As the regular season of the NFL (National Football League) comes to a close the post season is just beginning and the playoffs are many fans favorite part of football. Twelve of thirty two teams made it to the playoffs all competing for a spot on to play in Super Bowl. The AFC (American football conference) teams that will play on wild card weekend are Pittsburgh Steelers @ Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans @ Oakland Raiders. The teams that made the first and second seeds in the AFC are the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots.

The NFC (National football conference) teams that will play on wild card weekend are the Detroit Lions @ Seattle Seahawks and the New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers. The teams that made the first and second seeds in the NFC are the Dallas Cowboys and the Atlanta Falcons.

On to the predictions! I will be starting with the AFC wild card round games (If you want to read the NFC games first you should skip a few paragraphs). The Texans versus the Raiders will be an interesting match up considering both teams quarter back situations. Brock Osweiler is not a reliable choice for a quarter back because of his poor decision making and bad throw accuracy but with Tom Savage being injured it’s the best the Texans have. The Raiders will be starting their third string rookie quarter back Connor Cook on his first start so expecting a decent game out of him would be too much. The Oakland offense just couldn’t get any momentum going against the Houston defense and ultimately lost the game due to loss of Derek Carr.

The Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Miami Dolphins is going to be a game for the Steelers to take with the Dolphins starting quarter back Ryan Tannehill out for the game and Matt Moore on the field. The Dolphins have an above average run game with rookie guard opening big lanes for rising star running back Jay Ajayi. Even with a good run game it will not be enough to keep up with the Steeler offense having Big Ben, Le’Veon Bell, and Antonio Brown all healthy. Steelers offense did their job putting up too many points for back up Matt Moore to keep up especially with their defense in the way and stopping Jay Ajayi putting the game on his shoulders. Pittsburgh advances

Now for the Divisional round for the AFC. Do you ever look at something and wonder how it got there? Like when you see graffiti on the side of a tall bridge? I had that moment when the Texans made it to the playoffs but if all goes as predicted they are in the divisional round! The New England Patriots versus the Houston Texans has blow out written all over it as it has happened before in the regular season. The Patriots have an all around team that is very dangerous for other teams in the AFC year after year and the Texans are not. Tom Brady and Bill Belichik are going to make the Texans an example as they move on the the championship game. Their is not much to analyze as the Patriots best the Texans in almost all aspects of the field. The Patriots win.

The Pittsburg Steelers versus the Kansas City Chiefs is going to be a game to watch as both of these teams have a good chance of moving on to play the Patriots. The Chiefs offense is well rounded with a decent run and pass game but their defense is what makes them shine. The Chiefs defense is very good at locking down receivers but their run defense has been very inconsistent this season. although the Steelers destroyed KC in a previous regular season game it will be different now but I still believe they can get the win playing with a bend-don’t-break defense (Playing conservative and not giving up any big plays slowing the KC offense just enough for them to get a big lead early on) and overwhelming the Kansas defense with their vast receiver core and any team so far has had trouble stoping the patient running back.

The AFC Conference Championship game between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers is going to be challenging for both teams as it should be in the last game before the super bowl. New England is very well rounded on both sides of the ball and is very consistent at passing the ball very well with Tom Brady in the back field and his receivers out wide. Their defense is and all around defense not leaving any bad “total yards allowed” stats and having decent run and pass defense. Unlucky for the NE defense the Steelers do both very well and will not be shut down easily. The Steelers defense is going to have to again play a bend-don’t-break  defense giving their offense time to get a lead. Their defensive strategy might not work agains NE defense because if they  get a lot of stops they won’t be able to get that early lead that they need. I believe NE will take the “W” in the end also playing a bend-don’t-break defense as having a better chance for it to work for them getting a lead early and not letting Pittsburgh get their receivers open and making big plays.

On to the NFC Wild card games! First, the Detroit Lions @ the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks quarter back Russel Wilson is known for being able to extend plays not afraid to move out of the pocket. When your throwing to receivers like Doug Baldwin and Jimmy Graham, finding them on almost every play agains a controversial Detroit secondary. Although the Lions are very underrated with a veteran quarter back in Matt Stafford playing his best foot ball, and the loss of Calvin Johnson not seeming to affect them. In the end the Seattle defense really stepped up and shut down Matt Stafford and giving their offense a blow out!

The Green Bay Packers @ the New York Giants. NY has an amazing receiving core with Odell Beckham Jr, Sterling Shepard, and Victor Cruz it’s almost like “the greatest show on turf” again! but the GB started to overwhelm them and put up 14 at the half and their lead was too great for the Giants to come back and with the performance of their receivers GB had a relatively easy win which was surprising to say the least.

Moving on to the divisional round, the Atlanta Falcons @ the Seattle Seahawks. Matt Ryan has been playing his best football and is a candidate for league MVP hitting Julio Jones for thousands of yards this season but it won’t be easy going up against Richard Sherman and the Legion of Boom. The Seattle secondary has lost Earl Thomas due to injury which will play a big role in this game. Seattle has struggled this whole season trying to get their run game going because Thomas Rawls just isn’t the next Marshawn Lynch but on the Falcons, Devonta Freeman has proven himself to be an elite running back in this league and can get the job done. The Falcons offense is ranked second in the league and have been playing significantly better than Russel Willson and his offense. I believe that the Seattle defense won’t be able to stop both Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman and that the Falcons defense will hold on just enough to get their team the win. Falcons advance!

The Dallas Cowboys @ the Green Bay Packers. Dallas has been doing great with their rookie quarter back and running back going on to end with a record of 13-3. If the Dallas secondary had a bit more speed to them they would definitely be ranked higher because they can cover well but they get outrun by speedy receivers like Odell. Green Bay will have to practice many drills to stop Ezekiel Elliot and playing a bend-don’t-break on the passing game to give their offense enough time to get a lead and win it in the end. Packers advance off of a close game to Dallas due to their inexperienced rookie quarter back and running back.

The NFC conference championship between the Packers and the Falcons is going to be a game of who can score more points. The Falcons are going to show the GB why they are ranked second in the league with Matt Ryan targeting Julio Jones for the majority of the game giving the GB defense an opportunity to pretty much double team him. The Falcons offense has been beaten before but I believe that they will get the will over GB due to their ability to move the ball down the field on the ground and through the air.

The goal for all teams at the beginning of the season and the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons make it to super bowl 51! This may be one of the better match ups in super bowl history having both of them a good all around team but the Falcons having the better offense and the Patriots having the better defense. The Patriots will be trying to put a lot of pressure on Matt Ryan not letting him get focused and playing like he has all season. The Falcons will be trying to get the ball down the field in shorter passes and runs being careful not to turn the ball over. This game is going to come down to the wire but I believe that the Falcons will defeat the Patriots and having Julio Jones be the super bowl MVP beating double teams and catching touchdown catches upsetting Tom Brady and stopping him from another ring and one that the Atlanta players will show off on for as long as they live.