The playoffs have finally arrived and the matchups are intriguing to say the least. Who is going to come out victorious and make it to the next round?
#7 Philadelphia Eagles vs. #2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Sunday @ 1:00pm
The Line: Tampa Bay -8.5, O/U 46, courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook (as of Wednesday, 1/12/2022)
No one outside the city of Philadelphia thought that the Eagles would be in this position, this season, considering that the Eagles hired a rookie coach and are led by a young QB in Jalen Hurts. But alas, the Eagles battled their way to the #7 seed and earned themselves a game against the best quarterback of all time and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The main thing going for the Eagles is that many of the offensive weapons that Tom Brady has relied on throughout the season aren’t going to be available. The main focal point for the Eagles’ defense should be to take away Mike Evans and Rob Gronkowski as best they can and force Brady to hold on to the ball a little bit longer. With Fletcher Cox and the Eagles’ pass rush on the other side it will be imperative to make Brady uncomfortable in the pocket. Offensively the Eagles have to find a way to run the ball effectively against the Bucs’ 3rd ranked rushing defense, even with Hurts finding himself on the injury report with an ankle and Miles Sanders also limited in practice on Wednesday they will need to find a way. Even though this team was 0-6 against teams with a winning record in the 2021 regular season, the Eagles have a better chance of winning this game than people may think.
As for the Buccaneers, reinforcements on defense come back to practice after stints on the IR. Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett come back to assist Vita Vea and a Bucs’ defense that has been decimated by injuries in the past few weeks. It’s the same story on offense, where top target Chris Godwin and star receiver Antonio Brown will not take the field on Sunday. For the Bucs to win this game, Brady and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich are going to have to get creative to scheme around an Eagles defense exceeding expectations. Defensively, Todd Bowles will have his hands full trying to contain the Eagles potent rushing attack and trying to keep Jalen Hurts in the pocket.
THE PICK: Honestly, I love the Eagles with the points. I think the Eagles will run the ball effectively, especially since the Bucs are still pretty banged up on defense despite getting two crucial pieces back. This also keeps Brady off the field, and even when he’s on the field, I think the Eagles’ pass rush will pressure Brady into making mistakes. EAGLES +8.5
#6 San Francisco 49ers vs. #3 Dallas Cowboys
The Line: Dallas -3, O/U 51, courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook (as of Wednesday, 1/12/2022)
The 49ers found themselves in a dogfight with the LA Rams that ended up with them victorious and with the #6 seed in the NFC. For the 49ers, they are going to have their hands full when they travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys on Sunday. In order for them to have a shot at the first round upset, Jimmy Garoppolo is going to have to play as well as he did on Sunday, despite having a torn UCL in his right thumb. Even with this injury, Jimmy G may have himself a great day in the air because of the Cowboys defense woes, they are in the bottom half of the league when it comes to passing yards allowed. What will be also crucial to the 49er’s success in this game is getting the running game established. With Elijah Mitchell still dealing with a knee injury, star wide receiver Deebo Samuel should be more of a factor in the running game than in the air, expect Samuel to see a ton of targets and touches through the game. While Samuel is going to be the number one option, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle round out the passing threats that need to have big days for San Francisco to succeed. Defensively, it will be tough for the 49ers to stop the combo of Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb while also trying to keep Ezekiel Elliot and Tony Pollard in check. It’s a tall task for everything here to happen, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
For the Cowboys, the game plan should be simple. Let Zeke set the tone on the ground, especially since he is now fully healthy. By letting him pound the rock, it will keep the 49ers’ defense honest, which will open up the passing game for Dak Prescott. He already has a star wide receiver tandem in both Cooper and Lamb and has a solid safety blanket in Dalton Schultz. All Prescott has to do is feed them the ball and let them operate in space. On the defensive side of the ball, the main goal is to force Jimmy G into mistakes when he drops back, which will most likely lead to at least 1 Trevon Diggs interception. As long as they key in on Deebo Samuel and George Kittle, Dallas should be in good shape.
THE PICK: With so much talent on both sides of the ball, it’s extremely difficult to not take Dallas here. With such a cache of offensive weapons and a defense that will constantly try to create turnovers, the 49ers will be in for a rough day. So long as Mike McCarthy doesn’t mismanage his timeouts, the clock or his challenges (which is always a strong possibility), Dallas will be moving on to the next round. DALLAS -4
#5 Arizona Cardinals vs. #4 Los Angeles Rams
The Line: Los Angeles -4, O/U 49.5, courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook (as of Wednesday, 1/12/2022)
We are in for a treat this coming Monday night with a division playoff game between the Arizona Cardinals and the LA Rams. For the Cardinals, last week’s game against the Seahawks highlighted some of the issues that have been plaguing them all season. For one, the offensive line let up 5 sacks in Week 18, which isn’t a good sign now that Aaron Donald and Von Miller will be looking to make a statement. The offensive line is going to have to play extremely well for Kyler Murray to find his targets against a Rams defense that was in the middle of the pack this year. James Conner and Chase Edmonds will need to get going early and often in order to keep Donald and Miller honest so they don’t pin their ears back and rush Murray all game. On the defensive side of the ball, JJ Watt is making a miraculous comeback and was taken off IR this past week. If he can lead the rush against Matt Stafford and force him into throwing interceptions, the Cardinals have a very good chance to advance to the next round.
As for the star-studded Rams, it is going to be difficult to run the ball effectively against the Cardinals who rank in the top 10 when it comes to rushing defense. This means that Matthew Stafford is going to have to keep the interception count to zero against this feisty Cardinals defense. It does help that he has Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Odell Beckham Jr, and Van Jefferson at wide receiver. He needs to get them the ball as often and as safely as possible. Should that happen, the Rams should have no problem scoring points at will. Defensively, Aaron Donald and Von Miller are going to have to make their presence felt early by stuffing Conner and Edmonds. Once they take care of that, they can do what they do best and make Kyler Murray’s day an absolute nightmare.
THE PICK: Stafford has been struggling recently with keeping the ball away from opposing cornerbacks. Despite the fact he as All-Pro talent at WR, he just cannot stop throwing interceptions (17 in 2021, 8 in the last 4 games). The other thing to point out is that this year in their divisional series, the road team has won both times. Yet with both of these facts in mind, I still believe that the Rams are just too talented at some of the most important positions to lose this game. The last time Stafford played the Cardinals he played well, and this time around will be no different. RAMS -4