Perhaps 14 teams is too many. The seven seeds lost their two games by a combined 38 points, and the Patriots, one of the six seeds, lost by 37 points.
And none of those three games were even that close.
But this, the Divisional Round, now that the fat has been trimmed, is always the best weekend of the year.
Cincinnati Bengals (+3.5) at Tennessee Titans
What a way for the Divisional Round weekend to kick off. It’s Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense versus Derrick Henry’s return (fingers crossed), a top-10 defense, and the top seed in the AFC.
Sometimes it’s good to have a bye, and other times it’s good to keep rolling. The Bengals got both, resting their starters in Week 18 and now going into Tennessee on the momentum of winning their first playoff game in 31 years.
This will be a close game, decided by a field goal or less, and look for the Bengals to cover.
San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers (-6)
Nick Bosa isn’t practicing, and we’re not sure he’s going to play. Jimmy Garoppolo has yet another injury he has to deal with. Meanwhile, the Packers are getting healthier, with both Za’Darius Smith and Jaire Alexander back at practice this week.
But even if they don’t play, this Packers team is chasing destiny. Look for the Packers to cover with the point spread at less than a touchdown.
Los Angeles Rams (+3) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs defense seems to be getting healthy, but their offense took another hit when All-Pro tight tackle Tristan Wirfs went down on Sunday with an ankle injury. He hasn’t been ruled out, but we do know he won’t practice until at least Friday. We also saw that without Wirfs, that offensive line struggled.
Now comes Aaron Donald, who specializes in making offensive lines struggle. The Rams looked great, they are healthy, and Matthew Stafford and company are primed to pull off the Divisional Round upset.
Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs (-2)
After Saturday night, it was apparent no one was going to beat Josh Allen and the Bills. He had 374 yards of offense and five touchdown passes.
Sunday night, it was evident that no one would beat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. He had 432 yards of offense and five touchdown passes.
So what do we make of this Sunday’s game between the two?
It’s going to be a classic and likely come down to the end. But the game is at Arrowhead Stadium – advantage Chiefs – and Patrick Mahomes has a .777 winning percentage in the postseason, which is better than both Tom Brady and Joe Montana.
It’s going to be a great Divisional Round game, with Kansas City winning by three points in the end.
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