Cincinnati Bengals/Houston Texans: rematch of last year's Wild Card meeting between these two teams which Houston won 31 to 10, once again being played in Houston. Both teams had great seasons, Houston looking like Super Bowl contenders early on. But they've struggled as of late, losing to Minnesota, Indianapolis and New England in recent weeks. The Bengals finished the season strong, winning 7 of their last 8 with huge victories over division rivals Pittsburgh (on the road) and Baltimore with the playoffs on the line (the game they lost they only lost by 1 point). The Texans scored more points during the regular season but Cincinnati had the better defence (their stats are close enough to be negligible in both categories). The Bengals won 6 on the road while Houston was 6 and 2 at home. Cincinnati has the momentum and more to play for seeing how they lost to the Texans last year and have lost their last 3 Wild Card games. Often in this situation I'd play it safe and keep betting red, but I kept picking the Bengals all season long and it paid off in my regular season pool. Picking Cincinnati.
Minnesota Vikings/Green Bay Packers: who the hell do you pick when Minnesota plays Green Bay? The Vikings beat Green Bay the only time they've met in the playoffs and defeated them by 3 last weekend at home to secure a playoff spot, the Pack winning earlier on in the season. According to their stats, Green Bay regularly scores more points and they've won 4 of their last 5, but the Vikings also have a solid offense and have won 4 of their last 5 as well. Minnesota hasn't won in Green Bay since 2009 and that game was played in November. With no clear indicator as to who will win, I'm taking the Pack at home in January.
Indianapolis Colts/Baltimore Ravens: the Colts are hot, winning 5 of their last 6 while Baltimore's lost 4 of their last 5. At the same time, the Ravens lost to Denver, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Cincinnati while Indianapolis didn't defeat Buffalo, Detroit, Tennessee and Kansas City by large margins. They did win though, and they also beat Minnesota and Green Bay earlier on in the season. Joe Flacco and the Ravens won playoff games in each of the last 4 post-seasons and have never lost a Wild Card game with Flacco at the helm. In fact, in Flacco's rookie year he won two post-season games on the road. This is Colts's quarterback Andrew Luck's first road playoff game and it's his first season quarterbacking in the NFL. Baltimore has stronger defensive and offensive stats but they struggled late in the season. Yet Ray Lewis has announced his upcoming retirement and that's bound to fire up the Ravens's defence for one more home game. Tough call. Taking Baltimore.
Seattle Seahawks/Washington Redskins: it's a shame these teams have to play each other in the first round but this is still the most exciting Wild Card game this year in my opinion. Washington's won 7 in a row and 5 of those wins were against opponents from their division. They also beat Minnesota and New Orleans earlier on. Seattle has looked like the NFC's Super Bowl representative for the past month, after crushing Buffalo, Arizona and San Francisco. They were undefeated at home with victories over New England, Dallas, Minnesota and San Francisco (their home win over Green Bay doesn't really count but the game was still close) but did lose on the road to Arizona, Detroit and Miami. The Skins are 5 and 3 at home and haven't lost at FedEx Field since November 4th. If the Seahawks team that scored 150 points in three weeks while only giving up 30 shows up, they're bound to win. But they do have one crucial inhibiting factor acting as a pesky mystical thorn in their side. Two years ago they made the playoffs with a 7 and 9 record and somehow beat a New Orleans Saints team that seemed like a formidable Super Bowl contender. Now that they seem like those very same Saints, could Washington convincingly upset them? The comparison breaks down because the Skins are a competitive team coached by Mike Shanahan. But because of this il/logical fact, I'm taking Washington at home. Go Skins.
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