By Brandon Simmons
Bills vs. Texans
The Houston Texans will be hosting the Buffalo Bills to kick off this year’s NFL Wildcard weekend. This matchup will feature the stout defense of the Bills against the playmaking stylings of Texans QB Deshaun Watson. Also featured in this game will be the Bills’ own playmaking QB, Josh Allen, who has the honor of going against Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, who is making his return from IR due to a pectoral injury.
In the matchup of Buffalo’s defense vs. the Houston offense, there are plenty of playmakers to make this interesting. The Bills’ D is led by 3rd year cornerback Tre’Davious White, who has a career high 6 interceptions which has helped make the Buffalo the 4th ranked defense. Their defensive line is nothing to sneeze at as well. Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson reside along that defensive line, with Phillips leading the team with 9.5 sacks. For the Texans, Watson is the head of this explosive offense. He is equally dangerous on running and throwing, especially with receivers such as DeAndre Hopkins that he can hit on any part of the field. Running back Carlos Hyde has been a quiet threat on this offense to replace the injured Lamar Miller. RB Duke Johnson also serves as a compliment as a receiving component out of the backfield.
What this game will really come down to is whose offense can make the most plays, and that has to go in favor of the Texans. Houston’s offense can keep up with you in a shootout but is better at controlling the clock. Hyde and Johnson will be a strong RB duo to help move the chains whether running or receiving. Not only that, the Texans defense can put some highlights as well. Cornerback Bradley Roby has a penchant for making a big play on the ball — if he’s healthy — as evidenced by his pick 6 agaisnt the Buccaneers a couple of weeks ago. The same for cornerback Johnathan Joseph who uses his veteran experience to make big plays as well. Look for Houston to secure the win this Saturday.
Titans vs. Patriots
The New England Patriots will make a rare appearance in the Wild Card round when they have the Tennessee Titans visit Foxboro Saturday night. The Patriots come in after a very tough season offensively, but still relying on their postseason experience with head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. The Titans are sliding into their first playoff appearance since the 2017 season. Not only do they have this season’s leading rusher in running back Derrick Henry, but their season has been kind of saved by quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Both teams have an interesting take on how their seasons have turned out up to this point. While the Titans can be considered the lesser team, they have been sort of playing on fire since inserting Tannehill as their starting QB, going 7-3 to finish the year after starting 2-4. The Titans have been considered a run team for the most part, but their passing game has come alive with Tannehill and rookie wide receiver A.J. Brown. The Patriots have experienced the opposite After starting the year 8-0, they have went 4-4 and only scored at least 30 points once, as opposed to the 6 times they done it during the 8 game win streak. Their main issue has been with the struggles of the offense, which has been dealing with injuries, inconsistent play and an aging Brady.
It’s going to be very tough to pick against the Patriots when Brady and Belichick are at the helm, but this has to be the time to do so. The titans have been playing good football for a couple of months now at a time when the Patriots have not been their best. Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman has been reportedly dealing with a should injury that has impacted his production. If New England can not extend drives, the Titans will make sure they stay off the field by utilizing running back Derrick Henry to run over them. Even if Belichick tries to take Henry away, Tennessee could still look to get some plays out of rookie wide receiver A.J. Brown. The Patriots have had a long run of postseason success but the Titans just might end all of that this Saturday.
Vikings vs. Saints
The New Orleans Saints will be trying to avenge their Minnesota miracle playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings when they host them this weekend. Ironically, it may take a couple of miracles for the Vikings to get a shot at a win this Sunday. Minnesota has the same wide receiver duo in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, but injuries has affected the season of the latter. But to make up for those shortcomings. The Vikings have a healthy Dalvin Cook at running back, who has lifted this team to become 2nd in the league in rushing. The Saints have their usual weapons of running back Alvin Kamara and wide receiver Michael Thomas, who set the single season record for receptions. And of course, they have this quarterback named Drew Brees, currently fighting for the all-time lead in career touchdown passes. Not only do the Saints have the usual, explosive offense, courtesy of head coach Sean Payton, but their defense has been outstanding as well.
The bottom line is this: the Saints have too much on their side for the Vikings to have a shot at a win. Sure their offense is going to be on point, but the New Orleans defense has been great this year, which is 5th against the run this season. The Saints defensive line is going to be a problem for the Vikings, who let QB Kirk Cousins get sacked 5 times in the Monday Night Football game. This could spell dangerous for any team, especially when that opponent has defensive end Cameron Jordan across from your QB, who is 3rd in the league in sacks. New Orleans missed out on a bye week due to the Seahawks losing but they are going to be back in the divisional round after getting the win this weekend.
Seahawks vs. Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off winning the NFC East and have now earned the right to host the Seattle Seahawks, who just lost their season long battle with the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC West crown. With so many injuries to their receiving group, the Eagles are heading into this matchup behind QB Carson Wentz, rookie running back Boston Scott and wide receiver Greg Ward, Jr., who has been cut from the team’s practice squad at least twice. The Seahawks are equipped with MVP candidate QB Russell Wilson but have had their own injuries as of late, partciularly in the backfield. So they resolved It by going out and re-signing running backs Marshawn Lynch and Ronnie Turbin.
Both teams have done excellent jobs of adapting to the worst circumstances. For Seattle, they needed to bring in somebody to replace 1,000 yard rusher Chris Carson and CJ Prosise to season-ending injuries, and they reunited with a fan favorite in Lynch. When their main receivers went down, Philadelphia shifted a lot of its focus on to guys that were already there, and it’s paid off for them. The Eagles were able to beat the Cowboys and Giants in the last 2 weeks of the season to get the division crown.
Regardless of the Eagles’ recent success, the Seahawks carry greater weight in winning this game. As valiant an effort that Philadelphia has put up in getting these wins, the injuries are just too much to overcome this late in the season. They just lost tight end Zach Ertz to a rib injury who suffered during the Cowboys game, so their offense is going to be without another key piece. Not to mention, the Seahawks are just a good football team. Russell Wilson is a veteran quarterback who always shows his will to get you a win. Seattle does not have its leading rusher, but Lynch is showed he can still run just as aggressively as when he first got to the team earlier in the decade. The Seahawks defense can really take advantage of the depleted Eagles offense. Seahawks will be flying away with the victory.