Playoffs are here, and not a moment too soon. All the excitement over the past few months has been boiling over; Chiefs threepeat in question, Bills reformed offense without Stefon Diggs, Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels showings as rookies. The far future is bright for the NFL, but what is even more exciting is what is here already. This years postseason includes teams like the Commanders, Chargers, Vikings, and Broncos, all of which were not particularly expected to make it this far. This new slate of teams should shake things up, but none of them are seen as Super Bowl favorites in any sense, even the 14-win Vikings with their high-powered offense fueled by Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Aaron Jones.

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Let's take a deep dive into all the upcoming wild card matchups and how each team stacks up against each other this weekend and Monday.

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Wild Card Weekend

 

 

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Saturday: Steelers V. Ravens, Chargers V. Texans

 

The postseason officially begins on Saturday, January 8th. It opens with two of the youngest teams in the league Chargers vs. Texans at 4:30 PM EST, and is followed by what should be an interdivisional thriller between the Ravens and the Steelers at 8:00 PM EST.

 

Chargers and the Ravens open as betting favorites, with the Ravens being at home and the Chargers visiting Houston. None of the teams involved will be without any major pieces, but the Chargers hope to continue rolling after back-to--back wins. Ladd McConkey and Justin Herbert have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with, but there are severe issues with the Chargers as far as offense and experience goes that can hopefully be mitigated by the coaching of Jim Harbaugh. and the Ravens hope to take advantage of a faltering Steelers team who is coming off a 4-game losing streak (with one of said losses being to the Ravens). On the Steelers front, they have dominated Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in past years, and Tomlin likely hopes to capitalize on that fact. For the Texans, they have struggled mightily this season as far as both quality wins go, and wins by a significant margin. Much of that could be attributed to their injuries to star wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins, but even since Collings return, the team has looked sluggish. The opening day of wild card weekend will definitely have its fair share of highlights, but overall, it contains the weakest games of the entire playoff schedule. 

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3 Keys to winning for each team:

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Chargers:

• ​Shut down the Texans pass rush

• Prevent explosive plays from Nico Collins and Joe Mixon

• Don't take foot off the gas pedal -- Always try to score rather than run clock

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Texans: 

• Make the Chargers throw the ball -- They have excellent clock management when running

• Strike quickly to get the crowd and momentum on your side

• Focus on getting Nico Collins the ball as much as possible in the pass game​

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Steelers:

• Shut down Derrick Henry -- If Lamar is playing poorly, they have no offense without Henry

• Don't be stubborn with Russell Wilson and be willing to shift to Fields if you have to

• Force as many 4th and shorts as possible (Ravens ranked 20th in 4D conversions)

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Ravens:

• ​Involve lots of design runs with Lamar

• Apply pressure to Wilson as much as possible (Steelers had QB sack rate of 8.94% this season)

• Focus on inside gaps on Najee Harris or Jaylen Warren runs -- Steelers run the ball way more than they pass but not efficiently and not on stretch routes often

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Sunday: Broncos V. Bills, Packers V. Eagles, Commanders V. Buccaneers

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Day 2 of the NFL Playoffs is without a doubt more interesting than Day 1 in literally every way. Now, the storylines finally begin to kickoff with a repeat of the week 1 games between Packers and Eagles as well as the Commanders and Buccaneers. Broncos rookie Bo Nix will face off against Josh Allen and the Bills at Oracle Park at 1:00 PM EST. Following that, Eagles will host the Packers at 4:30 PM EST and the Bucs will host the Commanders at 8:00 PM EST. 

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Favorites for these games include the Bills, Eagles, and Buccaneers, all of which figures not just given seeding, but overall talent. In the Broncos and the Bills case, the issue with the Broncos is that not only do they have a young team, but a rookie QB who has never played a playoff game before, NFL and college (sorry Oregon fans -- Had to). Whether or not Nix shows that he is meant for the playoffs, at the very least he will almost definitely not be up to the standard of Josh Allen, who has been on a tear this year. This will likely have the greatest point differential of all the playoff games, but don't let it be unexpected if the Broncos manage to keep it close with Pat Surtain II leading the Broncos elite defense. For the Packers V. Eagles, this is the real highlight game that everyone is looking forward to this day. There are still questions about whether Jalen Hurts will be out of concussion protocol by the time this game rolls around, but if he is still injured, Eagles are in big trouble. Packers defense with Xavier McKinney combined with their offense lead behind the high powered arm of Jordan Love will likely be a pain for the Eagles to deal with regardless of Hurts health, but the Eagles are playing at home and have something the Packers will (likely) never have: Saquon Barkley. Eagles have the offensive weapons to defeat any team in the league with the likes of AJ Brown and Devonta Smith as well, but Saquon is going to be their key to winning this battle. Finally, in the late window, the Commanders face off against the Bucs. Jayden Daniels outstanding rookie season will finally meet its match, but lets be honest, all we care about is seeing Mike Evans and Marshon Lattimore have a death match against each other. By far the most unpredictable wild card match-up, with each team having their fair share of strengths and weaknesses, but ultimately, Baker Mayfield will be the player that determines the outcome of this game, similar to another quarterback who hasn't yet been mentioned...

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3 Keys to winning for each team:

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Broncos:

• Force turnovers -- There is no way the Broncos win without multiple turnovers

• Courtland Sutton needs to be involved throughout the entire game

• Pray James Cook doesn't pick apart the defense

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Bills: 

• Get the ball to James Cook -- Broncos pass defense is too good to risk throwing the ball too much

• Similar to the Ravens and Lamar, involve Allen in lots of designed QB runs

• Shut down Broncos on 4th down -- They rank top 5 in the league on 4th down conversions

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Packers:

• Love needs to come to play like he did last playoffs

• Do not allow explosive plays from AJ Brown and especially Saquon

• Take control of the middle of the field on defense -- Hurts is inaccurate as a QB throwing outside the hash marks

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Eagles:

• Hurts being healthy

• Use designed runs and Saquon to control the run game -- Packers run defense is bottom-half of the league

• Shut down Josh Jacobs in the run game

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Commanders:

• Jayden Daniels needs to feel comfortable in the pocket, so make sure the Bucs pass rushers (Vita Vea for example) do not pressure him too often

• Go for it on 4th down often -- Bucs offense won't resort to only field goals and you shouldn't either

• Put Marshon Lattimore on Mike Evans and hopefully get him ejected

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Buccaneers: 

• Focus on QB spy in defensive formations -- Daniels won't be as poised in the pocket come playoff time and will want to run often

• Take advantage of the inexperience of Commanders

• Similar to the Commanders, when faced with 4th and short in opp. territory, go for it despite the reliable kicker -- Commanders offense is too strong

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Monday: Vikings V. Rams

 

For the final match-up of the wild card round, we also have the overall best match-up as well. As we all expected, Sam Darnold and the Vikings would go onto win 14 games to clinch a wild card spot in the NFC, with there only losses being against the Lions and, yes, the Rams.

 

The young Rams squad uplifted by Puka Nacua, Stafford, Kupp, and rookie Jared Verse hope to upset the Vikings on their home turf Monday night at 8:00 PM EST. The young Rams defense has been better than defensive metrics describe them as, but they (as with the entire team) struggle with overall inconsistencies. Speaking of inconsistent, how about Sam Darnold. After what was an excellent regular season, Darnold completely went cold in the final game against the Lions. This might mean a lot, or it might mean nothing, but all that was clear was that if you pressure Darnold heavily, he reverts back to his old ghost-seeing self. Let's just hope, for the sake of Vikings fans, that the ghosts he see are somewhat in the vicinity of Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison. 

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3 Keys to winning for each team:

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Vikings:

• Darnold needs to play how he did the first 16 games and not the way he did against the Lions last week -- O-Line needs to play well on that front

• Create as many explosive plays as possible through Justin Jefferson (Rams pass defense is weaker than their pass rush)

• No missed field goals

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Rams:

• Keep control of the pace of the game

• Screen action to Nacua worked great against the Bills, and likely will against the Vikings

• Rookies Verse and Fiske need to step up and pressure Darnold as much as possible