard week but I buried myself in my season long pools after a good year.

Now you know why I am going to try and bet the opposite of my gut feeling.


Whenever I think I have it all figured out it costs me money. LMAO

Yeah once it starts feeling easy that's when the rug comes out.

Houston
New England
New Orleans
Seattle

Texans, Saints, Seahawks.

The other is up in the air. Titans are probably better right now, but I expect NE to get the calls and outcoach them.

Texans
Patriots
Saints
Seahawks

It’s because they have the worst QB in the playoffs and not one signature win this year.

I know this won't likely happen, but which nostalgia game would everyone prefer. KC - Green Bay (re-play of SB I) or KC - Minnesota (re-play SB IV). Since this is 100 years of NFL. Be cool for the 69-70 teams again 50 years later.

Go Chiefs!!!

As mentioned, their chances are a lot better if Will Fuller doesn't play. Seems like Houston's passing offense opens up when he's there to take the top off the defense.

Buffalo's defense is legit though, they might keep Buffalo in the game. Allen and Devin Singletary make up a legit running game and Houston's defense is not very good. That's what happened last year... Marlon Mack ran all over Houston they got dominated in the first round.

Your asking for my prediction? Who give a shit. But pats will lose.

Bill's
Tit's
Saints
Eagles

Fair. But the Titans have 1 signature win. And many people on here, myself included, have blamed that game more on KC losing than TEN winning. So I think there are threads here making a decent argument that TEN doesn't really have a signature win. And Buf beating PIT on SNF and DAL on Thanksgiving would beat any other win TEN had that wasn't KC imho. People seem very comfortable picking them to walk into NE and win to potentially end the reign. Some saying easily.

Tannehill is also the 2nd worst QB in the playoffs, albeit playing well. Unless you want to argue Cousins. I wouldn't be shocked if TEN wins and BUF loses. But I think TEN is getting a little too much love and BUF not enough.

This post very well could be a facepalm for me come Sat night though. But KC isn't playing so I've got nothing better to do than put my foot in my mouth. So I'm going to predict BUF and NE win.

Houston 34, Buffalo 20
Tennessee 27, New England 23
New Orleans 37, Minnesota 26
Seattle 31, Philadelphia 27

Me too. I want to beat Brady and belichick on our way to our first Superbowl in 50 years.

Saints
Texans
Seahawks
.
.
.
Titans 27, Dynasty 20

Background noise.

Pats over Titans by < 7
Texans over Bills by > 7
Saints over Vikings by > 7
Seahawks over Eagles by < 7

Wild Card Weekend Matchup Predictions/Discussion
 

Buffalo 23
Houston 20

Tennessee 17
New England 20

Minnesota 28
New Orleans 38

Seattle 27
Philadelphia 20

Will Fuller limited in practice Tuesday. Still up in the air for Saturday. He stretches the field for that O.

Watt expected to play in some capacity.

This has a good chance of being the winner.

Bills
NE
Saints
Seahawks

Bills
Titans
Saints
Seahawks

Bills
Patriots
Saints
Seahawks

Go Pats...

...ugg, I just threw up a little.

Texans, Titans, Saints, Seahawks

Saints big. Seahawks, Texans and Patsies in close games, although it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if any of these three games went the other way.

Texans have the better quarterback and are at home. They’ll win.

Titans are the better team. But are you really picking Tennessee to go into Foxborough and beat the Patriots? I’m sure not.

Saints are much better than the Vikings and the Dome will be rocking. This one won’t be close.

Eagles are at home and Wentz is playing well. But Russell Wilson has been so good this season, and I just don’t see him going one and done in the playoffs. Seahawks in a close one.

I'll go with:

Texans
Patriots
Saints
Seahawks

Saturday is going to be really fun. All AFC, I can’t wait. Nice to know the opponent before Sunday.

I have a feeling the Eagles will pull off the upset

This. All home teams this week.

Extra day of prep for the Chiefs.

Really nice.

The Patriots closed out 2019 with seven players practicing on a limited basis and they opened up the new year the same way.

New England’s second injury report of the week is exactly the same as the one they turned in on Tuesday.

Linebacker Ja'whaun Bentley (knee), safety Terrence Brooks (groin), right tackle Marcus Cannon (ankle), linebacker Jamie Collins (shoulder), wide receiver Julian Edelman (knee, shoulder), cornerback Jonathan Jones (groin) and cornerback Jason McCourty (groin) were limited participants in the session.

McCourty and Brooks were the only players in that group who did not play in the Patriots’ Week 17 loss to the Dolphins. Assuming no one is downgraded for Friday’s practice, it would seem that most of the players slowed in practice should be able to go against the Titans on Saturday night.

Playoff days are a blast when your team is IN the playoffs and aren't playing. I love it.

TEN should roll right over NE.

They crushed them last year. Made Brady look like Andy Dalton.

If they run Henry and Lewis 30-35 times (Pats run D is just league-average) and maybe try the MIA plan of running 4 or more trick plays (maybe something like the Philly Special; Tannehill is a former WR), they should simply grind NE into the dirt.

I think the Chiefs’ easiest matchup in the divisional round is the Bills. Andy has a stellar record against his former assistants, and limited offenses with erratic QBs don’t matchup well with us. So I’m kinda rooting for that.

I’m just sick of the Patriots. I hate talking about them and listening to people talk about them. As much as I’d love to end the Tom Brady era, I would trade that privilege for dead silence about them for an extra week.

But, ehhh doesn’t matter. We’ll beat anybody we have to play.

I'm sorry, SNR.

You know you want this.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LZ3djcCpAHY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I don’t care who KC plays really to be honest. They should beat them all given the circumstances and probably by double digits.

Here is my overall playoff prediction breakdown..

WC Round

AFC

Tennessee over New England

24-13

Mike Vbrabel seems to have a knack for beating his old team. The physical defense they play mixed with Henry and Brown being an outside playmaker is just to much for a limping New England to handle.

Buffalo over Houston

20-16

I don't think this game will be very exciting, I expect punts galore as Watson struggles with top end defenses and the Bills have a crappy offense. I think the Bills defense basically wins this game as Allen just does enough not to lose it.

NFC

New Orleans over Minnesota

34-17

Don't really expect much of a game here, I don't see Minnesota as on the Saints level, especially being in New Orleans.

Seattle over Philly.

27-21

Philly just has to many injuries to win this game. I think Wilson is better at being a one man show than Wentz is and that is the difference.

Divisional round.

AFC

Tennessee over Baltimore

26-24

This is my upset special playoff pick. Baltimore sitting their key players for essentially 3 weeks goes a long way to throwing off your rhythm. Also Tennessee has a blend that can hurt Baltimore in that they can ball control to keep Lamar off the field while attacking deep with their receivers which is a big weakness for the Ravens. I think this will be a very tough physical game that will leave both teams hurting in the end. I think sitting for several weeks will have an affect on Jacksons accuracy also and it will show here.

Kansas City over Buffalo

27-17

While I like Buffalo's defense and think it's a top of the league unit, I don't think they can do enough to win here. Reid with 2 weeks to prepare will have enough wrinkles to score points while the Buffalo offense will struggle to keep pace.

NFC

Packers over Saints

31-24

I think the Saints are a more talented overall team but I am not picking a dome team to win in Green Bay in January, also Drew Brees is a significantly different player out of the dome.

Seattle over SF

27-24

These teams face off yet again and I think Seattle grabs the rubber match. They have so much more playoff experience and these things just tend to happen.

Championship round

AFC

Kansas City over Tennessee

31-21

Tennessee coming off of an extremely physical game is beat up here and just can't score to hang with the Chiefs in Arrowhead.

NFC

Green Bay over Seattle

34-20

Green Bay gets this win in the cold weather over a game Seattle team that goes further than anyone thought.

SB

Kansas City over Green Bay

35-27

Still waiting for a goddamn Star Trek themed video from you, Clay!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">All I want now is a Super Bowl..! 👀👀<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LIMITLESS14?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LIMITLESS14</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WIZARD14?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WIZARD14</a></p>&mdash; King me (@sammywatkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/sammywatkins/status/1212453906623746048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I don’t think it’s that crazy of a scenario but just envisioning Ryan Tannehill and the 9-7 Tennessee Titans in the AFCCG is really, really weird. Doesn’t feel like it should be possible.

That said, I do think they win Saturday and then who knows with Baltimore. :shrug:

2020 Kansas City Chiefs Schedule

vs New England Patriots

TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...90/977/dbb.gif

Problem Tennessee would have is that their defense isn’t really that good. They may be able to outscore the Pats cause their offense sucks but against a good offense? Eh

I actually think Belichick will 100% shut down that offense.

They have one receiver and Henry isn't the kind of back a Belichick defense will struggle with. They won't let him run north/south.

I 100 % believe that Vrabel knows exactly how beat Bill. They will shut the Pats offense down.