Top 5 Best Potential NFL Wild Card Matchups
What Wild Card Matchups would catch your eye on the opening NFL playoff weekend?
The NFL Playoffs are about a week away with the last week of the regular season approaching this weekend and the anticipation for postseason football in January can’t get here soon enough. With playoff positioning up for grabs heading into Week 17, the playoff matchups in the Wild Card round have still yet to be determined. So, with one more week to go, I put together a list of the five best potential matchups that could occur during the NFL Wild Card weekend in both the NFC and AFC.
AFC- Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens
This once fierce, hard-hitting rivalry from the AFC North could tangle in the wild card game and wouldn’t that be something for both Ravens and Steelers fans. The Steelers (10-5) are currently the No. 5 seed and the Ravens (9-6) are sitting just out of the playoff picture. The Steelers have a chance at winning the division this Sunday at home against the Bengals and the Ravens need to win in their last game and hope that the Chargers lose to clinch a playoff spot. If these two face-off, it’s likely to be in Pittsburgh. These two defensive rivals previously played each other in the 2008 AFC Championship Game and in the 2010 AFC Divisional Playoff Games with Pittsburgh winning both contests. A third playoff matchup could surely be another slugfest.
AFC- Indianapolis Colts vs San Diego Chargers
Both are these squads have weapons on the outside that could exploit the others secondary – the Chargers in Malcolm Floyd, Keenan Allen, and Antonio Gates and the Colts in Reggie Wayne and T.Y. Hilton. Both quarterbacks are two of the best and most dangerous passers when there on, in Andrew Luck and Phillip Rivers. This one could be really fun. The Colts (10-5) have already clinched a playoff berth winning the AFC South and the Chargers (9-6) are currently sitting as the No. 6 seed – with the Ravens breathing down their throats. I could see a lot of points put up in this one and you can’t beat a Rivers-Luck battle as well.
NFC- Green Bay Packers vs Dallas Cowboys
This one feels more like a NFC title game clash, doesn’t it? I strongly feel like the Cowboys and Packers (along with the Seahawks) are the three best teams in the NFC and any conference championship game that features two of those three teams would be worthwhile. However, with the Packers (11-4) currently as a Wild-Card team and the Cowboys (11-4) standing as NFC East champs and are guaranteed to get no lower than a No. 3 seed, the matchup is looking more and more likely. If the Packers lose next week to the Lions with the NFC North division on the line, then they will either be a No. 5 or No. 6 seed in the playoffs making the matchup more plausible. With both teams playing at a high level right now, a playoff game between two of the NFL’s greatest franchises would be a dandy.
NFC- Dallas Cowboys vs Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals (11-4) just lost their spot as a No. 1 seed on Sunday night after the Seahawks smacked them up pretty good. They’re now a No. 6 seed and with the Cowboys as the No. 3 seed at the moment, an Arizona-Dallas game could be in the works. The Cardinals have been a surprise all season long and with their premiere secondary and ability to find ways to win after losing two quarterbacks has been pretty impressive, but facing a Cowboys team that’s hitting their strides on both sides of the football could be a difficult challenge. The offensive trio of Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, and DeMarco Murray might be the best in the league and seeing them get another crack at the Cardinals athletic defense (Cardinals beat the Cowboys 28-17 in Week 9) could be an intriguing Wild Card game.
NFC- Seattle Seahawks vs Green Bay Packers
Now it is likely folks that these two elite teams could meet in the Wild Card game. As I mentioned above, a matchup like this feels more like a NFC title game than a Wild Card game, but hey, that’s how these things work sometime. The defending champ Seahawks (11-4) are peaking at the right time and their unbelievable defense is in rare form and right now have home-field advantage in the NFC, if the playoffs started today. With a loss this weekend, the Seahawks could drop down to a No. 3 seed and if the Packers remain a Wild Card team, then the likely NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers and Co. could find themselves up against the team that drubbed them on the opening week of the season. It’s unlikely this matchup happens in the Wild Card, but if it did, it could very well be one of the best Wild Card matchups in NFL playoff history.