NFL Divisional Round Predictions

Wild Card Record: 6-0

Tennessee Titans over Cincinnati Bengals: The resilience the Titans displayed to secure the #1 seed in the AFC with a literally historic amount of in-season roster turnover is one of the more quietly impressive accomplishments in NFL history. Now that they're fortunate enough to have all their best players (A.J. Brown, Derrick Henry, Julio Jones) back on the field, there's just no reason to believe that they're not going to be extra motivated to win against a Bengals team that is flashier and potentially ultraconfident now that they're finally free from the burden of their 31-year playoff win drought. Nobody seems to be taking the Titans seriously as a contender and Mike Vrabel is a smart enough coach to reinforce that message to his players for the entire week leading up to the game. Even if Henry-who is returning to action for the 1st time since sustaining a broken foot in their Week 8 contest with the Colts-isn't his usual self out there, look for the Titans to impose their will and just physically wear down this talented but highly flawed Bengals team that gave the Raiders plenty of opportunities to come back and steal the game from them last week.  

Green Bay Packers over San Francisco 49ers: There wasn't a shittier possible draw for the Packers this weekend than the 49ers. Kyle Shanahan has a history of absolutely brutalizing his former co-worker Matt LaFluer in head-to-head matchups, their varied, physical rushing attack is a plus matchup against the Packers so-so defense and most importantly, they're the only West Coast team that has a roster and mindset that's perfectly equipped for the arctic conditions of Lambeau Field. As viable as their path to victory is, the 49ers have the misfortune of having a visibly banged-up Jimmy Garoppolo as their quarterback-who is coming off a game against the Cowboys that was smooth sailing until a disastrous 4th quarter (0 points scored, an ugly pick 6, 1 trip onto the Cowboys side of the field) that allowed the 'Boys to come dangerously close to mounting an outrageous last-minute comeback and going against a vindictive star quarterback in Aaron Rodgers whose arguably more motivated to win than ever so he can keep perpetuating the "EVERYONE IS AGAINST ME BECAUSE I'M A MAVERICK FREE THINKER IN A WORLD FULL OF SHEEP" narrative he's been pushing relentlessly since it was revealed he lied about being vaccinated back in October just might be too much for them to overcome. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Los Angeles Rams: Are the Rams back to their top early season form after obliterating the Cardinals last week? Given how gutless, confused and visibly overwhelmed the Cardinals were from the top down during that game, it's honestly kind of hard to tell. Even if they are, traveling cross country to try and take out the defending the Super Bowl Champions on their home turf is going to be a really tough task. Tom Brady seems poised to be out for blood after the Rams embarrassed the Bucs at SoFi back in Week 2 and if he goes into full blown kill mode, all of the  question marks surrounding the Bucs right now (banged up offensive line, receiver depth following the departure of Antonio Brown, lack of a reliable rushing attack) aren't going to matter-meaning that Matthew Stafford and this up-and-down defense are going to have to play a perfect game to counteract that and I'm just not very confident in their ability to make that happen.  

Kansas City Chiefs over Buffalo Bills: Ever since they came roaring back in the 2nd half of their narrow 33-27 loss to the Buccaneers back in Week 15, the Bills have looked like a different team. Josh Allen has arguably put together his most impressive string of games to date-dazzling with both his arms and his legs, the rushing attack has finally gotten on track with Devin Singletary finally showing some signs of life after an extremely underwhelming inaugural 3/4 of the season and the defense has been borderline impenetrable. That dominance was on full display last week as the Bills vanquished their longtime foe/torturer the Patriots by the score of 47-17 behind 374 total YDS and 5 passing TD's from Allen. 

Considering how well the Bills have been playing and offensively underwhelming by their own standards the Chiefs have been this season, picking against them here doesn't exactly seem wise. The only reason that I am is because I'm hedging my bets on what happened with the Chiefs last weekend. Coming out flat against the helpless Steelers for the first 1.5 quarters was the best possible thing that could've happened them to. That staggeringly slow start seems to have woken up a sleeping giant in their offense that's been at rest for most of the 2021 season. They were running all sorts of crazy plays downfield, Mahomes displayed the vintage swagger that's alluded him for most of the season and the rushing attack came alive for the first time this season in a game that wasn't against the leaky run D's of their AFC West peers in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. If they can keep that fire alive and their defense can maintain the well-rounded, disciplined form they displayed last week and for most of the back half of the season, they should be able to withstand the punches the Bills are going to throw at them.