OK. Time for the sequel to yesterday’s playoff preview. Let’s get right into tomorrow’s games:
Ravens-Titans
At first glance, Ravens-Titans has all the makings of a premier Wild Card matchup: two good teams that played each other in the playoffs last year, with the Titans trying to win their third straight against Baltimore and Lamar Jackson hoping to avoid starting his playoff career 0-3.
I really want to believe this game will be good, but I just can’t get there. I expect Lamar Jackson to end his postseason troubles with relative ease and the Titans to have one of those stinkers they farted out at points during this season. Blowout losses to Green Bay, Cleveland, and Indianapolis as well as a no-show against Cincinnati come to mind.
I will not trust the Titans on a big stage. Whenver you think they’ll flip, they flop. When you expect them to zag, they zig. Tennessee already had their magical run through the playoffs last year. Are they really going to do it again?
Last year, Tennessee came into Baltimore as underdogs fresh off a win over the Patriots on Wild Card Weekend to face the 14-2, one-seed, seemingly invincible Ravens with the unanimous MVP Lamar Jackson at the helm. Nobody believed in them except for themselves, and I bet they used that as fuel to power their 28-12 stunning romp in last year’s game.
But this year, where’s the fuel?* Now they host Baltimore as a division champion and everybody knows the Titans can play, and they already beat the Ravens earlier in the season. Now that they’ve proved they can beat Baltimore, this playoff game feels almost anticlimactic for them.
*commercial idea for Hess, Citgo, Mobil, or any gas station out there
But for the Ravens, it’s anything but anticlimactic. They have revenge on their minds. They want to show the world that those first two games were flukes. When you look at this game from a motivation standpoint, the Ravens have the Titans beat by kilometers.
It’s only a matter of time before the Ravens finally figure out how to contain Derrick Henry. I say that time is now. Add in that Lamar Jackson is hungrier than a brown bear after hibernation, and things don’t look good for Tennessee.
Bears-Saints
Nick nick nick na-nick nick nick, nickelodeon!
And what better matchup to put on Nick than Squidward-arm Drew Brees against Mitch Trubisky, who has about as much pocket presence as the Chum Bucket has customers.
Trubisky going against the ferocious Saints defense is a recipe for disaster. The Bears may score negative points tomorrow afternoon, and even that’s looking at the glass half-full. In a worse case scenario, the Bears might not even finish the game due to extreme public humiliation.
However, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, they have a real chance of winning this game. With Alvin Kamara’s status in question and Chicago’s own exceptional defense at the ready, there’s no reason why they can’t edge out a 16-13 grinder and pull off the upset.
I’m having trouble mustering up any confidence in either of these two teams to come out on top. I expect that whoever wins will take advantage of a couple bone-headeded mistakes, whether it be Drew Brees underthrowing his receivers by 10 yards or Trubisky, well, being Trubisky.
If Alvin Kamara can’t play, that’s a big deal. That would take away the Saints’ clear advantage in this matchup and give the backfield edge to the Bears and David Montgomery, who quietly finished with a 1,000-yard season and tied James Robinson of the Jaguars for fifth in the NFL in rushing yards.
What a world it would be for the 5-1 Bears to turn into the 5-7 Bears, yet still make the playoffs and beat the Saints in the first round. Losing the Double Doink game two years ago as division winners, but winning a game in a season where even Helen Keller would have been alert enough to write you off after Week 13.
I don’t know. I’m starting to talk myself into daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Bears.
Browns-Steelers
Leading up to this game, even before this week, the story for Cleveland has been players and coaches dropping like flies due to the coronavirus.
The Browns couldn’t clinch a playoff spot in Week 16, losing to the Jets with backups to the backups at offensive lineman, wide receiver, and linebacker. Then, in Week 17, they hung on by a thread to beat these same Steelers, but with Mason Rudolph at quarterback and Pittsburgh giving some key guys the day off.
Now that thread might be ready to snap.
The Browns will not only be without important players such as All-Pro offensive lineman Joel Bitonio, but also missing will be the guy that calls the shots: head coach Kevin Stefanski. What a bummer for Stefanski, becoming the hero of Cleveland and leading the Brown to the playoffs for the first time in 18 years, and he can’t even bask in the glory.
So here come the Browns, limping into Pittsburgh with three-quarters of a roster and some head coach named Mike Priefer. I can’t imagine they’ll pull it off.
Still, it’s not like Pittsburgh is unbeatable or any adjective even close to that. After starting 11-0, the Steelers lost four out of their last five games, including at home to the Washington Football Team and in primetime against Ryan Finley. Who in Davey Jones’ locker is Ryan Finley and how did he beat the Steelers?
So I don’t know. You have two teams that played their best football many weeks ago, with Pittsburgh’s fake 11-0 start and Cleveland’s 5-1 stretch after their bye week (with the one loss in that Monday Night thriller against Baltimore) until COVID-19 took a little wind out of their sails.
In cases like this, I trust the veteran quarterback and the coach with oodles more playoff experience, and it’s in Pittsburgh. Really, the only possible thing that could work to the Browns’ favor would be their run game or a bit of magic.
But based on the way the final weeks of the season have gone for Cleveland, I think the magic has run out. The Steelers win in a boring one and the Browns’ last playoff win will still be 25 years old come Monday morning.
Now that I got my thoughts down for each game, I am SIKED to watch it all unfold. NFL playoffs: one of the sections on the sports calendar that make that day when only the ESPYs are on or those slow Tuesday nights all worth it.
Let’s have another awesome January.
CHILL YOURSELF DYLAN WOODS 