Author: Zachary Patlin
The Super Wild Card round of the 2022 season saw a record 6 games over the course of three days. After a very strong performance by the Cincinnati Bengals, defeating the Raiders in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, the rest of the games went just about as expected. Some key takeaways from this past weekend are that Joe Burrow is as good as advertised, the Buffalo Bills may be the most complete team in the entire NFL if their offense is running the way it did, the Cowboys remain the Cowboys, and Mahomes and company are a force to be reckoned with.
All of these storylines from last week's matchups will be in full effect as we move into the divisional round of the 2022 playoffs, where the 4 matchups are all extremely competitive and can go either way. Let us start with the first game of the weekend, the Bengals against the one-seed Titans. The Titans come into the weekend favored by 3.5 points over the Bengals, as Derrick Henry will look to make a return to this potent offense. This game will all come down to which QB will be able to make the big throw in key spots, and even with the run offense of the Titans, I believe Joe Burrow will lead the Bengals to their first AFC championship game since 1988. Final score prediction: 28-24 Bengals.
The nightcap of Saturday’s games is a historic matchup between the 49ers and the Packers at the Frozen Tundra at Lambeau. The Packers were the clear best team in the regular season, however, if there is a formula to beat this team it would be to do exactly what the 49ers do best: rush the passer and dominate on the ground. The 49ers will have to establish the run throughout the entire game in order to keep the ball out of the hands of MVP frontrunner Aaron Rodgers. Also, they must be able to constantly pressure Rodgers. With Warner and Bosa as questionable, the Packers are listed as the 6 point favorites, deservedly so, and will win this game by a one-score margin I believe. Rodgers and Devante Adams and co. will be too much for the Niners to keep up with. Final score prediction: 31-24 Packers.
This brings us to Sunday’s doubleheader of action, featuring two absolute great games on paper. The first game being the Rams, coming off of a dominant performance at home against the Cardinals, against the Buccaneers led by Tom Brady. The Buccaneers were without their top two running backs on Sunday against the Eagles, but were still easily able to establish the run with Bernard and Vaughn. But this matchup will be much tougher for the Bucs, as they lost to the Rams early in the regular season pretty handily. The Rams’ front four is as good as any in all of football, and if they are able to consistently make Brady uncomfortable like they did Kyler, this game should sway heavily in the favor of the Rams. However, if the Bucs are able to mix in the run offense with a quick dink and dump offense that Brady has become so good at, this game will come down to the final possession. With Stafford and Odell proving themselves that they are here to play, and Cooper Kupp being the ultimate team player, the Rams will sneak away with a win this weekend. Prediction: 23-20 Rams.
Lastly, the Sunday night matchup on CBS is the best matchup of the weekend, at least on paper. Two absolute wagons of offenses will face off against one another for the first time since early in the regular season when the Bills steamrolled the Chiefs. This game, however, was not overly relevant to this current matchup because the Chiefs are a completely different team now than they were in this first matchup. Under Steve Spagnuola, the Chiefs have figured out their offense and have become one of the best defensive teams in all of football. However, the Bills were the number one scoring offense in all of football and absolutely dominated the patriots in Buffalo just a short week ago. This matchup between Allen and Mahomes will be one for the ages and I can not wait to see who comes out on top. My prediction: A lower scoring, dogfight of a game, than anticipated. Chiefs 24, Bills 27. This weekend looks to be an incredible slate of football games. Let’s go!
SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE
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