NFL Playoff Predictions: Divisional Round

Super Wildcard weekend is over and my first batch of real predictions is in the books. Not a single one of my scores was really that close but I correctly guessed how many points the Seahawks would score and I am counting that as a win. As for my official predictions, I did pick four of the six games correctly, only missing on the two upsets, Los Angeles and Cleveland. As it turns out the Pittsburgh Steelers are exactly as bad as I thought they were and I should not have given them the credit that I did. 

We are left with four games, as the top seeds in each conference will be back in action. The time for being cute is past and we are now to the point of the playoffs where we see which teams can compete for a Super Bowl in a real way. There is no sense in me doing a separate wrap up for these games as there were not that many and it’s not like you missed them, right? 

Los Angeles Rams at Green Bay Packers

This game will either be extremely interesting or unbelievably dull. The Rams will be a relatively unhealthy team going into this game. Wolford may miss the game, and if he does Jared Goff will still be dealing with his injured thumb. Goff healthy is bad enough in the cold, factor in the thumb, and three interceptions would be a godsend. The defense is what is propping up the Rams right now but with Aaron Donald appearing to be at less than 100% the offense is going to need to make things happen. There is one saving the grace for them, the Packers are bad against the run and Cam Akers looked fantastic against the Seahawks. Flip to the other side of the game, the Packers have looked very good down the stretch. Their last loss came in week 11 to the Indianapolis Colts. Davante Adams cannot be stopped, except that maybe he can be by Jalen Ramsey. Unfortunately for the Rams, Aaron Rodgers has the ability to throw to any of about six guys wearing that hideous green jersey. The Rams defense at full strength would give the Packers fits, but they won’t be. The Rams offense at peak performance would struggle against this defense in the cold of Lambeau, but they won't be at full strength. This game will probably be closer than my prediction but it could very easily get way out of hand. 

Prediction: Rams 19 - Packers 34

Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills

This is the best game all weekend. The Ravens defense is coming off a stunning performance against the Tennessee Titans in which they held that high octane offense to only thirteen points. The offense for the Ravens looked a little underwhelming and that may end up being their downfall. The Bills on the other hand are coming off of a weirdly encouraging game. The Colts played the Bills extremely tough and the defense proved it could mostly hold up when it counted. I couldn’t ever hop on the bandwagon of the Bills being the best team in the NFL, but they are a great team. Great teams pull out tough wins when maybe they shouldn’t. The Bills offense versus the Ravens defense is strength against strength. Josh Allen has looked incredible for most of the season and can do everything you could want from a young QB leading a team through the playoffs for the first time. Lamar Jackson finally got that first playoff win and should now be able to play with a little more freedom as he goes forward. Unfortunately, I don’t think he will be going much further in these playoffs. The Bills have better weapons on offense to combat the defensive mismatches. The Ravens lack the talent to overcome the Bills' very solid defense. Lamar is good for at least one to two spectacular plays per game but that won’t be enough to conquer this fantastically well-built Bills roster. This should be a very exciting game but in the end, I think the Bills will just be too much. 

Prediction: Ravens 23 - Bills 27

Cleveland Browns at Kansas City Chiefs

The Cleveland Browns shocked a lot of people by dominating the Pittsburgh Steelers in all facets of the game in their third and final matchup of the season. Their defense looked great until it stopped needing to, and the offense was firing on every single cylinder. The Chiefs are a different animal though. The Browns will not have an opportunity to go up on the Chiefs by twenty-four points. This game has all the makings of a game that's blow for blow, touchdown for touchdown, and one that leads every Sports Center for the next two days. My issue is whether or not the Browns can keep up. They are not exactly the most consistent team in the NFL. The Chiefs haven’t looked like world-beaters for the past three weeks but they also have essentially had the one seed locked up since week fourteen so I can’t begrudge them for just getting the wins with what seemed like minimal effort. The Browns are good, the Chiefs are 15-1. 

Prediction: Browns 31 - Chiefs 40

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints

I have no idea why this is the last game of the weekend. There are at least two other games I would rather watch. This is the only game from the three that is divisional and therefore it is the one we are all the most familiar with. The Saints have dominated the Bucs in both of their meetings this season, however, as the season went on, the Bucs looked stronger and the Saints looked weaker. The Saints had an extreme amount of trouble pulling away from a Chicago Bears team last week that looked like they were actively knee-capping themselves at every turn. Meanwhile, the Bucs had a tough test with the defense of the Washington Football Team that was playing one of their best games of the season. Drew Brees is clearly showing his age while Tom Brady is seemingly still thirty-five. Both of these teams have very good defenses but if Ndamukong Suh is back for the Bucs this weekend I would take that unit over what the Saints have. This matchup will not be nearly as lopsided as the first two meetings. I am going to pick the Bucs however I have an addendum. Tom Brady seems to run into teams that just sort of have his number. If the Saints are one of those teams then this whole prediction goes out the window. This should be a close game either way. 

Prediction: Buccaneers 28 - Saints 24