Both of the Saturday games are re-matches as the Kansas City Chiefs host the Jacksonville Jaguars (Chiefs won regular season game, 27-17 in K.C.) and the Philadelphia Eagles swept the New York Giants, an NFC East divisional rival, this past regular season. The two Sunday games have the Buffalo Bills hosting the Cincinnati Bengals and of course, we all know what happened on January 2 when they were supposed to play in Cincinnati on Monday Night Football. The final game of the weekend takes place in San Francisco where the 49ers will host the Dallas Cowboys.
Here's a look at all four games with the Heftyinfo predictions following up.
Saturday, January 21
Jacksonville Jaguars at Kansas City Chiefs - The Chiefs are coming off the bye week as the top team in the AFC this year. Meanwhile, the Jaguars are fortunate just to be in this round after falling behind the Los Angeles Chargers, 27-0 in the wild card round. Of course, they staged the third biggest comeback win ever in NFL playoff history to get here. So don't tell them and quarterback Trevor Lawrence they cannot beat the Chiefs.
Kansas City just keeps rolling along after all the naysayers were claiming QB Patrick Mahomes would have a hard time without speedy wide receiver Tyreek Hill (traded to Miami) but all he did was throw for a league high 41 touchdowns and also 5,250 passing yards with just 12 interceptions. The Jags can hang with the Chiefs, especially if their defense steps up and pressures Mahomes while limiting the K.C. ground game. It's a a tall order, but that will be the key for Jacksonville having the chance to win.
The Jags can score as long as Lawrence is given time to do his thing, which they proved in the second half last Saturday by outscoring the Chargers, 31-3 to win the game. Lawrence overcame four first half interceptions along the way and if Jags can duplicate the balanced offensive attack they have, this one will be close.
New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles - The Eagles are the number-one seed in the NFC and they blasted the Giants in a 48-22 road win in early December with the offense clicking and the defense limiting Giants running back Saquon Barkley to only 28 rushing yards while the defense also had seven QB sacks in the rout. But that was then and doesn't matter after the Giants showed they are playoff ready with the 31-24 win at Minnesota last week.
The G-Men were rolling on offense and QB Daniel Jones had a big day, passing for 301 yards and two scores while also rushing for 78 yards and Barkley scoring two rushing touchdowns. The Giants offensive line will need to protect Jones from the formidable Philly pass rush, which totaled 70 sacks in the regular season. The New York defense will have to contain Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, who only played in one of the final three Eagles regular season games after suffering a shoulder injury in Week 15.
Hurts is a dual threat as he passed for 3,701 yards (22 TD, six INT) and also rushed for 760 yards and 13 touchdowns. Miles Sanders led the Eagles in rushing with 1,269 yards and scored eleven rushing touchdowns. Wide receivers DeVonta Smoith (95 receptions, 1,196 yards, seven TD) and A.J. Brown (88, 1,496, 11 TD) are the dual threats in the Eagles' passing game. The Giants must contain them or it will be a long day for them.
Sunday, January 22
Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills - This will be the game that hopefully people will be talking about for the right reasons as time goes by. The Bills and Bengals were supposed to play three weeks ago, but the tragic collapse of Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin due to coronary attack put things in perspective and that game was canceled.
The game this weekend in Buffalo is for a chance to advance to the AFC Championship Game and both teams are very capable of making that happen. The Bengals are the defending AFC champions and QB Joe Burrow has been stellar once again this year and all the weapons he has to throw to make the Bengals a strong team indeed. Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd are a tremendous trio of wide receivers and the Bills secondary will have their hands full. The Cincy defense is also solid and has been improving all season long and was the big reason they beat the Baltimore Ravens last week as DE Sam Hubbard took a fumble back 98 yards to the house in the fourth quarter in the win.
The Bills are looking to get past the divisional round after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs last season in that memorable game in K.C., which the Chiefs won in overtime. Bills QB Josh Allen and WR Stefon Diggs were clicking against the Miami Dolphins last Sunday in the wild card game and more of the same will be in order against the Bengals. The Bills can move the football, but Allen turned it over three times last week (two INT and one fumble lost) and that has to be avoided because Burrow and the Bengals will make you pay if given too many extra chances. Look for a close one here in the game with Buffalo sneaking out the win in the closing minutes.
Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers - The Cowboys and the 49ers.
These two teams have a storied history in the NFL playoffs and they could add to that with this weekend's game. The 49ers whooped the Seattle Seahawks last weekend while the Cowboys crushed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-14 in their first road playoff win since the 1992 NFC title game . . . against the 49ers.
Dallas QB Dak Prescott no doubt had his finest post-season moment in the easy win last Monday night, throwing for four scores and also running for one. Meanwhile, the Cowboys defense showed up and manhandled Tom Brady and the Bucs offense. Meanwhile, the 49ers keep humming along with "Mr. Irrelevant" quarterback Brock Purdy as he was equally impressive in his playoff debut last week. The 'Niners defense got after the Seahawks and should also be looking to do the same against Prescott, who has been prone to crumbling under pressure, especially in the playoffs.
The big question for Dallas will be whether their defense can rattle Purdy, who is 6-0 as the starting QB for the 49ers and has shown no signs of letting up. The Cowboys know they can win on the road in the post-season now that they finally did get it done, but they are facing a top notch defense and must avoid turnovers or this one could get away from them very quickly. Look for the 49ers to win this game, but the Cowboys will not just roll over and go down quietly.
The Heftyinfo picks for the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs . . . . . . (Home teams are listed in bold)
Kansas City over Jacksonville
Philadelphia over N.Y. Giants
Buffalo over Cincinnati
San Francisco over Dallas
Last Week's Record - 3-3
Playoff Record - 3-3
Regular Season Record - 175-94-2
No comments:
Post a Comment