The New York Giants get a 3rd crack at their NFC East Divison rival in, what should be, a very entertaining affair. The last time they met, the Eagles soared out to a huge lead only to see the G-Men come back with a furious rally that almost had Philly experience a colossal collapse that, in the end, went the Eagles way, 35-32.

   New York has had a proven winning formula for much of the season and all of it was on display last week in their, 30-14, win over the Green Bay Packers in the freezing cold and blizzard like conditions at Lambeau Field.The team ran the ball well with HB Tyron Tracy gaining 121 yards on 17 carries as part of a 170 yard rushing effort. Then, QB Daniel Jones would not get hit much and was sacked just twice by the vaunted Packer pass rush. He would complete 68% (17-25) of his attempts for an efficient 194 yards and 2 touchdowns easily managing the game. And, of course, there was the Big Blue defense. The unit utterly confused QB Jordan Love all game long. Love would have his worst outing of the season outside of the team's, 13-12, loss to the Chicago Bears back in week 11. Coach Jeff Beyel put it succinctly "We saw what they were doing on defense, but we simply did not have enough plays in the playbook to consistently defeat the tactic. It was brilliant. I take full responsibility for not having the team better prepared for them."  The highly publicized Giants' power run formations eventually began to take their toll as New York crawled back from a 14-0 hole to score the game's final 30 points! The team was able to run for only 29 yards in the first meeting with Philly leading to just 15 points. The G-Men then rushed for 144 yards in the second game and the team generated 32 points. One must also be cognizant of the fact that Jones only played in the second game with Drew Lock running the show in the initial matchup.

   For Philly, it is all about a solid defense that was 10th against the run (80.9 YPG) and a pass rush that comes into play when they get folks in third and longs. Philly posted 113 sacks and a PFL best 20 interceptions on the season. Daniel Jones has thrown just 5 picks all year long, but his team has gone 2-3 in those games. including the defeat to these Eagles in week 18. 

   Final Analysis: These teams know each other well. The Giants may have learned something in their last meeting with Philly and it might carry over. The G-Men have been garnering all types of praise for their running style and formations. Their defense has been excellent all season long and the team simply does not beat itself with sacks or turnovers. The Eagles, though, have quietly been the best team in football with two wins over these Giants, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Baltimore Ravens. Philadelphia 26-23.

AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME

SATURDAY 8:15 PM : INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (10-8) AT KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (11-7)

    For months now, some prognosticators have been suspicious of the Kansas City Chiefs and their up and down nature. Those naysayers believed KC might have been playing possum with the Chiefs knowing there was virtually no competition within their division to prevent them from winning the AFC West. Well, last week seemed to be rather convincing evidence to support that theory. QB Patrick Mahomes, who had been sacked an incredible amount of times this season, erupted for 449 yards and 5 touchdowns as his Chiefs demolished the Houston Texans, 42-19, in their Wild Crad matchup last week. Three different KC targets had over 100 yards in receptions. WRs Xavier Worthy and Marquise Browns along with TE Travis Kelce had 157, 137, and 115 yards respectively! What made the score even more surprising was the fact that the Texans blasted the Chiefs, 62-31, just 3 weeks ago! Meanwhile, one of the better stories of the PFL season continued as the upstart Indianapolis Colts shocked the Miami Dolphins, 31-24. QB Anthony Richardson had an outstanding day completing 21 of 24 pass attempts (87.5%) for 263 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no turnovers and HB Nyheim Hines filled in for Jonathan Taylor and ripped through the Miami defense for 94 yards on 24 carries. The Indy defense came up big with CB Julius Brents picking off Dolphin QB Tua Tagovailoa twice and holding the Miami running backs to a combined 50 yards rushing.

   The Colts have been surprising folks all year long. Their second win of the season over the Dolphins proved the first one was no fluke and their confidence has to be at an all-time high. They had lost games to the Giants, Texans (twice), the Bears, Packers, and Titans and needed to beat a good team to get them going. Richardson remains the key to the club's success and he may have to deal big time this week if his Colts are to hang with the revived Kansas City attack that is really rolling now. A key could be if Indy can hang onto the belt of the Chiefs early on and still be standing come the fourth quarter. They cannot allow KC to fly away from them early and hide. That, then, allows "Possum Jason", as many now call the Chiefs' head coach, to run the ball with HB Isiah Pacheco and set up deep ball strikes.

   Final Analysis: The Possum was a Sly Fox indeed and now the gig is up. That being said, the explosive plays from the Chiefs last week were dazzling. The Colts battled back from a big hole versus Miami and got some huge chunk plays and key defensive stops to pull it off last week. They are a solid and game team, but it seems the Arrowhead Gang might be in high gear. Kansas City 31-21.  

   The Buffalo Bills, along with the Colts, are two of the biggest feel-good stories of the year. Buffalo, quite simply, has not been seen as a viable competitor for many seasons, now, with QB Josh Allen getting annually pummelled into the turf and grass. Those days all came to a halt this season, however, as the Bills figured out a winning formula combining the sleek running of Pro-Bowl tailback James Cook with the passing skills of Allen. It's not as if the club suddenly reeled off a 13 win season, as they finished 9-8, but the fact that they not only made the post-season, but have also now won a playoff game, has been warming the hearts of the normally frozen countenances of the many loyal fans in Western Upstate New York. They now have to travel, however, to Baltimore to face the top seeded Ravens at M&T Bank along the chilly and windy waterfront and harbor district. 

   Baltimore has been sitting, idle, awaiting for their second round foe to be determined. They beat the Bills, 38-26, way back in week 4 as QB Lamar Jackson threw for 431 yards and 4 touchdowns. However, in a bit of a harbinger, the Bills got 127 yards rushing on 19 carries out of Cook and Allen threw for 2 scores and did not turn it over. That type of combination, if Allen can produce about 60 more yards of passing, could be enough to make this one a much more compelling contest than many may anticipate. The Ravens rely quite a bit on their passing game and a defense that ranked 9th against the pass (214.8 YPG) and racked up 118 sacks. Buffalo might be able to mitigate much of the Baltimore defensive strengths if they can get Cook going, as he did in their prior meeting, but then also get some plays from Allen. If the Ravens can contain Cook and force Allen into predictable passing downs, it is likely we will see the sack totals go up real quick...

   Final Analysis: The Bills are heavy dogs, for sure, but there is a clear path to victory as well. While Buffalo did pile up 115 sacks on the season, their 27th ranked pass defense (247.5 YPG) might not be quite good enough to pull this one off.  Baltimore 28-20.

    Two teams that have kinda gone under the radar much of the season meet for a chance at playing in the NFC title game. Neither team has eye-popping team stats to lean upon, but both clubs play a steady game and do not give games away very easily. Tampa Bay's 23 takeaways ranked third in all of football while their 10 giveaways rated tied for 5th in the league. Those numbers saw the Bucs end their season with a +13 turnover margin! Seattle was no slouch either with a paltry 9 giveaways all year long for a +5 turnover ratio...The team that wins this game, obviously, is gonna have to earn it.

   The Bucs' Baker Mayfield led the NFC with 38 touchdown passes and was third in the conference with a 69% completion rate. He was sacked only 53 times, which was the third lowest among all regulars in the NFC and finished with a 112.7 QBR. Seattle ended the year second in the NFC with 119 sacks and a number of defensive scores. However, it has been their ability to get into the backfield and cause chaos that has been their #1 element to hang their hat on. In last week's, 28-23, Wild Card win over the Los Angeles Rams the team was disruptive as ever with some 22 TFLS! That total marked the 8th time this year where the 'Hawks have had at least 20 TFLs in a game!  Tampa Bay can also look to its running game with Pro-Bowl HB Rachaad White. White rushed for 1408 yards and 9 touchdowns finishing with just 29 yards more than Seattle's Kenneth Walker III. 

   The game will spotlight two of the game's bright young budding pass rushers. Seattle boasts the terrific skills of 6'1" 308 Lbs rookie DE Byron Murphy, while the Bucs answer with second year OLB Ya-Ya Diaby. Murphy was an utter terror with 27.5 sacks and 43 TFLs and Diaby was nearly as disruptive with 23.5 traps and 35 TFLs. Murphy also had 3 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, a safety, and even a touchdown to his credit!

   Final Analysis: Whichever team makes the big mistake will likely lose this one. Both teams like to control the ball, not make mistakes, and play solid and opportunistic defense. Both teams have had very good special teams units as well especially in the kicking department. Seattle's Jason Myers has drilled 10 of 13 attempts of 50 or more yards and was 42 of 46 (91%) overall. The Bucs' Chase McLaughlin was 12 of 15 (75%) from beyond 50 and 27 of 31 (87%) overall! In a very tight game...Seattle 24-22.