AFC Wild Card Round Preview and Predictions

By Brooke Young

...Playoffs. Every NFL fan hopes and wishes for their team to "Make the Playoffs." This year, the dreams of Cleveland Browns fans came true, putting an end to the playoff drought that haunted the city of Cleveland.

The AFC Playoff games are approaching rapidly. Below is a preview of the match-ups.

CLEVELAND (11-5) AT PITTSBURGH (12-4)

Sun. Jan 10, 6:15 p.m. ET

NBC

Point Spread: Steelers, -6.0

Cleveland Browns — you reached the playoffs for the first time since 2002! Bad news, Cleveland Browns — you must face the Pittsburgh Steelers for the second time in two weeks and the third time this season, and this time, you will be facing their seasoned starters and will be without your head coach and key players.

The Steelers started the season 11-0, coming in "hot" and impressing the entire league with their intense offensive presence. However, the Steelers eventually lost three straight games. Many of their starters, including Big Ben, rested during Week 17, giving them a chance to gain strength.

For Cleveland, the season restored hope to a city and fanbase long mocked throughout the NFL. They employed solid offensive line play, a balanced play-action, a run game highly influenced by the speedy legs and tenacity of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Cited as the best since Bernie Kosar and the Dawgs Pound, and Cleveland Fans are grateful for the chance to be among the postseason.

Through Week 16, the Steelers’ defense led the NFL with 325 pass pressures; no T.J. Watt led the NFL with 77 pressures. No other defender throughout the entire NFL had more than 65. 

As mentioned before, the Nick Chubb/Kareem Hunt running back duo boasts offensive power.  The O-Line, led by Jack Conklin and Wyatt Teller will be forced to work overtime to slow the exceptional Steelers defense, especially with Joel Bitonio being forced to miss this game due to COVID-19.

Heading into the game, the Steelers’ biggest weakness has to be Ben Roethlisberger’s completion rate on passes 15 yards or upward, the statistic of 37.1% came in at 8th worst in the NFL. Despite that, the Browns are extremely vulnerable to deep passes. It will be a toss-up as to what the outcome will be. However, Cleveland will undoubtedly be hindered greatly by COVID-19 restrictions, being without several coaches and several key players. A real shame for Cleveland who seemingly cannot catch a break.

PREDICTION: Pittsburgh 31 - 27

INDIANAPOLIS (11-5) AT BUFFALO (13-3)

Sat. Jan 9, 1:05 p.m. ET

CBS

Point Spread: Buffalo, -6.5

The Bills appear to be true Super Bowl contenders. They’ve won six straight games and are coming off a 56-26 win over the Miami Dolphins, who were hopeful for a playoff shot. The Colts appear slightly wobbly entering the postseason.

The Bills won the AFC East for the first time since 1995. This may be the best Bills team since the days of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and Bruce Smith.

The Colts are passable at a lot of things, they aren’t really great at anything in particular. Because they have no niche, it's difficult to project playoff success.

The Bills have the NFL’s best first-down passing game, per Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric. Entering Week 17, Allen completed 72.1% of his first-down passes and averaged 9.0 yards per attempt. While the Colts have no glaring or notable strengths, at least there are no major or exploitable weaknesses either.

Heading into the playoffs, the Buffalo Bills defense accounts for 123 missed tackles: the fourth-highest total in the NFL over the season. The Colts’ major weakness is the ability to pinpoint a strength.

PREDICTION: Indianapolis 30 - 27

BALTIMORE (11-5) AT TENNESSEE (11-5)

SUN. Jan 10, 1:05 p.m. ET

ABC

Point Spread: Ravens, -3.5

Lamar Jackson. Derrick Henry. Both amazing offensive presence.

Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill led the team with passion and drive. A balanced receiving corps led by A.J. Brown and Corey Davis confused the opponent, never quite certain where the ball would land. Meanwhile, the Titans defense hoped opponents would be intimidated by the tough-guy reputation and not notice how much the defense leaves to be desired.

The Ravens were 5-1 and the season was going swimmingly until everything went wrong in November. Lamar Jackson endured a horrific slump mid-season.  An outbreak punctuated a three-game losing streak, forcing Robert Griffin to lead a team of backups. However, everything turned around for the Ravens in December and stabilized.

Despite their offensive issues midseason, the Ravens led the NFL entering Week 17 with 177.8 rushing yards per game and 5.3 yards per rush. On the other side of the ball, for the Titans, it’s all about the Henry/Tannehill combination and their presence and chemistry on the field. It’s difficult to stop an offense that is excellent in all situations.

As mentioned above, the Titans defense is exceptionally weak, recording only 14 sacks on the season and a low number of pass pressures while the Ravens and Lamar Jackson have struggled when throwing toward the sidelines. Jackson’s sideline passing struggled so severely that the Ravens gave up trying for much of the year, though he has made small improvements since quarantine.

PREDICTION: Ravens 20 - 13

Brooke is a sports contributor for La Tonique