NFL Divisional Round Prewiew

Tom+Brady+looks+to+capture+his+7th+ring%2C+and+first+with+his+new+team.+

Photo via wikimedia commons under creative commons license

Tom Brady looks to capture his 7th ring, and first with his new team.

Christopher Digricoli, Staff writer

After an electrifying weekend of football presented from Super Wild Card Weekend, NFL fans have to prepare themselves for the divisional round. 

Games start this Saturday at 4:35 p.m. EST with the Green Bay Packers playing against the Los Angeles Rams. After a bye week in the first round, Green Bay is looking forward to continuing their domination over opponents with probable MVP Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Wide Receiver Davante Adams. The Rams, powered behind their number one defense, face serious questions not only concerning their defense but their offense. Aaron Donald, although impactful when he played, was sidelined due to a rib injury last week against the Seahawks. Donald, clearly the number one Defensive Tackle in football right now, plays a major role in leading the Rams defense. For the offense, Wide Receiver Cooper Kupp is questionable with a knee injury. The question also comes up regarding the quarterback situation. Jared Goff played well last week but clearly was not himself after having surgery on his thumb only 11 days prior. The Rams should hope Cam Akers duplicates his totals from last week when he led the offense with his run game to victory. 

The Buffalo Bills host the Baltimore Ravens at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday as well. After getting revenge against the Titans, Lamar Jackson and his Baltimore Ravens are coming in hot against an always dangerous Buffalo Bills team. As customary, Lamar Jackson rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown, and he passed for another 179 yards. However, the Ravens offense is almost definitely going to have to score more than 20 points against the second highest ranked offense in the league. Josh Allen, a very capable dual threat Quarterback, is looking to ride off the hot hand and adrenaline of winning their first playoff game since 1995. Allen will likely be hooking up with his favorite target, Stefon Diggs, after Diggs caught 128 yards of Allen’s, 324 yards thrown. All in all fans are in for a battle of two well rounded teams.

The Sunday games start off at 3:05 p.m. with the Cleveland Browns facing off against the heavy favorites, Kansas City Chiefs. The Browns are coming off a stunning upset against their rivals Pittsburgh Steelers. After scoring 28 points in the first quarter however, the Browns dominance slowed down and Pittsburgh was given a chance to almost catch up, but time ran out. Now for the last eight weeks or so the Steelers have been a shaky team so this win almost does not come as a surprise for Browns fans. Cleveland will have to play with their foot on the gas all game against the reigning Super Bowl Champions, Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs all year have been dominant behind their MVP Quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes has a wide array of weapons to use from his running backs, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, to his wide receivers, Tyreke Hill, and tight end, Travice Kelce. The Chiefs defense is above average and always seems to rise to occasion in big games. Unfortunately for Browns fans, this may be the end of the road after making the playoffs for the first time since 2002. 

The final game is one for the history books with future Hall of Famers dueling it out, with Buccaneers Tom Brady playing against Saints Drew Brees. The legend of Tom Brady comes up again and looks to dominate once more in the playoffs as he’s done his entire career. Now with a loaded receiving core, including Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski, Brady seems unstoppable behind the Tampa Bay defense. Drew Brees, however, has the All-Pro running back Alvin Kamara and Wide Receiver Michael Thomas to throw too behind the second ranked defense in the league. This game sure is going to be a game for the ages!