Divisional Round Picks

Houston Texans/Baltimore Ravens: once again, applying literary hypotheses to the picking of NFL playoff games falls flat, and the Baltimore Ravens will not face the Cleveland Browns this Saturday, what a story it would have been however, the old franchise facing the new (the Baltimore Ravens used to be the Cleveland Browns but they moved to Baltimore in the 90s, after which a new Cleveland Browns team was created), with the old franchise's quarterback helming the rebirth, it was still cool to see Mr. Flacco back at it one more time (I was convinced Cleveland was the only team who could take Baltimore[like Paris taking Achilles]). But C. J. Stroud put on quite the performance and played exceptionally well in his playoff debut, that's a lot of points for the first time out, and an impressive outstanding home win. Could he be the Texans quarterback they've been searching for for decades, the one to get them through to the Super Bowl?, the Cowboys are out, it's all up to Houston. Baltimore though. Geez. All bets are off after the Cowboys collapsed last Sunday, but the Ravens were pretty freakin' good this year. They crushed Houston, Detroit, and Miami, and beat San Francisco by 14, those are pretty good stats for a team that regularly makes the playoffs, although they have come up short in recent January memory. Not including the last game of the season, they've won 10 of their last 11, playing well in a tough division, playing rested at home this Saturday. The temperature at the moment is listed as between -9 and -4 degrees Celsius for tomorrow's game, the cold potentially a factor, affecting both resilient teams. I hesitate to pick Baltimore because they seem like such a sure thing, yet I'll continue to go with the home team, even though it'd be cool to see another Stroud win. They showed his Bowl stats last Saturday and they were crazy impressive. He may be built for the playoffs. This Saturday's quite the test. 

Green Bay Packers/San Francisco 49ers: back at it again, what a crazy win over Dallas, watching that game was mind-boggling, although dull, I would have rather not got so much work done. How do they pick 'em, how does Green Bay keep coming up with these big game quarterbacks? Have you looked at their List of Seasons on Wikipedia? They've been a consistent playoff contender dating back to 1993. I'm thinking back to 1995 through '97 when a feisty Brett Favre was helming Green Bay, and Dallas and San Francisco were the teams to beat, and the Pack overcame San Fran 3 playoff years in a row. Does that have any bearing on this weekend's game? Technically, no, it's almost thirty years later and these teams have changed remarkably since, but with Green Bay's decisive win over the Cowboys last Sunday, it would be cool to see them beat the 49ers as well (if you were in high school during the mid-90s). Beat San Francisco though? That's another gruelling task. The 49ers crushed Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, and Dallas, beat the Seahawks twice, beat the Rams in the game that counted, defeated Tampa Bay by 13, although they didn't play well mid-to-late October. Still, not including their Week 18 loss to the Rams they've won 7 of their last 8, have seemed like an impregnable force, and let in the fewest points in the NFC (almost the league). But Dallas also had a solid defence and seemed unconquerable as well, and the Pack found a formidable way to expeditiously entertain triumph! In recent memory they've struggled versus San Fran losing their last 4 post-season games however (dating back to 2012). And sometimes teams that explode one week have trouble adjusting to a tougher challenge the next. Nevertheless, I like this new Pack team and their advantageous undaunted defence. Picking Green Bay in a tight one. Would love to rewatch the latest Guardians of the Galaxy.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Detroit Lions: have to give props to Baker Mayfield on his second playoff win. He's quietly accomplished a lot floating under the radar without much press. Also have to acknowledge the Lions' huge win last Sunday! Picking Detroit again. Go Lions Go!

Kansas City Chiefs/Buffalo Bills: the highly sought after rematch NFL aficionados have imaginatively heralded, freely available at frigid heights this coming Sunday in upstate New York. The forecast is currently predicting somewhere between -3 and -12 degrees Celsius, another challenging one for the contestants, in this here freezing post-season January. Both teams played well in the cold last weekend however and came up with convincing wins, Josh Allen's 52 yard-touchdown-run of note, the Chiefs playing surprisingly well in atypical Missouri conditions (Mahomes also has some huge playoff runs under his belt). The last time they met the game was so intense the league changed a rule shortly thereafter, to accommodate similar potential death-defying ingenious offensive outbursts. They've played twice in recent memory but both times in Kansas City, the first match a clear Chiefs victory, the second one still almost too close to call. You can never really count either of these teams out since if they catch fire they can put up 20 plus points pretty quickly, but neither of them seem like a lock this year, all the better for predictions and prognoses. They both let in a comparable amount of points during their respective 2023 campaigns, two of the lowest totals in the NFL in fact, surprised both of them didn't win more games (it's tough to beat Denver). On offence the Bills totally scored more though and this game's in Buffalo this weekend, after having lost one of the most exciting games in NFL post-season history in KC two years ago, does Buffalo even have to practice? Of course they have to practice incredibly intensely to take on Mahomes + North American Pop Culture, there's no doubt they'll be ready though I reckon, I don't know if Allen's a Stones' fan? Either freakin' way I feverishly can't wait and hope the weather doesn't influence the outcome. It's like the new Manning/Brady rivalry. There's nothing quite like 'em. Picking the Bills.