The road to pro football’s postseason has been anything but expected.
Many teams had a chance to make the playoffs during the regular season’s final two weeks and the result should be an exciting and unpredictable NFL Wild Card weekend. The action gets under way on Saturday, Jan. 4, on NBC as the fifth seed Kansas City Chiefs face the fourth seed Indianapolis Colts at 4:35 p.m.
The sixth seed New Orleans Saints battle the third seed Philadelphia Eagles at 8:10 p.m. On Sunday, Jan. 5, the sixth seed San Diego Chargers face the third seed Cincinnati Bengals at 1:05 p.m. on CBS with the fifth seed San Francisco 49ers tackling the fourth seed Green Bay Packers at 4:40 p.m. on Fox.
Both the Chiefs and Colts had identical 11-5 records as Kansas City came up short of a division title while Indy cruised to the AFC South crown. The Saints squeezed into the final playoff spot in spite of a 11-5 record and the Eagles needed a win in their season finale to top the NFC East at 10-6. San Diego, 9-7, made an improbable postseason run and needed help from two other teams to qualify on the last day of the season and the Bengals topped the AFC North at 11-5. San Fran marched to 12-4 while Green Bay, 8-7-1, made a surprise run to the NFC North title.
Saturday’s contests should see upsets. Alex Smith’s Chiefs have relied on an aggressive defense while Andrew Luck’s Colts have struggled to score points all season. Kansas City should win by seven points. Scoring has never been a problem for either Drew Brees’ Saints or Nick Foles’ Eagles and the gut feeling is that Philly’s secondary will get lit up and New Orleans rolls to a 14-point victory.
Sunday’s games should be very close and tougher to call. Philip Rivers’ Chargers may have momentum but Andy Dalton’s Bengals are well-rounded with key pieces on both sides of the ball to win by six points. Colin Kaepernick’s Niners are a rugged group that prides itself on physical encounters though Aaron Rodgers’ Packers have sported enough firepower to present problems. Recent history favors San Fran to pull off a narrow three-point win.
This weekend’s winners will go on to battle the conference frontrunners with the 13-3 Denver Broncos and 12-4 New England Patriots in the AFC and the 13-3 Seattle Seahawks and the 12-4 Carolina Panthers in the NFC.
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