NFL Wild-Card Preview/Predictions:
The first round of the NFL Playoffs is one of my favorite weekends of ever year. Here’s a brief preview of every game over the next two days
Game One — Oakland at Houston: Oakland
If you think of these two football teams as stocks, their collective price has never been lower than it is right now. Both teams have major quarterback problems, and have fairly mediocre teams outside of that position as well. Instead of being an intriguing game between two up-and-coming teams, this feels like a prelude to an inevitable smashing in New England next week.
Picking the Raiders here might be nothing more than a sentimental nod to how great this season was supposed to be for them. In truth, though, I’m having trouble coming up with a good reason to pick either team. I think Oakland’s defense (while not elite at all) can come up with a few big plays, though, and that should be enough.
Game Tw0 — Detroit at Seattle: Seattle
Ah, Detroit. This team fell from the potential two-seed in the NFC to the six-seed after a Matthew Stanford injury and three straight losses to finish the year. While it’s nice that the Lions still made the playoffs, it must be hard to come up with many reasons for optimism.
If there are any such reasons, though, they inevitably revolve around the fact that Seattle looks far from dominant right now. Wracked by injuries and inconsistency, this Seahawks team is a far cry from the squad that was a botched play away from a Super Bowl two years ago.
However, I still like Seattle here. They get home field for this round, and have a much more talented team than Detroit does. So even though there’s a chance that the Lions could break though, the Seahawks seem like a much safer bet.
Game Three — Miami at Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh
Yet another game with a QB injury, as the Dolphins send their backup play caller (Matt Moore) to face the Steelers in Pittsburgh tomorrow. Miami has lots of talented offensive skill players, but their collective impact is significantly muted without the starting QB behind the line.
Meanwhile, the Steelers have overcome some early-season woes to finish another season with a dominant offense. Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell are two of the most exciting players in the league, and they should feat on this Dolphins defense. Miami has a bright future, and the fact that they’re actually in the playoffs this year is great for the franchise. But Pittsburgh is an easy, and obvious, choice for this round.
Game Four — New York at Green Bay: Green Bay
This is by far the most enticing first-round matchup. Two Super-Bowl winning quarterbacks, and two teams that have proud histories of winning the championship fairly recently. To continue these narratives even further, both of Eli Manning’s Super-Bowl victories involved taking a trip to Lambeau Field.
I want to throw all these narratives out, though. The most exciting part of this game is Aaron Rodgers (the resurgent MVP candidate) against an elite Giants defense. Rodgers has looked brilliant lately, but New York presents a much stiffer challenge than he has faced recently. He needs to do well, too. As much as the Giants don’t have a great offense, Green Bay’s secondary is almost a lock to give up one or two deep balls to Odell Beckham, Jr.
New York wins games with a stifling defense and an offense that is simply “good enough.” Against Green Bay, the “good enough” offensive production shouldn’t be hard. The real question is whether or not this defense can bottle up Rodgers and his suddenly-threatening receivers. That’s by far the most interesting part of this weekend slate.
