Wild Card round picks

Last week: 6-10
Season record: 156-116-1

Well, I'm just gonna blame my poor Week 18 showing on all the players that were resting for the playoffs or on IR or Covid list or essentially not caring about the final regular season game.  Yeah that's it.  But now it's for real, all the marbles and every other cliche you can come up with.  So let's dig in......

Las Vegas at Cincinnati--A few years back the first wild card game was almost always Cincinnati vs. Houston or included one team or the other.  I think the last few years have broken that trend, but here we are again.  When I saw who would be playing who I predicted the Bengals game would be first and here we are.  This proves absolutely nothing of substance, but sometimes you have to amuse yourself.  This Raiders team should scare the shit out of the Bengals, but Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase are in such a zone and they are hungry.  Bengals 31, Raiders 27

New England at Buffalo--This is the first of two division games in the wild card round, and it's a beauty.  Interestingly, these two teams met twice in December.  The Pats won 14-10 in Buffalo, which cemented Belichick's team as a real contender for not just the division but for the 1-seed.  That didn't pan out and the Bills beat the Patriots in the rematch the day after Christmas in Foxboro.  The Bills have won four straight and the Pats have lost three of four.  That there is a trend and I believe Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs will be the difference.  Bills 27, Patriots 24

Philadelphia at Tampa Bay--The Bucs begin the playoff portion of their Lombardi Trophy defense, and it's against a very pesky Eagles team that hasn't been particularly healthy the last few weeks.  But Nick Sirianni (who would get my vote for coach of the year as much as it pains this Giants fan) has really worked magic to squeeze out 9 wins.  But the Bucs, even without Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown, are too fucking good.  Bucs 34, Eagles 17

San Francisco at Dallas--You know the Cowboys would have preferred the Saints or Eagles or even Cardinals in this round.  The Niners are scary on both offense and defense.  The problem is so are the Cowboys and they are home.  I expect a strong defensive showing from Dallas featuring their young studs Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs.  Cowboys 23, Niners 19

Pittsburgh at Kansas City--Let's face it--Big Ben has been much aligned and embattled over the years, but he is one guy you can almost always count on with the game on the line if he has the ball last.  He did that again last Sunday and then all of Pittsburgh watched in horror as the Raiders and Chargers almost tied, which would have eliminated the Steelers.  Holy shit.  But here they are, playing with house money and acting like they have nothing to lose since the Chiefs are big favorites.  Then again, after a midseason slump, Big Red is ready to make more noise and go deep in the postseason.  Chiefs 35, Steelers 22

Arizona at LA Rams--This is the other division game, and I'd first like to thumb my nose at the NFL for taking what should be an early Saturday game and moving it to Monday night to please the almighty advertisers.  Bite me, Roger Goodell.  Alas, by Monday I won't mind it so much because I'll have one more game to look forward to.  And this is a beauty.  The Cards upset the Rams in early October at So-Fi, but the Rams returned the favor in the desert in Week 14.  Just like the Bills, the Rams are the hotter team heading into the postseason and they are playoff tested.  Well, mostly.  Rams 27, Cards 21

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