So here is a look at the games on Saturday for the AFC Wild Card
Kansas City vs Houston (ABC/ESPN 4:40pm)
There are few teams playing better the Kansas City right now and no one is paying much attention. They will be heavily favored on the road as an 11-5 team. They have won 10 in a row and Andy Reid has this team humming right along. They rank in the top 10 in many defensive categories including finishing 3rd in points allowed for the regular season. Jeremy Maclin has been a diamond in the rough for Alex Smith and the offense going for 1088 yards this year. This defense has no one standout but this team still finds ways to shut people down week after week.
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Houston is a shell of itself and won a division that may rival the NFC east for one of the weakest out there. Bill Obrien’s team has had injuries all over the field with Arian Foster again missing time, but he has built this defense to win games. J.J. Watt finally has a chance to show how he can dominate a playoff game and he plans to do just that. DeAndre Hopkins has been an explosive weapon for this team and has bailed them out time and time again. The question for the Texans is going to be where do the points come from outside of Hopkins.
This one should be a defensive battle: Houston wins 21-17
Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati (CBS 8:15pm)
This one is going to be a heck of a game and might be the best game in the wild card round on paper.
Pittsburgh has been on a roll winning four of their last five games. Ben Rothlisburger is back and firing. Antonio Brown is breaking his own records with game after game of ridiculous numbers finishing the season with 1834 yards receiving. The question the Steelers will have to answer is who will run the ball. DeAngelo Williams is listed as questionable and he has been a new runner this year. What Steelers defense that shows up will decide how far this team goes in the playoffs.
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Andy Dalton’s playoff ghosts will be a big deal for him. Dalton is 0-4 in his playoff career and there is a chance he could start just a week after his cast came off his broken hand. The Bengals want to see him back there and as well as A.J. McCarron has played, Dalton runs this offense better. A.J. Green will be a matchup nightmare for the Steelers secondary which has given up 4,530 yards this season, most in franchise history. This is a game which could see the winner set up for the AFC Championship game.
Bengals win a close one in this division rivalry: Cincinnati wins 30-27
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