NFL Wild Card Weekend 2016: Bracket Predictions for Postseason's Opening Round

The 2016 NFL playoffs certainly turned out better than one would have expected.

Not too long ago, teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and a handful of sub-.500 teams looked to be on their way to the postseason for what would have been a rather bland experience. Not anymore.

Old friends will meet when the Cincinnati Bengals collide with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Usually dominant teams like the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers will encounter up-and-coming Minnesota Vikings and Washington teams, respectively.

Call it a loaded slate befitting of the playoffs. Below, let's take a look at the full bracket and nail down predictions for the opening round.

NFL Playoff Bracket

Matchup	Pick
No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. No. 3 Cincinnati Bengals	CIN 27-24
No. 5 Kansas City Chiefs vs. No. 4 Houston Texans	KC 30-20
No. 6 Seahawks vs. No. 3 Minnesota Vikings	MIN 24-21
No. 5 Green Bay Packers vs. No. 4 Washington	WAS 28-27

Picks Breakdown

No. 5 Kansas City Chiefs vs. No. 4 Houston Texans

Folks might not remember, but this song and dance has gone down before.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans met back in Week 1. Houston took the home loss, 27-20, starting a stretch in which the team went 1-4. Kansas City got the win, sure, but otherwise started 1-5.

Things changed, of course. Houston rallied around veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer, who wound up throwing for 19 touchdowns to seven interceptions while leaning on DeAndre Hopkins, he of 111 catches, 1,521 yards and 11 touchdowns. Don't forget a J.J. Watt-led defense allowing just 19.6 points per game.

Kansas City did it better, though, rattling off a 10-0 stretch to close the season. Andy Reid's team accomplished this through solid play from Alex Smith, a hodgepodge of names at running back and a defense touting its own impressive points-allowed mark at 17.9 on average. 

As wideout Jeremy Maclin pointed out, the team never lost confidence, according to NFL Network's Albert Breer: 

In the first meeting between these teams, Smith tossed three scores while getting just 57 rushing yards from Jamaal Charles, who now sits on injured reserve, so it's not like the Chiefs can't pull off a one-dimensional win if necessary.

Houston's looked good, but a trio of wins to close the season sounds less impressive considering they came against Indianapolis, Tennessee and Jacksonville. The week before that stretch? A 27-6 home loss to the New England Patriots.

The Chiefs are the league's hottest team right now, and a supreme offensive balance and a lockdown defense won't budge on the way to another road win against the Texans.

Prediction: Chiefs 30, Texans 20

No. 6 Seahawks vs. No. 3 Minnesota Vikings

This might also be a rematch, but don't expect the same result. 

The Seattle Seahawks traveled to Minnesota in Week 13 and took down the Vikings in 38-7 fashion behind four total touchdowns from Russell Wilson and a rushing score by Thomas Rawls to go with his 101 yards.

Wilson's been on fire as of late, throwing 24 touchdowns to one interception over his past seven games, including three this past weekend in a 36-6 romp over the Arizona Cardinals.

The NFC North champions have looked great as well, though. The Vikings went to Arizona in Week 14 and almost pulled off the win before taking a 23-20 defeat, which seemed to be a turning point as they won their last three games in 38-17, 49-17 and 20-13 fashion, respectively.

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

While the last margin doesn't sound too impressive, it came against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, where the elite Minnesota defense held Aaron Rodgers to 291 yards with a score and a pick and the Packers as a whole to 76 rushing yards. 

"It's been since 2009 and that's too long of a stretch," Adrian Peterson said, according to ESPN.com. "That drought is over."

Peterson will be the key to the rematch. In the first encounter, Seattle jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead and Peterson only saw eight carries as a result. Rawls is gone now, though, meaning the Vikings can force the Seahawks into a predictable pass-first attack, put the clamps down and play a ball-control attack with Peterson.

If it worked on Rodgers, it can work on Wilson. This isn't the same Vikings team, and it'll show Sunday when Peterson runs wild and the Minnesota defense applies lessons learned to slow the Seahawks, who in Week 16 mustered just 17 points against St. Louis.

Prediction: Vikings 24, Seahawks 21

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and accurate as of January 4. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.