And then there were eight! Yes, we are at the quarter-final stage and after the Wildcats games pretty much went to plan it will be interesting to see if the 2 No 1 seeds can get over their hoodoo’s which in one team’s case is threatening to put a big question mark against a future legend. Anyway, we have four hard-to-call games to get through so off we go starting with Saturday’s games.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Tennessee Titans.
Spread Tennessee -4
We are not sure if the Bengals are really good or really lucky, but either way, they look dangerous, and despite a few injury worries will be full of confidence. They rode their luck a bit against the Raiders last week but finally broke their playoff win drought and have a kicker who has ice in his veins and that is really important at this stage.
The pressure is on the Titans who have a bit of a run to break themselves. Basically, they have not won a home postseason game since the 2002 season and are on a three-game home postseason skid. Also, they will be reminded that the last time the Bengals won a playoff game before their drought, it was against them. Well in their Houston Oilers guise but it still counts as an L.
They will be near full strength on offense thanks to the return of Derrick Henry and of course, both Julio Jones & AJ Brown will be teaming up to give the Bengals secondary plenty to think about. The Titans should win this one but it could be mighty close and if we were having a bet we would take the Bengals with the points.
Prediction Tennessee 17 Cincinnati 16
San Francisco 49ers @ Green Bay Packers
Spread Packers -5
There is quite a post-season rivalry here and this will be the 8th time they have met in the playoffs in the Superbowl era. The score currently stands at 4-4 however the 49ers have had Green Bays’ measure of late having won the last three.
Green Bay has had a week to rest up and has got a few players coming back from injury and they edged the regular-season meeting 30-28 at Levi’s Stadium. That one came down to a field goal as time expired and a similarly tight game looks likely. The weather will not be ideal and this could end up a bit of a defensive slugfest which would favour the Niners running game. Still, it’s about time Rodgers got a playoff win against them and we think they will edge a low-scoring game.
Green Bay 14 San Francisco 49ers 13
Sunday Games
LA Rams @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Spread Tampa -3
The glamour tie of the weekend! Reigning Super Bowl Champions Tampa won the NFC South comfortably but did lose at the Rams in the regular season although that was on the road. That was a terrific game for the neutral and with the weather not being an issue hopefully, we will get another high-scoring game. Tom Brady threw for 432 yards that night but despite that, the Rams were always in control and their “all in” move of bringing Matthew Stafford in has certainly paid off. The Rams are most certainly in a win-now mode having given up a bevy of draft picks to bring in veteran talent and this is probably their window.
Both have a few key injuries, however, Tom Brady has a record of eaking out wins with a threadbare receiving corps and although it should be close we are going with his experience to edge Tampa through.
Tampa Bay 31 LA Rams 28
Buffalo Bills @ Kansas City Chiefs
Spread Chiefs -1.5
This one is so hard to call, something emphasised by the spread and showcases two of the brightest young QBs in the NFL. Josh Allen has had another great season and was outstanding in the Bills’ regular-season win at Arrowhead where he threw 3 TDS. He will be desperate to avenge last season’s AFC Championship loss and we think he will although it won’t be an 18 point win this time.
Kansas City recovered well from a slightly shaky start to win the AFC West with some ease, however, they have never looked convincing and thus we think they will fall just short of making it to their third consecutive AFC Championship game.
Buffalo 24 Kansas City 21
You can check out our wildcard round predictions here
