NFL Wild Card Weekend 2016

Welcome back, everybody! It is Wildcard Weekend! The 2015 season is over, and the season that began with 32 teams seeking to play Super Bowl 50 has been reduced to a field of 12. Of course with the end of the season comes Black Monday. Chip Kelley was fired the week before the end of the season, Tom Coughlin stepped down in New York, Lovie Smith's firing in Tampa Bay surprised everyone, while no one was surprised when Mike Pettine was let go in Cleveland. An even bigger surprise was the Colts hanging on to Chuck Pagano and the Saints retaining Sean Payton. Of course, most of us know there are others still waiting to learn their fate.

As Wild Card weekend begins, let's take a fond look back at my picks from the beginning of the season.

NFC East-Dallas Cowboys, NFC West-Seattle Seahawks, NFC South-Carolina Panthers, NFC North-Green Bay Packers
AFC East-New England Patriots, AFC West-Kansas City Chiefs, AFC South-Indianapolis Colts, AFC North-Baltimore Ravens
Wildcards: NFC-Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints/AFC-Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers
NFC Champion-Green Bay Packers/AFC Champion-Kansas City Chiefs
Super Bowl 50 Champion-Kansas City

Okay, I really tanked choosing the Cowboys, Washington won the East, Arizona the West, Minnesota the North, and I was on the money with Carolina, but only two of my NFC picks did not make the playoffs, as Seattle and Green Bay are both playing wildcard weekend. Sorry, Saints and Cowboys. Not really, Cowboys.

On the AFC side, I correctly called the East (which really wasn't a stretch), but Denver won the West, Cincinnati the North, and Houston won the South. Like with the NFC, only two of my picks didn't make the playoffs, as both Indianapolis and Baltimore both lost their starting quarterbacks and their seasons. Better luck next year, guys.

I picked Green Bay and Kansas City Chiefs to play the Super Bowl with the Chiefs winning. Honestly, I was mostly hoping. Hope is still there, but as a pessimistic Chiefs fan, I watch every game with only one eye open. My Chiefs have lost sooooooooooooooooooooo many first round playoff games. I mean, I know you have heard that the Chiefs haven't won a playoff game since Joe Montana was quarterback. They have won 10 straight games. I'm not bragging. Just stating facts. Please, please, please...Sigh...


Last week, I wrapped my season with a 10-6 finish with my final tally at 144-97. Wild Card Weekend finds the Patriots and the Broncos with byes in the AFC, while the Panthers and the Cardinals are relaxing in the NFC. Let's see how well I perform this Wild Card Weekend.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Texans-No one expected either one of these teams to be here neither at the beginning of the year, nor the middle of the year. Both found a fire that has landed both in the playoffs. As much as I like J.J. Watt, I'm going to have to pick the Chiefs. I'm just going to leave it at that.


Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals-These two teams just flat out hate each other, and I expect it to be chippy early. Each team has won a game in the series this year, and although Cincinnati has been consistent all season (and I have a bit of crush on Marvin Lewis. Yes, I know it's weird), I think Pittsburgh is the hotter team. So, I have to go with Pittsburgh.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Seattle Seahawks at Minnesota Vikings-So, I picked the Seahawks to win the West, and I didn't even include Minnesota. The Seahawks have had to struggle to get to the playoffs, and the Vikings won the North on the last game of the season. Both teams are hot, but I'm going to have to go with the Seahawks after that smackdown they laid upon the Cards last week.

Green Bay Packers at Washington Redskins-While I am a huge fan of Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews, I have little to no faith in the Packers. Yes, I am aware that I picked them to go to the Super Bowl, but this team has been playing poorly the last few weeks, yet Washington has a hot hand with Kirk Cousins. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm going with Washington.

There they are ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy your games! Divisional Playoffs next week! Until then, "I put my life on the line to be right here with y'all. Y'all helped me get to this point. We're just going to keep going forward. To me it's nota  game. It's bigger than that."-Eric Berry #BerryStrong Go Chiefs!!