2016 NFL Wild Card Preview

The NFL Playoffs have finally arrived. This Saturday will kick off the playoffs with the two AFC Wild Card Playoff games, followed by the two NFC Wild Card games on Sunday. I think this will be some of the tightest games played. All of these teams have terrific talent, but each of them have some questions as well. Let's go ahead and look at the games coming up.

AFC Wild Card

Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Texans

The Chiefs are the hottest team in the NFL right now coming off of 10 straight wins, and have showed no signs of slowing down. The Chiefs have been one of the biggest surprises in the NFL. They lost their best player in Jamaal Charles to an ACL tear, and yet they are better than they have been all season. Since losing Charles, the Chiefs have had to look into different plays, and rely more on their passing. Alex Smith is looking like his old self when he was with the 49ers being coached by Jim Harbaugh. They will have to take on the Texans and their monster defense.Texas is 3rd in total defense, and they have J.J. Watt, who is leading the NFL in sacks with 17.5. Houston doesn't have a dynamic offense, so they will have to rely on their defense. I think the Chiefs offense is going to be too much for the Texans defense. I think the Chiefs win by 6 with a score of 19-13.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals

This is arguably the most anticipated game of the Wild Card. The Steelers and Bengals are AFC North rivals, and they are not too fond of each other. The Bengals will be without their starting quarterback Andy Dalton, but have done pretty well with backup quarterback A.J. McCarron. Pittsburgh has Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown, which is one of the best combinations in the NFL today. I don' think having Dalton out will be that detrimental to the Bengals offense. I think A.J. McCarron will step up in his first postseason start and lead the Bengals to a win over the Steelers. I have the Bengals winning by 2 with a score of 20-18.

NFC Wild Card

Seattle Seahawks at Minnesota Vikings

The Seattle Seahawks looked completely opposite of a Super Bowl team early in the season, but as of late they have been looking like a team that could go all the way to the big game. Russell Wilson has been on fire, and the offense is going strong as well. Doug Baldwin has been a breath of fresh air for Wilson catching 14 touchdowns. Other than the St. Louis Rams, who they lost to twice, the only other teams the Seahawks have lost to are other playoff teams. Teddy Bridgewater has been looking better this year and is well on his way to doing great things with the Vikings, but it won't be this year. I have the Seahawks winning this one by 5 with a score of 20-15.

Green Bay Packers at Washington Redskins

Kirk Cousins, where did he come from? Cousins has been looking like what a starting quarterback looks like. Ever since his famous "You like that?" saying after the comeback win against the Tampa Bay Bucs, he has been on point and looking like the Redskins starter of the future. The Green Bay Packers have not looked that good this year. They have had spurts of greatness in the middle of the season, but in the first and last part of the season they have not looked like the Packers that we thought we would see. There is one thing that the Packers have that the Redskins don't, and that is Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers is the only, and I mean only, reason why I am picking them to win this game. I have the Packers winning by 2 with a score of 17-15.

Be sure to subscribe to the blog in order to stay up-to-date on all new posts. For more news, infor, and predictions you can:

Like me on Facebook at Sports Cognition &

Follow me on Twitter @SportsCogBlog