Blind Playoff Picks

 How do you make sense of one of the craziest betting NFL regular seasons in recent memory? Try to dodge the minefield that is the parody of the league and make more picks in the playoffs! These picks don’t have any rhyme, reason, analytical reasoning, or at times basis in reality. But let’s do it anyway. *All picks via FanDuel Sportsbook and my selections are in parenesis next to the team*

L.A. Rams (-10.5) at Carolina Panthers

I took the Panthers the last time these two teams played on this field in week 13 with the identical spread. What’s changed? The way the Panthers are playing. A golden rule we’ve used in this playoff pick column before is Don’t pick an underdog unless you believe they can win outright. Right now, I don’t think the Panthers are capable of winning this game. Bryce Young has only thrown for 250+ yards once and that was last week against a depleted Buccaneers defense since week 11. Carolina hasn’t had a rusher run for 80+ yards since Chuba Hubbard did in week 13 against this Rams team. The Panthers haven’t scored 27+ points in a game since their win against the Rams. They went 1-3 over the last month of the season. The only reason why they are in the playoffs and hosting a playoff game is because of the Falcons, who were trying to save Raheem Morris’ job (and it didn’t even work), won against the Saints last week to eliminate Tampa Bay. The Rams, however, are a little different story.

Since the loss to Carolina—Los Angeles is 3-2. They were in both their two loses losing by a combined three points. L.A. has the probable MVP of the league in Matthew Stafford. Puka Nacua is the best offensive player in the playoffs. They have the better coach in Sean McVay. Another golden rule of this column is take a look at the coach/quarterback combo, double check, triple check, and go with the better combination. Give me the team that at one time was the beating Super Bowl favorite.  

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears (+1.5)

This will be round three for the best rivalry in the sport. The number one rule in these columns is It’s hard to beat a team twice in a year much less three times. The season series is 1-1 but the rule still applies here. This will be a war. This was the hardest pick on the board. Jordan Love doesn’t have an injury designation for the Packers. Neither does Christian Watson or Josh Jacobs who have been battling injuries over the course of the last month. But there is something about this Bears squad.

You shouldn’t bet with your heart ever. But I feel like the run that this Chicago Bears team is on is very similar to the run that the professional football team in our nation’s capital put on last postseason. Caleb Williams looks like he has the ability to realize his full potential as a number overall pick. What Ben Johnson has been able to do as a first-time head coach is remarkable. No team in the postseason wants to run the ball more than the Bears do. That is a winning recipe in the playoffs. But, Chicago hasn’t had a home playoff win since the 2010-11 season against Matt Hasselback and the Seattle Seahawks. Read that sentence again. But I believe there is magic in the air at Soldier Field this time around. Bear down.

Buffalo Bills (-1.5) at Jacksonville Jaguars  

Here is the candidate for most talked about game of the weekend right here. If Jacksonville wins, there will be revisionist history being talked about with Trevor Lawerence. There will be proclamations made about how good Liam Coen is as a first-time head coach. And most of all there will be hours of radio, podcasting, and thousands of characters typed out about the failure yet again of Josh Allen in the postseason.

The AFC could not line up better for Buffalo. Patrick Mahomes is recovering from ACL surgery. Joe Burrow is unhappy and on the couch in Cincinnati. Lamar Jackson may or may not just got his coach fired and also at home on the couch. Everyone else in the field in the AFC is unproven. Except Buffalo. This is the year if there ever was one for Josh Allen. The stars have aligned for him to take advantage. All playoff games must win for everyone involved, but this is a must win for Allen legacy wise. I know how weird people get when the “L-word” is thrown around this time of year, but it is true. Allen will have the stink of a guy who can’t get it done when it matters. That’s a stink that’s hard to wash off. There is more at stake for the Bills than Jacksonville. Plus, if we do the coach/quarterback math: Josh Allen is a mile ahead of Trevor Lawerence and Sean McDermott is a better coach than Liam “DUVALLLLL” Coen. Nobody circles the wagons quite like the Buffalo Bills.

San Francisco 49’ers at Philadelphia Eagles (-4.5)

Nobody can figure out the Philadelphia Eagles over the course of this year. Not even themselves. The reigning Super Bowl champs have had an eventful year. From Jalen Carter getting ejected from the Opening night game for spitting at Dak Prescott in the first minute of the season, to the never ending saga between offensive superstars, to a just incomprehensible Jalen Hurts statistic, to the fact that it seems the entire Eagles franchise has forgotten that they have Saquon Barkley—it’s impossible to figure out just exactly what’s going on behind closed doors with the Eagles. One week they’re losing to the New York Giants, a few weeks later they lose three in a row and the wheels seem like they’re coming off, the next thing you know they’re in Buffalo and somehow win that game looking as dominate as ever. I can’t figure this group out!  

They are getting a gift in their wildcard opponent, however.

San Francisco is banged up. Trent Williams, George Kittle, and Ricky Pearsall all are listed as questionable right now. Christian McCaffrey has been battling a number of injuries seemingly all season. The last time we saw him he looked like a 50-year-old stretching out his bad back. A once feared San Francisco defense has been on the field a ton and haven’t looked right in over a month. A week ago, the 49’ers were having dreams of playing out the playoffs all the way to the Super Bowl at home. Now, they have to travel across the country and play in a game where it’s going to feel like 36 degrees at game time.

In a year were seemingly nothing and everything has gone the way of the reigning champs, give me the crazed cheesesteak eaters to help power their Eagles to a win.  

L.A. Chargers at New England Patriots (-3.5)

Personally, this pains me to do. More than you may know. I can’t believe the Patriots are in the position they are in. A minute ago, this franchise was one of the worst in the league. Poof, they’re back hosting a night playoff game. How does this happen? On top of the fact, I’m a complete fanboy for Jim Harbaugh. But the fighting Harbaugh’s are just not whole enough to beat this Patriots team on the road. The Chargers offensive line has the most impactful players missing. The Patriots have the most underrated pass rush in the playoffs. The Chargers don’t have a difference maker on the outside that I trust. New England has one of the best secondaries in either league in the postseason. Most importantly Justin Herbert has played in two playoff games in his career and they’ve both been implosions of epic portion. AND this time around Herbert is playing with a recently surgically repaired left hand.

This Patriots group seems like it is being led by Bill Belichick, not one of his disciples, Mike Vrabel. Vrabel in his own right is a fantastic coach and would win coach of the year any other year but this one. My body is already rejecting this pick, but the Patriots will walk into the Divisional Round of the 2026 playoffs. Yuck!

Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers (+3)

Something has to give with this game. Mike Tomlin hasn’t won a playoff game since he and Big Ben walked into Arrowhead and beat the Chiefs in the pre-Patrick Mahomes era in 2016. The Houston Texans have been the sneaky AFC favorite to make the Super Bowl, ever since the Colts lost to Kansas City in Week 12. And Houston for the most part has looked the part. However, Houston we have a problem. The unit that made the Kansas City Chiefs look like the University of Missouri offensively a few weeks ago hasn’t been right ever since. For whatever reason it seems like now you can move the ball on them. And yet, the Texans are winners of eight in a row. They’ve weathered the storm. But somehow, they aren’t hosting a playoff game. They have to go on the road to a frigid Pittsburgh. And I don’t have to tell you about the dome teams playing out in the elements in the postseason. Always back the home team. Oh, yeah, and there’s this guy Aaron Rodgers who got a second lease on life thanks to a missed Tyler Loop 44-yard field goal. The 42-year-old former MVP still got into the dance. With a team that is all over the place on both sides of the football, they still won 10 games and Rodgers when he needed to led Pittsburgh down the field for the go-ahead score in a do-or-die game last week against Baltimore.

This Steelers team has all the makings of being the dude in the horror movie that just won’t die. Whether they have nine lives or not, the combination of Tomlin and Rodgers gets it down on a chilly night at the Big Ketchup Bottle, even though it’s not called that anymore!

There ya go! The selections for Wildcard Weekend. A weekend of games that I’m sure you and me will have more questions to ask than have been answered this time Tuesday.