NFL Super Wild Card Weekend predictions and results

Photo+courtesy+of+Creative+Commons.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

Alex Djordjevic, Staff Writer

After a regular season filled with hurdles, like injuries to many players early in the season, to teams losing players and staff for crucial games from contracting covid-19, this NFL season will go down in history as possibly the most difficult season ever. 

Luckily, the regular season has ended and that is where the playoffs begin. During the Washington Football Team vs. Philadelphia Eagles game last Sunday, the NFL announced the Super Wildcard Weekend where every wildcard game will be this weekend with three games on Saturday, and three games on Sunday. 

For Saturday, the No. 7 seed Indianapolis Colts will play the No. 2 seed Buffalo Bills, 1:05 p.m. ET. Prediction: The Buffalo Bills will win, because of the dynamic duo of Josh Allen (Bills starting QB) and Stefon Diggs (Bills WR) who have shown that they can dominate games, with Diggs having 127 rec (1st in league) and 1,535 yards (1st in league). It does not end with just those two players, they have a great defense with players like Tre’davious White, Tremaine Edmunds and Josh Norman. 

Final: Bills 27, Colts 24 

The next game on Saturday is No. 6 seed Los Angeles Rams at NFC No. 3 seed Seattle Seahawks, 4:40 p.m. ET. Prediction: Seattle Seahawks will win. Although the Seahaws will have to face a defense that has players like Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey, the Seahawks have a star studded offense with Russel Wilson at QB who has much playoff success. Also, they have possibly the best WR duo in the league with D.K Metcalf who is a big/strong WR who resembles the play style of Calvin Johnson (soon to be HOF WR). In addition, to that WR duo, they have Tyler Lockett who is a small and speedy WR who puts DB’s in the dust. With that being said, the Seahawks can definitely win, as long as they keep the ball in the air, and their defense steps up a bit since it has been a bit lackluster even with having guys like Jamal Adams on the defense. 

Final: LA Rams 30, Seahawks 20

Lastly for my predictions on Saturday games, it will be the No. 5 seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers at  No. 4 seed Washington Football Team, 8:15 p.m. ET. The Buccaneers definitely have the ability to dominate this game, as long as their amazing offense has Tom Brady (had 65.7% of passes completed for 4,633 throwing yards with 12 ints and a passer rating of 102.2.). They also have Antonio Brown who was signed midway through the season. They have Rob Gronkowski who was a teammate with Brady for the New England Patriots a few years ago and were one of the best duos ever who have shown glimpses of that throughout the season. Also, they have Chris Godwin who has 840 yards this season. Along with an amazing offense, they have a great defense that has improved a lot this season going from 15th beast defense in the NFL to the 6th best defense in the NFL. Overall, the Washington Football team has a solid defense, but lacks in a couple areas offensively, which should give the Buccaneers a dominant win.

Final: TB Buccaneers, 31, Washington FT 23 

For Sunday The No. 5 seed Baltimore Ravens will play at No. 4 seed Tennessee Titans, 1:05 p.m. ET. Prediction: the Tennessee Titans will win, because they have probably the best running back in the league, that person being Derrick Henry who had over 2,000 rushing yards this season which makes him the 8th player to ever do so in the NFL. Also they have QB Ryan Tanehill who has a great arm that can throw deep. Also, he has 3,819 yards, 33 td’s, 7 interceptions and a passer rating of 106.5. The Ravens are a great team that went on a 5 game winning streak to cap off the season, but those wins were against bad NFL teams. In Addition, they have not won a game against a good team for awhile and I can’t see them stopping Derrick Henry cause he’s really a running back the league has never seen the likes of.

Final: Raven 20, Titans 13

 The next wildcard game on Sunday is the No. 7 seed Chicago Bears at No. 2 seed New Orleans Saints, 4:40 p.m. ET. Prediction: the Saints will take a dominant win over the Bears. The Bears do have a decent defense having players like Kahlil Mack, but they really don’t have the weapons to stop the Saints stacked offense who have Michael Thomas who is one of the league’s greatest WR. In addition they have a bit of an underrated WR in Emannuel Sanders that they got last offseason, and they have running back Alvin Kamara who had 932 rushing yards, 16 td’s and 83 rec. Lastly, they have Drew Brees who may be in his last season in the NFL and is still a great QB having 2,942 yards, 24 td’s, 6 interceptions and a passer rating of 106.4. 

Final: Saints 21, Bears 9

For the last Wildcard game this weekend, the No. 6 seed Cleveland Browns play against No. 3 seed Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:15 p.m. ET. Prediction: the Pittsburgh Steelers will win on Sunday, because if they can play well in the red zone, they might take a dominant win. Also, they have possibly the best defense in the league with players like T.J Watt, Minkah Flitzpatick and Cameron Heyward who have all had amazing seasons. Likewise, the Cleveland Browns have a few players and staff that will be out on Sunday due to contracting Covid-19, which I feel will give the Steelers an even better chance to win on Sunday. All in all, I’m very excited for the wildcard weekend and I can’t Wait to see how amazing each game will hopefully be.

Final: Browns 48, Steelers 37