Saturday Double Header Preview for NFL Wild Card Weekend
It’s playoff football baby! We’ve finally arrived. Kicking things off with a Saturday double header, followed by a Sunday triple header and then a bonus Monday Night Football game, it’s the wildest wild card weekend to date! So stock up on beer and fatty snacks – the New Year’s Resolutions can wait. Diet re-starts on Tuesday.
There’s just something about a single elimination post-season that gets the blood pumping a little harder than a seven-game series. There’s so much on the line. One big play can keep your championship dreams alive and one boneheaded blunder can cause them all to crumble down. It’s about talent and matchups, sure. But just as important is a team’s ability to handle the spotlight. Everyone’s watching, now what are you capable of? And you only get one shot to make it happen.
Las Vegas Raiders @ Cincinnati Bengals – 4:30 pm ET
What a wild ride it’s been for the Las Vegas Raiders. It started with the John Gruden email scandal, causing the Raiders to lose their head coach after just five games. Just two weeks later, they lost stand-out wide receiver Henry Ruggs after he got arrested for a DUI that resulted in the death of a young woman in Vegas.
After getting blown out by the Chiefs in week 14, the Raiders were staring at a 6-7 record, in a season riddled with turmoil. Their chances at a post-season appearance were bleak, to say the least. But just as we were counting them out, the Raiders managed to string together four consecutive wins, culminating in a last-second field goal against the Chargers to put a bow on the regular season.
On the other side, we’ve got the Cincinnati Bengals – home to one of the most dynamic and exciting offenses in the NFL. Prior to a meaningless loss to the Browns in Week 18, the Bengals had won three in a row, including a 34-31 win over those same Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17. It was there that we saw the Bengals at their very best.
Joe Burrow went 30/39 for 446 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Chiefs. Joe Mixon had 86 all-purpose yards, Tee Higgins had 62 receiving yards, Tyler Boyd had a touchdown. But it was the tremendous play by rookie Ja’Marr Chase that really turned heads around the NFL. Remember when Chase made preseason headlines for having trouble seeing NFL footballs? Well I think he figured it out, because he torched the Chiefs with 11 receptions for 266 yards and 3 touchdowns. I mean that’s a hard stat line to achieve in Madden.
Prediction: I love a good team-of-destiny storyline, and the Raiders nearly fit the bill. Sure, their obstacles were self-inflicted but not by the men who are still on the field. What they’ve accomplished, given the circumstances, is truly impressive and worthy of all the praise. But the Bengals are simply too talented. Add Joe Burrow’s natural gift for winning and you’ve got a pretty convincing case for Cincinnati moving onto the divisional round. Bengals – 31, Raiders – 21
New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills – 8:15 pm ET
Funny how things shake out. After two regular season matchups, of which each team won their road game, the Pats and the Bills are set for a crucial rubber match, with everything on the line. And while in-division rivals meeting in the post season isn’t exactly a foreign concept, there’s something unique about the relationship between the Patriots and the Bills, all stemming from the fact that the Buffalo Bills have spent nearly 20 years playing the role of little brother.
Now I don’t mean to be overly critical of the Bills, the entire NFL was basically the Patriots’ little brother for a couple decades. But when you’re stuck facing them twice a season, with the Pats almost guaranteed to win the division each year, it’s a tougher pill to swallow. And the results of such dominance were as devastating as they were predictable.
The Bills franchise has historically been pretty god damn great. In the 60s, they were three-peat AFL Champions, winning in ’64 ’65 and ’66. After joining the NFL, they went from formidable to dominant in the 80s and 90s, appearing in eleven post seasons and four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993. But it was those four super bowls where the bad news began.
The Buffalo Bills came up short in all four Super Bowl appearances, losing to the Giants once, the Redskins once, and the Cowboys twice. They got knocked out in the divisional round the following year and were one-and-done in ’96, ’98 and ’99; the latter marking their final post-season appearance until 2017, a seventeen year playoff drought. Why?
Enter Tom Brady.
With Tom Brady under center, the Patriots numbers against the Bills were staggering. Tom’s career record against Buffalo stands at 33-3, with all but one of those wins coming as a Patriot. During that era, the Pats made it to the post-season seventeen times in twenty years, while the Bills only managed to reach the playoffs twice, in 2017 and 2018. Buffalo failed to win either one of those playoff games while the Patriots famously went on to win six Super Bowls, appearing in nine.
But Tom’s departure to Tampa Bay has opened a window for the Buffalo Bills. In 2020, they swept the Pats in the regular season for the first time since 1999. They won the AFC East for the first time since 1995 and picked up their first playoff win since that same season. Their post-Tom Brady record against New England stands at 3-1 with back-to-back division titles, but those pesky Pats just won’t go away.
After missing the playoffs in their first season without Brady, the Pats have managed to secure a 2021 wild card spot with a 10-7 record behind rookie QB Mac Jones. And as fate would have it, they’ll be squaring off against a very familiar opponent; the first time the Patriots and Bills have met in the playoffs since 1963 in the AFL. After 124 matchups, this is only the second time these two teams will meet in the postseason and their first time meeting in the NFL playoffs. No pressure, right?
Prediction: The Bills are the better team. Let me start by saying that. They have a better record, more talent on both sides of the ball, a better quarterback at the helm and the home field advantage. We’ve seen these two teams square off twice this year and the Bills won decisively in their last meeting, earning a 33-21 victory in Foxborough. The Pats managed a 14-10 win in Buffalo just three weeks prior but under the craziest of weather conditions, with cross winds gusting at up to 55 mph. Pats QB Mac Jones only threw the ball 3 times for a total of 19 yards, so this wasn’t exactly a “normal” game.
Listen, I know that the Bills are better. I know it in my heart. But the Pats are going to find a way to win this game. That little brother syndrome is hard to shake. Not exactly cutting edge analysis but that’s what I’m going with. The Pats win again, because they always do. Patriots – 24, Bills - 20
