It’s crazy to think that just 18 weeks ago, NFL fans all across the country sat down on their couches on a Thursday night to watch the Chiefs and the Lions kick off the 2023-24 NFL season, and now we are already at the playoffs. After an overall successful and entertaining season (except for Giants’ and Jets’ fans), many NFL fans hope that that trend will continue through the playoffs.
Saturday, January 11th: Chargers (5) vs Texans (4)
Justin Herbert leads the Chargers into Houston to face a resilient Texans’ squad. Both teams feature young talent and solid defenses, making this game a potential nail-biter. The Chargers will rely on Herbert’s arm to exploit Houston’s secondary which has been somewhat mediocre all season, while the Texans look to establish their run game early with star Running Back Joe Mixon. The Chargers are playing with former Michigan head coach John Harbaugh, and look to get him his first NFL playoff win since leaving the NFL for college. The Chargers also have breakout rookie star wide receiver Ladd McConkey who has played a huge part in the Charger’s success this year. The Texans are without their two best wide receivers, Tank Dell and off-season acquisition Stefon Diggs, which will be a potential issue for the Texans offense and CJ Stroud. I think that the Chargers will win this game by a large margin and surprise a lot of people, but my score prediction is 26-10.
Saturday, January 11th: Ravens (3) vs Steelers (6)
Once again, the division rivals meet in the playoffs. I think we are all asking ourselves the same question: how in the world did the Steelers end up here? I mean, they are simply not a good team on paper, but head coach Mike Tomlin seems to pull his magic every so often and get this team into the playoffs. With that being said, Mike Tomlin’s “bag of tricks” will be empty against this Ravens’ team. Lamar Jackson is on a mission to silence critics of his playoff performances, while Pittsburgh’s Russel Wilson hopes to shock the Ravens’ stout defense with his veteran-level playoff experience. Lamar Jackson once again has been playing at an MVP level and having Derrick Henry in the backfield running all over your favorite team’s defense does not help the Steelers case at all. The Steelers have also been playing extremely poorly on offense the past few weeks, leading me to believe that that will not change in a high-pressure situation like this this weekend. Give me the Ravens 31-13.
Sunday, January 12th at 1 pm: Broncos (7) vs Bills (2)
The Denver Broncos visit the Buffalo Bills in a clash of two teams with very different playoff résumés. The Bills are seasoned contenders with one of the league’s most dynamic offenses, while the Broncos are making a return to the postseason after a late-season surge under new quarterback Bo Nix who has been nothing short of incredible this season, turning the struggling Broncos into a potential “bracket buster” for many fans. I think that they have the potential to beat any team, as they showed they can even compete against offenses like the Bengals a few weeks ago. The Bills on the other hand, have Josh Allen, who is at the top of MVP voting right now and is my pick for MVP. He is having his best season yet, even though he lost Diggs in free agency last year. James Cook, the running back for Buffalo has also been stellar and he continues to score for this Bills, making him a perfect complement to Josh Allen. BUT, I think the Bills should be on upset alert, I am picking the Broncos in a close matchup, 24-23.
Sunday, January 12th at 4:30 pm: Packers (7) vs Eagles (2)
This is the first NFC matchup we get of the 2025 NFL playoffs. We get to see the Eagles, who have absolutely dominated the run game this year after trading for Saquan Barkley in the offseason. Saquan is a huge part of the Eagle’s success, rushing for 2005 yards this season, only the 8th player all-time to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. The Eagles will also be getting star quarterback Jalen Hurts back after being injured the last two games, which will greatly improve their offense and help them beat the Packers. On the other hand, the Packers have had a pretty good season overall, winning 11 games and somehow finishing third in their division. The NFC North is stout as two of the best teams from the NFC Detroit and Minnesota) are atop the same division, but with quarterback Jordan Love, you can never count out the Packers. In this game, I am going with the Eagles to beat the Packers in dominating fashion, 36-14.
Sunday, January 12th at 8:15 PM: Commanders (6) vs Bucs (3)
If you told me four months ago that the Commanders would be as good as they are now, I wouldn’t have believed you. And honestly, the same goes for the Bucs, this is one playoff matchup that I did not expect. The Commanders are fully rebuilt with new rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has been taking the league by storm. His rushing ability and his precision passing to wide receivers Terry Mclauren and Olamide Zaccheaus make him one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the game, even drawing comparisons to Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson in his early stages in the NFL. I think in this game also we can expect usage of tight end Zach Ertz, as the Commanders have been using him more and more especially down near the goal line. On the other hand, the Bucs have been nothing short of amazing, but they do have their games where they seem to be playing catchup, and they are not good at playing from behind. Baker Mayfield has had his best season yet in the NFL, and receiver Mike Evans once again for the 11th straight year reached 1,000 yards receiving. Also, the Bucs’ running game with Bucky Irving has been phenomenal, so expect them to run a lot on this Commander’s defensive line. For this game, I think it will be a very close one, but I am going with the Commanders, 20-17.
Monday, January 13th at 8:15 PM: Rams (4) vs. Vikings (5)
This is the last game of Wild Card Weekend and probably one of the most unpredictable games of the playoffs this year. (The venue for this game has moved from LA to Arizona due to the southern California wildfires). Even though the Vikings are 14-3 and have a better record than the 10-7 Rams, I really do think this will be a close game. The Viking’s offense last week against the depleted Lion’s defense was unable to score in the Red Zone, which will be a huge problem for them if they want a chance to win this game. The Vikings have been pretty good at stopping the run all year, ranking second of all defenses in the NFL, which will greatly help against Rams running back Kyren Williams. Also, the Vikings have one of the best receivers in the game, Justin Jefferson, who is paired with Jordan Addison, both combining making them a deadly duo no defense wants to face in the playoffs. However, I think Sam Darnold is just too inexperienced in pressure situations and will ultimately fail against Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua on the other side of the ball. Stafford is a veteran, and he has been in these situations many times before, so I am taking the Rams to beat the Vikings, 24-23.
