RSR Predictions: Wacky Wildcard Weekend

It’s Wildcard Weekend. Six games to tantalize our senses, to collectively get the juices flowing, to amp up the adrenalin, so that it flows through your veins like a freight train. All aboard next weekend!

But until then, a few staff members will take a swing at this weekend’s games and let you know who the Ravens will host next weekend. If trends hold, look for the Ravens to play next Saturday night. That said, it’s tough to predict what the NFL will do. After all, this is a league that sold out to stream one of this weekend’s games on an app that only 9% of the country has downloaded. Thanks Roger Greedell.

Tony Lombardi

Browns (-2) at Texans, Over/Under at 44 ½, Saturday, 4:30PM

The Joe Flacco story is a fascinating one. From the couch to the NFL spotlight and into the hearts of the citizens of Cleveland in less than two months. But one of the oft-overlooked aspects of the Flacco revitalization is his propensity to throw interceptions. If you project Joe’s INT totals over a 17-game season, he’d have 27 picks. And one of those picks will make a big difference in this one. All good stories come to an end and for Flacco, his ends by 8PM on Saturday night.

Player of the Game (“POTG”): Nico Collins
Final Score: Texans 23, Browns 20

Dolphins (+4 ½) at Chiefs, Over/Under at 43 ½, Saturday, 8PM

The story in this one belongs to Mother Nature who will breathe ice upon the field at Arrowhead. The Dolphins are severely banged up. They have little edge presence on defense and a few of their offensive weapons are ailing. Single digit temps aren’t the conditions to soothe aching joints. The 91% of America without the Peacock app won’t miss a thing.

POTG: Isiah Pacheco
Final Score: Chiefs 21, Dolphins 7

Steelers (+9 ½) at Bills, Over/Under at 35, Sunday, 1PM

The Steelers are resilient but without their heartbeat, namely T.J. Watt, they will barely have a pulse in this one. The weather is a huge factor. This winter wonderland delight will be fun to watch despite the very limited scoring.

POTG: Leonard Floyd
Final Score: Bills 14, Steelers 0

Packers (+7) at Cowboys, Over/Under at 50 ½, Sunday, 4:30PM

Lady Luck has been a Dallas fan lately and she seems to enjoy her trips to Jerry World. That won’t change on Sunday, but they will get a scare. It will, however, be the last win this season for Dak Prescott & Co.

POTG: CeeDee Lamb
Final Score: Cowboys 27, Packers 24

Rams (+3) at Lions, Over/Under at 51 ½, Sunday 8:15PM

This will be the weekend’s most exciting game but as he does so often, Jared Goff will crumble in crunch time on a national stage.

POTG: Matthew Stafford
Final Score: Rams 34, Lions 31

Eagles (-3) at Bucs, Over/Under at 43 ½, Monday, 8PM

The Eagles finally give their fans a little hope after a horrific late-season skid. It won’t last long but the lift will be enough to allow them to squeak by a Tampa team that shouldn’t even be in the postseason dance.

POTG: DeVonta Smith
Final Score: Eagles 20, Bucs 13

[Related Article: Ravens could lose some assistants]

Darin McCann

Browns at Texans

My mind tells me the Browns’ defense and the experience of Joe Flacco should be enough. But this Texans team is solid across the board, and we all saw Stroud rise up during last year’s NCAA playoffs. The young man shall rise up once again in a big moment.

Texans 23 Browns 20

POTG: C.J. Stroud

Dolphins at Chiefs

Yes, the Dolphins are the AFC version of the Eagles — limping across the finish line of the regular season. But I think Tyreek Hill scores two long ones to keep them close. Alas, 2.5 sacks from Jones will be enough to save the Chiefs this week.

Chiefs 24 Dolphins 23

POTG: Chris Jones

Steelers at Bills

Rudolph’s magic carpet ride will end in a thud, as he will gift the Bills three picks. Josh Allen will run for a score, throw for another and pick up enough first downs late to keep the Steelers from ever doing much in the second half.

Bills 20 Steelers 6

POTG: Mason Rudolph/Josh Allen 

Packers at Cowboys

Dak Prescott will throw for three touchdowns against this Packers defense, but Jordan Love will show off what makes him so enticing and keep it close. Ultimately, the Cowboys have too many playmakers on both sides for the Packers to handle.

Cowboys 27 Packers 23

POTG: Dak Prescott

Rams at Lions

The Ravens lost four games this year, and the Rams’ game wasn’t one of them. Still, Stafford and his weapons impressed me as much as any Ravens’ opponent this year, and they will outlast the Lions in the most entertaining game of the weekend.

Rams 34 Lions 30

POTG: Matthew Stafford

Eagles at Buccaneers

With Jalen Hurts’ injured finger looking like something from the M.C. Escher collection, the Eagles will turn their offensive focus to their standout offensive line and running back. Baker Mayfield is just too… Baker Mayfield.

Eagles 20 Bucs 9

POTG: D’Andre Swift

Derek Arnold

Browns @ Texans

Bring it, Joseph.

Browns 24 Texans 23

Player of the Game: Myles Garrett

Dolphins @ Chiefs

Frozen fish.

Chiefs 20 Dolphins 17

Player of the Game: Trent McDuffie

Steelers @ Bills

Might be going with my heart here.

Bills 77 Steelers 3

Player of the Game: Josh Allen

Packers @ Cowboys

YEAHHH HERE WE GO.

Cowboys 30 Packers 20

Player of the Game: Ceedee Lamb

Rams @ Lions

I’d rather not see the 49ers again, should the Ravens reach the Super Bowl, but the Rams are nearly as scary.

Rams 26 Lions 23

Player of the Game: Matthew Stafford

Eagles @ Buccaneers

Bad vibes in Philly.

Buccaneers 24 Eagles 17

Player of the Game: Mike Evans

Aidan Griesser

Browns at Texans

Texans 24 Browns 20

Player of Game: C.J. Stroud

Dolphins at Chiefs

Chiefs 17 Dolphins 14

Player of Game: Harrison Butker

Steelers at Bills

Bills 27 Steelers 10

Player of Game: James Cook

Packers at Cowboys

Cowboys 33 Packers 24

Player of Game: Micah Parsons

Rams at Lions

Rams 37 Lions 33

Player of Game: Matthew Stafford

Eagles at Bucs

Eagles 23 Bucs 17

Player of Game: AJ Brown

Kevin McNelis

Browns @ Texans

Houston 24 Browns 21

Player of the Game: CJ Stroud

Dolphins @ Chiefs

Chiefs 16 Dolphins 13

Player of the Game: Chris Jones

Steelers @ Bills

Bills 28 Steelers 13

Player of the Game: James Cook

Packers @ Cowboys

Cowboys 30 Packers 23

Player of the Game: Micah Parsons

Rams @ Lions

Score: Lions 38 Rams 35

Player of the Game: Amon-Ra St. Brown

Eagles @ Bucs

Bucs 20 Eagles 16

Player of the Game: Rachaad White

Jared Pinder

Browns @ Texans

Texans 24 Browns 13

Player of the Game: Nico Collins

Dolphins @ Chiefs

Chiefs 27 Dolphins 21

Player of the Game: Isiah Pacheco

Steelers @ Bills

Bills 21 Steelers 7

Player of the Game: Josh Allen

Packers @ Cowboys

Cowboys 35 Packers 21

Player of the Game: CeeDee Lamb

Rams @ Lions

Rams 35 Lions 21

Player of the Game: Matthew Stafford 

Eagles @ Bucs

Eagles 27 Bucs 21

Player of the Game: A.J. Brown

Rob Shields

Houston vs Cleveland

The conventional wisdom is the Ravens don’t want to see Joe and the Browns. A divisional opponent poses a lot of problems and we know what Flacco is capable of doing in January. Add to that the Browns physically beat up the Ravens in the second half of their last meeting and I can understand that point.

The flip side to that is Houston played Baltimore tough in Week 1 and I said back then that this is a better team than people think. They played hard and were tough on defense. Stroud is playing at a high level.

A sneaky issue for Cleveland is that their pro bowl kicker, Dustin Hopkins, is out for this game.

I don’t think either one would be a cakewalk if the Ravens played them.

Houston 24 Cleveland 17

Kansas City vs Miami

Kansas City can’t win if the other teams scores over 21, but in a game where we could see record cold temps for an NFL playoff game, I don’t think KC will have to worry about that.  Chris Jones is going to dominate this game in the interior and Pacheco should have a big game.

Chiefs 17 Miami 10

Buffalo vs Pittsburgh

With no T.J. Watt, bad weather and Josh Allen playing well, I don’t see Pittsburgh as having much of a chance.

Buffalo 24 Steelers 9

Cowboys vs Packers

Dallas has a sneaky tough game. Jordan Love is playing at a high level. Dallas struggles against the run and GB can run it. Ultimately though, Dallas doesn’t lose at home and GB’s defense is an issue. Dallas wins a high-scoring game.

Cowboys 38 Packers 27

Lions vs Rams

Detroit got the worst draw of all the higher seeds. As Ravens fan found out, this Rams team is for real and they have legit weapons. The Lions defense has struggled at times this year and McVay is arguably the best coach in football. This is a bit of a revenge game for both QBs but I think Matt Stafford is better than Jared Goff and has the better team.  The biggest issue for the Rams is they have awful ST, so that’s something to watch for.

Rams 27 Lions 20

Tampa Bay vs Philadelphia

The Bucs are lucky to be in this position and they are playing a fading Eagles team and a coach that could find himself gone if they don’t win. Baker is banged up but so are Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown.

I think Philly finds a way to win and keep the season alive with Hurts doing enough to will his team a win.

Eagles 23 Bucs 20

Nick Polinsky

Browns @ Texans

Browns 23 Texans 21

Player of the Game: Amari Cooper

Dolphins @ Chiefs

Chiefs 23 Dolphins 13

Player of the Game: Isaiah Pacheco

Steelers @ Bills

Bills 27 Steelers 9

Player of the Game: Ed Oliver

Packers @ Cowboys

Cowboys 23 Packers 20

Player of the Game: Ceedee Lamb

Rams @ Lions

Rams 27 Lions 24

Player of the Game: Matthew Stafford

Eagles @ Buccaneers

Buccaneers 19 Eagles 17

Player of the Game: Rachaad White

Tanner George

Browns at Texans

Joe Flacco makes his return to the postseason as the red-hot Browns journey to NRG Stadium to take on the upstart Texans. Houston looked promising down the stretch, but I don’t think they’re quite there yet. There’s definitely a scenario where this game turns into 2018 Ravens vs. Chargers, with Stroud and his crew on the wrong side of it.

Browns 27 Texans 13

Player of the Game: Amari Cooper

Dolphins at Chiefs

Securing their eighth AFC West title in as many years, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs sort of stumbled into the postseason this year, dropping games to the likes of the Raiders. The Dolphins haven’t looked particularly good, either, losers of two straight (including a 56-19 thrashing at the hands of you-know-who). Miami’s not built for hard-nosed, cold weather football, and it looks to be frigid in Arrowhead.

Chiefs 13 Dolphins 6

Player of the Game: Patrick Mahomes

Steelers at Bills

I don’t know how the Steelers got to the playoffs with a negative point differential, but they did. There really isn’t a scenario where they advance. They struggled to beat the Ravens JV squad and are reliant on an underwhelming quarterback unit. Down T.J. Watt, I can’t see how they pull off a win. And, as usual, the Bills are the Bills.

Bills 31 Steelers 16

Player of the Game: James Cook

Packers at Cowboys (Sunday, 4:30)

The Pack somehow made it into the playoffs riding the late-season heroics of Jordan Love, but I don’t see their magical run continuing. The Cowboys have looked really good as of late, but it’s hard to pencil them in as for-sure winners given their recent history…

Cowboys 23 Packers 17

Player of the Game: CeeDee Lamb

Rams at Lions (Sunday, 8:00)

Finally the Lions are back in the playoffs, winning the division for the first time in years. Adding a wrinkle to it all is Matt Stafford’s return to Detroit, as well as Jared Goff taking on his former team. This is shaping up to be a great game, but despite the beautiful story that is the Detroit Lions, I have to pick the hotter team here.

Rams 31 Lions 24

Player of the Game: Puka Nacua

Eagles at Buccaneers (Monday, 8:00)

If it were any other year, I would pick Philly to win easily against a seemingly inferior Bucs team. However, the Eagles are as cold as Nick Siranni’s seat is hot, dropping 5 of their final 6 to the likes of the Giants, Cardinals, and Seahawks. Not to mention Jalen Hurts’s finger injury, which seems serious, and AJ Brown’s banged-up knee. It’ll be close, but I see the Eagles heading home to begin what looks to be a tumultuous offseason.

Buccaneers 27 Eagles 21

Player of the Game: Rachaad White

Chad Racine

Browns @ Texans

Browns 24 Texans 20

Player of the Game: Amari Cooper

Dolphins @ Chiefs

Chiefs 20 Dolphins 16

Player of the Game: Trent McDuffie

Steelers @ Bills

Bills 24 Steelers 10

Player of the Game: Josh Allen

Packers @ Cowboys

Cowboys 27 Packers 17

Player of the Game: Micah Parsons

Rams @ Lions

Lions 27 Rams 21

Player of the Game: Aidan Hutchinson 

Eagles @ Bucs

Bucs 17 Eagles 13

Player of the Game: Antoine Winfield Jr

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