The Armchair Quarterback’s Guide To Wildcard Weekend

The Armchair Quarterback’s Wildcard Weekend Game Predictions

Last weekend’s games brought to a close a successful first season of predictions with a 13-3 week. That put my overall record for predictions for the season at 171-84. For all of you other Armchair Quarterbacks out there that feel that you know the game of football as well or better than the national “experts” I present for you without further comment a predictions leader board that includes myself along with the experts from ESPN, CBS, Profootballtalk, and our Fansided editors that all do weekly predictions.

Jaworski – ESPN – 174-81
Graversen – Fansided’s Armchair QB – 171-84
Richard – CBS – 171-84
Smith – PFT – 170-85
Eisenberg – CBS – 169-86
Joyner – ESPN – 169-86
Breech – CBS – 165-90
Wilson – CBS – 165-90
Schefter – ESPN – 164-91
Carter – ESPN – 164-91
Ditka – ESPN – 163-91
Wickersham – ESPN – 162-93
Jackson – ESPN – 162-93
Mortensen – ESPN – 161-94
Schlereth – ESPN – 161-94
Rose – Fansided – 160-93
Brinson – CBS – 160-95
Prisco – CBS – 160-95
Hoge – ESPN – 160-95
Johnson – ESPN – 160-95
Florio – PFT – 159-96
Katzowitz – CBS – 159-96
Allen – Fansided – 158-95
Golic – ESPN – 158-97
Allen – ESPN – 157-98
Sanchez – Fansided – 156-97
Dyce – Fansided – 151-102
LaCanfora – CBS – 149-106

Curse you Ron Jaworski!!!!!

Now on to this weekend’s games…….

Chiefs at Colts

(Homer Alert) I wish I could be objective here, but I can’t. I honestly believe that KC will win this game despite being manhandled by Indy in KC a couple of weeks ago. First off, KC was flat that game, they didn’t play with the same fire they have through most of the season, even their loses to Denver and San Diego they at least played with heart, but not that day. Second, KC actually had a better record on the road (6-2) than they did at home (5-3). Plus, you can make a case that the KC offense may actually benefit more from being inside on turf with the explosive Jamaal Charles. Look for KC to score more than the 7 points they mustered in the first game. Finally, the Chiefs will get Justin Houston back from injury. His presence completely changes the KC pass rush that didn’t do a good job of getting to Luck the first time. If Indy keeps Luck upright again he’ll be able to pick apart the KC secondary enough to win, but I’m betting that KC gets to him this time around.

Chiefs 23
Colts 20

Saints at Eagles

This is a tough one to call. The Saints aren’t very good at stopping the run (giving up 4.6 yards per carry) and are playing on the road against the best running back in the NFL this season (LeSean McCoy) and his 5.1 YPC. On the other hand, Philadelphia gave up the most passing yards in the NFL this season (4,636) and now have to go against Drew Brees who has thrown for over 5,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. The Saints were only 3-5 on the road this season, but Philly was only slightly better at home at 4-4. In the end I’m going to go with the team with playoff experience and the veteran QB, but I’m not confident in this pick.

Saints 34
Eagles 31

Chargers at Bengals

This game comes down to Andy Dalton, period. If Dalton can just not throw interceptions left and right, Cincinnati will win this game. They have a MUCH better defense than the Chargers and should be able to rack up enough points to outscore Phillip Rivers and company without Dalton having to force the ball. If he just takes what SD gives him and lets his running game keep the ball out of Rivers hands, he’ll be fine. If he throws picks like he did against the Ravens last week, then Rivers will make them pay for it. I hate banking on Andy Dalton to get a pick right, but I think he got “Bad Andy” out of his system last week. Plus, the Bengals are the all around better team.

Chargers 20
Bengals 27

49ers at Packers

In the 49ers four loses this season the commonality has been the struggle of Colin Kaepernick to throw the football. In those four loses he only averaged about 124 yards passing per game. The bad news for Green Bay is that they are only rated 24th in the NFL in passing yards allowed and allowed Kaepernick to throw for 412 yards in their week 1 match up (his season high by over 100 yards). To make matters worse, they will be without their best defensive player, Clay Matthews, while the 49ers will have a healthy Michael Crabtree who didn’t play in that week 1 game. While everyone else gets caught up in the “Rodgers is back” hysteria, I’m banking on the fact that the 49ers are the better all around team.

49ers 27
Packers 24

That means I’m taking three of the four road teams in Wildcard Weekend, it should be interesting to see just how these games play out.

Now on to the Armchair Quarterback odds and ends of the week………..