Shark's Wild Card Round Picks

Happy New Year NFL fans. It is now 2018 which means the NFL playoffs are upon us. 12 teams are in the playoffs, but in the end there will only be 2 teams remaining. But let's not get ahead of our self. We first have to get through the Wild Card Round. There are 4 games this round and 8 teams, but only 4 teams will advance to the next round.

AFC Wild Card Round

4th seed Kansas City Chiefs(10-6) vs 5 seed Tennessee Titans(9-7)

At the start of the season the chiefs started the season 5-0 and then they really took a step down and went 1-6 over the next 7 games, but then the chiefs came back to their playoff with 4 straight wins to close out the season. The most important thing for the Chiefs will be to get Kareem Hunt the ball going against the Titans tough defense. In the 10 games the Chiefs won, Kareem Hunt got 105.2 yards/game. In the 6 games the Chiefs lost Kareem Hunt got 53.5/game. When Kareem Hunt has a bad game the Chiefs don't do too well either. The Titans have the 4th lowest rushing yards allowed. If the Chiefs can play the way that they started the season and ended the season they will be scary.

Pick: Chiefs

3rd seed Jacksonville Jaguars(10-6) vs 6th seed Buffalo Bills(9-7)

The Bills have ended a long playoffs drought with a 9-7 record to earn the 6th seed. This game is gonna be a battle of the defenses. Although the Bills have broken a playoff drought it is going to be very short-lived. Going up against the best passing defense in the NFL is not going to be easy. Then to add on their star studded wide receivers is going to be near impossible for the Bills. The only way I could see the Bills winning this game is if Blake Bortles makes a return to his interception riddled past. Sadly there are very slim chances of the Bills going far in this playoff run.

Pick: Jaguars

First Round Byes: Patriots, Steelers

NFC Wild Card Round

3rd seed Los Angeles Rams(11-5) vs 6th seed Atlanta Falcons(10-6)

The Rams high powered Sean McVay offense is going up against the Atlanta Falcons. The Rams have 2 MVP candidates with Jared Goff and the Rejuvenated Todd Gurley. The Rams are a young team who don't have much playoff experience whereas the Falcons made the Super Bowl last year. This will be tough game for the Rams who haven't made the playoffs since 2004. The Rams are leading the league in points/game and are in the top ten in passing and rushing yards per game. Whereas the Falcons are outside the top ten in points/game. Whether the Falcons win or the Rams win this will be a close game. Experienced vs Young. Although with the way Sean McVay's Offense has been playing I have to give the Rams an advantage. Especially since the game is going to be a home game for the Rams.

Pick: Rams

4th seed New Orleans Saints(11-5) vs 5th seed Carolina Panthers(11-5)

The Saints are the 4th seed and the Panthers are the 5th seed because the Saints won the tiebreaker with the head to head, but really these are two teams that are from the same division and are very evenly matched. In the past few weeks the Panthers have seemed unstoppable and the thing to notice is that Cam Newton is really starting to have fun. When Cam has fun the Panthers are a team that can't be stopped offensively. Drew Brees has proven this year that he can still be a top 5 quarterback in the league at this age. To go along with Drew Brees there is Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram who may be the best running back duo in the league with them combining for over 2,000 yards rushing. One thing that the Saints have a big advantage over the Panthers is their wide reciever core. With a core of Thomas, Ginn, and Snead the Panther DB's will have their hands full. Then on the defensive side when you add on top of that Marshon Lattimore who has arguably played like the best cornerback in the league as a rookie the Saints are just if not more unstoppable.

Pick: Saints

First Round Byes: Eagles, Vikings

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