NFL ROUND TWO STRAIGHT UP PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS

SATURDAY GAMES

AFC

#4.JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (10-8) AT #1. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (14-3)

HEAD TO HEAD REGULAR SEASON: KC (1-0) JAX

PLAYOFF HISTORY: FIRST MEETING

THE EAGLE BOWL

This playoff match up has two X-Philadelphia Eagles head coaches going against each other. Andy “the Walrus” Reid may be the best head coach in Philly history record-wise.Then there’s the Philly Special, Doug Pederson, who guided the Eagles to their only Superbowl trophy beating the hated Evil Empire Patriots. Usually when a quarterback throws 4 interceptions in one game, they are tagged with the loss. Last week, the Jaguars prevailed against a poor coached Charger team and overcame Trevor Lawrence’s mistakes and beat LA in a game that was Charles Dickerson’s tale of two halves.

The Chiefs found their way once again to snag the first round bye in the AFC post-season with the best record and the cancelled game between the Bills and the Bengals. Patrick Mahomes is 8-3 in the playoffs with two losses coming from Tom Brady, and the other from Joe Cool Burrow. I don’t see Surf Nazi Ninja Must Die, the Jaguars quarterback, tagging Mahomes with another loss to his playoff legacy.

The Chiefs coaching staff is not the Chargers so any mistakes from Lawrence and the Jaguars will be daggers in the Jacksonville coffin. I like the Chiefs able to get their yards and offense through the air where the Jacksonville defense is the weakest. I can’t see the Jaguars playing the perfect game on the road in a very tough place to win, Arrow Head Stadium. The Jaguars would need a perfect game times two to beat the Chiefs this weekend.

OUR PICK: CHIEFS

NFC

#6. NEW YORK GIANTS (10-7-1) AT #1. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (14-3)

HEAD TO HEAD REGULAR SEASON: EAGLES (2-0) GIANTS

PLAYOFF HISTORY: ALL-TIME PLAYOFF SERIES TIED (2-2) LAST MEETING 2008 DIVISIONAL ROUND: EAGLES WON

This will be the third meeting between the Giants and Eagles this season, and the last one went Philadelphia’s way in a rout. Eagles had the first round bye while the Giants moved on from the Wild Card Weekend with a win in Minnesota. The Eagles outscored the Giants 70-38 in those two regular season meetings. It is very hard to beat a team three times in one season. The Eagles have the better team on both sides of the ball. The key thing in this match up that jumps out to me is the health of Jalen Hurts.

Hurts only played in one game in the last month of the season. Hurts did not look very good in the last week of regular season. However Hurts did get to rest last week, with the Eagles clinching the number one seed. Without a healthy Hurts, the Eagles did not look like a number one seed in the last month of the season. Meanwhile the Giants thrive on close games and have become accustomed to squeaking out grinders ending either in regulation or overtime. The last three times the Giants won their opening round playoff game, the big blue have found themselves in the Superbowl. My gut feeling tells me a number one seed will fall and this is the game.

The Giants were missing three key guys on their defense in the last meeting versus the Eagles. Look what corner back Adoree Jackson did last week versus the best receiver in the NFC Justin Jefferson. Shut him down. Brian Daboll, head coach of the Giants, has playoff experience from his time with the Bills. This Giants team is following his lead. I like the Giant upset in this one because Big Blue has beat me every time I go against them.

OUR PICK: GIANTS

THE SUNDAY SLATE

AFC

#3. CINCINNATI BENGALS (13-4) AT #2. BUFFALO BILLS (14-3)

HEAD TO HEAD REGULAR SEASON: REGULAR SEASON MATCH UP CANCELLED

PLAYOFF HISTORY: BENGALS (2-0) ALL-TIME VERSUS BILLS, LAST MEETING 1989 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP

I had a feeling, as did everyone who is a football fan, that this match up would come around again between the Bengals and Bills. It was supposed to be the game of the week when these two teams met up on a Monday night affair weeks ago. This game had lots on the line for both teams in the playoffs. Unfortunately the game was cancelled after Bills defender Damar Hamilin laid on the carpet after making a tackle, getting up & then falling down. CPR was performed on Hamlin as both teams were in shock and tears, standing on the field surrounding Damar. It was 7-3 Bengals with the lead, with time remaining in the first quarter as the league postponed the game because of what unfolded. Then the league cancelled the game. Now this game has circled back in the divisional round where once again the stakes are high. The Bills are playing for their fallen comrade Damar Hamilin with lots of emotions. The Bengals think they got screwed from the league as they are defending their AFC Championship run from last season when the Bengal stripes made it to the Superbowl. What a great match up at the quarterback position with Josh Allen versus Joe Burrow. This now will officially be the first meeting between the two of these super stars of the AFC.

In the 1989 AFC Championship, it was Jim Kelly versus Boomer Esiason, two elite quarterbacks of the AFC in a game that went down to the very end of regulation.

I can see this Bengals and Bills game going down to the very end in an AFC Classic heavyweight bout. Both teams are pretty much equal on both sides of the ball. The Bengals defense can pressure the quarterback. The Bills defense bend but don’t break style thrives on getting turnovers. The Bengals have weapons of mass destruction at their wide receiver position. The Bills have a slew of weapons that can beat you on any given Sunday. This game can go either way. I think both coaching staffs equal out in this one. As well as special teams. I think the Bills will exploit the Bengals’ shaky offensive line which is probably the weakest link in this match up. Bills being at home is my final thought as the Mafia can make things tough with a shaky O-Line.

OUR PICK: BILLS

NFC

#5. DALLAS COWBOYS (13-5) AT #2. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (14-4)

HEAD TO HEAD REGULAR SEASON: DID NOT FACE EACH OTHER

PLAYOFF HISTORY: COWBOYS ARE (5-3) ALL-TIME VERSUS THE 49ERS IN THE PLAYOFFS. THE 49ERS HAVE WON THE LAST TWO MEETINGS WHICH INCLUDES LAST SEASON’S WILD CARD GAME.

The Cowboys/49ers playoff rivalry continues in back to back years for the first time since the 1990’s when these teams met up three years in a row playing for the NFC Championship game. We know both these franchises hate each other. I really don’t care for either of them. I hate the Cowboys more. The 49ers are one of those teams that annoyed me from being there all the time. Colin Kapernick did not help their cause either. The 49ers last week easily put down the Seahawks. The Cowboys terminated Tampa Tom and his Buccaneers with ease. Do the Cowboys get extra credit for perhaps ending Tom Brady’s career? We can’t say that until we hear that out of the fool’s mouth if he’s coming back or doing that fake retirement speech. The Cowboys finally won a playoff game on the road for the first time since the 1990’s. Can they do it again in San Francisco? Will the 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy lose his first game in the NFL?

The kid, since taking over behind center for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo, has not lost a game behind center. Can Dak Prescott beat a winning team especially in the playoffs as he has problems doing so during his career so far under center for the Cowboys? The Buccaneers won their division with a losing record. The 49ers are a well-rounded team strong on both sides of the ball. Cowboys get the edge at the quarterback position. But the 49ers have the better scheme for the quarterback position. The 49ers defense is better as an entire unit, but Cowboys can get to the quarterback better then San Francisco.

Micah Parsons is a beast at killing the quarterback, one of the best in the entire NFL. Parsons had 13.5 sacks in regular season and the Cowboys will need him to disrupt and rattle Purdy to make this work on the road. I think this will be another close game, maybe even another epic classic Cowboys 49ers showdown. I like the 49ers pulling this one off at the end. I like the 49ers two-headed monster running attack with Christian McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell over the Cowboys running game. That features spoon feed me Ezekial Elliot who is over rated and Tony Pollard. The 49ers will out gain the Cowboys on the ground attack which will be the difference in the game.”Micah Parsons is a beast at killing the quarterback, one of the best in the entire NFL. Parsons had 13.5 sacks in regular season and the Cowboys will need him to disrupt and rattle Purdy to make this work on the road. I think this will be another close game, maybe even another epic classic Cowboys 49ers showdown. I like the 49ers pulling this one off at the end. I like the 49ers two-headed monster running attack with Christian McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell over the Cowboys running game. That features “Spoon Feed Me” Ezekial Elliot who is overrated and Tony Pollard. The 49ers will out gain the Cowboys on the ground attack which will be the difference in the game.

OUR PICK: 49ERS