ROUND ONE WILD CARD WEEKEND

The Playoffs have arrived and the Browns have finally made it back to the post-season.

Wild card weekend always has lots of great games over the years. This year with the expansion of post season with two more wild cards, we get triple headers on both Saturday and Sunday. Two teams will have byes, one from each conference. We share our wild power rankings with all 14 teams, and who we think ranks 1 thru 14. Get wild and crazy as we slow ride our way through the power rankings.

#1.KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (14-2) The Chiefs right now is what Elvis Presley was to Rock-n-Roll.

Not quite, because this Elvis the former Chief quarterback has left the building. It’s good to be king and the Chiefs are the King of the NFL. Chiefs have not missed a beat since winning the Superbowl last season, and earned the number one seed in the AFC a first round bye. They will get a week off to rest their players and then be ready in the second round to defend their Superbowl title from last season. Chiefs rested many of their players last week versus the Chargers in week 17, having everything clinched to do that. Coming off their first round playoff bye, the Chiefs hope they have their starting running back able to go. The rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire, if healthy, is a better option than the X-Steeler crybaby Le’Veon Bell.

#2.GREEN BAY PACKERS (13-3) The Packers are the cream of the crop in the NFC as they earn top seed with a bye in the playoffs’ first round. Aaron Rodgers has played lights out this season behind center for the Cheese Spread. Is the real MVP of the Packers, Jordan Love?

Packers drafting a quarterback in the first round of the draft after coming off a trip to the NFC Championship, may have ignited a flame under Aaron Rodgers. Packers could have gotten Rodgers another weapon on offense that he could have used. Rodgers makes everyone around him better as he did that this season with a monster year behind center. Will Rodgers continue down this road of revenge throughout the playoffs all the way into the Superbowl? Something like the path Jack Bauer took in 24 when he went for blood on all the Russians involved who killed his girl.

#3.NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (12-4) I find this Saints team can find many different ways to win a game this season. Some of the Saints teams of the past seem like they would March through the playoffs according to the eye test. This 2020 team has so much more especially with the best defense they ever had. This defense is better than the bounty gate defense they had when they won the whole thing versus the Colts.

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Saints defense don’t have to put a bounty on the heads of the opposing teams this go round. This Saints team has overcome yet another year losing Drew Brees to injury for a few weeks. They played without Alvin Kamara and the entire running back room their final week versus Carolina, and won very convincingly. They played most of the year without their top receiver in Michael Thomas. Sean Payton always has someone stepping up. This is the year you think it will not be the Saints in the Superbowl representing the NFC, and then watch them get there.

#4.BUFFALO BILLS ( 13-3) The Bills might be the scariest team entering the post season. They have been manhandling everyone in their way as they earn the second seed in the AFC. This will be the first Bills home field playoff game this Saturday, since 1996. Plus, the Bills Mafia will be on hand.

I like how the Bills defense has gotten better from a bad start of the season due to injuries. Last year’s Bills defense unit was one of the tops in the league. Last year’s offense struggled to score touchdowns. If both the defense and offense continue playing great football at the same time, Bills Mafia will be toasting all weekend long. Will wide receiver Cole Beasley be able to play this weekend? Bills signed Kenny Stills just in case, which is a nice addition.

#5.BALTIMORE RAVENS (11-5) The Ravens have been playing their best football down the stretch. Since last year’s loss to the Titans in the playoffs, the Ravens will try to avenge that loss and a regular season loss suffered by Tennessee in a rematch this weekend. Can Lamar Jackson win a playoff game?

Can Jackson walk down the Nashville streets strutting his stuff with victory on the road? Jackson will need help from the rest of the Ravens. The defense will have to stop the Titan machine. Plus the Ravens running game has to get yardage from their backs, not just Lamar Jackson doing it all. Titans made Jackson one dimensional last year in the playoffs. Ravens will need to score quickly and not far behind.

#6.TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (11-5) Can Tampa Tom do something that neither he or any team has ever done before? Can the Buccaneers get to the Superbowl and play a home game at their own stadium as it’s being played in Tampa Bay? Would guiding the Buccaneers and winning a Superbowl be Tom Brady’s finest work? Look at the cast of villains Brady has on this Buccaneer squad?

I see Gronk and Suh stand out in the picture above. The list of bad seeds on this Buccaneers team is very long from Antonio Brown, Leonard Fornette, Shady McCoy, and three fingered Jason Pierre-Paul. Have to throw Tom Brady into the mix as well. A team of thugs. Can you win the whole thing with this many bad guys and big egos?

#7.SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (12-4) The Seahawks defense has impressed me playing solidly late in the season. The Kansas City Chiefs defense started getting a lot better late in the season last year as they took it to the playoffs. Pete Carol, as a person, I think is the bottom of barrel sewer scum and beyond.

Pete Carol no longer has the Legion of Boom, but he has coached this year. Pete Carol has a guy on defense and guy on offense doing whatever and leading their units to the promise land. Offensively, we know the great Russell Wilson. On defense, safety Jamal Adams is leading a rag tag zombie apocalypse group out there playing defense.

#8.TENNESSEE TITANS (11-5) Last year’s post season Titans became a force in the AFC. Knocking out the team everyone thought was going to the dance, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Then the Titans ended the Patriot playoff dynasty beating Tom Brady and Belichick together for the last time. This year Titans have been great on offense, but that defense is horrible. Titans need to strike first to keep Derek Henry just mauling people down throughout the game is key to victory.

Titans can win a shootout. The Titans’ best way of winning is Derek Henry killing the clock with a lead.

#9.PITTSBURGH STEELERS (12-4) Can the Steelers repair Big Ben Roethlisberger like the Police officer in Robo Cop?

Big Ben looks old and could use a new gun with an arm. The Steelers lost 4 out of their last 5 down the stretch. The last game, they rested Big Ben in a loss to the Browns, who they play again this Sunday. The Steelers’ only win down the stretch was a comeback victory versus a good Colts team. The Steel Curtain defense has lost a few guys down the stretch as well. I can see the Steelers winning one game, and then being knocked out the following week.

#10.INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (11-5) I like this Colts team. They have a good defense and like to run the ball. I know the Colts did not play well down the stretch last season. They had a great start and faded away. Did Phillip Rivers do a way better job than a Jacoby Brissett last year? Big difference, and Colts are in the post season once again. Only problem is, the Colts have to play their game to win in the post-season. It has to be ball control with taking time off the clock with good defense. A shootout Phillip Rivers is prone to for stupid mistakes. Could this be Musters last stand this post season for Phillip Rivers?

Rivers does not like to move having a Partridge style size family.

#11.CLEVELAND BROWNS (11-5) Browns finally back in the playoffs since 2002. The Browns are not having any luck since they won their 9th game of the season which is a winning season. Winning seasons are like Haley’s comet. They only come to the Dawg Pound every so often like every 20 years we round up. The Browns needed to win a close one versus the Steelers last week, who were resting Big Ben to even make the post season. They lost one of their top pass rushers in Olivier Vernon last week to get in. Before that, Covid took out the Browns receiving room versus a bad Jets team that beat you. Now the head coach, Kevin Stefanski, will be out with Covid this Sunday in a rematch versus the Steelers. Stefanski’s first year coaching in Cleveland has been the difference from the year before with Freddie Kitchens having no control over the same team.

#12.LA RAMS (10-6) Can Sean McVay win in the playoffs with a former American Alliance Arizona Hotshot, John Wolford, behind center? Wolford who started his first NFL game for the Rams beat the Arizona Cardinals last week to help get the Rams into the playoffs. Wolford played in Arizona in the AAF and then makes his first NFL start versus the state he played his first professional ball at. Hotshot fans of the past, who are still Cardinal fans, feel slighted.

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Wolford threw one pick versus the Cardinals and had 231 passing yards with no TD passes. Wolford could get better in his second start, but the defense of the Rams who helped last week will have to even get better versus the Seahawks in round one of the playoffs.

#13.THE WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM (7-9) The Washington Football Team, that no one in DC is talking about right now, especially with what went down this week in the city.

If Alex Smith was at full strength, the Washington team could perhaps knock off the Buccaneers with that great defense they have. The offense is the problem. When Alex Smith knocked off the rust, this team was doing well. Is the Washington the first team in the playoffs without having an actual nickname? Washington ditched the Redskin name when 2020 turned into one crazy Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome movie.

#14.CHICAGO BEARS (8-8) The Bears, to me, are one of the luckiest teams to get in the post season. Bears needed help and they got it. Cardinal love.

The Cardinals had two clunker games in a row to be home for the playoffs. Bears had played battered defenses down the stretch to get in the back door after losing to Green Bay last Sunday. Has Mitch Trubisky found his game or is it just bad defenses he faced to get to this point? They say getting into the playoffs is another entire new season which is true. Bears will need that defense to step up if they want to get past a very talented Saints offense. I’m talking about 2018 greatness of that Bears defense. The Bears running game has suddenly shown up, which they will need. This instead of relying solely on Mitch Trubisky’s arm who can force things and get the team in trouble with mistakes. Do the bears throw a curve ball and bench Trubisky once again this season and bring in Nick Foles who thrives in the post season?

A Saints bus crash could seal the deal on Sunday for the Bears as well. Only Sid Luckman Reborn, could take the position behind center for the Bears and take this team beyond Wild Card weekend.