The NFL Wild Card games concluded Sunday setting up for must watch television in next week’s Divisional Round.
NFC Divisional Round: 49ers vs Vikings, Saturday, January 11, 4:35 pm ET on NBC
The six seed Vikings are coming off an upset win over the Saints on Sunday and look to ride their momentum into Levi’s Stadium. Quarterback Kirk Cousins hit wide receiver Adam Thielen with a deep pass in overtime to setup Minnesota at the Saints’ goal line and followed it up with a touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph to win the game 26-20. Cousins threw 19 of 31 with 242 yards and a touchdown. Thielen finished with seven receptions for 129 yards and averaged 18.4 yards per catch. Dalvin Cook ran the ball 28 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
San Francisco is coming off their first NFC West title in seven years and finished the regular season with a 13-3 record. They have a lot of weapons on offense including quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. In his first full year behind center Garoppolo compiled 3,978 passing yards with 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Greg Kittle‘s numbers at the tight end position were good enough for top five in the league. He finished the regular season with 85 catches for 1,053 yards and five touchdowns. Minnesota was able to keep Brees in check, but they will have their hands full against a 49ers team that ranked fourth in total offense, according to NFL Team Stats.
AFC Divisional Round: Titans at Ravens, Saturday, January 11, at 8:15 pm ET on CBS
In Saturday’s second game the Titans travel to Baltimore to take on Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Tennessee is coming off a shocking upset over the Patriots in Foxborough Saturday. Derrick Henry ran the ball 34 times for 182 yards and a touchdown, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. Despite only eight completed passes and one touchdown from Ryan Tannehill, the Titans were able to hold strong on defense limiting Tom Brady to 209 yards passing and one interception with no touchdowns. It will be interesting to see how their defense handles an elusive quarterback like Jackson.
Baltimore finished the season as the top seed in the AFC with a 14-2 record. In his first full season as quarterback, Jackson threw for 3,127 yards with 33 touchdowns and only six interceptions. He also broke Mike Vick‘s single season rushing record for a quarterback. He finished the year with 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 6.9 yards per run. Mark Ingram also had an exceptional season compiling over a thousand yards rushing and ten touchdowns while averaging five yards per carry. Unlike New England, look for this high power offense to put up more than 13 points.
AFC Divisional Round: Texans at Chiefs, Sunday, Jan. 12, 3:05 p.m. ET on CBS
The Texans were able to figure out their offense late in the game against Buffalo behind stellar play from Deshaun Watson. After being shutout in the first half, the Houston quarterback lead his team down the field in overtime escaping a big hit from two Bills’ defensive linemen before throwing a pass that setup the Texans’ game winning field goal. Watson was a very efficient 20 of 25 for 247 yards. He finished with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown.
The Chiefs finished 2019 as the AFC West Champions with a 12-4 record. The team was off to a shaky start at 6-4 amid an injury to Patrick Mahomes, but they were able to win their last six games setting up a first round bye. In 14 games played Mahomes finished with 4,031 passing yards with 26 touchdowns and five interceptions. Travis Kelce is coming off a record-breaking season that saw the tight end become the first player at his position to record four straight seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards. Look for this game to be a shootout between two quarterbacks that were both selected in the first round of 2017’s draft.
NFC Divisional Round: Packers vs Seahawks, Sunday, Jan. 12, 6:40 p.m. ET on FOX
Green Bay displayed dominance in the regular season capturing a first round bye and winning the NFC North with a 13-3 record. Aaron Rodgers had a very efficient season throwing for 4,002 yards with 26 touchdowns and just four interceptions. We didn’t know what to expect from first year head coach Matt LaFleur, but an improved defense and a healthy Rodgers seemed to be the recipe for success in Green Bay. Look for their offense to score a lot against a team that ranked 26th in total defense, according to NFL Team Stats.
The Seahawks are coming off a tough battle against Philadelphia who saw Josh McCown replace Carson Wentz in the second quarter of Sunday’s game. The Seahawks didn’t look great. They only scored 17 points and they head into next Sunday’s match up with the Packers still without their top three running backs. Marshawn Lynch scored a touchdown in the win, but only had seven yards rushing. Lynch will try to contribute more, but most of Seattle’s offense will have to come from Russell Wilson and the receiving core.
