by Colton Dempsey ’20

---

After an insane Wildcard Weekend in the NFL, many teams that were highly seeded were shockingly eliminated in the earliest stage of playoffs. 

Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans clutched up a crazy overtime win after avoiding two huge hits in the backfield to put his team in position for the game winning field goal to defeat the Bills, 22-19. 

One of the biggest shockers of this weekend, however, was that the sixth seed, Tennessee Titans, upset the number-three seed, New England Patriots, in a battle down to the wire. Derrick Henry carried his team to a victory by running for 182 yards and a touchdown. On his own goal line, Tom Brady tried to lead his team on a last minute scoring drive to finish off this 14-13 contest, but his risky pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by cornerback Logan Ryan to ice the game. 

New Orleans Saints fans suffered yet another playoff heartbreak when the sixth seed, Minnesota Vikings, upset the number-three seed, Saints. After the Saints came back to send this game into overtime, it was shortly lived when Kirk Cousins threw a bomb down the field to Adam Thielen to set them up on the goal line. Shortly after, Cousins threw a high pass to Kyle Rudolph, who snagged in the end zone to close off this overtime frenzy. With the final score of 26-20 the Vikings will move on to the divisional matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.

And finally, for prime time Sunday Night Playoff Football, Russell Wilson and his unstoppable connection with rookie wide receiver, D.K. Metcalf, led his Seattle Seahawks to a victory against the Philadelphia Eagles. Wilson finished with 325 passing yards and a touchdown, while D.K. Metcalf finished with 7 catches and 160 yards with a touchdown.

Now looking forward to this upcoming Divisional Weekend, there are many tough matchups to watch. and here are my predictions. 

The Lamar Jackson led, Baltimore Ravens, will defeat the Tennessee Titans. Throughout the season, the Ravens have been on a rampage and continue to be stopped. Whether it be because of, Lamar Jackson’s elite passing ability, or his lengthy elusive rushes, or a defense that can lock down the pass and rush game, it is hard to think that the underdog Titan team will be able to stop them. 

The Minnesota Vikings will head on the road to play the flawless San Francisco 49ers. Believe it or not, the Vikings will walk away victorious in this upcoming bout. After showing tenacity and grit when they played hard for a win against another championship-caliber team, the Saints, it is difficult to imagine that this Vikings team will slow down any time soon. Kirk Cousins showed in his win over New Orleans that he could clutch up and make big plays in the postseason when his team needed him to, with a passing attack that can outmaneuver the 49ers defense and lead his team to victory. 

The Houston Texans will head to Kansas City for their next playoff against the Chiefs. Gonna have to go with the Chiefs. Although Deshaun Watson for the Texans proved that he had what it took to win the tough matchup against the Bills, the Texans barely came out of it alive. This game will be different as Kansas City probably will not be as forgiving to error as the Bills were. In fact, Patrick Mahomes’ air raid of a passing game will most likely be next to impossible for this struggling Texans defense. 

Finally the Seattle Seahawks will head to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin for a tough match up against the Packers, led by Aaron Rogers. I have to go with Seattle in this one.Russell Wilson’s competitive nature allows him to make clutch plays, whether throwing a tight pass down the field, or scrambling for positive yards, Wilson is very good at improvising, which will prove useful against a stronger Packer defense and should hopefully lead his team to a win.