WILD CARD ROUND
As you can tell, I haven’t really been tallying scores much this year, mostly because I think John and I are the only two who would even come close to qualifying for the end-of-year tally. Such is life on an dying message board
But, in case the two of us decide to go back and tally up our season total, I will remind you that this week’s correct predictions are worth three, correct upsets are worth five, for a maximum potential total of 20 (no upset limit). This scoring system will be the same next week.
Here we go:
GAME OF THE WEEK – SUNDAY at 4:40 EST – Philadelphia Eagles (9-7) at Chicago Bears (12-4), CHI by 6 – All four matchups this weekend are really intriguing to me, and it’s actually the one with the biggest point spread that I’m most interested in. This is going to be a big test for the Bears. They get to play at home in the final game of the weekend, and it’s the franchise’s first playoff game in eight years. Not a lot of postseason experience on this squad. How will they handle the pressure? The Eagles had a rough start to the year, but they showed a TON of fight in battling back to the playoffs, and they are the defending champions. They know what they need to do to go the distance, and they’re playing on the road the whole way there. I’m going to be fascinated to see how this one plays out. I’m going to be boring and say Chicago by a field goal is able to win this one in a grueling defensive battle, but I could really see the Eagles pulling off the upset here, too. Bears 16, Eagles 13
SATURDAY at 4:35 EST – Indianapolis Colts (10-6) at Houston Texans (11-5), HOU by 1.5 – Divisional battles are always hard to predict in the playoffs. Both games this year between the two teams featured the road team winning by a field goal, which is good news for the Colts this weekend. The Colts are coming in with a little more momentum than the Texans, who lost a couple games in the month of December, but when all else seems equal in a divisional game in the playoffs, I’m going to go with the home team. Should be a fun one to kick things off this weekend. Texans 24, Colts 20
SATURDAY at 8:15 EST – Seattle Seahawks (10-6) at Dallas Cowboys (10-6), DAL by 1.5 – Dallas got to the playoffs largely on the strength of its defense, but its season really turned around after the Amari Cooper trade. Meanwhile, Seattle defied all odds to get to this point, and it’s really hard for me to pick against them in the postseason. I’m going to take the Seahawks in a minor upset. UPSET! – Seahawks 23, Cowboys 17
SUNDAY at 1:05 EST – Los Angeles Chargers (12-4) at Baltimore Ravens (10-6), BAL by 2.5 It’s been one hell of a turnaround this season for the Ravens, ever since inserting Lamar Jackson into the starting lineup. Its defense has also been playing hellacious football. These two teams did meet just a couple weeks ago, with the Ravens delivering a highly impressive performance, shutting down the Chargers’ offense and ending any longshot hopes of a Philip Rivers MVP award. But I think things go differently this time around, now that the Chargers have a little bit better of an idea of what they’re up against. A win by Los Angeles sets up a date with Kansas City in the divisional round that should be a heck of a game. That being said, if the Ravens do manage to pull off the win, I will be fascinated to see if they’re able to take down the Chiefs and/or Patriots. A Super Bowl run for this team would have to be one of the most unlikely runs in recent memory, but they have the defense to pull it off. UPSET! – Chargers 20, Ravens 16