2016 Free NFL Playoff Picks and Predictions: AFC Wild-Card Round Expert Picks: The NFL regular season is over, but the action is just beginning. It’s playoff time, and the road to the Super Bowl begins this weekend with the wild-card round of the playoffs, and a pair of AFC matchups are up first. The streaking Kansas City Chiefs claimed the No. 5 seed, and they will meet the AFC South division champion and fourth-seeded Houston Texans Saturday afternoon. In the nightcap, a pair of AFC North rivals will meet when the sixth-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers take on the division champion Cincinnati Bengals. Here is a closer look at both AFC playoff games where both road teams are favored by three points.
2016 Free NFL Playoff Picks and Predictions: AFC Wild-Card Round Expert Picks
Saturday, January 9th, 2016
No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 3 Cincinnati Bengals
These teams flat out don’t like each other, and the $140,000 in fines the two sides piled up the last time they met are proof. Now, they meet for a third time this season, and the stakes couldn’t be higher for the rubber match. Neither side is at full strength heading into the game, and while the Bengals will be missing starting QB Andy Dalton, the Steelers will be without their top two running backs, Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams.
That being said, both teams still have plenty of firepower at their disposal. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger has a ton of weapons at his disposal in the passing game, including dynamic WR Antonio Brown. The Bengals have a two-headed monster in the backfield in Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, and WR A.J. Green and TE Tyler Eifert are both elite players at their respective positions. Defensively, the Bengals have the sizeable edge on paper with DT Geno Atkins leading a unit that ranked second in the NFL in points allowed.
The problem for the Bengals is that while they look like the better team on paper, they have some serious mental demons they have to exorcise to win this game. Not only has Cincinnati been bounced from the playoffs in the first round in four straight seasons, but they have been absolutely owned by the Steelers on their home field, dropping 14 of their last 17 games. Pittsburgh has a huge confidence edge in this matchup, and who can blame the Bengals for having a here-we-go-again attitude as soon as something goes wrong.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, and this core of Cincinnati players just can’t seem to get over the hump in the playoffs. During their losing streak, the Bengals lost a playoff game to the Houston Texans with T.J. Yates at quarterback. The chances of Cincinnati snapping its drought against “Big Ben” and a Steelers team that has owned the Bengals are slim.
Prediction: Pittsburgh Steelers (-3) Cover the Spread
No. 5 Kansas City Chiefs at No. 4 Houston Texans
If you like hard-hitting action and elite defenses, then this matchup is right up your alley. Two of the stingiest, most sack-happy defenses in the NFL lead two of the hottest teams, and since Week 8, the Chiefs and Texans have gone a combined 16-2. Both sides have tremendous defensive fronts with J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus leading the way for Houston and Justin Houston and Tamba Hali highlighting the Kansas City line.
Both sides have more in common than impressive defenses. Houston RB Arian Foster and Kansas City RB Jamaal Charles are both out for the year, leaving both teams without their best offensive weapons. With both running games hobbled, the game will likely come down to who makes more plays between Chiefs QB Alex Smith and Texans QB Brian Hoyer. Hoyer benefits from having WR DeAndre Hopkins to throw to, but Smith is by far the more experienced QB in the playoffs, which could pay big dividends. In the end, look for Smith to be the quarterback that makes fewer mistakes and allows his defense to lead the way in a low-scoring affair.
Prediction: Kansas City Chiefs (-3) Cover the Spread
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