LA Rams wild ride wraps up Wildcard Round of NFL Playoffs

NFL Divisional Round

The NFL Playoffs have shrunk from the Fearless Fourteen down to the Elite Eight now. We are down to the top 25 percent of the league, and the competition will be even more fierce. Fierce competition, but that is what competition is all about anyway, right?

Eight NFL teams remain, and each team is merely three more victories away from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. A 12.5 percent of doing so, if all things were created equally. But, of course, they are not. As 12 NFL teams banged bodies in the Wildcard Round, two teams enjoyed an entire week to rest up, heal, and prepare to face their next opponent. They are the Green Bay Packers and the Tennessee Titans, the NFC and AFC Top-seeded teams.

Want to make a wager? The latest odds have been provided: Courtesy of WynnBET

Cincinnatti (4th seed) at Tennessee (1st seed): Titans favored (-3.5 points)

This will be a curious contest, a battle of two completely different styles of play. The Tennessee Titans may be the AFC first seeded team, but how formidable are they really? Well, however you answer that, they are expecting running back to return in time to compete against the Bengals this week.

Of course, the Cincinnati Bengals have run a season against some rather formidable opponents to get here, and they proved to be tougher than expected in the face of a motivated opponent. QB Joe Burrow connected on nine of 12 passes to WR Ja’Marrr Chase for 116 yards. But the NFL Playoffs force teams to figure out ways to win without their best players. Can the Bengals win if the Titans shut down Chase? I have my doubts. The Bengals have one playoff win. That will have to do for now.

Henry runs wild.

Now, onto the next Saturday contest.

San Francisco (6th seed) at Green Bay (1st seed): Packers favored (-6.0 points)

The frozen tundra of Lambeau Field is the site once more for another NFC Divisional Round Contest. This time, it’s the San Francisco 49ers who must travel to take on the very rested and very prepared Green Bay Packers. This will be a rather dramatic contest.

The 49ers defeated the Packers twice in 2019 on their way to Super Bowl LIV. The Packers have since had to travel to San Francisco twice: Once in 2020 and once in 2021, and have won both of those contests.  And you can very well bet that the Packers will be all coached up for this one. The 49ers know that to stop the Packers, they must stop quarterback Aaron Rodgers. That can happen by strong pass defense. Or it can happen by a strong running offense.

The 49ers have a strong running offense. Just check out Dan Orlovsky’s take at this link if the video does not appear below:

The Green Bay Packers were the 30th-ranked rushing defense in terms of yards per rush, at 4.7 yards. The San Francisco 49ers boast the seventh-ranked rushing offense. Not because they gain more yards per rush, but because the offense commits to the run. In cold weather, the ground game becomes far more important.

This is a Packers team that has come out on top of close games quite often. They defeated the 49ers by two points, the Bengals by three points, the Cardinals by three points, the Ravens by one point, and the Browns by two points. That simply is playing too close to the edge of disaster.  I smell an upset.

Now, onto the scheduled Sunday Games of the Divisional Round.