THE BIG BOYS GET IN THE GAME.
The opening weekend of the NFL playoffs featured some decent football. There were road victories Saturday by the Tennessee Titans in Kansas City and the Atlanta Falcons in Los Angeles, followed by home wins Sunday by the Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints. The Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers joined the Chiefs and Rams in exiting the post-season.
Now things really get serious, as the top two seeds in each conference — the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC and the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings in the NFC — get into the mix in the conference semifinals this coming weekend.
Here’s a quick look at each of the matchups:
Titans at Patriots
Saturday, 8:15 p.m. (CBS) The Titans’ huge comeback Saturday in Kansas City kept the Patriots from having to face the Chiefs, who won in stunning fashion in Foxborough, Massachusetts, to open the regular season. Marcus Mariota, Tennessee’s third-year quarterback, did a little bit of everything against the Chiefs in his first NFL playoff game, catching a touchdown pass that he threw (thanks to a deflection) and throwing the key block on the victory-sealing, firstdown run.
But there’s no reason to believe that the Titans can go to Foxborough and win, or even do anything to prevent the expected Steelers-Patriots rematch in the AFC championship game. The Patriots won’t hand away a game the way the Chiefs did, and they’ve have had an extra week to rest and get ready despite dealing with all the talk of a rift between quarterback Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft. No one knows better than the Patriots how to turn all of that into a motivational ploy in their favour. The Patriots win this one relatively easily.
Pick: Patriots
Jaguars at Steelers
Sunday, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)
This is a rematch of the regular season game in Pittsburgh won easily by the Jaguars, 30-9, in early October. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw five interceptions in that game and then wondered publicly whether he had it any more. He does.
It’s been a lengthy break for Roethlisberger and tailback Le’Veon Bell after they rested during the triumph over the Cleveland Browns to close the regular season. But they’re experienced players who should bounce back just fine. The biggest issue for the Steelers is the health of wide receiver Antonio Brown after suffering a calf injury against the Patriots in Week 15. The Jaguars can rush the passer and they can run the football, making them a threat to give the Steelers a game.
The Jacksonville defence was dominant Sunday against the Bills. But that was while facing Tyrod Taylor, not Roethlisberger. Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles had more rushing yards than passing yards against Buffalo. He cannot be trusted to throw the ball with any accuracy or consistency.
Pick: Steelers
Falcons at Eagles
Saturday, 4:35 p.m. (NBC) The Falcons were dismissed by some as a pretender rather than a contender at times during the regular season, particularly when they looked so dreadful during a defeat at New England in the Super Bowl rematch. And while quarterback Matt Ryan failed to duplicate his league MVP exploits of last season and the offence has suffered following coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s move to become the 49ers head coach, the sixth-seeded Falcons suddenly appear formidable again. The defence was very good in Saturday night’s upset of the third-seeded Rams in Los Angeles. The Falcons generated turnovers on special teams and the offence made the plays it needed to make.
Now the Falcons get some good fortune as they head to Philadelphia to face a No. 1 seed that’s about as vulnerable as they get. The Eagles were shut out by the Dallas Cowboys in their regular season finale and, predictably, they haven’t been the same team since losing their second-year quarterback and MVP front-runner, Carson Wentz, to a season-ending knee injury. Fill-in starter Nick Foles has inspired little confidence, to the point that coach Doug Pederson has been asked about the possibility of going to backup Nate Sudfeld if things aren’t going well. Foles is capable of playing well. The Eagles have enough good players around him that it’s possible they could turn things around. But it’s tough to count on that.
Pick: Falcons
Saints at Vikings
Sunday, 4:40 p.m. (Fox) The Saints held on late to beat the Panthers on Sunday in probably the weekend’s best-played game. The New Orleans offence was balanced during the regular season, but the Saints relied heavily Sunday on the passing of quarterback Drew Brees when Carolina’s defence made stopping the running game its top priority. The Vikings probably won’t make that same mistake, so the Saints might have to rely more heavily on the running of Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara.
The Vikings are the NFC’s No. 2 seed but probably are the conference’s Super Bowl favourite entering the post-season given the recent struggles of the Wentz-less Eagles. They could become the first team to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium. Even so, don’t forget it’s a quarterback matchup of Case Keenum vs. Brees. Keenum has been terrific all season, playing at a near-MVP level. But at some point, he’s going to revert, isn’t he? Will it be now, under the bright post-season spotlight?
Pick: Saints