Sunday Triple Header Preview for NFL Wild Card Weekend
SUNDAY TRIPLE HEADER
The best part about the 14-team extended post season is the Sunday triple header. With the first game airing at 1pm ET and the final kicking off at 8:15 pm, it feels like one last full slate of football. Sure, we won’t have Scott Hanson flipping back and forth between 9 different games at once, and we won’t be checking our fantasy scores or our pick ‘em results. But sometimes, it’s nice to slow things down a bit and really watch two teams go head-to-head for 60 minutes; especially if we can do that while still filling our entire Sunday with football. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
Philadelphia Eagles @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
With a 9-8 record, the Eagles are the worst team in the NFC and the sole beneficiary of the extended wild card schedule. Fortunate for Philly fans, sure, but also a legitimate claim for the title. You’ve made it to the post-season, every team is effectively 0-0, now you’re just 3 wins away from your second Super Bowl in the past five years. On paper, just as good of chance as Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champions.
We all remember how the last meeting went, right? The Eagles – with a backup quarterback – managed to take out the 13-3 New England Patriots, handing Tom the 3rd Super Bowl loss of his illustrious career. And while we’ve already seen the Eagles vs. the Bucs this year – a game ending with the Bucs on top 28-22 – an argument can be made that a one-score game is almost added motivation for the Philly, despite coming up short in the end.
There’s a lot to be taken away from that game as well. Jalen Hurts showed some signs of what he’s capable of, putting together a really brilliant first drive with both his arm and his feet. He ended the day with just 115 passing yards, but managed 44 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns along the way. The defense managed to pick off Tom Brady – never an easy task. And the Eagles nearly came back after being down 28-7 in the 3rd, closing the gap to 28-22, just one third down stop away from getting the ball back with more than three minutes left.
But I say all that to say this. The Buccaneers are a much better team than the Eagles this year. Tom Brady is the winningest quarterback of all time and is somehow still at the top of his game. Playoff Lenny will be back in full force. You’re still dealing with one of the best run-stop defenses in the league, effectively eliminating Miles Sanders and Jordan Howard. It’s going to be an uphill battle to knock the Bucs out on Sunday. Obviously.
Prediction: Best not to overthink this one. The Buccaneers are simply a much better team. And with the effectiveness of their run-stop defense, you’re essentially forcing Jalen Hurts to carry this offense on his shoulders, and I don’t think he’s capable of doing that for 60 minutes. He’ll likely make some noise with a handful of scrambles and design runs, since those worked pretty well in their first matchup, but I believe it’s only a matter of time before he makes a mistake. If it’s even close to begin with. Buccaneers 30, Eagles 17
San Francisco 49ers @ Dallas Cowboys
I’m not going to lie, this game has me scared. As a Cowboys fan, I spent my Sunday morning figuring out all the possible scenarios that could alter the Cowboys’ post-season seeding and only had one clear opponent in mind. Feed me the Philadelphia Eagles. All we needed was the 49ers to win, the Seahawks to win, and the Panthers to win. If Tampa Bay rested their starters, the Panthers might have had a chance, but I suppose Tom Brady also wanted to face the Eagles week 1, so alas… here we are.
Hey, it’s best not to live in the world of what ifs, and from a story line perspective, the 49ers vs. the Cowboys holds just as much intrigue as any in-division matchup. The history between these teams, the former glory coupled with the recent struggles, the wars of the 70s, the strategies of the 90s, the combined-dominance over the NFL for nearly three decades. There is most definitely still some bad blood between these teams and their fans, even if they haven’t met in the playoffs since 1994.
Both the Cowboys and the 49ers hold five Super Bowl Championships a piece. The Cowboys won two in the 70s, the 49ers won four in the 80s and one in the 90s, and the Cowboys won three more in the 90s. The Cowboys have won eight NFC Championships and the 49ers have won seven. The two have met in the postseason seven times with the Cowboys holding a 5-2 record against the 49ers, but the 49ers have a slight edge in head-to-head matchups, holding a 15-14-1 record against Dallas.
It’s all well and good, but the past is the past. Since the Cowboys and the 49ers spent the early 90s on top of the football world, things have been bleak. Dallas has yet to return to the big game since they won it all in 1995. San Francisco have been to two Super Bowls since, but fell short in both, losing to the Baltimore Ravens in 2012 and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019.
The 2021 Cowboys have been a bit of a mystery, finishing the season with a solid 12-5 record but putting together some head-scratching performances along the way. When they’re good, they’re great. The Cowboys’ 56-14 dismantling of the Washington Football Team in week 16 was an example of how good this team could be if they put it all together. But a 30-16 loss to the Broncos or a completely uninspired effort against the Cardinals in a meaningful game leads you to believe that they have fraudulent tendencies.
The 49ers had a bit more of a grind-em-out season, competing in what could be argued as the best division in football this year. The Rams took the NFC West at 12-5, the Cardinals secured the top wild card seed at 11-6 and the 49ers took home the 6 seed at 10-7. Even the last-place Seahawks had a decent season, finishing 7-10 with a Week 18 win over the playoff-bound Cardinals. They finished the season 4-4 against teams that made the postseason. By comparison, the Cowboys finished 3-4.
Prediction: It really comes down to which version of the Cowboys show up on Sunday. This team has every reason to win this game. They’re healthy, they’re talented on both sides of the ball, they have home field advantage. Playing their starters against the Eagles allowed them to get their swagger back and the emotions of the 49ers barely making it into the playoffs with a week 18 win could lead to a let down. Again, I am very worried about this game. But I think the Cowboys hold on. Cowboys 27, 49ers 24
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Kansas City Chiefs
I won’t lie to you, this is the least interesting game of the weekend. Sparing the suspense, I just can’t imagine a world in which the Steelers pull off this upset. The Chiefs have won nine of their last ten games including five wins over fellow playoff teams; the Steelers, the Cowboys, the Packers and the Raiders twice. The first time these two teams squared off, the Chiefs sent the Steelers home with a 36-10 loss. And despite the Titans holding the 1 seed and the first round bye, I’d argue the Chiefs are the best team in football right now.
If you’re looking for some intrigue, however, it will likely be the last game for veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. After being drafted by the Steelers in 2004 – the same year as Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers – Ben went on to play 18 seasons in Pittsburgh taking home two Super Bowls and three AFC Championships along the way.
He showed glimmers of his old self last weekend against the Ravens, marching down the field in overtime to set up the game-winning field goal. The drama continued late into the night when a near-tie between the Raiders and Rams threatened to eliminate the Steelers from playoff contention, but a last-second Raiders field goal managed to keep them alive.
I’ll wrap things up with this message, directly from the QB himself:
“We haven’t discussed it but I would assume as a group, you understand that we probably aren’t supposed to be here, probably not a very good football team. Out of the 14 teams that are in, we’re probably number 14. We’re double-digit underdogs in the playoffs. So let’s just go play and have fun and see what happens,” and then later followed by, “we don’t have a chance.” Real inspirational.
Prediction: I mean, come on. The Chiefs win and they win big. Chiefs 31, Steelers 14
