Divisional Playoff Weekend

The NFL didn't give this weekend a fun nickname.  It's just the "Divisional Playoffs."  Boring!  Hopefully the games will come through for us, though.  And, if they're anything like last week, we're in for a treat!  But that's usually the case in the Divisional Playoffs anyway.  After all, you've got the eight best teams in the league.

Included among those eight teams are the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  The Browns hadn't made the playoffs since 2002 or won a playoff game since 1995.  The Bucs hadn't won a playoff game since Super Bowl XXXVII.  And not only did they both win last week, they dominated!  The question is: can they earn their second straight road playoff win and a trip to the Championship Game?  Can any of the four road teams pull off the victory? 

Rams (11-6) at Packers (13-3): Green Bay-So much for that Seahawks Super Bowl pick, huh?  There were several surprising things about that game last week, the biggest of which was Seattle's complete lack of offense.  Yes, the Rams have a strong defense (which was on full display), but the level by which they dominated the Seahawks was really impressive.

Unfortunately, things will be much more difficult this week.  The Packers were the only NFC team to get last week off, but, more importantly, they're playing in Lambeau.  They made it a point to get the 1-seed because they wanted that.  It's a huge advantage for them to be playing at home, especially against a warm-weather team like the Rams.  It's not a night game, so it won't be as cold as it could be, but it's still gonna be cold!

Last week, the Rams played an almost perfect game.  They even had a mid-game quarterback switch work out.  The chances of it happening again this week are much lower, though.  The Packers had the best record in the NFC for a reason, and they've got an MVP quarterback who's desperate to finally play an NFC Championship Game at home.

Ravens (12-5) at Bills (14-3): Baltimore-One of the most amazing stats somebody posted after the Bills game last week was the fact their last playoff win came before Josh Allen was born.  Another amazing one is that Baker Mayfield is somehow the oldest of the four remaining AFC quarterbacks.  Which, frankly, doesn't matter at all.  Because this game is a matchup of last season's MVP and a guy who played like one this season.  These are also probably the two hottest teams in the league.

Buffalo was probably expecting (and maybe even hoping for) the Steelers.  Instead, it's a much tougher matchup against a Ravens team that's on a roll.  Baltimore won't be thrown off by playing a night game in Buffalo, either.  After all, this team plays road games against the Steelers, Browns and Bengals every year!

I'm expecting this to be the closest of the four games.  They're incredibly evenly-matched and incredibly similar.  They both have good defenses and dynamic offenses.  It'll really be a matter of which defense outperforms the other and creates the big plays.  And I just have a feeling that'll be the Ravens.  They've shown a knack for winning on the road in the playoffs, and I think that trend continues.

Browns (12-5) at Chiefs (14-2): Kansas City-How about those Cleveland Browns?!  All football fans outside Pittsburgh were excited just to see them finally make the playoffs.  Then they go and score four touchdowns in the first 10 minutes of the wild card game, completely shocking everybody!  It really was awesome to see (especially since they didn't have their head coach)!

Of course, this week's opponent won't hand them the game the way Pittsburgh did.  The Steelers simply weren't the same team down the stretch that they were during the first three months of the season.  The Chiefs, meanwhile, are very much the same team they've been all season.  Their Week 17 loss can be easily written off since they had nothing to play for and didn't really care.  This week, they'll very much care.

Kansas City had never hosted the AFC Championship Game prior to the 2018 season.  Now we're looking at the Chiefs hosting it three years in a row.  The Chiefs are better than the Browns.  Everybody knows this.  Cleveland knows this.  They'll need to play a perfect game, and even that might not be enough.  Patrick Mahomes and Co. want to get back to the Super Bowl, and this is the first step on the way. 

Buccaneers (12-5) at Saints (13-4): New Orleans-When these two met in Week 1, Troy Aikman said at the end of the game that he could easily see them meeting for a third time in the NFC Championship Game.  He was close.  It may not be the NFC Championship Game, but the playoff rematch was right on.  And I don't think anyone found it too surprising that Tampa Bay is here.  In fact, most people picked the Bucs last week.

As a result, we get a third installment of Brady vs. Brees this season.  It's also likely the last time they'll go head-to-head with Brees likely retiring.  So we'd better enjoy it.  It's also incredible to think about how you've got two 40-something future Hall of Famers, still at the top of their game, with one of their teams headed to the NFC Championship Game (where they could meet Aaron Rodgers, who isn't exactly a spring chicken himself).

This is the marquee game of the weekend, so it's no surprise that they set it for Sunday night.  Here's hoping that it's not like the Sunday night game they played against each other in Week 9!  If it can be a replay of Week 1, though, nobody would complain.  The Saints won both of those regular season meetings, and no team has ever beaten Brady three times in one season.  Expect that to change.  Because Tampa Bay isn't as good as New Orleans, which has already been proven twice this year.

Last Week: 4-2
Overall: 170-91-1