BY: Tony LiebertLast week's Wild-Card weekend was one of the most exciting in recent memory. I expect the Divisional round to bring the same excitement. Saturday, January 12th - 3:35 P.M. #6 Indianapolis Colts V.S. #1 Kansas City Chiefs This is one of my favorite matchups of the entire weekend. I think that the Colts' performance last weekend against the Texans, showed that they can beat anyone on the NFL. Andrew Luck has shown that he is a top tier quarterback this season with 4,500+ passing yards this season and 40+ total touchdowns. The Colts this season had one of the quickest turnarounds of recent memory. This was in large part to having a franchise changing draft class. The Colts drafted guard Quenton Nelson with the 6th pick, who has been arguably the best rookie offensive lineman ever. To go along with Nelson the Colts selected linebacker Darius Leonard in the second round who is now leading the NFL in tackles. I think the Colts will be able to put up a fight against one of the NFL best offenses. The Kansas City Chiefs have put together one of the best offensive season in NFL history. The Chiefs are obviously led by future MVP Patrick Mahomes who has just been truly elite this season. A major reason for Mahomes' unbelievable success is the Chiefs' weapons. The Chiefs have arguably the best offensive weapons in the league, headlined by All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce, the past few seasons Kelce has arguably been one of the best tight ends in the NFL. The Chiefs' wide receivers are led by the electrifying Tyreek Hill. Since Hill has entered the league he has shown that he can take it to the house any time he touches the ball. For the majority of the season the Chiefs also had one of the best running backs in the NFL, Kareem Hunt. It obviously has been tough for the Chiefs to establish the running game with out Hunt, but they have still shown to be explosive. I expect the Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense to be too much to handle for the Colts inexperienced defense and I think that offensive mastermind Andy Reid will finally break through after the Chiefs going 1-11 in their last 12 playoff games and they reach the AFC Championship game. Chiefs: 38 Colts: 30 Saturday, January 12th - 7:15 P.M. #4 Dallas Cowboys V.S. #2 Los Angeles Rams This matchup is between two third year quarterbacks, Jared Goff and Dak Prescott. Prescott is coming off his best game in his young professional career. Dak had 226 passing yards and 1 touchdown to go along with 29 on the ground and one more score. The 29 yards on the ground are so significant because he had a 20 yard QB Draw to end the game in possibly the biggest play of Dak's career, which ended the game against the Seahawks. Zeke also had a monster game with 150+ yards on the ground. The Cowboys defense led by Jaylon Smith also showed up and played very well against the Seahawks and the number one rushing attack, so they have some momentum coming into this week. The Rams are coming with possibly the most talented team in the NFL from top to bottom. Jared Goff has played very well this season but not as well in the second half of the season. The Rams offense runs through star running back Todd Gurley. Gurley has 1750+ yards and 20+ touchdowns this season while sitting out of two games this season. The Rams also have a terrific receiving core led by Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks who have been playing their best football in the second half of the season. Their Rams defense is also very talented and is headlined by their star D-lineman Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh. Donald might be playing the best defensive football in the NFL. In this week's game I expect 1 week of time to prepare to be too useful for the Rams and Sean McVay, and they will put their second half struggles behind them. I think Todd Gurley gets back on track and is too much to handle for the young Cowboys defense. Rams: 37 Cowboys: 13 Sunday, January 13th - 12:05 P.M. #5 Los Angeles Chargers V.S. #2 New England Patriots This game is between two of the greatest quarterbacks of this generation, Philip Rivers and Tom Brady. Philip Rivers has been having arguably the best season of his Hall of Fame career. Rivers and the Chargers have arguably one of the best group of weapons in the NFL. Their weapons are headlined by running back Melvin Gordon who has been having a great season but has been dealing with injuries as of late. To go along with possibly the most underrated receiver in the NFL Keenan Allen, and terrific red zone threat Mike Williams. Tight end Hunter Henry will also play a big role in this game after coming back from injury from tearing his ACL back in May. The Chargers defense has been the weakness of their team they have played inconsistent and are very inexperienced led by great pass rushers Joey Bosa, and Melvin Ingram. As well as star rookie safety Derwin James in the back end. The play of the Chargers linebacker will decide who wins this game. The Patriots have had arguably one of their worst season in the "Bill Belichick, Tom Brady" era. The Patriots have looked old and slow at times this season. Rob Gronkowski has not looked the same, and he looks like he is playing hurt at times. Tom Brady has not performed at his usual level, and the Patriots probably have the worst offensive weapons in 10+ years. With Julian Edelman and really nobody else at wide receiver. The defense has also not looked like the normal Patriots level. But the reason I like the Patriots in this game is because of their running game. In the last few weeks to end the season Sony Michel has rushed very well, and James White their other back is one of the best pass receiving backs in the NFL. I see Bill Belichick not taking a week of preparation for granted and I think the Patriots win this game in a close one. Patriots: 32 Chargers: 20 Sunday, January 13th - 3:40 P.M. #1 New Orleans Saints V.S. #6 Philadelphia Eagles The Saints come in with one of the most complete teams of recent memory. The are led by the best statistical quarterback of all time Drew Brees. They also have the best running back duo in the NFL with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara who have been terrific this season. The Saints' weapons are rounded out by All-Pro receiver in Michael Thomas who has been arguably the best receiver in the NFL this season.. The only weakness that the Saints have is their receivers after Michael Thomas, they have struggled to find a receiver after Thomas this season. Beginning with signing Dez Bryant, then he got hurt and didn't play a single game, rookie wide receiver Trequan Smith has tried to get involved but has struggled to remain consistent. And lastly they have Ted Ginn Jr. returning from injury who I expect to play a big role in this game. Their defense has also been terrific headlined by Cameron Jordan and Marshon Lattimore while Sean Payton has been Sean Payton and has been coaching at a hall of fame level. The Eagles on the other hand may have the best postseason quarterback of all time. Nick Foles has put together on of the greatest postseason runs of all time. There is really not anything that I like about the Eagles team as a whole, the struggle to run the ball and they may have the worst defensive backs in the NFL. But there is something about Nick Foles that just changes how the whole Eagles team plays and they look like the super bowl team of last year. I just won't bet against Nick Foles until he proves me wrong. I think Foles puts together another great performance, and Darren Sproles will help the running game show up. With their great defensive line being to much to handle for the Saints, and I think the Eagles advance the the NFC championship game once again. Eagles: 28 Saints: 20
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May 2020
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