We are now only one day away from NFL Playoff Football! Heading into this year's NFL Wild Card Weekend we have some exciting matchups to uncover. Let's kick things off with some of our Picks and Predictions throughout these playoff games.
Panzini's Picks and Predictions: The Future is Now Old Man
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Texans 24 - Browns 14
For our first game of the weekend, we have the Houston Texans hosting the Cleveland Browns. This is definitely a game to be excited for. It appeals on many different levels, headlining both quarterbacks and Cleveland's top ranked defense. Let's start on the Houston side of things and give our reasoning as to why we believe they can edge out the Browns.
Last week we basically witnessed how the Texans star rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud will perform under the pressures of playoff football. Well, he didn't crack, actually he broke out even more. Starting the game off hot with a 75-yard touchdown pass to wideout Nico Collins on his very first play of the game and continuing to play excellent football throughout the match. Finishing the game with 264 passing yards, two touchdowns, and a 134.1 passer rating.
This game is important to look at because last week's match against the Indianapolis Colts was a quasi-playoff game, being that the loser was knocked out of the playoff race; also, the Texans won it at the Colts home stadium.
This isn't to discredit the Browns and what they have accomplished this season, as their defense has been playing lights out all year long and Joe Flacco has seemed to have found the fountain of youth. But here are the factors that we believe will determine the outcome. The last time Stroud played a top defense was against the New York Jets, and the Jets made Stroud look every bit like a rookie before he sustained a concussion and left the game.
So if the Cleveland defense shows out, they can run away with the win big time. Now on the other end, Flacco has played extremely well with the Browns on this run, putting up tons of passing yards and touchdowns to boot. But there is one flaw in Flacco's game, he still is turning over the ball. If the Texans can minimize Flacco's production and capitalize on his turnovers, they can see themselves edging this game out in the end.
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Panzini's Picks and Predictions: Tip of the Arrow
Saturday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Chiefs 20 - Dolphins 35
Our second game on Saturday is wide receiver Tyreek Hill and the Miami Dolphins heading over to Arrowhead to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. In Hill's return to his former team's home stadium, the Dolphins look to put up a better fight against the Chiefs unlike last time these teams played each other. Tyreek had an underwhelming game when they played in Germany, but this time around we think Hill is going to try to put an explanation point on his return.
Both teams are heading into this game a little banged up on both sides of the ball, but if it starts to turn into a shootout, Miami certainly has the upper hand in fire power. The Chiefs offense has been slacking the past few weeks. And honestly, when watching their games, they seem to be too reliant on penalties to bail them out or quarterback Patrick Mahomes to make a jaw dropping play, only for the receiver to ultimately drop the ball.
Panzini's Picks and Predictions: Bills on Parade
Sunday, 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Bills 28 - Steelers 14
On to Sunday, we have the Buffalo Bills inviting the Pittsburgh Steelers to Highmark Stadium to play. Both teams have had an exciting final weeks of the season with the Steelers squeaking their way into the postseason and the Bills leading a marvelous second half of the season charge in an eventual coup of the AFC East Division Title from the Dolphins.
Most look at this game as one sided, especially since the Steelers will be without star linebacker T.J. Watt; as if Bills quarterback Josh Allen wasn't already a handful to contain. The Bills unfortunately have a problem that they play down to their opponents and let them hang around in games. Even though they were on the flip side of this against the Dolphins last week, we still can't fully trust the squad quite yet.
Pittsburgh prides itself on tough defense and sticking in games long enough to grind out a win. But we feel as if the Bills may be too much to handle and the Steelers offense won't be able to match the output of the Bills offense. But even if the game may look close early, we can see the Bills eventually pulling away with the win.
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Panzini's Picks and Predictions: Love to Hate the Cowboys
Sunday, 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Cowboys 38 - Packers 21
As much as a lot of people would like for the Cowboys to lose, we highly doubt they will let this one slip. The Green Bay Packers travel to Dallas to face their former coach, Mike McCarthy. McCarthy, who is said to be on the hot seat if the Cowboys were to lose, will look to stand his ground and defeat his former employer. The Packers come into this game on a high as young quarterback Jordan Love is proving to be the next Green Bay quarterback for years to come.
The Packers may have gone on a three game win streak to close out the season and a playoff spot, but the Cowboys team is not to be taken lightly. Wide receiver Ceedee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott have been turning up the Dallas offense the last few weeks, and might prove to be too much for Green Bay. At times it has looked as if Lamb can run any route and get open at will. Love may run into a few problems on offense, and one of those problems being Cowboys stud linebacker, Micah Parsons.
Panzini's Picks and Predictions: Motor City Memories
Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Lions 21 - Rams 24
What shapes up to be a twilight zone matchup with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff playing against their former teams. The Rams visit the Lions at home in an extremely anticipated game between the two.
Stafford has been leading the Los Angeles Rams to a story book season, making the playoffs in a year that the team was thought to be rebuilding. Goff and the Lions have made the jump they intended, building off of last year's late success into this season. Both teams are more or less evenly matched, potentially high octane offenses and middle-pack defenses should equate to an entertaining game. In the end, we can see Matthew Stafford winning the game on a last second drive as he always did when playing in Detroit. This would be a sad ending to the Lions season after finally making it to the postseason as NFC North Division Title winners, but the script would just be too good to pass up.
Panzini's Picks and Predictions: Philly is Hurts-ing
Monday 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time
Buccaneers 20 - Eagles 24
Finally to cap off the NFL Wild Card Weekend, we have the Philadelphia Eagles traveling to Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Earlier in the year, we would've thought the Eagles would manhandle the Buccaneers in this matchup. But now in this state of the season, we have the Eagles looking very exploitable while Tampa Bay has caught fire in the later portion of the year.
To emphasize just how opposite the positions of these two teams are, the Eagles have lost five of their last six games; meanwhile the Bucs have won five of their six last games. This match can truly result in either team's favor. The Eagles may be banged up pretty badly on offense but have proven to become a resilient team especially in the playoffs. The Philadelphia defense is going to have to step up in order to contain quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers, who can erupt for points at any given moment.
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