Mahomes and Allen hug it out after 2021 AFC Championship. (Pavitra Shome/EssentiallySports)
As Friday night approaches the work labs turn into the parlay labs, the music gets a little louder, and the Divisional Round looms larger. A few months back, question marks surrounded the seemingly lost Buffalo Bills, the Houston Texans were starting to turn heads, the Chiefs were…not the chiefs, and the Ravens were the Ravens. All 4 teams took different paths to find themselves as one of the 4 remaining in the AFC. This weekend we get to see whose story continues, and who heads into an offseason full of “What if’s?”.
Tomorrow at 4:30PM we head to Baltimore and M&T Bank Stadium for Texans and Ravens, a city that has grown accustomed to January football since their inaugural season in 1996. Lamar Jackson and Co. rode a 6-game winning streak into Week 18, where their Practice Squad lost to the Steelers. That win streak included convincing victories over the 49ers and Dolphins, two playoff teams. Lamar Jackson will only be playing in his 5th career playoff game, while Coach John Harbaugh will be patrolling the sideline for his 21st career playoff bout. Lamar’s postseason stats consist of a 3-5 TD-INT ratio, a passer rating of 68.9, and 19 total sacks. Despite this, Lamar has flourished as a passer in the 2023 season and still has electricity with the ball in his hands. The Ravens look primed to make a deep run into February.
Standing in their way are the new kids on the block, led by rookie sensations CJ Stroud and Will Anderson under the tutelage of rookie Head Ball Coach DeMeco Ryans. The Texans started to catch fire early in the season, and much of that was due to the star power of their rookie signal caller and intense head coach. This will be the second career playoff game for Stroud, Anderson, and Ryans. But there's something about these Houston Texans, they play with intensity and passion, and a calm unshaken confidence that they are meant to be here. This may be due to their past experiences. None of these men are strangers to big time games. Stroud and Anderson both battled on national stages in their college career. Head Coach DeMeco Ryans played in 3 playoff games in his career, and coached in more during his time with the 49ers. They may be young, but they can perform on the big stage.
I think this one is closer than people think, the Texans aren’t going to back down, and the Ravens may have to shake some rust off early. Final score prediction:
Ravens: 31
Texans: 27
Sunday. Night. Football. Mahomes. Allen. BUFFALO! What more could you ask for? Highmark Stadium is going to be rocking for the biggest playoff game in Buffalo of the century. Allen looks to finally be finding his form as the offense gets rolling, and the superman cape continues to fly in the wind. The snow seemed to be no match for the big gunslinger, as the offense hit the ground running against Pittsburgh. James Cook and the offensive line pushed around the TJ Watt-less Steelers front 7. The depleted defense is playing resilient football, as some midseason additions continue to finally find their footing. The safety core of Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde may be the most underappreciated duo in the NFL. Buffalo has been waiting for this rematch to finally find its way to Northwestern New York, and the Buffalo faithful will be out and about early, jumping on tables, spraying ketchup and mustard, and crushing some chilled refreshments.
Ironically enough, another thing in ketchup and mustard is coming to town, the Kansas City Chiefs. Led by future hall of famers Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs have dealt with their fair share of drama this year. From the bright lights of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, to the amber alerts on their receiving core, to Patrick Mahomes finally showing a chink in his armor. Yet despite all of this, the inevitable has happened, we are talking about the Chiefs in January. The Chiefs look to advance to their fifth straight AFC Championship game, and hope to do it with a very different team than years past. The defense has been surprisingly stingy this year. NFL Ironman Chris Jones and veteran playcaller Steve Spagnuolo lead the charge, while corners L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie have taken huge leaps in production and name recognition this year. The Chiefs struggled to find consistency on the offensive side of the ball, even after retooling the offensive line and Travis Kelce returning from a midseason ankle injury. This weekend we truly get to see who’s superman magic lasts a little bit longer in the Mahomes vs. Allen III.
For two teams who were touted as favorites in the AFC to make the Super Bowl, both have their fair share of question marks left unanswered rolling into Sunday Night. For the first time in this new rivalry, both squads are uniquely different from years past in their approaches to winning football games. Winning this game could certainly erase some of the pain of this past season. A chance to play for the AFC Championship should quiet some haters. I think this weekend's finale will live up to the expectations. I have Buffalo winning in a tight wire-to-wire thriller.
Buffalo: 34
Kansas City: 28
We’ll check back in on the city of Buffalo on Monday morning if they pull this one out, even though it may be a little early for couch fires, I wouldn’t put it past them. Grab a cold one, recline the loveseat back, and take a deep breath, it’s gonna be a fun weekend in the NFL.
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