The NFL playoffs get underway on Saturday afternoon with the kickoff of “Super Wild Card Weekend” – two straight triple-headers of win-or-go-home football for the first time ever.
Saturday’s action starts with the first post-season game in Western New York in 25 years, continues with an NFC West rivalry that’s usually too close to call and wraps up with the GOAT leading his new team on a quest for his seventh Lombardi.
Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday’s trio of wild-card games.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS AT BUFFALO BILLS
Saturday, 1:05 p.m. ET
What Vegas is saying: Bills -6.5 | O/U 51.5
Notable Injuries
Bills: WR Stefon Diggs (Questionable, oblique), WR Cole Beasley (Questionable, knee)
Colts: DT DeForest Buckner (Questionable, ankle), OT Will Holden (Out, ankle), CB Rock Ya-Sin (Out, concussion)
How they got here
Bills: One of the highest scoring teams in the league, the Bills rode a six-game winning streak to their first AFC East title in 25 years and the AFC’s No. 2 seed.
Colts: On the fringe until the final minutes of Week 17 due to a pair of pivotal losses to the Titans and Steelers, the Colts squeaked into the playoffs thanks to a final-day win against the Jaguars and a Dolphins loss.
What To Watch For
Josh Allen’s playoff redemption
The transformation of Josh Allen from an average quarterback prone to large mistakes to a top-three player at the position and an MVP candidate was a remarkable one, and the biggest reason Buffalo will be hosting a playoff game and boasts one of the NFL’s scariest offences. Now, the 24-year-old gets a shot at playoff redemption on Saturday, when he can wipe from our memories (and his own) the image of his meltdown in Houston last season.
Run game key to a Colts upset
The Colts appear to be in tough on the road against the Bills, but can find a route to an upset if the offence can establish the run game and keep Josh Allen and the Buffalo offence off the field. Rookie running back Jonathan Taylor has been running wild over the last few weeks, and there’s a blueprint to beating the Bills with a dominant ground game – the Chiefs were able to do just that way back in October. If the Colts offence takes a nap mid-game, as it has in each of the last two weeks, Frank Reich’s team won’t stand much of a chance.
LOS ANGELES RAMS AT SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Saturday, 4:40 p.m. ET
What Vegas is saying: Seahawks -3 | O/U 42
Notable Injuries
Seahawks: DT Jarran Reed (Questionable, oblique), CB Shaquill Griffin (Questionable, hamstring)
Rams: QB Jared Goff (Questionable, right thumb), LB Micah Kiser (Questionable, knee), OL David Edwards (Questionable, ankle)
How they got here
Seahawks: In one of the NFL’s toughest divisions, the Seahawks emerged as champions of the NFC West thanks to six wins in their final seven games of the season.
Rams: Sean McVay’s team was 7-3 after Week 11, but went .500 down the stretch and won a low-scoring Week 17 game over division rival Arizona with their backup QB to get into the post-season.
What To Watch For
Will the Seahawks let Russ cook?
The Seahawks roared to a 6-1 start to the season behind an early MVP candidate in Russell Wilson and a high-flying offence because Seattle ditched its previous tendencies to lean on the ground game, especially on early downs, and let their best player do his thing. Unfortunately, the offence has not been able to keep up its high-scoring ways throughout the entirety of the season and enters the playoffs looking to rediscover that form. On the bright side, a once historically bad defence has turned the corner and the Seahawks are winning with solid play on both sides of the ball. But football fans would really love to see more of Wilson in that chef’s hat this weekend.
Who will play at quarterback for the Rams?
Under the tutelage of first-year defensive co-ordinator Brandon Staley, the Rams boast a championship-calibre defence that can single-handedly win L.A. games. But the big story with the Rams heading into this wild-card game at their division rivals is who will play at quarterback. Former AAF star John Wolford started last week in place of Jared Goff, who broke his right thumb in Week 16. If Goff can return, how will he look? Would the Rams be better off with a healthy Wolford over an injured Goff?
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS AT WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM
Saturday, 8:15 p.m. ET
What Vegas is saying: Buccaneers -8 | O/U 44.5
Notable Injuries
Washington: LB Thomas Davis Sr. (Out, Knee), RB Antonio Gibson (Questionable, toe), WR Terry McLaurin (Questionable, ankle), QB Alex Smith (Questionable, calf), LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (Questionable, ankle)
Buccaneers: CB Carlton Davis (Questionable, groin), WR Mike Evans (Questionable, knee), DL Jeremiah Ledbetter (Out, calf), RB LeSean McCoy (Out, illness)
How they got here
Washington: The Football Team won the NFL’s worst division thanks to a dominant defence and the return of Alex Smith from a devastating leg injury that took two years to recover from.
Buccaneers: The Tom Brady-led Bucs were a disappointing 7-5 at the end of November, including two lopsided losses to NFC South rivals New Orleans, before riding a four-game win streak to the playoffs, the franchise’s first berth since 2007.
What To Watch For
Can Washington’s dominant defence steal a win?
The biggest home underdogs of the weekend, the Football Team will need its stacked defensive line to take over the game in order to pull off the upset over Tom Brady and the Bucs. Even with Alex Smith – who is dealing with a calf injury – under centre, Washington’s offence is among the NFL’s worst, so WFT will need the likes of young defensive linemen Chase Young, Montez Sweat and Jonathan Allen to get after Brady, create turnovers and keep the game low-scoring.
Red-hot Bucs offence faces stiff defensive test in D.C.
As Tampa headed into its Week 13 bye, there were plenty of questions about whether this Bucs team was consistent enough on offence to get the job done. Since then, Tampa has reeled off four straight wins and scored an average of 37 points per game. But those results came against average to below-average defences – Washington is a top-three unit, and the Bucs have struggled against good defences this season. Can Brady and Bruce Arians keep the momentum going in Washington? That’s the biggest question facing the Bucs heading into a game in which they’re heavy road favourites.
