A wild week around the NFL ends with the Wild Card round of playoff games. Is there anything more fitting then that? Week 17 gave us the players, now they just have to play. While we do see a couple rematches this week from last season’s Wild Card playoffs (I’m looking at you Houston and Cincinnati) and also a rematch from a game just last week (Green Bay and Minnesota).
Here’s a few things to keep an eye for on your weekend watching.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Houston Texans (Sat. 4:30 EST)
Again, this is a rematch of last year’s 31-10 Texans victory but a lot of things have changed. Firstly, there is Matt Schaub. When these two teams squared off last year, Schaub was forced to watch from the sidelines due to injury and so was second stringer Matt Leinart, leaving the team to be led by fifth-round rookie T.J. Yates.
Schaub is a top-tier quarterback that really gets this offense going. However the offense seemed to stall down the stretch, but that is a product of the men doing the blocking. Sure Duane Brown, Wade Smith, and Chris Myers were voted to the Pro Bowl this season but in the past three games Schaub was sacked 10 times — that’s as many times as he was sacked through the first nine weeks total.
That can’t happen. Especially against the Bengals eighth-ranked defense which has totaled 51 sacks on the season.
How ‘bout them Bengals anyway? Cincinnati battled through the regular season, to turn in a 10-win campaign — the organization’s first back-to-back winning seasons in 30 years.
That says something.
While the offense is still not explosive and the defense is still the strength of the team, the Bengals’ woes last season have made them a little bit wiser and keen to what the playoffs are really all about. It also doesn’t hurt that they are facing the same team from a year ago.
Quarterback Andy Dalton has grown in his second season passing for more yards and touchdowns than he did in his rookie year. So has his go-to target A.J. Green. The two have a remarkable chemistry (162 catches for 2,407 yards and 18 touchdowns in just two seasons together) that they will have to keep alive against former teammate and now Houston’s top corner, Jonathan Joseph.
Houston enters with the seventh best offense in the league and will pose a strong opponent for Cincy’s top-ten defense. Compared to last year though this Cincinnati defense this allowed less yards, had more sacks and interceptions, and has a higher turnover ratio.
A new year, new teams. This game will be a hard hitting defensive battle.
Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers (Sat. 8:30 EST)
It’s deja vu all over again. Not only have we seen this match up twice this year already but literally witnessed it just last week and is that ever going to be a game to top.
Last week, the Vikings needed to beat the division leading Packers to get into the playoffs while helping Adrian Peterson set the NFL single season rushing record.
In a back-and-forth game, it came down to the final drive for the Vikings with a win and Peterson’s rushing within sight.
On his career high 34th hand-off of the game, Peterson busted out a 27-yard scamper down the left sideline in the final seconds of the game. The run allowed rookie Pro Bowl kicker Blair Walsh to knock in the final 29-yard field goal to put the team into the playoffs with a 37-34 win.
As for Peterson?
He came up a mere nine yards of breaking hall-of-famer Eric Dickerson’s record. Despite his near miss at the record books, Peterson conduct himself very humbly, saying post-game, “I told myself to come into this game focused one one thing, and that’s winning.”
With all that drama and tension, it will be hard to duplicate. However an interesting new wrinkle to the game will be added this week.
The Packers will be getting back wide receiver Randall Cobb, who was forced to miss the last week’s game due to injury. The second year man out of Kentucky, broke out this season as Green Bay’s top target leading the team with 954 yards and 102 targets. The Packers like to line Cobb up all over the field, it’ll be interesting to see what fireworks Cobb brings to an already explosive game.
Indianapolis Colts vs. Baltimore Ravens (Sun. 1:00 EST)
There might not be a more emotional game all season than this.
Sure last week’s return of Indianapolis Colt’s head coach Chuck Pagano after beating leukemia was moving. Just add to the mix that will now be coaching his first playoff game in his second game back against his still beloved former team, the Ravens, which he coached with for four years.
And just to add more fuel to the fire, 17-year veteran and future hall-of-famer Ray Lewis announced his retirement will finally come at the end of this season.
This game is the embodiment of the wild card round of the playoffs.
There is also the polar opposites of the spectrum each team is at. Where the Colts are a young, green team still trying to figure themselves out. They got to where they are because of their tenacity and the for their coach who faced the fight of his life.
Then you have the Ravens, the elder statesmen of the NFL in a way with Lewis, Ed Reed, Ray Rice, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata. All players who have been seasoned by the league and the playoffs to know what it takes to make a serious run. There is also the sour taste in the Ravens’ mouth from last season when their Super Bowl hopes went wide left as kicker Billy Cundiff missed a field goal that would have won the game versus the New England Patriots.
As the Ravens set to go against their former coach, the defense still holds high regards for their former coordinator.
“He was a guy you respected and loved because he’d tell you the truth to your face,” says cornerback Cary Williams. “He was always real with you. He didn’t try to sugarcoat anything. If you wanted to know anything, he’d tell you straight up. He was a man about it and was never shy or short of words.”
Pagano holds just as much respect for the opposition as well. Saying, “I love all those guys. I have great relationships with so many people in that organization. They were so good to me and my family. I wouldn’t be sitting where I’m at today if John Harbaugh hadn’t given me the opportunity to join him when he first was hired as a head football coach there.”
Seattle Seahawks vs. Washington Redskins (Sun. 4:30 EST)
This is the game to watch. This will be a high flying, hard hitting battle in the nation’s capital.
One of the most astounding factors of this game is the battle between rookie quarterbacks Russell Wilson (Seahawks) and Robert Griffin III (Redskins).
The two rookies have eerily comparable numbers. Both passed the ball 393 times. Wilson threw for 3,118 yards while RGIII passed for 3,200 yards. Wilson had 26 touchdowns to RGIII’s 20 but he had five interceptions to Wilson’s 10. And both quarterbacks had ratings of 100 or better.
That’s wild but that’s only one half of these two quarterbacks’ game as both can run the ball as well.
RGIII being the more eager to take off on foot, he racked up 815 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Wilson had 489 yards and four touchdowns. However after injuring his knee in Week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens, RGIII has been less likely to run. Before the injury Griffin ran the ball on average eight times per game. In the two games coming back from the injury, he ran the ball half as many times per game. That will be something to watch for, Griffin’s comfort with his knee — remember he did have ACL surgery while in college.
With these two quarterbacks as proven dual threats, it will be up to each team defense to win the game. Cliches are based on truths right? Well, for this game defense will have to win the game and it’s a tale of two defenses.
While the Seahawks boast the fourth best defense in the league and are getting back Pro Bowl cornerback Brandon Browner, who was suspended four games for Adderall use, the Redskins have the 28th ranked defense.
It’s not impossible for the Skins to stop the Seahawks, it just seems improbable. While Washington has only surrendered 20.6 points per game, on average, over the last five weeks, Seattle has outscored opponents 193 to 60 over that same time frame.
But if the Wild Card playoff history has taught us anything — wild is not just a title, it is a possibility for every game.
