NFL Playoff Wild Card Preview

     The NFL Playoffs open this upcoming weekend with 4 Wild Card Games on tap. These first round games should be very interesting and entertaining. Teams on the last weekend of the season battled to get in, some needed help by other teams and some teams tried to better their seeding to get a bye week or home field advantage throughout the Playoffs.  Between all the NFL HC firings and opening to be filled it is good the playoffs begin this weekend as the NFL and its Owners have gone Bat Crazy!!!Here is a quick breakdown of the games this weekend.
     In the first game of the weekend, it is the KC Chiefs at the Houston Texans.  Both teams had very different roads they traveled to get to the playoffs. The Chiefs won their first game of the year, lost their next 5 games and then went on a hot streak and won their last 10 games of the year  The Chiefs are a scary team in the playoffs for they lost their start running back Jamal Charles early on and still continued to win. QB Alex Smith has become a dual threat running and stretching defenses which has helped out the running and passing games for them.  On the other side the Texans went through round robin QB's this season, using 4 different ones to get through the season and win their Division outright. The defense as usual has been strong when needed and the running game is strong without Arian Foster who went down early on with a season ending injury. The Chiefs and Texans are vastly different teams but can score quickly and neither was looking to be in the playoffs at the half way point of the season. Should be a tough physical game.
     The second game on Saturday features the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers had to win their last game of the season and needed help with a Bills win over the NY Jets to get into the playoffs. The Steelers have a very potent passing attack if they can keep QB Ben Roethlisberger upright but the running game is questionable as Laveon Bell is out for the year and DeAngelo Williams is day to day with an injury. The Bengals have been a Top 5 team all year long even with season ending injuries to their secondary players and 3 weeks ago in a game against the Steelers lost their starting QB Andy Dalton for many weeks possibly throughout the playoffs as well. Their is no love lost between these 2 teams and turnovers and penalties will play a big part in this game as well as the play of the Bengals backup QB AJ McCarron.
     On Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks travel to play the Minnesota Vikings in a game that weather will play a huge part in with forecasts of -25 degrees wind chill for the game. The Seahawks have been devastated with injuries to their depleted RB's and after a so so first 8 games of the year, the Seahawwks behind QB Russell Wilson have opened up the offense and are putitng up big numbers on the scoreboard. The Vikings on the other hand have been playing consistent football all year long and went into GB on the last day of the season and beat the Packers to win the NFC North outright. The Vikings will rely heavily on RB Adrian Peterson as well as their defense to try and slow down the Seahawks. The teams played in week 11 in Minnesota and the Vikings were embarrassed and trounced by the Seahawks in a game which many called out the Vikings HC Mike Zimmer for being bad out coached by the Seahakws HC Pete Carroll. The Vikings will be looking to avenge that bad loss and move onto the Divisional Game.
     The second game on Sunday pits the Green Bay Packers at the Washington Redskins in a game that features 2 teams heading in different directions late in the season. The Packers opened the season 6-0 before struggling late and looking old and lethargic and listless. QB Aaron Rodgers facial expressions during games have told the story of a team that may be losing its status as a top elite NFL team going forward. On the other hand, the Redskins behind QB Kirk Cousins are one of the hottest teams going into the playoffs.  In a weak NFC East the Redskins strung together 4 straight wins to finish the season and if they continue to play as they have been as of late, they can cause some damage in the playoffs. This is a good game to measure where both of these teams are right now and one to see where these teams will be at the next year or two.
       

Cooper the #NFL Analyst was 188-58 in his picks during the season, here are His picks for the playoffs and We will record his picks and how He does throughout the NFL playoffs.   @cupofjoeintheD

 

Cooper the NFL Analyst resting after picking NFL Wild Card Games

			NFL Playoffs - Wild Card
						CupofJoe		Cooper
Kansas City and Houston						KC		KC
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati						Pitt		Pittsburgh
Seattle at Minnesota						Seattle		Minn
Green Bay at Washington						Wash		GB