NFL wild-card weekend preview: Game-by-game look, TV info, odds, predictions and more
There are seven teams in the NFL playoffs that failed to make the cut last year. And seven quarterbacks will be making their postseason debuts.
Half of the 14 teams in this year’s postseason were not in the playoffs last year. The NFL loves boasting about this stat, and it’s understandable why. New blood — especially in markets like Los Angeles (Chargers) and New York (Giants) — is always good for the cash register.
Here’s a look at the weekend’s games and the playoff field, with each team’s seed listed.
Seahawks (7) at 49ers (2)
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. (Fox29)
Line: San Francisco -9.5. Total: 42.5.
Three things
San Fran won both games against its NFC West rival this season, ending Seattle’s four-game winning streak in the series.
Nobody in the NFC threw more touchdown passes than Seattle’s Geno Smith (30). Smith, 32, led the league in completion percentage (69.8%). This will be his first postseason start.
Niners tight end George Kittle has been a favored target since rookie Brock Purdy became the starting quarterback five games ago. Kittle has seven TDs over the last four games, including a pair at Seattle in Week 15.
Pick: 49ers, 20-6
Chargers (5) at Jaguars (4)
Saturday, 8:15 p.m. (NBC10)
Line: Los Angeles -2.5. Total: 47.5.
Three things
Jacksonville was 3-14 last year and 1-15 in 2020. First-year head coach Doug Pederson was 4-2 in the playoffs when he led the Eagles from 2016-20.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert had 25 touchdown passes this year, down from the 38 he had in 2021. This will be his first playoff game.
Jacksonville linebacker Foyesade Oluokun led the league in tackles for the second consecutive season. Not bad for a former sixth-round pick out of Yale.
Pick: Jaguars, 21-20
» READ MORE: Doug Pederson gets love from Jeffrey Lurie, Eagles as he leads the Jaguars to the playoffs
Dolphins (7) at Bills (2)
Sunday, 1 p.m. (CBS3)
Line: Buffalo -13.5. Total: 43.5.
Three things
The Dolphins had lost five in a row before slipping past the Jets in the season finale to sneak into the playoffs. They beat New York despite not scoring a touchdown. Ugh.
Miami beat Buffalo in Week 3 and nearly surprised the Bills in Buffalo in Week 15. Tua Tagovailoa was quarterbacking for the Dolphins in those games. He already has been ruled out with a concussion. Best of luck to his replacement, seventh-round rookie Skylar Thompson.
The Bills were 7-1 at home this year, the only loss coming to Minnesota when they fumbled in their own end zone while trying to run out the clock. This era of Bills is 3-0 at home in the playoffs.
Pick: Bills, 38-10
Giants (6) at Vikings (3)
Sunday, 4:30 p.m. (Fox29)
Line: Minnesota -3. Total: 48.5.
Three things
The Vikings beat the Giants on Christmas Eve on a 61-yard field goal at the buzzer. Saquon Barkley had 84 yards rushing and eight catches for New York. It was one of his best games of the season.
Justin Jefferson, perhaps the league’s best receiver, will be making his playoff debut. He had 12 catches for 133 yards and a TD in the first meeting against the Giants.
”I’m not worried about [Jefferson] at all,” Giants safety Xavier McKinney told NJ Advance Media. “He’s a good player. He’s going to make plays. But he’s not somebody that we haven’t seen be stopped before. We’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. So we’ll be all right. He’s human, just how we’re human. So that’s how we treat it.”
Pick: Giants, 26-23
Ravens (6) at Bengals (3)
Sunday, 8:15 p.m. (NBC10)
Line: Cincinnati -8.5. Total: 40.5.
Three things
The location of this contest nearly came down to a coin flip because Cincinnati played one fewer game this season. Bengals running back Joe Mixon had some fun with the possibility by mockingly flipping a coin as part of a touchdown celebration when Cincy beat Baltimore on Sunday.
Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase was targeted 25 times in the two games this season against Baltimore. He had 15 catches, but for just 136 yards (9.1 yards per). Against everyone else, Chase averaged 12.6 yards per catch.
With Lamar Jackson (knee) out again, it looks like Tyler Huntley will start for Baltimore. He’ll be the seventh quarterback in these playoffs to make his postseason debut. That’s the most since 1999.
Pick: Bengals, 28-20
» READ MORE: Damar Hamlin texts ‘Don’t go out there being fearful’ to the Eagles’ C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Cowboys (5) at Buccaneers (4)
Monday, 8:15 p.m., (ESPN/6ABC)
Line: Dallas -2.5. Total: 45.5.
Three things:
The Buccaneers (8-9) are the fourth team to make the playoffs with a losing record, not counting the 1982 strike year. Seattle (7-9) in 2010 and Carolina (7-8-1) in 2014 won their opening postseason games, Washington (7-9) in 2020 threw a scare into this very Tampa Bay squad, which went on to win the Super Bowl.
This was Tom Brady’s first losing season in his 23-year career and just the second full season that his team didn’t win at least 10 games.
Four of Dallas’ five losses this season were on the road, including in overtime at Green Bay and at Jacksonville.
Pick: Cowboys, 27-26
Biggest headaches
Each team’s most worrisome concern:
NFC
Dallas: Dak Prescott, despite missing five games with injury, tied Houston’s Davis Mills for the league lead with 15 interceptions. Prescott, who had 85 fewer passing attempts than Mills, has thrown a pick in seven consecutive games.
Minnesota: Dalvin Cook and the running game were mediocre this year. His last 100-yard game was in Week 10.
N.Y. Giants: Starting cornerback Adoree’ Jackson (knee) has missed the last seven games. If there’s one thing the Vikings can do, especially at home, it’s throw the ball.
Eagles: Assuming quarterback Jalen Hurts will be closer to 100% after a full week off, attention turns to Lane Johnson. Looks like the star right tackle is going to try to play through his groin injury rather than get surgery.
» READ MORE: Eagles get newly minted All-Pro Lane Johnson back at practice
San Francisco: How legit is the 49ers’ 10-game winning streak? Eight of those wins were against teams with losing records.
Seattle: The Seahawks offense scored one touchdown in two games against San Francisco this season, and it came in garbage time.
Tampa Bay: The Bucs have the worst rushing offense in the league and scored the fewest points of any of the 14 playoff teams.
AFC
Baltimore: The key was whether Lamar Jackson, who has missed the last five games with a knee injury, will be available. He has been ruled out. The Ravens offense is, not surprisingly, lost without him.
Buffalo: No concerns, really. When you’ve gone through the horror of watching a teammate nearly die on the field, nothing else is important.
Cincinnati: Secondhand smoke from quarterback Joe Burrow’s postgame cigars. Also, the running game has slumped over the last month.
Jacksonville: Playing against a potent offense for the first time in a month. The Jags’ last three wins have been against the Jets, Texans, and Titans.
Kansas City: The Chiefs are the AFC’s No. 1 seed but won’t host the conference championship game if it’s them against Buffalo because the Bills played one fewer game. They’d meet in Atlanta, instead. Would rather have seen them play at an outdoor stadium in the cold such as Pittsburgh or Green Bay.
L.A. Chargers: Wide receiver Mike Williams injured his back in Week 18 and will not play. The heat already was turned up on coach Brandon Staley before losing one of his best players in a meaningless game. Staley better not lose to the Jags.
Miami: In addition to having to play a rookie quarterback, starting running back Raheem Mostert broke his thumb in Sunday’s season finale. Not how you want to go into Buffalo.
» READ MORE: Super Bowl odds: Eagles enter playoffs among top four title favorites
Lists, lists, lists
NFC streaks
San Francisco W10
Seattle W2
Eagles W1
Minnesota W1
Dallas L1
N.Y. Giants L1
Tampa Bay L1
AFC streaks
Cincinnati W8
Buffalo W7
Jacksonville W5
Kansas City W5
Miami W1
L.A. Chargers L1
Baltimore L2
Records vs. playoff teams
NFC
Eagles 5-1
San Francisco 5-1
Dallas 5-3
Minnesota 3-2
Seattle 2-4
Tampa Bay 2-4
N.Y. Giants 2-6
AFC
Kansas City 6-2
Cincinnati 4-2
Buffalo 3-2
Jacksonville 3-3
Baltimore 2-5
Miami 2-5
L.A. Chargers 1-5
Super Bowl odds (Open/Monday)
NFC
1-Eagles +4000/+500
2-San Francisco +1600/+550
3-Minnesota +4000/+3000
4-Tampa Bay +2500/+2500
5-Dallas +1200/+1100
6-N.Y. Giants +6600/+6600
7-Seattle +4000/+5000
AFC
1-Kansas City +750/+350
2-Buffalo +750/+400
3-Cincinnati +1200/+750
4-Jacksonville +10,000/+5000
5-L.A. Chargers +2500/+2500
6-Baltimore +2000/+4000
7-Miami +5000/+5000
Source: BetMGM/SportsOddsHistory.com. Opening odds are from Feb. 13
Odds on the AFC team in the Super Bowl
Kansas City 12-1
Buffalo 16-1
Cincinnati 22-1
L.A. Chargers 75-1
Baltimore 120-1
Jacksonville 130-1
Miami 150-1
Source: South Point Casino, Las Vegas
QB money
How much each starting quarterback counted against the salary cap in 2022:
NFC
Minnesota, Kirk Cousins, $31,416,668
Dallas: Dak Prescott, $19,730,000
Tampa Bay: Tom Brady, $11,896,000
N.Y. Giants: Daniel Jones, $8,365,836
Seattle: Geno Smith, $3,500,000
Eagles: Jalen Hurts, $1,643,230
San Francisco: Brock Purdy, $724,252
Injured
San Francisco: Trey Lance, $7,751,199
AFC
Kansas City: Patrick Mahomes, $35,793,381
Buffalo: Josh Allen, $16,372,281
Cincinnati: Joe Burrow, $9,870,037
Jacksonville: Trevor Lawrence, $8,362,156
L.A. Chargers: Justin Herbert, $7,248,751
Miami: Skylar Thompson, $725,554
Baltimore: Anthony Brown, $78,334
Injured
Baltimore: Lamar Jackson, $23,016,000
Miami: Tua Tagovailoa, $8,256,938
Source: Spotrac.com
Coaches’ challenges
How each coach fared this season challenging calls
NFC
N.Y. Giants: Brian Daboll, 3-0
San Francisco: Kyle Shanahan, 4-2
Minnesota: Kevin O’Connell, 2-2
Tampa Bay: Todd Bowles, 1-1
Eagles: Nick Sirianni, 1-2
Seattle: Pete Carroll, 1-5
Dallas: Mike McCarthy, 0-2
AFC
L.A. Chargers: Brandon Staley, 2-0
Kansas City: Andy Reid, 2-1
Baltimore: John Harbaugh, 2-5
Cincinnati: Zac Taylor, 2-6
Jacksonville: Doug Pederson, 1-3
Miami: Mike McDaniel, 1-5
Buffalo: Sean McDermott, 0-3
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com