First up, we got the Wild Card Winning Indianapolis Colts taking the AFC West Winning Kansas City Chiefs. Indy is coming in off their dominating 21-7 win over Houston in the Wild Card round. This marks the 3rd straight divisional round appearance for the Colts, who are looking to get back to the AFC Title game for the first time since 2014. Indy is now 23-23 lifetime in the playoffs. After finishing the regular season with a 12-4 record, the Chiefs won the AFC West for the 3rd straight year. This also marks the 4th straight playoff appearance for the Chiefs, who are looking for their first playoff win since 2015. Kansas City is looking to reach the AFC title game for the first time since 1993. Kansas City is 9-18 lifetime in the playoffs. This marks the 5th all time playoff meeting between the teams, with the Colts having won the previous four meetings. These two didn't meet during the regular season.
Indy coming off their dominating win over Houston last week have a much tougher test this week against the best team in the AFC. Andrew Luck has been good this year, really good in fact. A lot of credit for the resurgence should go to his offensive line for keeping him upright this year. He's been able to get into a groove with TY Hilton all year, who had another strong showing against Houston last week. Same thing with Marlon Mack, who had a monster game against the Texans. That line of Indy's is going to have a good test going against the front seven of the Chiefs this weekend. Indy has come in red hot, including last week having won eight of their last nine games and five in a row. A big help to Indy has been their defense, which hasn't allowed a team to score more than 30 points in a game against them since the middle of October
But they are going up against a different Chiefs team then what we saw five years ago when KC blew a 28 point halftime lead to the Colts. Kansas City has been a very battle tested team, with Patrick Mahomes playing at an MVP level all season long. He threw 50 touchdown passes and for over 5,000 yards this season, so we know he can bring it this year. Plus, the four losses that KC has suffered this year have all been to playoff teams (Patriots, Rams, Chargers and Seahawks) and all by seven points or less. KC has a defense that will be able to get pressure on Andrew Luck, which could cause a little trouble for the Colts QB.
This is going to be a fun game to watch, a battle of two great QB's this season. KC has been near perfect at home this year, falling only to the Chargers late in the season at home. Yes the Colts are hot right now, but the Chiefs have the better overall team and, in a tough game, should be able to hang on and take the victory.
Prediction: Chiefs 30, Colts 20
Dallas got a big win last week against Seattle, with Zek Elliott rushing for 134 yards. Dak Prescott has a little more pressure on him. Why? because it gets magnified because of how well Zek has played. He got his first playoff win under his belt already, but this is an even bigger test going against one of the best teams in the game. He's been good since the Boys added Amari Cooper to the mix, who did have 105 receiving yards last week. Its starting to show a little more balance for this Dallas attack, where at one point it had been a focus on just the run game. And lets not take anything away from the Cowboys defense, who last week kept Seattle in check. DeMarcus Lawrence leads a fearsome front seven that can cause a lot of damage, so its something for the Rams to keep an eye on.
Los Angeles shouldn't have a problem keeping up in the run game with Zek. They have a guy named Todd Gurely and he's kinda good. Jared Goff will get what he's got coming to him, his first ever playoff win. Dallas is good, but the Rams are just better
Prediction: Rams 34, Cowboys 30
Los Angeles is coming off the win last week which saw Mike Badgley set a franchise record by hitting five field goals in the win over the Ravens. The only problem that could be facing the Chargers this week is Melvin Gordon's health. If he can't operate at full strength, then the Chargers balanced attack could be severely thrown out of balance. Also Philip Rivers, while a very good quarterbakc, seems to be average at best come this time of the year. One of the big things that the Chargers have going for them is their defensive diversity. They use a secondary heavy defense. A scheme that could cause problems for New England. That and with pass rushers like Mark Ingram and Joey Bosa, putting pressure on the Patriots shouldn't be much trouble.
Of course, given the Patriots history in the playoffs, they have no problem adjusting their packages and schemes to fit the narrative. New England's offense has looked its best this season when employing a power-running attack with rookie Sony Michel, who averages 71.6 rush this season. The air attack can still use guys like James White and Rob Gronkowski, and Brady can still get done what he needs to get done on the offensive side of the football.
This is going to be a pretty easy pick. Last week Baltimore did all their scoring late, and by that point the game was out of reach. New England won't have to worry about it. As a matter of fact, they can score in different ways that can confuse the Chargers defense. New England has only lost three times at home under the current system. The Chargers won't be the one to change that this time around.
Prediction: Patriots 37, Chargers 34
Philly had a little bit of luck on their side with the deflection at the line on the final kick against Chicago last week. They might have a tougher test this week. Sure, Nick Foles still has magic come playoff time, he's shown that over the last two years. Golden Tate was solid in last week's in over the Bears and could be Foles big target again this week. Tate and Zach Ertz are going to be the go to's again for Foles this week, who's hoping to get a little more support out of his running game.
New Orleans has an elite offense, which is powered by the running attack of Mark Ingram and Alvan Kamara. Its been taking some of the pressure of the high powered pass attack which is lead by Drew Brees. Ted Gin Jr and Michael Thomas are going to be more than ready to take passes from Brees, New Orleans has the defense to put pressure on Foles, something that the Eagles had trouble with against the Bears last week.
New Orleans is in a groove right now, having already beaten up the Eagles once. There's nothing that says it can't happen again now. Look, Philly is going to put up a solid fight, there's no denying that. But the Saints have been fighting with the Rams for the top team in the conference all year, which means they're good. Eagles put up a good game, but the Saints are moving on.
Prediction: Saints 40, Eagles 30
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