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NFL Playoffs 2018: Viewing Information and Wild-Card Bracket Picks
January 4, 2018
It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, not the holiday season, but the NFL playoffs, which kick off on Saturday when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Tennessee Titans at 4:35 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN.
But that's just where the fun begins.
It's shaping up to be a wild NFL postseason. The Los Angeles Rams are in for the first time since 2004, while the Buffalo Bills saw their 17-year playoff drought come to a dramatic end after the Cincinnati Bengals bounced the Baltimore Ravens.
That's made for some unusual matchups in the Wild Card Round, such as when the Bills take on the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
We'll take a look at the entire TV schedule for the playoffs up to the Super Bowl, which run through Sunday, January 21, and then break down projected winners for all four wild-card games.
Wild Card Round
Saturday, January 6
AFC: No. 5 Tennessee Titans at No. 4 Kansas City Chiefs (4:35 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN)
NFC: No. 6 Atlanta Falcons at No. 3 Los Angeles Rams at (8:15 p.m. ET, NBC)
Sunday, January 7
AFC: No. 6 Buffalo Bills at No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars (1:05 p.m. ET, CBS)
NFC: No. 5 Carolina Panthers at No. 4 New Orleans Saints (4:40 p.m. ET, Fox)
Divisional Round
Saturday, January 13
NFC: No. 4 New Orleans Saints at No. 1 Philadelphia Eagles (4:35 p.m. ET, NBC)
AFC: No. 4 Kansas City Chiefs at No. 1 New England Patriots (8:15 p.m. ET, CBS)
Sunday, January 14
AFC: No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 2 Pittsburgh Steelers (1:05 p.m. ET, CBS)
NFC: No. 3 Los Angeles Rams at No. 2 Minnesota Vikings (4:40 p.m. ET, Fox)
Conference Championships
Sunday, January 21
AFC: 3 p.m. ET, CBS
NFC: 6:30 p.m. ET, Fox
Wild-Card Bracket Picks
No. 4 Chiefs over No. 5 Titans
To say the Kansas City Chiefs have been hot and cold this season would be an understatement.
The Chiefs came out of the gate running at 5-0, then dropped six out of seven before turning things around to finish 4-0.
Interestingly enough, rookie running back phenom Kareem Hunt's season tracks with his team's. Hunt scored at least once in his first three games, had a drought through the middle of the year and then scored in each of the Chiefs' final four victories.
Hunt will be the Chiefs' most important player when it comes to taking down the Tennessee Titans, making quarterback Alex Smith's life easier in the process.
Head coach Andy Reid ceded play-calling duties to coordinator Matt Nagy late in the season, and the offense came alive again. Kansas City will keep that momentum going into the divisional round.
No. 3 Rams over No. 6 Falcons
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Rookie Linebacker with One Hand Shaquem Griffin Starting for Seahawks in Week 1
If you had said prior to the start of the 2017 NFL season that you were not only picking the Los Angeles Rams to make it to the Wild Card Round in 2018 but also picking them over the Atlanta Falcons, one year removed from contending for a Super Bowl, people would have questioned you.
But here we are. The Rams were one of the NFL's most punishing teams in 2017, with a creative offense that was impossible to contain behind the ground attack led by Todd Gurley and the air show that second-year quarterback Jared Goff put on.
The Falcons, meanwhile, ended the year No. 19 against the run, which isn't going to cut it against the best running back in the league in 2017.
Gurley averaged 87 yards per game this season and found the end zone a whopping 19 times from scrimmage.
No. 3 Jaguars over No. 6 Bills
We can't break down how recent trends suggest the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills will match up in the postseason, because neither of them has made it in since 2007 and 1999, respectively.
Nothing is certain in the NFL, but it's unlikely either of these teams will be advancing to the AFC Championship Game as long as the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers are in the picture.
But one team has to win, so which will it be?
The Jags are the better team on both sides of the ball. Not only has their defense been ferocious this season, finishing No. 2 in total defense, but their offense finished No. 1 in the league in rushing thanks to rookie Leonard Fournette.
Buffalo, meanwhile, has been shaky against the run and is potentially without its top rusher in LeSean McCoy, who was carted off the field in Week 17.
No. 4 Saints over No. 5 Panthers
It's always fun when divisional rivals face off in the postseason, and it was bound to be the case in 2017 as three teams from the NFC South advanced to the playoffs.
However, by the end of the day Sunday, there will be at least one fewer NFC South team representing as the closely seeded New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers duke it out.
New Orleans swept its regular-season meetings with Carolina this season, and it's likely it earn the hat-trick in the Wild Card Round.
All the teams that advanced to the first weekend of playoff football have stellar rushing attacks. New Orleans possibly has the best duo in the league in Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. Add in quarterback Drew Brees, and even former MVP Cam Newton can't outscore this team.