Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
After watching football all weekend, I have come to a very solid conclusion — never trust the Chargers or the Vikings to do well in the postseason. Here’s how the teams that are still in the playoffs stack up against one another.
0. The Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs could not have scripted a better matchup. They get to sit back and beat the Texans at home while they wait for the Ravens and Bills to decide who gets to lose another conference championship to Patrick Mahomes and company. This column will continue to feature the Kansas City Chiefs at rank 0 since the NFL appears to currently be rigged for the Chiefs to win it all. I will continue to refuse to have them take up a spot on the list of best teams in the league until they — by some miracle — don’t win a Super Bowl.
7. The Houston Texans
If I had one word to describe this Texans team it would be “lucky.” The Texans are lucky they played the Chargers and the Texans are lucky that Justin Herbert only plays like a top-five quarterback during the regular season. That said, I will give the defense and special teams of this Texans team for capitalizing on miscues from the Chargers that led to a total of four turnovers generated. I hope they can replicate that kind of performance in their effort to knock the Chiefs out of their race for a three-peat.
6. The Washington Commanders
Jayden Daniels had an incredibly impressive outing this week, especially for a rookie quarterback. He eclipsed 250 yards passing while completing 68.5% of his passes and not turning the ball over once. That, in combination with the team’s defense capitalizing on a costly Baker Mayfield fumble to set the offense up to score is what put this team over the Buccaneers. Now, after finally snapping their playoff drought, they’re going to need to play perfectly if they want a shot to make it past the Lions next week.
5. The Los Angeles Rams
I thought the Rams set themselves up to fail after resting their starters heading into the playoffs. Little did I know they were securing a matchup where they could absolutely dog-walk the Vikings. The Rams managed an NFL playoff record-tying nine sacks on their way to a dominant victory, with their defense keeping the Vikings from ever really getting into the game to begin with. Heading into Philadelphia, either their offense is going to need to step up big time or their defense is going to need to do something no team has really done — stop Saquon Barkley.
4. The Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles never really felt like they were going to lose to the Packers. After converting a forced fumble on the kickoff into a touchdown, the team never really let off the gas. The defense picked off Jordan Love three times, Saquon Barkley ran for over 110 yards and Jalen Hurts threw two touchdowns without turning the ball over. Despite their defense losing Nakobe Dean, I think the Eagles will have little difficulty bottling up the Rams’ sluggish offense while Saquon runs all over the defense. Barring a major upset, the Eagles should be playing for a spot in the Super Bowl in two weeks.
3. The Baltimore Ravens
After playing what feels like their fifth tune-up game in a row, the Ravens are going to have a real game on their hands this week heading into Buffalo. That said, the Ravens look like they’re ready for the challenge. Their defense absolutely shut down the Steelers run game. Derrick Henry ran all over the Steelers to the tune of 186 yards and two touchdowns and Lamar Jackson threw for two touchdowns while completing 76.2% of his passes and not turning the ball over. However, they are looking to be without Zay Flowers for the second week in a row, and that void in their receiving game could very well make or break their offense against the Bills.
2. The Buffalo Bills
Well, I hate to say it, Broncos fans, but this tends to be the result that chanting “we want Buffalo” while annihilating a team of second-string players gets you. The Bills definitely got out to a slow start by allowing a Broncos touchdown early, but after shaking off that score they went on to put up 31 unanswered points while absolutely dominating the Broncos on every front. The name of the game in the Bills matchup against the Ravens will definitely be containing Derrick Henry who went for 199 yards and a touchdown last time these two teams met in the regular season. This game will almost certainly decide who between Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen wins MVP, and it looks like it could be the most entertaining game this weekend.
1. The Detroit Lions
Following a curb stomping of the Vikings to end the season and a bye week, the Lions get to play a Washington Commanders team that definitely has its flaws. With more players like David Montgomery and Terrion Arnold getting healthy at the right time, this Lions group appears that it will only continue to surge as more of their key contributors return to the field. Even when they’ve been off the field with injuries, this team has been nothing short of dominant. It is my opinion that not only will the Lions play in the first Super Bowl in their franchise history, but they’ll be hoisting the Lombardi trophy unless the wheels fully come off the bus.
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