What To Know About The NFL Divisional Round | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Sports

What To Know About The NFL Divisional Round

My predictions for this weekend's play.

19
What To Know About The NFL Divisional Round
Sports illustrated

Wildcard weekend has come and gone and now we enter the heavyweights of the divisional round. The heavy hitters, Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots, welcome the wildcard winners. Who advances and survives to one step closer to playing the big game? My predictions below.



Saturday games:

Seattle Seahawks @ Atlanta Falcons

The Seahawks who average 16 points a road game, head to Atlanta to face Matt Ryan and this high scoring team at home. Ryan will go into this game with a 1-4 playoff record but this matchup is different, Ryan has all the weapons at his disposal to unload the chamber. The running back duo of Davonte Freeman and Tevin Coleman with the receiving threats of Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu could get this team to be a team of destiny. The Seahawks have their flaws in the offensive line, will the line stand up or will they let the NFL sack leader, Vic Beasley continue his success in the post season? The run game they found last week will be a key to watch for the Seattle offense. The defense will accept the challenge of the weapons, and force Matt Ryan to choose to be either fire or ice.

X-Factor: Falcons, Matt Ryan, Vic Beasley

Seahawks: Thomas Rawls, Seattle D

Winner: Atlanta, Ryan gets hot and drops heat in Hotlanta.

Houston Texans @ New England patriots

Coming off his post season debut and earning that money, Brock Osweiler and that stout Texans defense heads to number one seed New England Patriots. The Patriots defense will be tested; it will be up to cornerback Malcom Butler to challenge the offensive playmaker for the Texans DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins torched the Oakland defense last week in the wildcard game; he had 116.4 rating when targeted in last week’s game. If defensive end Jadeveon Clowney gets a hit or two on Tom Brady early can be a dynamic domino effect. Brady is not keen to getting hit, but will his offensive line let him get hit?

X-Factor: Texans, Lamar Miller, run game, and Clowney can he set the tone on defense?

Patriots: wide receiver Michael Floyd, Tom Brady, and running back LaGarrette Blount.

Winner: New England puts the pedal to the metal and never gives up.

Sunday games:

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Kansas City chiefs

The Steelers with their big three of wide receiver Antonio Brown, LeVon Bell, and Ben Roethlisberger head to Arrowhead to face the Chiefs secondary that is a plus 16 in turnovers. Can that secondary bait Roethlisberger to make a mistake? The Steelers who steam rolled behind their big three last week in the wild card division will look to continue to build off that success again. The Chiefs have the defense that could potential seal this one for them.

X-Factor: Chiefs, Tyreek Hill, he could do it all, safety Eric Barry.

Steelers, the big three.

Winner: Steelers, the big three come up huge in a game-winning drive.

Green bay packers @ Dallas cowboys

A hot packers passing team going against the best run offense of the Cowboys, Aaron Rodgers comes to big D as the best quarterback in the league. 19 touchdowns with no interceptions, Rodgers has been money he will look to pick apart a decent Cowboys secondary. The Boys are built for the post season with this run game, behind rookie sensation Ezekiel Elliot, if fellow rookie Dak Prescott can continue to play smart, they have a chance.

X-Factor: Packers, wide out, Randall Cobb and Rodgers

Dallas: Elliot, wide receiver Dez Bryant.

Winner: Packers, Rodgers puts numbers on the board early.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

2862
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

301967
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments