Our NFL Wild Card predictions are now live with a look at the six games that are set to take place during a huge three-day slate.
Things start Saturday afternoon at 4:30 PM ET with the Houston Texans hosting the Cleveland Browns. Later that same day, the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Miami Dolphins.
Sunday’s slate starts with the surprising Pittsburgh Steelers visiting a Buffalo Bills squad that earned the AFC East title with a win over the aforementioned Dolphins Sunday night.
The Dallas Cowboys then host the Green Bay Packers with Mike McCarthy taking on his old team. Sunday’s slate closes up with the Detroit Lions hosting the Los Angeles Rams at 8:00 PM ET on NBC.
We’ll then see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host what has been a pretty bad Philadelphia Eagles team on Monday Night Football.
Without further ado, here are our NFL Wild Card predictions for what promises to be a fun three-day slate to open the NFL Playoffs.
Related: NFL Playoff and Super Bowl predictions
NFL Wild Card predictions: NFC
Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys
Talk about storyline after storyline. Mike McCarthy going up against his former Packers team. The head coach likely being in must-win mode in order to save his job. On the other side, young quarterback Jordan Love is making his first ever NFL Playoff start.
Dallas was great at home during the regular season, winning all eight of their games. They outscored their opponents by an average of 21.5 points per outing. They were absolutely dominating in front of the home crowd.
As for the Packers, they head into the NFC Wild Card Playoffs a mere 4-5 away from Lambeau Field. Though, the team did win its final two road games against the Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings.
With all of that said, we like Dak Prescott and Co. to come out on top at home. The experience difference will factor into this. The same thing can be said about home-field advantage in the postseason.
- Dallas Cowboys 27, Green Bay Packers 23
Related: NFL power rankings heading into the playoffs
Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions
Talk about storylines? Matthew Stafford leading his Los Angeles Rams into Detroit to take on a team he played for over the course of his first 12 seasons in the NFL. Jared Goff taking on a Rams squad that he led to a Super Bowl earlier in his career.
There is a lot to talk about with these two quarterbacks. It’s going to be a huge talking point heading into this Sunday Night Football game.
But the quarterbacks will dictate the outcome here. Los Angeles heads into this game having won seven of eight. Prior to sitting out the regular-season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, Stafford was playing some of the best football of his career. The quarterback accounted for 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in his final seven starts. It’s not a coincidence that the Rams were 6-1 while averaging nearly 30 points per game.
It will be great to see the Lions host a playoff game. But we’re not sold on them being able to take out a red-hot Rams team.
- Los Angeles Rams 31, Detroit Lions 27
Related: NFL QB rankings heading into the playoffs
Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
No one could have envisioned this scenario playing out two months ago. The defending NFC champion Eagles were 10-1 and seemed primed to have home-field advantage in the NFL Playoffs. Since then, it has been an unmitigated disaster for Nick Sirianni’s squad. Including a blowout loss to the New York Giants in Week 18, Philadelphia heads into this one with five losses in its past six games.
There is another thing to look at here, too. Jalen Hurts suffered an injury to the middle finger in his throwing hand during the aforementioned loss to New York. He’s also struggled with five touchdowns compared to five interceptions in his past six games.
Philadelphia also couldn’t ask for a worst matchup in the NFL Wild Card round. Tampa Bay has won five of six heading into the game. This includes a huge Week 15 win over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24, Philadelphia Eagles 20
NFL Wild Card predictions: AFC
Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans
C.J. Stroud’s performance in Saturday night’s win over the Indianapolis Colts was eye-opening. The rookie quarterback completed 20-of-26 passes for 264 yards with two touchdowns. His connection with Nico Collins (1,297 receiving yards) is something special.
The question here is whether this unit will be able to perform at a high level against a Browns defense that yielded 20 touchdown passes compared to 17 interceptions during the regular season.
We’re not expecting Houston to drop a ton of points here. But it should be able to do enough against a Browns team that’s starting Joe Flacco. Despite his overall stellar play, the veteran has turned the ball over nine times in five starts. That’s going to be the difference in this one.
- Houston Texans 20, Cleveland Browns 17
Related: NFL defense rankings heading into playoffs
Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs
Miami limps into this playoff game having lost three of five since starting the season with a 9-3 record. The Dolphins’ most-recent loss took away a home game during NFL Wild Card Weekend. It also cost the team the AFC East title.
We’re just not liking how the Dolphins look heading into Kansas City. That’s especially true with running back Raheem Mostert (ankle) and star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (ankle) currently dealing with injuries. Both are going to be considered questionable heading in.
Sure, the Chiefs have had their own issues recently. But they will have home-field advantage against a banged-up Dolphins team. Go with Patrick Mahomes and the defending champs to survive.
- Kansas City Chiefs 24, Miami Dolphins 20
Related: NFL offense rankings heading into the playoffs
Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills
Mike Tomlin’s coaching job has been something special this season. Leading Pittsburgh to a 10-win campaign is a credit to how well-coached the otherwise pedestrian team is.
But that’s not going to equate to success in Western New York come Sunday afternoon. Buffalo has won five consecutive games heading in. It pulled off a huge win against Miami to capture the AFC East title. Simply put, the team is leaps and bounds better than Pittsburgh. Heck, it is hard to have confidence in Mason Rudolph outplaying Josh Allen despite his recent efforts.
- Buffalo Bills 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 16
Projected NFL Divisional Playoffs matchups
- Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens
- Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills
- Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys
