Rams @ Panthers

A lot of things had to go Carolina’s way to beat the Rams in week 13. Matthew Stafford turned the ball over three times, including a pick-six. The Panthers converted two huge fourth downs — both for touchdowns. A perfect storm of events was needed for Carolina to win by three points.

It’s hard to imagine it unfolds this way again. The Panthers looked really bad in their final two games. Stafford and Sean McVay won’t lose to this team twice and it could be comfortable this time.

Verdict: Rams win

Packers @ Bears

Green Bay should’ve beaten the Bears twice in the regular season. If it wasn’t for a botched onside kick they would’ve comfortably won at Soldier Field in week 16. That was despite losing Jordan Love to injury, Micah Parsons already being out with his knee injury and Josh Jacobs looking like he was about 5% healthy.

Credit to the Bears for a miraculous turnaround. That was the story of their season really — so many late, crazy wins. It’s fair to wonder if the magic is running out. They’re on the right track with Ben Johnson and there’ll be no shame in being one-and-done in the playoffs this season.

I think Green Bay will win a close one, sending them to Lumen Field in the Divisional Round.

Verdict: Packers win

Bills @ Jaguars

The Jaguars finished the season playing as well as any team in the NFL. Liam Coen has turned Trevor Lawrence into a highly productive quarterback who is finally delivering on his potential. It remains to be seen if they can win the big playoff games coming up but they are the AFC’s momentum team (as they showed by comfortably beating Denver at Mile High).

The Bills haven’t felt right all year. Josh Allen remains a top player and he could will his team to victory on his own. Yet the defense isn’t very good and that’ll make life tough if Lawrence and Coen get things rolling.

Defeat would call into question Sean McDermott’s future as Head Coach and I think that will be the big talking point after Wildcard Weekend.

Verdict: Jaguars win

49ers @ Eagles

I think there’s some recency bias over the 49ers after the way their week 18 game unfolded. The Seahawks beat them up but prior to that they’ve been an electric force on offense. They averaged 42.3 points in their three games before losing to Seattle. Extend that out to their eight games prior and they averaged 34.5 PPG.

There’s an assumption they’ll go to Philly and play exactly like they did in week 18 but I’d expect Kyle Shanahan to get his offense back on track.

Meanwhile, it’s hard to work out the Eagles. They recently had a three-game losing streak (Cowboys, Bears, Chargers) and they finished the regular season with a 3-4 record in their last seven games.

It’s not that long ago that Eagles fans were booing their team against the Bears and I’ve just got a feeling Shanahan and San Francisco will pull this off. They won 12 games for a reason.

Verdict: 49ers win

Chargers @ Patriots

New England’s strength of schedule this year was .391 — by far the easiest in the NFL. There’s no doubting they’ve had an unexpectedly great year and Mike Vrabel has had an amazing impact. Are they good enough to go on a playoff run though? I’m not sure.

I don’t trust the Chargers though. They’ve too many injured players and won’t be at their potent best. Justin Herbert can go toe-to-toe with Drake Maye and this could be quite an entertaining game. Plus, Jim Harbaugh is typically made for these kind of occasions.

Nevertheless, I think the Patriots escape with a close win in a back-and-forth game. I’m not sure they’ll make it much further after though.

Verdict: Patriots win

Texans @ Steelers

The Steelers aren’t very good. They look old, they don’t have difference making coaching and they needed a lot of fortune to get by the Ravens last week. They feel like a team clinging desperately to relevancy.

The Texans, meanwhile, have been a tour de force for the last few weeks. Their defense has been an absolute monster and that could be the difference here. I can’t imagine Aaron Rodgers beating them. The Steelers will need a bit of magic or a Houston implosion to come through.

I don’t see either happening, with the Texans marching on and the questions over Mike Tomlin’s future beginning.

Verdict: Texans win

Divisional Round games

Packers @ Seahawks

49ers @ Rams

Texans @ Broncos

Jaguars @ Patriots