As good as the wild-card round was around the NFL, the
divisional playoffs this coming weekend are expected to be even better. Given what we saw last weekend, that’s hard to believe.
Even then, all four games offer a tremendous amount of
intrigue. Over in the AFC, Indianapolis heads into Kansas City to take on the
No. 1 seed Chiefs having won 10 of its past 11 games. Meanwhile, Philip Rivers
will look for a career-defining win against Tom Brady and the Patriots in New
England.
The NFC doesn’t lack storylines, either. We're intrigued to
see what Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys can do in Los Angeles against a
quarterback in Jared Goff who must prove naysayers wrong. And in New Orleans,
the defending champion Eagles will look to continue riding the magic that is Nick Foles.
These are among the top storylines for the NFL Divisional
Playoffs.
PROTECTING HOME FIELD
IN GILLETTE
New England was the only NFL team to finish the regular
season with a perfect 8-0 mark at home. Tom Brady and Co. outscored their
opponents by an average of 16.3 points per game in those eight outings. This
included wins over eventual playoff teams in that of the Texans, Colts and
Chiefs. It’s also important to note that all eight of New England’s Super Bowl
appearances under Bill Belichick came after the team hosted a divisional round
matchup.
Though, Philip Rivers and Co. are not your normal
opponent. By virtue of its win over Baltimore on Sunday, Los Angeles is
a perfect 8-0 when playing outside of Southern California. Rivers is a grizzled
veteran. He proved that in the wild-card round against an elite Ravens defense
in conditions that suggested the Chargers would get blown out.
Don’t put it past the future Hall of Famer to go into Gillette and come away
with a rare win.
SAINTS SET UP WELL
AT HOME
The Eagles might have come out on top against Chicago in the
wild-card round, but there are still a whole lot of questions this team needs
to answer heading into next week’s game against the NFC’s No. 1 seed. We’re
wondering whether Philadelphia’s greenish secondary can hold up against the
onslaught of Drew Brees and Michael Thomas at the Superdome. Remember, Mitchell
Trubisky ate this unit apart at times in the second half this past Sunday
night. That’s no small thing.
If New Orleans’ 48-7 win over the Eagles back in November is
any indication, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and Co. will be in for a
rude awakening. The Saints put up 546 total yards and 28 first downs in the
blowout win. They also won by an average of 18-plus points at home during the
regular season. Common logic suggests New Orleans will roll into the NFC
Championship Game with a win over Philly this coming weekend.
JARED GOFF MUST
PROVE NAYSAYERS WRONG
For as good as Goff has been in two seasons under Sean
McVay, there’s still a question about his ability to perform well in big games. Prior to a get-right
outing against a bad 49ers team in Week 17, Goff had thrown two touchdowns
compared to six interceptions in his previous four games. Remember, he also
completed just over half of his passes in a playoff loss to the Atlanta Falcons
last year. That came with the Rams hosting Atlanta at Los Angeles Coliseum.
To say that Saturday night’s game is going to be no walk in
the park would be an understatement. Fresh off a brilliant performance against Seattle last week, the Cowboys’
defense has proven itself to be among the best in the game. We’re highly
intrigued to see how well Goff plays under these circumstances, especially with
Cowboys fans prepared to take over his home stadium on prime-time
television.
CHIEFS HAVE A
MAJOR PROBLEM AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS
The Colts’ win over Houston in the wild-card round was
eye-opening as the team relied on a dominant rushing attack and a stingy
defense to take out the division champions on the road. These are two areas
that have been foreign to the Colts during Andrew Luck’s tenure. Heck, issues
on the ground date all the way back to Peyton Manning. In taking out Houston by
the score of 21-7, Indy went for 200 rushing yards on 35 attempts.
This could be a huge issue for a lackluster Chiefs defense
that was eaten alive on the ground during the regular year. Kansas City gave up
100-plus rushing yards in all but four of its games and ranked 27th overall in
that category. If Marlon Mack and Co. can get it going, that will take Patrick
Mahomes off the field and help Indianapolis control the flow of the game. This
could be huge.
PHILIP RIVERS
LOOKING FOR THAT CAREER-DEFINING WIN
Rivers has shown over the past several seasons that he’s a
borderline Hall of Fame quarterback. But the Chargers’ veteran simply doesn’t
have that career-defining victory. Los Angeles has never made it past the
divisional round since Rivers took over for Drew Brees as the starter some 13
years ago. That’s a big chip on the veteran’s shoulder — one that he would like
to overcome against the game’s best ever in that of Tom Brady.
The good news for Rivers is two-fold. His Chargers have
played exceptionally well since a slow start to Anthony Lynn’s career as head
coach back in 2017. In fact, Los Angeles has won 22 of 29 games since an 0-4 start
to last season. It was also 8-1 on the road during the regular year. That
should give Rivers and Co. some hope that they can defeat a Patriots team that
did not lose in eight home tries this past regular season.
IT’S ALL ABOUT ST.
NICK IN NEW ORLEANS
On the surface, Philadelphia has no real shot against the
Saints this coming weekend. New Orleans absolutely blew out the Eagles during
the regular season and can be as dominating as any team at home. These Eagles
don’t boast the experience and talent in the secondary to keep up with the
Saints’ vaunted offense. Michael Thomas should eat. MVP candidate Drew Brees
should dominate.
That’s all fine and dandy. But the Eagles have the magic of
Nick Foles working for them. After leading the team on a game-winning touchdown
drive against an elite Bears defense in the wild-card round, Foles is now 9-2
since his return to the Eagles last season. That includes a perfect 4-0 mark in
the playoffs. Foles has been nothing short of extraordinary in the crunch
time. He has the trust and confidence of his team. Sure the Saints
should come out on top here. In no way does that mean it will happen.
MAHOMES OUT TO PROVE
EXPECTATIONS ARE JUSTIFIED
The wild-card round saw young quarterbacks Mitchell
Trubisky, Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson lose their first-ever playoff start.
It was the same story with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff in last
year’s playoffs. This is a story that’s not kind to Mahomes’ chances of coming
out on top against a seasoned signal caller in Andrew Luck and the Colts during
the divisional round.
That’s until we realize just how darn good Mahomes was as a first-year starter during the
2018 campaign. We already know about the single-season records he broke. We also know Mahomes led one
of the most-prolific offenses in NFL history. But it’s what he did against
top-end competition that should have Chiefs fans excited. Mahomes accounted for
27 touchdowns and six interceptions in seven games against teams that finished
the regular season with a winning record. He’s more than capable of going
tit-for-tat with Luck and Co. here.
KEEP FEEDING
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT, COWBOYS
The Cowboys’ formula for success is rather simple. Get
Ezekiel Elliott the ball 20-plus times and come away with a win. The NFL’s
leading rusher from the regular season put up 169 yards on 30 touches in
Dallas’ wild-card win over Seattle last week. Since entering the league back in
2016, the Cowboys are 23-7 when Elliott attempts 20-plus runs. When he fails to
reach that plateau, Dallas is just 6-6.
It goes without saying that teams will win more games when
they run the ball at a high clip. Under those circumstances, said teams are
usually playing with a lead. Even then, the splits referenced above are too
obvious to ignore. Dallas needs to feed Zeke, especially given that the Rams
finished this past regular season in the bottom 10 of the NFL stopping the run
and gave up north of five yards per attempt.
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