The defense is firing on all cylinders, and quarterback Russell Wilson is playing some of the best football of his career.
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The Texans are 2-8 straight-up and 4-5-1 against-the-spread in their last ten games as home underdogs. Sure, Houston took on cupcakes as well, facing Indianapolis, Tennessee and Jacksonville in the final three contests. That marked two of only four regular-season games that Roethlisberger started that Brown failed to top 100 yards. This weekend’s NFC Wild Card games should also be fun to watch, as there is no clear-cut favorite in both games.
Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 6) at Cincinnati Bengals (No. 3), 8:15 p.m. The highlight of the Packers’ last 10 games was Rodgers’ Hail Mary touchdown against the Detroit Lions. In fact, he had 34 red-zone touches this season, which is seventh most for running backs in the league. Both Kansas City and Pittsburgh are wild card tams that will play on the road this Saturday. Without Williams, the Steelers are expecting to go with Fitzgerald Toussaint as the No. 1 rushing option.
A majority of the Vikings points will come as a result of their own stout defense or special teams contributions. However, Peyton Manning has been announced as the Denver starter this time aroBREAKING: Johnny Manziel has been cited for expired plates (seriously, that’s an AP story!)! Those numbers get slimmer inside Paul Brown Stadium. Bengals WR A.J. Green led the team with 1,257 receiving yards to join Chad Johnson (6, 2002-07) as the only Cincinnati players with at least five consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Seattle’s run defense is arguably the best in the league and when they beat the tar out of Minnesota earlier this season, Bridgewater was sacked four times, threw an interception and managed only 118 yards. They got a second life when the Jets couldn’t handle the big moment with the last wild-card spot on the line. The Sunday forecast in Minnesota is calling for temperatures hovering around 0 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill making it feel much colder than that. However, the team itself is not satisfied, they don’t want their season to end yet, and when it’s all said it done and Cousins gives the fans one more, “YOU LIKE THAT!”, they can unequivocally reply back, “YES!” While the Pacific Northwest has plenty of rain, it is one of the warmer annual climates in the country, putting the two-time NFC champs out of their element. During those previous four chilly road games, the Seahawks have been outscored 149-74.
Kansas City knocked off Houston 27-20 as a 1-point road favorite back in September. Please tell me it’s not going to be Bill Belichick and Tom Brady again.
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Even the nine-win Washington Redskins seem to have a fighting chance against a Green Bay Packers squad that entered the season as one of the favorites to hoist the Lombardi. Reid will roll the dice once or twice, and Smith rushed for more than 500 yards during the regular season. Things have gotten especially hectic for “Discount Double Check” in recent weeks. Washington comes into the postseason on a four-game winning streak, thanks in large part to a defense that has feasted on opposing passers. While the Redskins go into the game with a 4-0 streak, the Packers lost by 30 to Arizona and then lost the division title at home with Rodgers being harassed constantly. That usually is the main challenge against Seattle’s offense, but Marshawn Lynch’s status is uncertain after he sat out the last seven games (abdominal surgery). To protect from those outside rushers – and make up for a lack of depth on the o-line – Green Bay will use plenty of two-tight end sets as well as a fullback to give Rodgers time. It’s the 200 passing yards he’s averaging per game that has to be taken into consideration here.
