The playoffs for the most popular sport in the United States are about to start and the competition is some of the greatest it has ever been. The first NFL playoff game takes place on January 4th at 4:20 PM when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Houston Texans. Based on the survey conducted by the Crimson, the Chiefs were voted to win by 83.3% of the students surveyed. They were even chosen to win by all of the NFL pick experts but Mike Ditka.
The only margin larger than that is the Seahawks vs. Vikings game, in which the Seahawks are predicted to win by all the experts and 77.8% of those surveyed. Although Minnesota is an underdog by all of the voters, their defense has only allowed a total of 1748 rushing yards, and with the Seahawks having to start their 3rd string running back due to injuries to Marshawn Lynch and Thomas Rawls, this could help Minnesota win this game.
The other two games being played on Wild Card Weekend are the Steelers vs the Bengals on Saturday night and Redskins vs Packers on Sunday night. The Steelers and the Bengals game is a very competitive match-up, and could be one of the closest games in this post-season. Although only three of the experts and 5.6% of students chose the Bengals, backup quarterback AJ McCarron is playing good football and is going against the mediocre Steelers defense, which is ranked only 22nd in the league. Additionally, it is ranked third to last in passing yards allowed. The only issue the Bengals could have is with the Steelers powerful offense, having Ben Roethlisberger in the pocket and 3 outstandingly reliable receivers in Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton. Since the Bengals have one of the best secondaries in the league, the Steelers may need to put the ball on the ground, so it is a good thing that Deangelo Williams has been playing flawless football with 907 yards and 11 touchdowns and he hasn’t even started the whole season.
The final game that will be played this wild card weekend is the Green Bay Packers against the Washington Redskins and could go either way. This is the only game where the survey and the experts disagree, and by a significant margin too. In the survey, 72.2% of students predicted Green Bay to win, while only 29.5% of experts took them to win. Kirk Cousins and the Redskins offense have been steamrolling defenses and getting results while Aaron Rodgers has had a troubled season behind a weak offensive line. That being said, the Redskins defense may not be able to get to Aaron Rodgers since they are one of the worst this season ranked at 28 while the Packers defense is ranked significantly higher. Statistically, this game is a tie, but there can only be one winner.
According to the survey, the NFC Championship will be between the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals with the Panthers moving on to Super Bowl 50. The AFC Championship was predicted to be between the Chiefs and the Patriots, with the Patriots moving on to beat the Panthers and become the Super Bowl Champion for the second consecutive year.
