Hey Team 👋

This weekend brings us…you guessed it, more football. While college football has taken center stage in the sports world recently, the NFL has taken a back seat. Between resting starters, experimenting with new lineups and teams that were eliminated weeks ago, the urgency just hasn’t felt the same. 

That changes now.

With Wild Card Weekend here, the NFL playoffs officially begin and every snap matters. The action starts tonight with the Fiesta Bowl and runs all the way through Monday night’s Texans–Steelers showdown. With both the CFP and NFL playoffs rolling simultaneously, the margin for error is gone. It’s win or go home from here on out.

Letter Rip!

< CFB >

CFP Semifinals

Fiesta Bowl: Thursday, January 8 — 7:30 PM

The College Football Playoff semifinals kick off with a matchup few saw coming. Ohio State and Georgia entered the postseason as heavy favorites, but Miami and Ole Miss had other plans, borrowing a classic from Lee Corso and saying, “Not so fast, my friend.” 

Following those upsets, both teams enter the Fiesta Bowl with serious momentum. Since their mid-season stumble, the Hurricanes have looked unstoppable, with a defense that seems to improve with each game. Meanwhile, Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels’ offense have been nothing short of terrifying throughout the playoff, overwhelming opponents with speed and explosiveness. 

Miami enters as a 3.5-point favorite, but this feels like a true coin-flip game. With two red-hot teams playing their best football at just the right time, the Fiesta Bowl has all the makings of a classic.

Peach Bowl: Friday, January 9 — 7:30 PM

There’s a certain expectation surrounding this year’s Peach Bowl, but if the quarterfinals taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. Indiana is undefeated, boasts the Heisman Trophy winner and just dismantled Alabama. On paper, it’s hard to envision the Hoosiers going home here.

Despite that dominance, Indiana is favored by only 3.5 points. Plus, Oregon is a talented team — a fact they’ve proven time and time again. The Ducks also had a huge win of their own in the quarterfinals. Indiana may have won the first meeting between these two, and logic says they should do it again. But as the Georgia–Ole Miss matchup reminded us, beating a great team twice is never easy — and in the CFP, logic often takes a back seat.

< NFL >

Wild Card Weekend

Like I said, for the past few weeks, college football has been the main event. After the CFP games, most NFL games were just background noise (unless your team was coming down to the wire for a playoff spot). But this week, the CFP is just the warmup: Wild Card Weekend is here, bringing six playoff games and the true start of the NFL postseason.

Saturday, January 10 

#5 Los Angeles Rams at #4 Carolina Panthers — 4:30 PM

A year ago, the Panthers were a mess, finishing 5–12 for a miserable .294 win percentage. Fast forward to now, and Carolina somehow finds itself hosting a playoff game as the No. 4 seed in the NFC. But don’t be fooled by the number next to their name.

While the Panthers have improved significantly since last season, their playoff berth is less reflective of their success and more reflective of the NFC South’s shortcomings. Carolina finished 8-9 (still below .500) tied with the Buccaneers and Falcons but advanced thanks to the tiebreaker. Unfortunately for them, the reward is a date with the Rams, who enter as 10.5-point favorites. Still, the Rams saw back-to-back losses during Weeks 16 and 17 and don’t seem to have much momentum. If Carolina were going to pull off an upset, this might be the version of the Rams they’d want to face.

#7 Green Bay Packers at #2 Chicago Bears — 8:00 PM

The oldest rivalry in football is set to make a comeback, for only the second time ever in postseason history. Appropriately, the betting odds reflect that history: Green Bay is currently favored by one point, though some sportsbooks are listing Chicago as one-point favorites, and the predictions seem to be changing by the minute. 

For the Bears, the key is Caleb Williams. The Packers won the first matchup in the regular season, mostly because Williams was limited. Chicago won the December rematch, but needed overtime and still didn’t get a full-strength performance from Williams, while Jordan Love struggled. If he can play at full capacity for the full game, Chicago becomes more of the team we know and less of the team we’ve seen against the Packers.

Sunday, January 11

#6 Buffalo Bills at #3 Jacksonville Jaguars — 1:00 PM

If you would’ve told me going into the season that the Bills-Jaguars Wild Card game could be the most entertaining game of the year, I would’ve called you crazy. Jacksonville finished 4-13 last season with a .235 win percentage, while the Bills have been an AFC East fixture since the start of the Josh Allen era. But here we are. And this year, things are different.

The Jaguars flipped their record, finishing 13-4 with a .765 win percentage. Buffalo, meanwhile, posted a strong 12–5 record, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with New England’s 14–3 run atop the division. 

Despite being the better team on paper, the Bills haven’t been playing their best football down the stretch. Still, Buffalo enters as a one-point favorite. Jacksonville, however, carries something just as important into Sunday afternoon: momentum. And in the playoffs, that can be everything.

#6 San Francisco 49ers at #3 Philadelphia Eagles — 4:30 PM

Three years ago, these teams met in the NFC Championship. Philadelphia ran away with a 31-7 win after Brock Purdy got injured. Three years later, both squads remain mostly intact for the rematch, plus a healthy Purdy. 

These teams are playing on two opposite ends of the spectrum. For the Niners, Purdy, CMC and the entire offense have been absolutely electric lately. As for the Eagles? Not so much, despite their deep arsenal of offensive weapons. Luckily, the offensive struggles haven’t defined Philly’s season. The Eagles have leaned heavily on their defense, and with the elite squad they have, it’s worked well enough to land them the No. 3 seed. This game will come down to which elite unit is better: San Francisco’s red-hot offense or Philly’s suffocating defense.

#7 Los Angeles Chargers at #2 New England Patriots — 8:00 PM 

New England dominated the AFC East this season — and really, dominated the AFC in general. The Patriots finished tied with the Broncos at a .824 win percentage and have looked unstoppable lately. There is something to be said about their strength of schedule, though.

New England has played arguably the weakest SOS in the league. Still, in the NFL, 14-3 will always be impressive. And Drake Maye’s performance down the stretch has helped to quiet any doubts about this team’s legitimacy. 

But all of that could come to a head this weekend against a tough LA secondary. Maye and the Pats love the deep ball, but the Chargers have allowed the second fewest 20+ yard passes this season, extinguishing the deep threat New England has come to rely on. The Patriots are 3.5-point favorites, but this could be the game where they finally meet their match.

Monday, January 12

#5 Houston Texans at #4 Pittsburgh Steelers — 8:00 PM

At first glance, this might look like the least exciting game of the weekend. But there’s a reason for that, and it isn’t a lack of quality. This is shaping up to be an all-out defensive battle, with two of the league’s best squads squaring off. No offensive fireworks may feel appropriate for a Monday, but make no mistake: Defense brings its own kind of drama.

In the playoffs, nothing flips a game faster than a momentum-shifting pick-six, and this matchup is ripe for exactly that. Both defenses thrive on pressure and forcing mistakes, which puts the spotlight directly on the quarterbacks. Offensively, Houston has the better weapon in Nico Collins, but C.J. Stroud has been hit-or-miss all season. If Stroud can limit the turnovers and establish a connection with Collins early, this game should be Houston’s to take. But Pittsburgh’s defense won’t make that easy, and Aaron Rodgers has more playoff experience than anyone in the league. Plus, how fun would it be to see one more Rodgers playoff run?