Weekend guide to the NFL playoffs

This weekend the NFL kicks-off it’s post-season and there are some very good games on the schedule. But who plays where and what kind of game will it actually be? Here’s a look.

Carolina, Denver, New England, and Arizona all have the week off. A gift from the NFL for having the best records in each conference. That leaves eight teams taking the field and four games to watch this weekend.

The post-season starts with Kansas City and Houston. The game will kick-off at 4:35 eastern on ESPN Saturday afternoon.

The Chiefs role into Houston on a big streak of wins. The Chiefs started very similar to the Miami Dolphins but despite injuries they pieced together a strong run that locked up a playoff birth in week 16. The Texans, like the Chiefs, got better as the season continued and they beat out the Colts to take the AFC South division.

The Chiefs have been very good offensively but they will face a top defensive unit in Houston led by J.J. Watt. Defensively the Chiefs have played very well too and they will face a Houston offense that has been inconsistent throughout the season.

Prediction – Chiefs 30 – Texans 17

Steelers at Bengals

Saturday at 8:15 eastern on CBS

Saturday night will pit the Steelers against the Bengals in Cincinnati. This could be one of the best games of the weekend. The Bengals will be starting A.J. McCarron at QB while the Steelers will try and take advantage of the inexperience.

The Bengals have a very good defense but is it a match for a better Pittsburgh offense? Maybe not. The Bengals can put points on the board but they will need to against the Steelers who have a plethora of weapons.

Prediction – Steelers 36 – Bengals 27

Seattle at Minnesotta

Sunday at 1:05 on NBC

At 1:05 on Sunday the Seahawks will play the Vikings in Minnessota. The Vikings are hot right now and so are the Seahawks. The Vikings beat the Seahawks in regular season but Seattle has improved since and will be getting Marshawn Lynch back as well.

Seattle’s Russel Wilson has been playing very good as of late and the Seahawks offense could be methodical enough to beat the Vikings stellar defense. The Vikings beat the Packers last Sunday night to win the NFC North and Seattle was runner up to Arizona in the West.

The game figures to be a very good battle on both sides of the ball where the team who makes the most mistakes will be spending the rest of the season at home.

Seattle – 28 – Vikings 24

Packers at Redskins

Sunday at 4:40 eastern on Fox

Sunday afternoon will wrap the first round with the Packers visiting the Redskins. The Packers are on a quick downturn and playing very poorly on both sides of the ball. Especially on offense. There may not be a hotter quarterback right now than the Redskins Kirk Cousins.

Cousins led the Redskins to an early first half lead last week against Dallas and then sat out the second half. He has been one of, if not the best quarterback in the NFL the last month. Cousins should find no problem beating a weakened Green Bay defense who lost to the Vikings last week.

Offensively for the Packers it all comes down to Aaron Rodgers and more specifically the surrounding players who have been horrible as of late. Rodgers has said the team will step up when it matters. It mattered last week and they still lost…albeit closely.

Redskins (Sorry mom) – 45 – Packers 36