NFL 2024 Divisional Recap

 Hello readers! Another week of National Football League action has come to an end. The divisional round is over and the eight teams that came into it prior to the weekend has now come down to four. The four teams moving onto the next round is the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills. This recap post will document how these teams got there and the teams that lost to these teams. Let's get to work!

NFL Divisional Freaky Stat

The Houston Texans become the first team to put up 100+ yards than their opposition without giving the ball away and lose a game. Teams prior to that were 49-0. 

NFL Divisional Recap

Houston 14, Kansas City 23

Pick: Chiefs

The Texans left out in the cold in Arrowhead. CJ Stroud hit 19 of 28 passes for 245 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. The lone touchdown on offense was a Joe Mixon run of 13 yards. Houston would miss the extra point attempt. Mixon would get 18 carries for 88 yards in the game. CJ Stroud had a run of 28 yards that was the longest run in the game for them. He did have six carries for 42 yards in the game. Nico Collins had five catches for 81 yards in the game to be the leading receiver for the Texans. Houston at one point outgained the Chiefs in yards but in the most important statistic which is points. They lacked a bit of flare and daring in the game and did the right thing in keeping Patrick Mahomes on the sideline for 33:33 of gametime. Once again, points escaped them. The defense would get two points on a safety as Matt Araiza would run it back 18 yards into the Chiefs own endzone for a safety. The game kind of was a doomed from the start sort of deal as cornerback Kris Boyd was flagged 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct by throwing his helmet on the field. He would even push his Special Teams Coordinator Frank Ross. The play was on the opening kickoff where Boyd would force a fumble on Samaje Perine that was unfortunately recovered by the Chiefs. The helmet throwing and shoving was probably reaction on the fumble and he probably thought that the Texans recovered it. Still, keep your emotions in check. Outside of that, the Texans really couldn't generate enough offense and get points when they needed it most. So for the Texans, their season ends yet again in the Divisional round but put up 336 total yards. 

Patrick Mahomes hit 16 of 25 passes for 177 yards with a touchdown pass. The touchdown pass went to Travis Kelce, of course. Kareem Hunt had eight carries for 44 yards with a touchdown run that went to the right for a 1-yard score. Patrick Mahomes had the longest run in the game for the Chiefs with a 15-yard run. Travis Kelce had seven catches for 117 yards receiving in the game to be the leading receiver. He would also have the longest pass play for Chiefs on a catch that went for a 49-yard gain. Note that it wasn't the touchdown catch but the catch that he caught went for a 11-yard gain. Kansas City's offense looked rusty but they did get the points when it mattered most whether it is a field goal or a touchdown. They wouldn't put up a lot of yards in this game. The game came down to a few weird calls, especially the roughing the passer call that almost looked like helmet-to-helmet but hard to say for sure. There was another roughing the passer call where Mahomes was barely touched but two Texans defenders hit each other in the helmet. Mahomes appeared to slide on the play. It was enough for Troy Aikman to question the call. It certainly added to the conspiracy that the refs are in favor of the Chiefs. It seems wild that the Chiefs last playoff loss that wasn't the Super Bowl or the AFC Championship game was the Wild Card game against the Titans in 2017. That season was Patrick Mahomes's rookie season and wouldn't become the starter until the following season in 2018. Since then, Mahomes has taken the Chiefs to the AFC Championship every year since 2018. His team still has a shot to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. For the Chiefs, they move onto the next round with 212 total yards in the game. 

Next week:

Houston: eat BBQ or something.
Kansas City: Conference Championship vs Buffalo

TW: 1-0

Washington 45, Detroit 31

Pick: Lions

Washington shocks the world in the Motor City. Jayden Daniels hit 22 of 31 passes for 299 yards with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns went to Terry McLaurin and Zach Ertz. Brian Robinson Jr. had 15 carries for 77 yards with two touchdown runs. Daniels had 16 carries for 51 yards in the game. Austin Ekeler had six carries for 47 yards in the game and had a run of 35 yards that was the longest run in the game. Dyami Brown had six catches for 98 yards that was the leading receiver for the Commanders. Terry McLaurin's touchdown was the longest play for a pass with the 58-yard gain score. Washington's defense got in with the scoring as well as they had a pick-six on a Jared Goff pass that was returned by Jartavius Martin for a 40 yard score. The Commanders would go toe-for-toe with the Lions in the game. They would match their drives with touchdowns and would play gritty. Turnovers by the Lions would give the Commanders their means to the win. Credit to the Commanders defense for really putting the hurt on the Lions. Same for the offense as they really took it to a Lions defense that was somewhat getting better. They took a Vikings team to task and limited their team to just nine points in Week 18. I guess the homefield advantage did affect the Lions in this game. For the Commanders they had 481 total yards in the game and move onto the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 1991 season where they won Super Bowl XXVI. 

Jared Goff hit 23 of 40 passes for 313 yards with a touchdown pass and tossed three interceptions. The touchdown pass went to Sam LaPorta on a 2-yard short pass. David Montgomery played quarterback and tossed a pass for a 20-yard gain. Jared Goff was injured in the pick-six play and would have to sit for a time. Teddy Bridgewater would play and toss a pass for a 3-yard gain. He would help orchestrate a scoring drive that would yield a Jameson Williams run of 61 yards that resulted in a touchdown which was the longest run in the game for the Lions. Teddy Bridgewater had coached a high school team to a state title a few months ago. Jahmyr Gibbs had 14 carries for 105 yards with two touchdowns. Amon Ra St. Brown had eight catches for 137 yards in the game and had a catch that went for a 34-yard gain that was the longest pass play for the Lions. What can be said about this game? The Lions would turn the ball over too much, they likely underestimated how good the Commanders offense was. The three Goff interceptions included an interception thrown by Jameson Williams and there was also a fumble on Jared Goff where he was strip sacked. Ball control which had been their forte for most of the season fell apart this time around. Anything that could go wrong went wrong for them. Despite that, the two teams did put on a good show with offense. They had 76 combined points while getting 1,002 yards of offense combined. The Lions just got outclassed and outfought by a team which hadn't won a playoff game prior to last week in 20 years. For the Lions, their magical season ends on a whimper as they have to lick their wounds and prepare for next season while compiling 521 total yards. 

Next week:

Washington: Conference Championship @ Philadelphia
Detroit: eat some Little Caesar's or something

TW: 1-1

LA Rams 22, Philadelphia 28

Pick: Eagles

The Eagles survive one last Rams drive. Matthew Stafford hit 26 of 44 passes for 324 yards with two touchdowns. The touchdowns went to Tyler Higbee and Colby Parkinson. The Higbee touchdown came on a 4-yard play to the left. The Parkinson touchdown came on a 4-yard touchdown down the middle of the field. That last touchdown went on the 2nd to last Rams drive. Kyren Williams had 19 carries for 106 yards in the game and had a run of 30 yards that was the longest run play for the Rams. Puka Nacua was the leading receiver for the Rams with six catches for 97 yards. The longest pass play was a catch by Demarcus Robinson that went for a 48-yard gain. The Eagles and the elements would be the adversaries for the Rams and they took it to the Eagles. In the end of things, they couldn't stop or slow down Saquon Barkley. The last Rams drive started on their 18-yard line a few short passes guided them to the 31. On a 3rd down and 10, Stafford hit Nacua for a 11-yard pass. The big play was a Nacua catch on the next play for a 37-yard gain. The killer of the drive was a false start penalty and a sack for a loss of nine yards. The sack happened on a 3rd down. On the last play of the Rams season, Matthew Stafford attempted to throw a pass to Nacua for the dagger but it was defensed by Jalen Carter. A Jalen Hurts kneel and the season was over. Despite going 0-2 on the season and then 1-3 and make it here is nothing short of a miracle. For the Rams, their season ends in snowy Philly with 402 total yards. 

Jalen Hurts hit 15 of 20 passes for 128 yards and had a touchdown run while carrying the ball seven times for 70 yards. The big story for this game was Saquon Barkley who had 26 carries for 205 yards for two touchdowns. The two touchdown runs came on 62 and 78 yard plays. The latter being the longest run in the game for the Eagles. Barkley's performance was the 10th best performance by a running back in postseason play. Dallas Goedert had four catches for 56 yards in the game. The longest pass play was a catch by Goedert for a 31-yard gain. The weather for the game was partially alright but then as the temperature came to 33 degrees Fahrenheit the wet snow came. And then the wet snow turned the field into a winter wonderland. The Eagles would wind up going with a run game for most of the game as they only did 20 pass attempts and 34 rush attempts. The running game would answer the call and made use of it as much as possible. Another unit that would answer the call would be the Eagles defense as they forced and recovered two fumbles and sacked Stafford five times. They would bend but not break for most of the game. Jalen Carter would come into the clutch and defensed the last Rams play in the game. The Eagle season continues and will host the NFC Championship game for the 2nd time in three years. They will play host to a familiar foe in the Washington Commanders. For the Eagles they gained 350 yards of offense in the game. 

Next week:

LA Rams: help the people recovering from the LA wildfires or something
Philadelphia: Conference Championship vs Washington

TW: 2-1

Baltimore 25, Buffalo 27

Pick: Ravens

The Bills outlast the Ravens in Western New York. Lamar Jackson hit 18 of 25 passes for 254 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The two touchdowns went to Isiah Likely and Rashod Bateman. The Likely touchdown was the score that cut the lead down to a two-point game. The interception was taken by Taylor Rapp of the Bills. Derrick Henry had 16 carries for 84 yards with a touchdown run on a 5-yard run. The longest run was a 22-yard run by Justice Hill. Rashod Bateman had a catch that went for a 42-yard gain to be the longest pass play for the Ravens. The interception, the fumbles and the drops were the things that cost the Ravens in this one. Mark Andrews will sadly have nightmares from this game as he was the reason why the game remained a two-point advantage for Buffalo. His fumble on a catch he made was one of the biggest turning points in the game. Baltimore was having the momentum going for them and to do that hurt them. So my Super Bowl pick to represent the AFC and my Super Bowl winner pick is scrapped. Thanks Baltimore. Anyway, another postseason exit for the Ravens. Sadly it shouldn't be reflective of the regular season they had but football is a vicious game. For the Ravens, they had 416 total yards. 

Josh Allen hit 16 of 22 passes for 127 yards and rushed 10 times for 20 yards and two touchdowns. The two touchdowns were from 4 and 1 yard plays. Ray Davis had 4 carries for 29 yards with a touchdown run as well. The leading rusher was James Cook who had 17 carries for 67 yards. The longest run in the game was a Ty Johnson run that went for 17 yards. The leading receiver for the Bills was Khalil Shakir with six catches for 67 yards. He had a catch that went for a 34-yard gain to be the longest pass play for the Bills. Weather was chilly in Buffalo with a chilly 22 degrees Fahrenheit with some snow. At least enough for the field to have a little bit of white to it. It was also Lamar Jackson's coldest game in his career. It had some advantage for the Bills but they nearly blew it. Had it not been for Mark Andrews dropping the two-point conversion, it might've been a different story. The game really was more of a Ravens losing it than the Bills winning it. Buffalo will now go back to Kansas City, their own personal house of horrors in the playoffs, for the right to go to the Super Bowl next week for the AFC Championship Game. Next week will be a war in Arrowhead. For the Bills, they move onto the next round and had 273 total yards in the game. 

Next week:

Baltimore: hang out in the Baltimore Warehouse thing next to Camden Yards or something.
Buffalo: Conference Championship @ Kansas City

TW: 2-2

Records

2024:
Week 1: 14-2
Week 2: 10-6
Week 3: 10-6
Week 4: 10-6
Week 5: 3-11
Week 6: 13-1
Week 7: 13-2
Week 8: 9-7
Week 9: 12-3
Week 10: 10-4
Week 11: 11-3
Week 12: 7-6
Week 13: 14-2
Week 14: 11-3
Week 15: 13-3
Week 16: 12-4
Week 17: 12-4

Week 18: 9-7
Total: 193-80

Super Wild Card Weekend: 4-2

Divisional: 2-2

2012: 164-90-2
2013: 162-92-1
2014: 172-83-1
2017: 164-92
2018: 156-98-2
2019: 161-94-1
2020: 167-88-1
2021: 173-98-1
2022: 166-103-2
2023: 161-111

See you all on Thursday/Friday for the Conference Championship Picks post! Enjoy your week!

-Tom

NFL 2024 Divisional Picks

 Hello readers! Another week of National Football League action is coming upon us yet again. The Wild Card round is over and the 14 teams that started the playoffs are now down to 8. After this round the NFL will have its version of the Final Four. The Divisional round is probably my favorite as you have the contenders vs the contenders with two teams having the rest the week before. It certainly has to be a bit better when you had four teams with the Wild Card bye. In this post, I will do a preview and my picks for the four games this weekend and the TV broadcast pairings the four networks will put out. Let's get to work!

Divisional Preview

The National Football League's Divisional playoff weekend will start in Kansas City, Missouri and wrap up in Orchard Park, New York. The week will feature four games where eight teams will play. There will be a Saturday afternoon game, a Saturday night game, a Sunday afternoon game and a Sunday night game. Let's get to the picks!

Divisional Picks

Note: All game times are in US Eastern.

Houston @ Kansas City (ABC; 3:30 pm)

Pick: Chiefs

The Texans beat the Chargers and the Chiefs had the bye last week. The Divisional weekend begins with a matchup that the average fan might enjoy. The underdog against the two-time defending champions. Houston did well with their defense getting turnovers against the Chargers. Once they got the turnovers the offense would do the rest. The Chargers offense, normally very good at the running game, was held to 50 rushing yards. Certainly something that the Chiefs cannot underestimate. The matchup will depend on how well they can do against the Chiefs offense. The offense of Houston's will need to do well in the running game as if the Chiefs can shut down the run game and make it into a one-dimensional offense, it is going to be a rough going. Stroud did enough in the Chargers win but he will need to do well in this one. If they pressure him and force the ball, it could spell trouble. Suffice to say, the Texans have somewhat of a shot to get a win as they do right by throwing the deep ball and having a capable running back that can run for 20+ carries a game. It certainly has to give them an advantage. Houston's defense will be the thing to keep an eye on and how well they can do against the Chiefs offense. 

Kansas City hasn't played its starters since Christmas Day. By the time this game happens that will be about 23 days ago. The quest for a three-peat starts here as they try to do something that the Packers, Dolphins, Steelers, 49ers, Cowboys, Broncos and Patriots could never do. I question if the rust will happen to the Chiefs but I have to assume that Andy Reid will have his troops ready for the road ahead. Still, in-game situations aren't a substitute for practice football situations. I think there might be some struggle for the Chiefs offense. They usually always find a way to win and not put up 30+ points in a game often. Kansas City's defense will be the high point of the team in the last few years as the focus has moved from the high-powered offense to their defense. The defense will be at somewhat of an advantage as have a solid run defense with 8th ranked run defense with 101.8 yards/game. The pass defense is ranked 16th so somewhat down the middle in the league. Kansas City did beat Houston in Week 15 and they did it with a solid formula of running the football and passing. Obviously, the stakes are much more higher for either team. The team with the most pressure is the Chiefs. I think the thing to keep an eye on in this one is how well the Chiefs defense will do. I'll take the Chiefs but I'm kind of iffy on how well they can do against the Texans. 

All-time series: Chiefs lead 10-5; 3rd postseason meeting (Chiefs lead 2-0)

Washington @ Detroit (FOX; 7:00 pm)

Pick: Lions

The Commanders beat the Buccaneers and the Lions had the bye last week. Washington has been enjoying a sort of renaissance of a season. The DC-Maryland-Virginia area has embrace their football team. The excitement has seen this team possibly bring back the glory days when Joe Gibbs ran the football team in the 1980's and 1990's. We shall see if they can sustain this success for years to come. They certainly have the foundation. Washington keeps chugging along and will take their team to Detroit against the #1 seeded Lions. The team will have its hands full with the Lions. Last week, the Commanders did some things well but also did things not so well. I had hoped that the Commanders would run the ball a bit. You know the thing that got them to this point. The Lions will use their running game to their advantage in providing that balance that complements their passing game. The Commanders will need to play the Lions game. Jayden Williams will need to protect the football as well. You can't expect to win a game with a lot of turnovers. On defense, the Commanders will have somewhat of a decent shot in causing some harm to the Lions offense. They do have a pass defense that is top-5 with 205.4 yards/game allowed. I could see the Commanders win this game but the playoff experience of the Lions might be the dealbreaker. 

Detroit is having their greatest season in their long history. They haven't had this much success in a long time but for the fans it has to be quite the joy. Detroit earned that bye don't get me wrong. I think the Lions having played in Week 18 might have a good advantage compared to the Chiefs as they are battle ready. If they aren't then head coach Dan Campbell will get them ready. Washington will visit their humble abode on Saturday night and hope to upset the Lions. The matchup is interesting as the Commanders have a good running offense while the Lions have a great run defense. For pass offense, the Lions have a great passing team while the Commanders are a great pass defense team. Something has to give for sure. I think the Lions offense will need to jump out early and get the crowd going. Their crowd is loud and they will make their voices known. If there is something that the Lions don't do great on is having a pass rush. Not having Aidan Hutchinson on the defensive line has limited their effectiveness as a unit. Hutchinson is possibly available by the time the Super Bowl happens but that has to mean that the Lions will get there. The offense doesn't have a lot of sexy names on the wide receiver group outside of Amon Ra St. Brown but they do have solid contributors with Jameson Williams. I think the Commanders will have the possibilities to do well in the coming years but I think this should be in favor for the Lions and I will take them. 

All-time series: Commanders lead 31-16; 4th postseason meeting (Commanders lead 3-0)

LA Rams @ Philadelphia (NBC; 3:00 pm)

Pick: Eagles

The Rams beat the Vikings and the Eagles beat the Packers last week. Hopefully the pain that the LA wildfires have brought on the Los Angeles people were remedied by watching the Rams play football, let alone win a game. The Rams certainly showed a bit of distraction and emotion over the course of their game against the Vikings. They played relatively well on offense and the defense played out of its mind. The offense got touchdowns and a relatively good day on the passing game. The Rams running game hasn't been quite its strong suit but they are 24th in rushing offense. On defense they got a good game from their pass rush, sacking Sam Darnold nine times. A well as causing an interception in the game. Their run defense hasn't been quite their forte as they have given up chunks of yards this season from the ground game. The game against the Eagles might mean their end if they can't stop Saquon Barkley or at least slow him down. It will also be troubling on them if they can't stop Jalen Hurts as well as he is a dual threat. 

The Eagles really proved that they are still quite a good team. Jalen Hurts hadn't played since the Commanders game prior to last week. His numbers last week somewhat proved that he wasn't rusty. He hit 13 of 21 passes of 131 yards with six rushes for 36 yards. Well maybe he was a bit rusty but he did have two touchdowns from the air. Someone who wasn't rusty was Saquon Barkley who had 119 rushing yards last week. Barkley, who didn't play in Week 18, will likely be used a lot in this game. The Rams will likely expect him to be that. For the Eagles to win, they will likely need a good showing from their passing game. I hope to see Jalen Hurts throw for at least 200 yards passing with two touchdown passes. Once the offense finds a balance I think the defense should really go after Matthew Stafford with various blitz packages. There is certainly concern about the health of Tyler Higbee and whether or not he is able to go. Ultimately, the defense should just blitz but not send the whole farm after Matthew Stafford. The secondary will have its work cut out for them. I think the Eagles will take this game. 

All-time series: Eagles lead 24-20-1; 4th postseason meeting (Rams lead 2-1)

Baltimore @ Buffalo (CBS; 6:30 pm)

Pick: Ravens

The Ravens beat the Steelers and the Bills beat the Broncos last week. Divisional weekend wraps up with a great matchup in the AFC. Baltimore comes into this game with a huge victory over the rival Steelers. A 28-14 victory that had both Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry scoring passing and rushing touchdowns respectively. If you want to talk about the Ravens offense you have to start with those two but primarily Lamar Jackson. Jackson, one of the favorites for MVP, has had a great season yet again. Derrick Henry, who has had a season in his first year in Ravens gear, has been the x-factor for the Ravens. This matchup against Buffalo will be a challenging one. I think these kind of games depend on who can control the line of scrimmage. Baltimore has allowed only 24 sacks this season to sneak past their offensive line. Only the Packers and Bills have allowed less this season. In the aspect of pass protection, it seems the Bills would have the better numbers. In the matchup on September 29th, no team had any sacks on their quarterbacks but the Ravens did well in defending on 3rd down. The defense will need to also keep and contain Josh Allen in the pocket. He can hurt you with his arm and his legs. That is how I think this game will need to go for the Ravens. 

The Bills come into this game with a blowout win against the Broncos. It was sort of a game that people might've questioned how well the Bills would do against the Broncos offense and the Broncos defense. Buffalo started off slow on offense but would put the hurt on the Broncos defense and really shut down the Broncos offense. Once the Broncos scored the seven points, they would not be able to score anything more. The Bills pass protection is probably the best in the NFL with just allowing 14 sacks on Josh Allen. Their defense has sacked the quarterback 39 times this season. They are also good at forced fumbles. Should they cause a fumble on Derrick Henry or Lamar Jackson, that might break the game wide open for the Bills. The only thing with the Bills defense is that they are a sort of average, bend but don't break defense. The offense of Buffalo's is a pretty solid one. Josh Allen is having a great season. A sort of MVP caliber season that clamors to Lamar Jackson's. Josh Allen has never won an MVP in his career. Winning this game would help boast that claim even though the MVP should be more of a regular season award. Sadly, the MVP award will go to whoever wins this game probably. Buffalo has James Cook who is a perfect complement to Allen in the running game. Cook has had another 1,000 rushing yard season. Wide receivers for Buffalo have a good group with Curtis Samuel being the leading receiver last week with three catches for 68 yards. Buffalo's offensive supporting cast will need to step up and help their quarterback in this one. The projections of the winner have been mostly 50/50. I'll take the Ravens since they are still my pick to go to the Super Bowl. 

All-time series: Ravens lead 7-5; 2nd postseason meeting (Bills lead 1-0)

TV Broadcast Pairings

Note: Games are being shown nationally, meaning everyone can see it, assuming you have the channel.

Houston @ Kansas City

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman

Washington @ Detroit

Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady

LA Rams @ Philadelphia

Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth

Baltimore @ Buffalo

Jim Nantz, Tony Romo

Records

2024:
Week 1: 14-2
Week 2: 10-6
Week 3: 10-6
Week 4: 10-6
Week 5: 3-11
Week 6: 13-1
Week 7: 13-2
Week 8: 9-7
Week 9: 12-3
Week 10: 10-4
Week 11: 11-3
Week 12: 7-6
Week 13: 14-2
Week 14: 11-3
Week 15: 13-3
Week 16: 12-4
Week 17: 12-4

Week 18: 9-7
Total: 193-80

Super Wild Card Weekend: 4-2

2012: 164-90-2
2013: 162-92-1
2014: 172-83-1
2017: 164-92
2018: 156-98-2
2019: 161-94-1
2020: 167-88-1
2021: 173-98-1
2022: 166-103-2
2023: 161-111

See you all after the Sunday night game for the Divisional Recap! Enjoy the games!

-Tom

NFL 2024 Super Wild Card Weekend Recap

 Hello readers! Another week of National Football League action has come to an end. The first week of the playoffs is in the books and of the 12 teams that came into it, only six remain. Of those six, they will take on the two teams that had a bye this week. There was some interesting games this week. Such games like the Texans shutting down the Chargers,

NFL Super Wild Card Weekend Freaky Stat

The blocked field goal for a defensive conversion in the Chargers-Texans game was the 1st in NFL history. Kind of cool. Jayden Daniels becomes the 4th rookie quarterback to win a playoff game in NFL history. 

NFL Super Wild Card Weekend Recap

LA Chargers 12, Houston 32

Pick: Chargers

The Chargers get roughed up in Houston. Justin Herbert hit 14 of 32 passes for 242 yards with a touchdown but also tossed four interceptions. The touchdown pass went to Ladd McConkey on a 86-yard pass play on a 3rd down and 26 play. It was also the longest pass play for the Chargers. JK Dobbins had nine carries for 26 yards. The longest run was an eight-yard play by both JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Ladd McConkey had nine catches for 197 yards in the game. A pretty solid day for him. So the Texans defense really put the hurt on the Chargers in this one. They shut down the running game and forced Justin Herbert to throw a lot. Herbert would hit less than half of his passes as 197 of his 242 passing yards went to McConkey. The rest of the receivers would combine 45 yards passing. The defense would do kind of a decent job in getting an interception of their own but the next play for the Chargers, it was intercepted. There was also a 3-point swing as the Texans blocked a point after and returned it for a 2-point play. In the end, the Chargers just didn't get enough of their offense going and turnovers costed them a lot. Back to the drawing board for them this offseason. For the Chargers, they are a one and done team again and head into the offseason. 

CJ Stroud hit 22 of 33 passes for 282 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The touchdown went to Nico Collins on a 13-yard play. Joe Mixon had 25 carries for 106 yards with a touchdown run on a 17-yard run on the left. The longest run play was a 27-yard run by CJ Stroud. Nico Collins had seven catches for 122 yards in the game and had a catch that went for a 41-yard gain to be the longest pass play for the Texans. Defensively the Texans would step up to the challenge and take on the Chargers offense. They would intercept four passes, for the Chargers to go 3-11 on 3rd down and 0-1 on 4th down and sacked Justin Herbert four times. They would also intercept a pass that was returned to the endzone for a pick-six by Eric Murray. One of the rarer plays in football also happened. On the point after after the McConkey touchdown the Texans blocked a kick and was returned to their endzone for a defensive conversion worth two points. The change was made in 2015 and this game was the first ever. The person who returned it was D'Angelo Ross, a 4th-year player out of New Mexico. It'll be something that he can cherish for the rest of his life. Hopefully he can keep the ball or a souvenir. I was wrong about the Texans being in a weaker division, their offense would play quiet for a good portion of the game but would get going once they found a rhythm with the Collins touchdown. Their running back, defense and special teams in a way found a way to win. For the Texans, they get another playoff win and play next week. 

Next week:

LA Chargers: help out those in the LA wildfires maybe
Houston: Divisional Round @ Kansas City

TW: 0-1

Pittsburgh 14, Baltimore 28

Pick: Ravens

The Ravens run game runs over the Steelers. Russell Wilson hit 20 of 29 passes for 270 yards with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns went to George Pickens and Van Jefferson. Both touchdowns came in the 3rd quarter. Najee Harris had six carries for 17 yards. The longest run for Pittsburgh was a 5-yard run by Harris and Russell Wilson. George Pickens had five catches for 87 yards in the game. The longest pass play was a Mike Williams catch that went for a 37-yard gain. The Steelers offense would go slow much like the last month's games worth. They wouldn't score until 8:10 left in the 3rd quarter on the Van Jefferson score. The running game would get very little in terms of yards as they would combine a total of 29 yards. Just a rough one. It seems to add another problem for the Steelers as they can start off will in the first few months of the season but they falter somehow in the months of December and January should they reach here. They haven't won a playoff game since 2017 since beating Kansas City (which is wild btw). For the Steelers, their season ends with some things to consider in the offseason. 

Lamar Jackson hit 16 of 21 passes for 175 yards with two passing touchdowns. He also had 15 carries for 81 yards in the game. The passing touchdowns went to Rashod Bateman and Justice Hill. The star of the game was Derrick Henry who had 26 carries for 186 yards with to rushing touchdowns on 8 and 44 yard plays. The 44-yard play was the longest run for the game for the Ravens. Isiah Likely had three catches for 53 yards in the game to be the leading receiver for the Ravens. The longest pass paly was a 25-yard pass play to Isiah Likely and Nelson Agholor. The Ravens defense would stop the run and the Ravens offense would utilize Derrick Henry a lot. The Steelers were dealing with a skid but could've rebounded against a rival. The Ravens would put a stop to that as they would hold the Steelers run game to just 29 yards and to just 280 total yards in the game. For the Ravens, they get a win and move onto the Divisional round. 

Next week:

Pittsburgh: eat a pierogi or something.
Baltimore: Division round @ Buffalo

TW: 1-1

Denver 7, Buffalo 31

Pick: Bills

The Bills stampede over the Broncos. Bo Nix hit 13 of 22 passes for 144 yards with a touchdown. The touchdown went to Troy Franklin. It would be the only score for the Broncos all game. It happened on a 43-yard play where the Bills defense was caught off guard. It was also the longest pass play for the Broncos. Bo Nix rushed four times for 43 yards to be the Broncos leading rusher. He had a run of 18 yards that was the longest run for the Broncos. Javonte Williams had seven carries for 29 yards. Cortland Sutton had five catches for 75 yards to be the leading receiver for the Broncos. Denver would do not a lot of scoring afterwards as all their other drives resulted in: a punt, punt, field goal miss, a punt, a punt, turnover on downs and turnover on downs. The longest sustained drive they had was a drive in the 4th quarter that went for 61 yards. The Broncos offense wouldn't do their defense good either as they held the ball for 18:17 of game time. A poor running game has been their issue for most of the season and it hurt them in this one. For the Broncos, they had 224 total yards in the game and head back home for the long offseason. At least they made it to the playoffs. 

Josh Allen hit 20 of 26 passes for 272 yards with two touchdowns and had eight rushes for 46 yards. The two touchdowns went to Curtis Samuel and Ty Johnson. The Johnson touchdown came on a 24-yard play where it was under review whether or not Johnson caught the ball. It was upheld. The Samuel pass was the result of a deep pass of 55 yards. James Cook had 23 carries for 120 yards with a touchdown run on a 5-yard play. The score would give the Bills their first and only lead in the game. Denver wouldn't get a lead afterwards. Curtis Samuel had three catches for 68 yards in the game and had a 55-yard play for a catch to be the longest pass play for the Bills in the game. Buffalo would start off slow but the drive that would give them the lead was the result of a 13-play, 86-yard drive that consumed 7:35 of gametime. The Bills would only punt once in this game and that was during the 2nd quarter. Afterwards all of their drives resulted in either a field goal, touchdown or end of game. There was some question on how well the Bills would play due to a loss against the Patriots. They wouldn't outscore the Broncos early but they rather forced the Broncos defense on the field for a long time. Once they took hold of the lead they wouldn't relinquish it. Buffalo moves on and plays in the divisional round and will play host to the Ravens. For the Bills, they had 471 total yards and win their 5th straight wild card game. 

Next week:

Denver: go skiing or something
Buffalo: Divisional round vs Baltimore

TW: 2-1

Green Bay 10, Philadelphia 22

Pick: Eagles

Turnovers doom the Pack in Philly. Jordan Love hit 20 of 33 passes for 212 yards with three interceptions. He had no passing touchdowns. Josh Jacobs had 18 carries for 81 yards with Green Bay's only touchdown on a 1-yard run. He had a 31-yard run that was the longest run of the Packers in the game. It was a run that Jacobs kept going as he had players in Eagle uniforms all over him and he still ran. He almost scored a touchdown on the run as he was down on the 1-yard line. Jayden Reed had four catches for 46 yards in the game. The longest pass play was a catch by Dontayvion Wicks that went for a 29-yard gain. Turnovers would really ultimately kill the Pack in this one. Jordan Love really hurt his team as he had interceptions in the 1st, 2nd and 4th quarters. All of them came within 3:30 left in those quarters. A field goal miss would be missed by Brandon McManus as well so that didn't help either. Green Bay wouldn't score until 11:33 in the 3rd quarter which took the lead down to a 10-3 lead on a McManus field goal. Had the turnovers not happen they might've had a better chance of winning. Christian Watson not being available will be possibly an excuse but honestly it wouldn't have made a difference. Green Bay's season ends as possibly the Vikings move on and the Lions will play next week. For the Packers, they head home to snowy Green Bay with 302 total yards in the game. 

Jalen Hurts had 13 of 21 passes for 131 yards with two touchdowns and had six carries for 36 yards. The passing touchdowns went to Dallas Goedert and Jahan Dotson. Dotson's touchdown came on a 11-yard score on a short pass that got things going for the Eagles. Goedert's touchdown came on a 24-yard play but Jake Elliott would miss on the point after attempt. Saquon Barkley rushed 25 times for 119 yards in the game. He had a 17-yard run that was the longest run in the game for the Eagles. Devonta Smith had four catches for 55 yards in the game and had a catch that was caught for a 28-yard gain that was the longest pass play for the Eagles. The Eagles would play up to par with the Packers offense but the defense spoke the most in this game as Quinyon Mitchel, Darius Slay and Zack Baun were the players that caught the interceptions. The turnovers would then lead to a touchdown off of one of the turnovers. Not really much else to say about this as most games up to this point in the playoffs have been won by the home team. For the Eagles, they continue onto the next round and had 290 total yards in the game. 

Next week:

Green Bay: what is there to do in Green Bay?
Philadelphia: Divisional round vs

TW: 3-1

Washington 23, Tampa Bay 20

Pick: Commanders

Zane Gonzalez field goal and doink sends the Commanders past the Bucs. Jayden Daniels had 24 of 35 passes for 268 yards with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns went to Terry McLaurin on a 5-yard play and the other went to Dyami Brown on a 10-yard play. Jayden Daniels was the leading rusher with 13 carries for 36 yards in the game. Austin Ekeler had eight carries for 27 yards in the game and had one run went for a 12-yard gain to be the longest run for the Commanders. Terry McLaurin was the leading receiver with seven catches for 89 yards. He had a catch that went for a 35-yard gain that was the longest pass play in the game. The game changer was a fumble recovery by veteran Bobby Wagner. Despite the win, the Commanders did have issues with pass protection and the running game didn't do as much as I had hoped they would do. Gonzalez's kick could've gone a different direction or somethin in the final play. Might've been an overtime. Despite all that, Washington has a playoff winner for the first time since they were the Redskins, beating the Buccaneers 17-10 on January 7th, 2006. With the Packers losing earlier on Sunday, the Commanders are the lowest seed in the playoffs and will head to the Motor City to take on the Lions. They had 350 total yards in the game

Baker Mayfield had 15 of 18 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns went to Mike Evans and Bucky Irving. Bucky Irving had 17 carries for 77 yards and had a run that went for a 19-yard gain that was the longest run play for the Buccaneers. Mike Evans had seven catches for 92 yards in the game to be the leading receiver for the Buccaneers. The longest pass play was a catch by Jalen McMillan for a 26-yard gain. Tampa would play neck and neck with the Commanders in this one. The game changer was possibly the fumble. The play was supposed to be a pitch out to Jalen McMillan but it was aborted and fumbled and was recovered by Bobby Wagner. Their offense wouldn't be able to sustain drives and keep the Commanders offense off the field. Let alone their defense couldn't get stops as Washington had conversions on 3rd and 4th down. The Buccaneers will head home and spend the rest of the season watching the rest of the NFL play next week. The offense had 284 total yards in the game. 

Next week:

Washington: Divisional round @ Detroit
Tampa Bay: do things in Florida.

TW: 4-1

Minnesota 9, LA Rams 27

Pick: Vikings

Rams sack the Vikings on neutral site. Sam Darnold hit 25 of 40 passes for 245 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The touchdown went to TJ Hockenson. Aaron Jones had 13 carries for 48 yards in the game. The longest run in the game for the Vikings was a 26-yard run by Cam Akers. TJ Hockenson was the leading receiver with five catches for 64 yards. He had a catch that went for a 26-yard gain that came from his touchdown. Some questionable calls were in this game with the Matthew Stafford incomplete pass that was originally called a fumble. It could've been intentional grounding as well possibly. It can't hide the fact that the Vikings pass protection broke down a lot as Darnold was sacked nine times for 82 yards. Along with the interception, the Vikings also fumbled as well. In general, the Vikings did have chances in this game but sadly couldn't as they did sustain drives and had better offensive numbers for the most part than the Rams. At least they scored a touchdown. The Vikings Cinderella season ends with disappointment as most people didn't think they'd be here at alone have a winning record winning 14 games. For the Vikings, they had 269 total yards in the game. 

Matthew Stafford hit 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns went to Kyren Williams and Davis Allen. Kyren Williams had 16 carries for 76 yards to be the leading rusher. The longest run in the game was a 17-yard carry by Williams in the game. Tyler Higbee had five catches for 58 yards in the game. The longest pass play was a catch by Cooper Kupp that went for a 29-yard gain. It was the only catch by the former Eastern Washington player. The Rams would get their pass catchers involved early as Puka Nacua was used a lot in the early going to avoid the Vikings pass rush. Minnesota would only manage to get to Stafford two times for a loss of seven yards. Issues for the Rams in this one was penalties as they were flagged 10 times for 95 yards, sometimes it was on consecutive plays. One drive had a holding call on them and then the next play was a false start. You can't have that in the playoffs. Conversions on 3rd down would be a problem as well as the Rams had went just 2 for 10 on 3rd down. I don't know who was really the better team in this game, the team that seemed ready was the Rams but they had mistakes. Suffice to say, the real winners in this game were the Arizona Cardinals who were able to get this game going on short notice. Hopefully the families and first responders in the Los Angeles wildfires were able to take time away from the pain to enjoy their Rams win. For the Rams, they move on and head east to take on the Eagles and had 292 total yards in the game.

Next week:

Minnesota: go ice fishing or something
LA Rams: Divisional @ Philadelphia

TW: 4-2

Records

2024:
Week 1: 14-2
Week 2: 10-6
Week 3: 10-6
Week 4: 10-6
Week 5: 3-11
Week 6: 13-1
Week 7: 13-2
Week 8: 9-7
Week 9: 12-3
Week 10: 10-4
Week 11: 11-3
Week 12: 7-6
Week 13: 14-2
Week 14: 11-3
Week 15: 13-3
Week 16: 12-4
Week 17: 12-4

Week 18: 9-7
Total: 193-80

Super Wild Card Weekend: 4-2

2012: 164-90-2
2013: 162-92-1
2014: 172-83-1
2017: 164-92
2018: 156-98-2
2019: 161-94-1
2020: 167-88-1
2021: 173-98-1
2022: 166-103-2
2023: 161-111

See you all on Thursday/Friday for the Divisional Picks post! Enjoy your week!

-Tom

NFL 2024 Super Wild Card Weekend Picks

 Hello readers! Another week of National Football League action is coming upon us yet again. Well, the regular season is over and 18 teams will now be watching from home or preparing for the next season. The rest will now make their play and go for the ultimate prize of being a Super Bowl Champion. The first week of the playoffs called the Wild Card round will have 12 of those teams make their play for the championship. By week's end six will remain and move on to the Divisional round. In this post, I will do a preview and picks of the six games being played over three days and the broadcast pairings that the networks will put out for the games. Let's get to work!

Super Wild Card Weekend Preview

The Wild Card round will start in Houston, Texas and wrap up in Inglewood, California. The week will feature six games and 12 teams competing. There will be a Saturday afternoon game, a Saturday night game, a Sunday early afternoon game, a Sunday late afternoon game, a Sunday night game and a Monday night game. CBS will show two games while ABC, NBC, FOX and Amazon Prime will show one game. Let's get to the picks! 

Super Wild Card Weekend Picks

Note: All game times are in US Eastern.

LA Chargers @ Houston (CBS; 4:30 pm)

Pick: Chargers

The Chargers beat the Raiders and the Texans beat the Titans last week. The playoffs start again at Houston. Kind of goes to show how much the NFL values the Texans or the AFC South winner instead of it being on a primetime slot. The Chargers got here by getting a wild card spot and going on a 11-6 record. It is their first playoff appearance since 2022 and the first in Jim Harbaugh's career in LA. The offense has done better by going more of a balanced offense instead of Justin Herbert throwing the ball 40-50 times a game. They have some physicality with running the football with JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards. The emergence of Ladd McConkey as a pass catcher has added more of a weapon to a team that's offense is good on the passing game. On defense, the Chargers went for more of an improvement as last year they were the 24th scoring defense to 1st only allowing 17.7 points/game while having the 8th best passing defense allowing 221.3 yards/game from the air. Joey Bosa is a game changer and having Derwin James will make quarterbacks hesitate from throwing the ball to him.

Houston has been in a normal spot for the playoffs. The first game of the playoffs seem to always start in Houston. The game itself will be an intriguing one. The offense of Houston's has been more of a run power game with Joe Mixon being the starter. They might've found a solid piece to run the ball with in Dameon Pierce who rushed for a 92-yard touchdown last week. CJ Stroud has led the passing attack but has been somewhat of a diminished quarterback in his sophomore season. With 3,727 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions Stroud has good numbers but it feels something is off with him. On defense, the Texans are ranked 6th in total defense with 7th ranked passing defense and 11th rushing defense. The Texans defense has some really good pieces on the defensive front with Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. They can ravage defenses and are ranked 2nd with 19 interceptions. I think the key to this one is to really wear the Chargers defense out early and get the ball to your pass catchers and have them make a play for the ball. I still think the Texans are the weakest of the AFC division winners but I think they'll do alright. Just not alright enough to get a win.

All-time series: Chargers lead 6-3; 1st postseason meeting.

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore (Amazon; 8:00 pm)

Pick: Ravens

The Steelers lost to the Bengals and the Ravens beat the Browns last week. Two familiar foes go at it in Saturday night primetime. The Steelers come into this game with a four-game losing streak, with one of those losses coming from these same Ravens. Part of the reason is that the offense has come apart at the seams. It feels like something is wrong with Russell Wilson or there is some issue that we aren't aware of. With 11 games started he has thrown 2,482 yards with 16 touchdowns and five interceptions. He has also been sacked 33 times so that might be a reason as well. For this game, they might need to rely more on their run game to help take the pressure off of Wilson. They do have a tandem of running backs with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren to push forward. They're going to need them as the playoffs is more of physicality and trying to control the line of scrimmage. When it gets cold out and the passing game gets lessened as the football goes lesser distance in the cold air, a running game would be a useful tool.

Baltimore comes into this game clinching the AFC North for the 2nd straight season. They will face off against a familiar foe as both teams will meet for the 3rd time this season. The season series is split with the Steelers winning at their home and the Ravens winning at their home. The key for the Ravens is getting Derrick Henry going early and often and get him holes. I view Derrick Henry more of an inside runner than an outside one. Though he is dangerous either way and most defensive players will feel like hitting a brick wall tackling him. I think the goal is to get at least 20 carries and 100 yards rushing for him. If the Ravens can do that they should have a good shot to win. It sort of felt like an exorcism of demons in the last meeting for Lamar Jackson in beating Pittsburgh. History wise, the Steelers had dominated the series with Jackson as well as the all-time postseason series. Baltimore won the last meeting in January 2015. Sadly Lamar Jackson hasn't played well in the playoffs but hopefully with a sidekick he might finally get over the hump. The Ravens defense will need to make Russell Wilson try to beat you as he lately hasn't been playing or throwing well. Might have to let the running game get active as well. I would also note that George Pickens wasn't in the last matchup. Have to keep an eye on him as well. I think the Ravens take it. 

All-time series: Steelers lead 36-26; 5th postseason meeting (Steelers lead 3-1)

Denver @ Buffalo (CBS; 1:00 pm)

Pick: Bills

The Broncos beat the Chiefs and the Bills lost to the Patriots last week. The Broncos finally got the postseason drought monkey off their back. They are back in the playoffs for the first time since winning Super Bowl 50. Bo Nix has brought stability at the quarterback spot and that's what had been lacking since winning the Super Bowl. The offense has been more of a passing orientated game with a few run plays here and there. Their highest leading rusher is Javonte Williams with 513 rush yards. Bo Nix has 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and had almost 4,000 yards passing. The go-to guy has been Cortland Sutton with eight of those 29 passing touchdowns. I wished Denver would go more of a run game and establish it but they haven't had to really rely on it. Defensively, the Broncos have a solid defense especially in the defense's front seven. They lead the NFL in sacks with 63 sacks. The Bills will have their hands full in containing Zach Allen and have their offensive line schemes set in containing Nik Bonitto who has 13.5 sacks this season.

Buffalo seems to be the sexy pick in the AFC in terms of teams that aren't the Chiefs in winning it all. At some point they have to take it to the house and get a championship. At some point it has to be put up or shut up. They have to realize that they need to be ready when their time comes and focus and have fun. Offensively it all starts with Josh Allen. My pick for the MVP has 3,731 passing yards with 28 touchdowns and six interceptions while scoring 12 rushing touchdowns. I personally think he is the most valuable person on this team. The rest of the team hasn't played up to the potential of Allen's. I think the defense will need to step up as well as special teams. Special teams in terms of hitting field goals through the goalposts. James Cook has been a good complement to Allen in the running game and being a pass catcher. I hope he will be used a fair bit in this game. On defense, the Bills aren't quite as solid but they are more of a bend don't break defense that has dealt with a fair bit of injuries to their secondary. Playoff experience might be an advantage for the Bills but they need to be composed and try to relax and play their game. I'll take Buffalo.

All-time series: Bills lead 23-17-1; 2nd postseason meeting (Bills lead 1-0)

Green Bay @ Philadelphia (FOX; 4:30 pm)

Pick: Eagles

The Packers lost to the Bears and the Eagles beat the Giants last week. A rematch of a Week 1 game in Brazil. Green Bay has gotten to this point with a 11-6 record and playing 3rd wheel to the Lions and Vikings in the tough NFC North. The road to get to a Super Bowl will have them go up against arguably the best team in the NFC in Philadelphia. The Packers have done it with a solid season from Jordan Love. Love was injured a bit in the loss to Chicago but according to head coach Matt LaFleur he is ready to go and willing for this game. If he isn't then it falls on Malik Willis to provide offense to the Packers. Josh Jacobs has been a solid replacement to Aaron Jones as Jacobs has 1,329 rushing yards and has scored 15 touchdowns. The receiving corp has been a good one but I fear the loss of Christian Watson to a torn ACL injury will put things in doubt for the Packers. On defense, the Packers put forth a good unit as they are 5th in total defense and have a 7th best rushing defense. They will need to contain or slow Saquon Barkley down to get a chance to win this. The more carries that result in 1st downs, the harder it will be to win this game.

Philadelphia has been one of the better teams in the National Football Conference. The Eagles have really done it with probably the best running back in the league with Saquon Barkley who has 2,005 rushing yards, becoming the 9th running back in NFL history to achieve the 2,000 yard club. The Eagles have a good passing offense as well as Jalen Hurts has been a better passer this season than last season. His weapons have also been solid as well with AJ Brown, Devonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. That Barkley person as a pass catcher isn't bad either. The defense of Philly's is a tough one to crack as they are ranked 1st in total defense only allowing 278.4 yards/game on average. They have the 2nd ranked pass defense and 10th ranked rushing defense. I question the health of Jalen Hurts who hasn't played since Week 16 due to a concussion. I think the talent gap is lessened if Kenny Pickett or Tanner McKee starts as I think that Jalen Hurts provides offense with his arm and legs and I don't know how well the other two can do in this one. Suffice to say, I think the Eagles will win this from Saquon Barkley running through holes and the defense putting a stomp on the Packers.

All-time series: Packers lead 28-19; 4th postseason meeting (Eagles lead 2-1)

Washington @ Tampa Bay (NBC; 8:00 pm)

Pick: Commanders

Washington is having a great season. They were at one point last season at a 4-13 record. They changed it to 12-5 this season to have a 8-game swing. Easily the best turnaround this season. The offense has largely been the thing that has gotten the Commanders over the hump. This season they are ranked 5th in points scored with 485 points or 28.5 points/game, compared to just 329 points or 19.4 points/game. Washington has embraced the running game with the 3rd best rushing offense getting 154.1 yards/game. That's wild. The plethora of running backs at head coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury's arsenal is quite impressive. The passing game isn't bad but it isn't great either. Jayden Daniels the passer has 3,568 with 25 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. It should be noted that they played Tampa in Week 1 and lost. Safe to say that the Commanders have their identity and certainly have momentum on their side. I think this game will have a different outcome or at least a closer outcome than the Week 1 37-20 Buccaneers victory. Defensively it is something that will have to be addressed in the offseason as I think they are a pass rusher away from really being one of the better defenses. Someone that can create turnovers can be useful as well as they have just seven interceptions.

Tampa Bay won the NFC South and they have the 3rd seed locked up. The offense is quite good with Baker Mayfield proving to us yet again that the Browns are the problem. Mayfield has 4,500 yards with 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. His offense is ranked 4th in the NFL with 29.5 points/game or 502 total points. The defense is ranked 16th allowing 385 total points or 22.6 points/game. They will need to play better in this game. Tampa is ranked 4th in rush defense allowing 97.8 rushing yards per game. Something is going to have to give. Might have to make note that the Buccaneers are ranked 30th in passing defense. Last week, the Buccaneers kind of got off to a slow start on offense but would start to pick things up in the 2nd half. I question how much of a slow start will the Buccaneers have in this one. I think the losing team in the first game has an advantage in the rematch of the 2nd game. It doesn't always happen but this game has to be played out differently than the 37-20 win the Buccaneers played against these same Commanders in Week 1. I'll Take Washington.

All-time series: Series tied 13-13; 4th postseason meeting (Bucs lead 2-1)

Minnesota @ LA Rams (ABC/ESPN; 8:00 pm)

Pick: Rams

The Vikings lost to the Lions and the Rams lost to the Seahawks last week. A form amount of disrespect has been on the Vikings for most of the season. They were probably expected to win at least 6-7 games but they proved the doubters wrong with 14 games won, falling just one win short of a #1 seed in the NFC. The Vikings have done it with a offense that is good with the pass. Sam Darnold has proven that any situation is probably better than being with the Jets or Panthers. Having an offensive mind in head coach Kevin O'Connell will do that to you. Sam Darnold will need to rebound after having his worst game of the season last week against Detroit. It was the sort of game that made you think he reverted back to his old ways as a Jet or something. I'm not sure how well Minnesota can do against the Rams. The game will be in Glendale, Arizona and not in Inglewood as the Los Angeles wildfires are ongoing. At least it will be on a neutral site. Last time these two met the Rams weren't at full strength and they still won against Minnesota. I'm not sure how well they can handle the fact that Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Matthew Stafford will be at full health and rested for this one. At least Kevin O'Connell seems to think that his team will face the Lions next week to give that bit of confidence.

The Rams won the NFC West and didn't have much to play for last week against Seattle. The offense went into a bit of a 2nd string offense as their main players Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua sat and recuperated in time for the playoffs. The Rams running game isn't too shabby either as Kyren Williams has 1,299 rushing yards and has 14 touchdowns rushing. Matthew Stafford has had a good season with 3,762 yards passing with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions. A bit low for the touchdown count but still quite good. The game will not be in Inglewood as the Los Angeles wildfires are ongoing. The game might mean a bit more for their fans as they battle against mother nature. At least give them some chance to take their minds away from the tragedy and see their team play. I think the game will depend on how well the defense can handle Sam Darnold. Will they make him uncomfortable as he was somewhat exposed a bit against the Lions. He was rushed, hurried and sacked at times. With Darnold feeling the heat, the offense of the Vikings fell apart. The game will depend on if Sam Darnold will be able to handle the playoff pressure and what version we'll see of him. I think the Rams have a bit more experience with these games and I'll take them in this one.

All-time series: Vikings lead 27-19-2; 8th postseason meeting (Vikings lead 5-2)

TV Broadcast Pairings

Note: All games are national games, meaning the nation will be able to see them. Given you have the channel that the game is on.

LA Chargers @ Houston

Ian Eagle, Charles Davis

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore

Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit

Denver @ Buffalo

Jim Nantz, Tony Romo

Green Bay @ Philadelphia

Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady

Washington @ Tampa Bay

Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth

Minnesota @ LA Rams

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman

Records

2024:
Week 1: 14-2
Week 2: 10-6
Week 3: 10-6
Week 4: 10-6
Week 5: 3-11
Week 6: 13-1
Week 7: 13-2
Week 8: 9-7
Week 9: 12-3
Week 10: 10-4
Week 11: 11-3
Week 12: 7-6
Week 13: 14-2
Week 14: 11-3
Week 15: 13-3
Week 16: 12-4
Week 17: 12-4

Week 18: 9-7
Total: 193-80

2012: 164-90-2
2013: 162-92-1
2014: 172-83-1
2017: 164-92
2018: 156-98-2
2019: 161-94-1
2020: 167-88-1
2021: 173-98-1
2022: 166-103-2
2023: 161-111

See you all after the Monday night game for the Super Wild Card Weekend Recap! Enjoy the games!

-Tom