The NFL playoffs get underway beginning this Saturday, with an NFC wildcard matchup and an AFC wildcard matchup.
In the AFC, they get the postseason going with a late afternoon game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Houston Texans. The Texans probably didn’t expect that they would be playing this weekend, when looking back a few weeks. Houston sat at 11-1, but lost three of their last four games of the regular season and come stumbling in. Instead of a first-round bye and home-field advantage, the Texans will be hosting a playoff game against the Bengals in the wildcard round.
Cincinnati makes it with a wildcard berth for the second-straight season. The Bengals closed out the season with seven wins in their last eight games to make a nice run. The Bengals have played very well over the last couple of weeks of the season, and looked primed to try and get a playoff win under their belt. It certainly won’t be easy. The good news is that second-year quarterback Andy Dalton has playoff experience, and should have the benefit of learning from last season.
In the NFC matchup, it will take place in primetime with a rematch from last week when the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers square off.
The Vikings got the win last week, needing it to get into the playoffs. Minnesota accomplished that at home, but now will have to go to Lambeau Field in January, which is certainly a difficult environment.
We know that Green Bay will once again get a heavy dose of Adrian Peterson, who ran for 199 yards last week, and came up just nine yards short of breaking the all-time NFL rushing record.
But the big thing for Minnesota is that they are in the playoffs. Getting a win on the road over the Packers won’t be an easy task though. Fortunately, the familiarity of playing just six days earlier could help.
Both of these games will be televised on NBC, with Cincy/Hou kicking off at 4:30pm ET, and Minn/GB at 8pm ET.