There are 32 teams in the NFL and only eight teams are still playing football at this time of year. An exciting Wild Card round has whittled the postseason field down and the remaining teams are hoping to see their Super Bowl dreams continue past this weekend. To do so, they’ll need to get through their divisional round opponent. Half of the teams are coming off a week-off and will have the advantage of playing in front of their home crowd while the other half is coming off a win in the first round, possibly a little bruised and battered but coming in with momentum.
Sunday’s first slate features a postseason newcomer in the Los Angeles Chargers going up against a playoff regular, the New England Patriots. The Chargers fended off a late-game push from the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card round to advance in the playoffs. Quarterback Phillip Rivers is no stranger to the postseason, and he feels he has the weapons to help him reach his first ever Super Bowl. If Rivers is going to get to Atlanta, he’ll need help from running back Melvin Gordon and wide receiver Keenan Allen. Gordon and starting center Mike Pouncey are both a little banged up, but this game is too important for them to miss, especially with a tough road test in Foxborough against the New England Patriots.
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The Patriots have made it to the Super Bowl the past two years and are hoping to finish the deal this year after falling to the Philadelphia Eagles last year. Bill Belichick and Co. face a tough road to Atlanta with their first test coming against a Chargers team that was in the hunt for the top seed in the AFC up until the final day of the regular season. Quarterback Tom Brady has put together another stellar season and has made many question whether the superstar will ever let his age catch up to him. Rookie running back Sony Michel has emerged as a solid backfield option and Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski both continue to be reliable weapons for Brady through the air.
Even though the Chargers finished the regular season with a better record than the Patriots, New England is still the favorite in this matchup. Bettors are likely giving Brady’s team the edge due to their postseason experience, home field advantage, and the coach-quarterback tandem of Brady and Belichick that has proved so reliable in the past.
Up next on Sunday is a showdown between the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and the New Orleans Saints. After sneaking into the playoffs in the final week of the regular season, the Eagles pulled off an incredible upset over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field thanks to a blocked field goal by Bears kicker Cody Parkey that hit the upright and the crossbar before bouncing out. The Eagles will need more than good luck this week to defeat the New Orleans Saints, which had the best record in the NFL during the regular season and are well-rested coming into their matchup.
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Quarterback Nick Foles again is showing that there’s something special with him when it comes to the postseason and his tight end Zach Ertz has quietly become one of the top tight ends in the league.
The New Orleans Saints have the top seed in the NFC and hope to leave the Superdome Sunday afternoon with another date there the week after. Drew Brees continues to pad his Hall of Fame resume with 32 touchdowns to just five interceptions this season and has received a lot of help from running back Alvin Kamara, who has 14 touchdowns just on the ground. Wide receiver Michael Thomas has also been a monster with 1,405 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns on the season and will look to expose a Philadelphia secondary that had been hit by the injury bug earlier this season. The Saints defense has also been strong this season and will need to continue to hold firm against an Eagles offense that was able to overcome the vaunted Chicago defense.
Despite their status as reigning Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles come into the game as the underdogs, with the Saints favored by more than a touchdown. But don’t forget – the Eagles were also underdogs against Chicago and left the Windy City victorious.
