14 teams remain in contention for the Vince Lombardi Trophy as the 2020 NFL season enters its second act with the playoffs set to kick off this weekend.
While the Chiefs and Packers can put their feet up and start preparing for the Divisional Round next weekend, the remaining 12 teams face win or go home scenarios on Wild Card Weekend.
It’s a veritable smorgasbord of American Football with back to back to back games on Sunday and Monday (AEDT) with plenty of enticing storylines set to unfold on our screens.
As we have done all season long, we have tips for EVERY NFL Playoff game right here on the Neds Blog starting with this weekend right now.
You can’t help but feel a little bad for Buffalo here, celebrating their first division title, their 67000 seat stadium will be at 10% capacity for their first home playoff game in over two decades.
Those in attendance will do their best to make the noise of a full stadium but the lessened atmosphere shouldn’t take away from what should be an excellent game.
Buffalo is one of the most exciting teams in the NFL with Josh Allen’s development this season and they have the right combination of a potent offence and an opportunistic defence.
Their major area of concern however is a run defence that has been gashed on occasion this year and the Colts have the personnel to make it work if they commit to the ground game.
Rookie running back Jonathan Taylor is coming off a career day in Week 17, going over 250 yards against the Jaguars and will need to produce again to give his team a chance.
I won’t go all in on the Colts to spring an upset however I do expect them to be in with a chance late in the fourth quarter so I’ll back them to cover.
Other Tips
SGM: Jonathan Taylor Over Rushing Yards & Anytime TD Scorer
Josh Allen Anytime TD
There are plenty of positives and a few negatives about these divisional rematches in the playoffs.
For starters, there is a strong rivalry between a lot of these teams and the Seahawks and Rams will be eager to get bragging rights after splitting the regular season series.
On the other hand, they know each other so well, there is occasionally an air of Thursday Night Football about these games.
This game should be a complete and total defensive struggle with the first team to 20 points advancing to next weekend.
There are huge questions about the Rams with quarterback Jared Goff still a question mark after breaking his thumb in Week 16 against Seattle.
Should he play and look like a semblance of the quarterback that took the Rams to the Super Bowl two years ago the Rams have a chance.
Seattle’s offence has hit a major wall and the Rams have the defence to slow them down, particularly with star corner Jalen Ramsey more than capable of taking out DK Metcalf and in the process severely hamstringing the Seahawks passing game.
Gun to my head, I’d back Seattle given the questions on Goff, but not with any sort of line, what I am confident in however is taking the under on the total points market.
Most would assume that Tampa will win this game by about 30 points and that Tampa will be able to bring in backup quarterback midway through the third quarter.
There’s a case to be made for the Washington Professional Football Team in this game and it all boils down to their defensive line.
Rookie phenom Chase Young has said he is coming for Tom Brady and he is more than capable of giving Brady flashbacks to Justin Tuck in Super Bowls 42 and 46.
Disrupt Brady with pressure and the Buccaneers high flying offence will be in a lot of trouble.
Since turning to Alex Smith at quarterback, Washington has looked like a completely different team, winning five of his six starts compared to two of the ten Dwayne Haskins and Kyle Allen started.
If the defence does their part and holds the Bucs in check, Smith is more than capable of engineering a few touchdown drives.
This is going to be another low scoring arm wrestle and I absolutely give Washington a chance.
12 months ago, the Titans stormed Baltimore, fresh off ending Tom Brady’s Patriots career, and stunned the red-hot Ravens, winning 28-12 on their way to the AFC Championship.
Then in late November this season, the Titans came back from 21-10 down to win 30-24 in overtime so you can make a real case they have the Ravens number.
Baltimore has won its last five games and was able to treat the last three as playoff tune ups against sub-par opponents so they are in form.
The Titans are only a fortnight removed from getting embarrassed by Green Bay in Week 16 but their overall record here is hard to ignore.
Especially when the Ravens are road favourites but you beat the Titans by throwing, and Baltimore’s strength is running the ball.
If the Titans load the box and ask Jackson to beat them with his arm, just like they did 12 months ago they should be able to come away with a victory and move on to the next round.
Other Tips
SGM: Derrick Henry Over Rushing Yards & Anytime TD Scorer
On their day, the Saints are the best team in the NFC but injuries to their key players have stopped them reaching their true potential.
How much they will win this game by comes down to the status of star back Alvin Kamara and whether or not he is cleared to play after missing Week 17 due to COVID.
When these teams met in late October, the Saints were without receiver Michael Thomas but Drew Brees put together a patient performance, continually checking down to Kamara as New Orleans won 26-23 in overtime.
Assuming the Saints are at full go, the Bears will struggle to keep up as their late season revival comes to an end here.
As good as Mitch/Mitchell Trubisky has looked since his return to the starting lineup, the Bears have played two turnover free games all season and that is where the Saints defence will prove to be the difference.
Assuming Kamara plays, I like the Saints by double digits as their inevitable heartbreaking playoff exit is postponed by another week.
Other Tips
Alvin Kamara 2+TDs
If you are just becoming acquainted with the fortunes of the Cleveland Browns, this past week is a perfect short-form summary.
After ending an 18 year playoff drought and feeling like they might be in with a shot of upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend, their head coach Kevin Stefanski will miss the game after testing positive for COVID.
He will not be the only person to miss this game but will be by far the biggest loss for Cleveland.
We saw what happened to the Lions over Christmas when their head coach was ruled out due to a positive test and while the Browns won’t lose by 40, that should scare off punters this weekend.