NFL Playoff Predictions

Bills @ Texans – Bills

For the first game of Wildcard Weekend, we have the Bills vs Texans. An extremely dynamic offense plays against a stifling defense, it’s definitely going to be hardcore show down.The Texans have the dynamic duo of Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins, but Bills defense has the 3rd best passing defense led by Tre’Davious White, who led the league in interceptions with 6 Tremaine Edmunds, who leads the team in tackles. Going toe to toe will be Hopkins and White. Consistency hasn’t been on the side of the Texans all year long, especially when playing top tier pass defenses, notching only one win against a Patriots team who faced a mid-season struggle. The Bills have allowed the 7th fewest passing TDs, and 3rd fewest passing yards all year long. Difficulty will only increase for Watson if Will Fuller misses the game (groin.)

The Bills offense had its struggles all year long, with injuries and no clear number one receiver. However their rushing offense improved with time and as Devin Singletary returned from injury it only boosted them, finishing the year 8th in total rush yards. Luckily enough the Texans D allowed over 6000 total yards on the year, ending up 4th worst in passing and 8th worst in rushing. Everything on paper clearly displays that the game should be won by the Bills, but the Texans have something the Bills do not. A clutch gene. Watson has beat Tom Brady in primetime football and there are plenty of times where Hopkins has stepped up and made a big catch. So the game will definitely be interesting. 

Final Score: Bills 20 – 17 Texans

Titans @ Patriots – Titans

You probably read my pick and you are either baffled and prepared to call me a lunatic or in extreme agreement with me. Whichever it may be, this is going to be the more intense game on Saturday. Both defenses come in at 1st(Pats) and 12th(Titans) respectively in points allowed. Each team also likes excels at pressuring the QB with the Titans 6th in QB hurries and the Patriots at 13th for QB hurries. However when it comes to purely passing defense, the Patriots far exceed anything the Titans can do. Allowing under 200 YPG, least amount of passing touchdowns, and the getting the most interceptions will surely serve as a challenge for the red-hot Ryan Tannehill, even is he leads the league in QBR and yards per attempt. However, the spot that the Patriots D has really been exposed this season was the run. Whenever the Patriots played a team with multiple threats (for runners), they typically didn’t far as well. Let’s just say they have a handful in Derrick Henry, who is averaging about 134 yards per game since the start of November. He claims the league rushing title and there’s nothing that can stop this freight train. For the Pats, offensively they will play average at best. The game is in their home territory, so that have that in their favor. The weather will not be in their favor, especially with chance of rain. They have one last weapon though, which is Bill Belicheck. His experience alone may be enough for the Patriots to win. However, he’ll need more than that to win against the Vrabel-led Titans

Final Score: Titans 24 – 22 Patriots

Vikings @ Saints – Saints

This game has the biggest chance to be a blowout. The Vikings have often struggled against playoff teams, losing to the Packers twice, and in blowout fashion when it mattered most, and also lost to Seahawks and Chiefs. A win in any of these games would have changed the seeding playoffs. While I do think the fact that the notion that Kirk Cousins can’t perform in important is overblown, I still see him struggling in what is the biggest game of his career. He will not have a bad game, but it isn’t what you are going to expect. Thielen is going to need to be the X-factor for the Vikings if they want to win. This New Orleans secondary is middle of the pack, but are among the most in air yards allowed (essentially the amount of yards the ball has traveled in the air on completions). This means they have a lot of blown coverages, especially on deep balls. Diggs needs to step up as well, but Thielen is the guy you need to target in this kind of game. What the Vikings need to watch out for is the line in New Orleans. They are 4th in QB hurries, 3rd in sacks, and 2nd in pressures, while maintaining the 4th best rush defense. If the Vikings want to get going, they need to play from explosive packages and throw fast, and run hard. Cook is coming off a bad stretch and ended the season in a fashion not expected. Now the Saints, oh the Saints. Michael Thomas, while maybe slightly overrated, is still “Can’t Guard Mike.” He is extremely amped up for some revenge, fueled by his record breaking stats. Him and Brees look to torch the Vikings secondary, whom have been struggling all season long. Normally I don’t want to bet on certain things happening, but it’s clear to me MT will top 150+ yards and 12 receptions. All of his efforts will be enough for the Saints to move on.

Final Score: Vikings 24 – Saints 33

Seahawks @ Eagles – Eagles

Maybe the most overlooked team, the Eagles take on the Seahawks. They played earlier in the season in a game to forget for both teams. Wilson got sacked 6 times and threw a pick, and the Eagles turned the ball over 5 times total. However this game looks to be the most exciting of all the games this weekend. The Eagles have caught fire, and Carson has played like an MVP in December with 145-of-219, 1,509 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, one interception, passer rating of 99.3, leading the Eagles to four straight division opponent wins. He managed these numbers with 2 practice squad receivers, two injuries on the offensive like, no Jordan Howard, and missed Ertz and Sanders for a game. Talk about resilient. Everyone had been doubting the man and he shut all his haters down. Carson has the taste for revenge and is seeking it against Russell Wilson, who had nothing short of a MVP campaign himself. Nearly 4k yards, and only throwing 5 picks, he dominated  Ds everywhere. The thing that Seahawks can take major advantage of is it’s big receiver in DK Metcalf. He only had 3 catches in the game earlier this year, but expect him to be heavily involved against an even more depleted Eagles defense. My main concern however is the Seahawks run game. They relied heavily on it to win games this year and finished 4th in the league in rushing offense, but they are missing their top 2 backs, and are stuck with Lynch,. Listen, I know Wilson moves in the pocket like no other, but even this may be too much. We all know the Eagles struggles covering the likes of average receivers, but the physical specimen of The defense on the other hand, has been having it’s up and downs all season, but one thing that maintained the was their rush defense, finishing 3rd overall. That remains one of the key matchups of the game. Let’s also not overlook the end-of-season collapse by the Seahawks. After their battle with the Birds, they finished the year 1-4. Not the best for a team who only had one loss previous to that. Key notes to take in: Wilson hasn’t won a road playoff game in his last 3 tries, and the Seahawks allowed the 2nd most passing yards to TEs, and the 4th most passing yards to RBs, while the Eagles secondary allowed the 5th most passing yards to WRs and 3rd most passing touchdowns to WRs.

Final Score: Seahawks 34 – 36 Eagles