After going 4-2 during Wild Card Weekend, we head into the Divisional Round, which has a reputation for being the best weekend of playoff football. Here’s how I size up the games.
(1) Green Bay 30, (6) Los Angeles Rams 17 (Saturday afternoon, Fox): The Rams showed their defensive prowess last week by slowing down Russell Wilson, who’s one of the league’s best quarterbacks. Can they do the same to future Hall-of-Famer Aaron Rodgers? What’s more, the Packers are the kind of team that won’t come out of a bye week looking rusty. Put the two together, and the answer to my question is ‘No.’
Once the Packers get into the flow of the game, they should gradually pull away to win.
Yes, the Rams have a solid defense (the only NFL team to allow fewer than 300 points on the season), but this is the playoffs, these are the Packers, and this game will be played at Lambeau Field.
(5) Baltimore 24, (2) Buffalo 16 (Saturday night, NBC): Ravens’ fans wear their emotions on their sleeves. They’ll tell you how much they love quarterback Lamar Jackson and how much they dislike NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth, who’ll be on the call for this game. But fan passion doesn’t make a difference between the lines.
The plain fact is that the Bills are better than they’ve been in a very, very long time. Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen is playing well, and he has outstanding pass catchers in the persons of Stefon Diggs and underrated tight end Dawson Knox. Plus, Allen has a strong strong run game and a solid defense.
All of that said, I give Baltimore the edge in overall talent. Baltimore will prevail on a frigid day that may be played entirely under the freezing point.
(1) Kansas City 40, (6) Cleveland 20 (Sunday afternoon, CBS): You know where I stand. I’ve never been sold on the Browns’ renaissance because I see it as the product of a weak schedule and a few lucky breaks. But, no matter, I must tip my cap to Cleveland for overcoming COVID-related absences and running away from the Steelers last weekend. Now they must face the defending NFL champ Chiefs, a team that struggled through December but is now rested and healthy enough to have its own way at home.
A home win would put the AFC Championship Game in Arrowhead Stadium for a second straight year.
If that happens, Andy Reid will be right at home…literally. The very same thing happened when he was head man in Philadelphia. And, by the way, this game features a match-up between a future Hall of Fame head coach and a rookie. ‘Nuff said.
(2) New Orleans 37, (5) Tampa Bay 33 (Sunday night, Fox): Ah, the media! The media folks scheduled the most intriguing of the Divisional games for the last game of the weekend. Why did I use the term ‘most intriguing’?
It could be the final time we see two 40-something quarterbacks, Drew Brees and Tom Brady, go head-to-head.
Besides, these NFC South Division rivals provided great action when they met twice earlier this year, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t entertain again. But the Saints are a notch better than the Buccaneers, have one of the league’s most complete teams, and have gradually gotten healthier and better over the last month or so.
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About Joe Platania
Veteran Ravens correspondent Joe Platania is in his 45th year in sports media (including two CFL seasons when Batlimore had a CFL team) in a career that extends across parts of six decades. Platania covers sports with insight, humor, and a highly prescient eye, and that is why he has made his mark on television, radio, print, online, and in the podcast world. He can be heard frequently on WJZ-FM’s “Vinny And Haynie” show, alongside ex-Washington general manager Vinny Cerrato and Bob Haynie. A former longtime member in good standing of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and the Pro Football Writers of America, Platania manned the CFL Stallions beat for The Avenue Newspaper Group of Essex (1994 and ’95) and the Ravens beat since the team’s inception — one of only three local writers to do so — for PressBox, The Avenue, and other local publications and radio stations. A sought-after contributor and host on talk radio and TV, he made numerous appearances on “Inside PressBox” (10:30 a.m. Sundays), and he was heard weekly for eight seasons on the “Purple Pride Report,” WQLL-AM (1370). He has also appeared on WMAR-TV’s “Good Morning Maryland” (2009), Comcast SportsNet’s “Washington Post Live” (2004-06), and WJZ-TV’s “Football Talk” postgame show — with legend Marty Bass (2002-04). Platania is the only sports journalist in Maryland history to have been a finalist for both the annual Sportscaster of the Year award (1998, which he won) and Sportswriter of the Year (2010). He is also a four-time Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Press Association award winner. Platania is a graduate of St. Joseph’s (Cockeysville), Calvert Hall College High School, and Towson University, where he earned a degree in Mass Communications. He lives in Cockeysville, MD.
