THE 2015/2016 NFL Playoffs begin this weekend with a four do-or-die wildcard games.
The weekend action features match-ups including Chiefs vs. Texans, Steelers vs. Bengals, Seahawks vs. Vikings and Packers vs. Redskins.
This season’s wildcard playoff teams are some of the best we’ve ever seen and there are no weak links among them. Super Bowl 49 runners up Seattle are back for redemption and have found form with a decimation of Arizona last week.
They face Teddy Bridgewater and the Minnesota Vikings on Monday morning in what should be a hotly-contested match in freezing Minnesota conditions. The Seahawks are favoured by less than a touchdown, but the Vikings strong defensive line will look to pressure Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson who has been knocked down all season.
The playoffs start when the Kansas City Chiefs enter Houston on a 10-game winning streak. The Chiefs looked average to start the season, but have rattled off impressive wins since. It won’t be easy to get past defensive star J.J Watt who makes and breaks the Houston Texans, so the Chiefs will have to up their game this week.
The Steelers travel to Cincinnati with high expectations consider the Bengals continually fail to win come playoff time. With ‘Big Ben’ showing good signs after getting injured throughout the season, the Steelers have looked more like a playoff side than Cincinnati has after their quarterback Andy Dalton injured his hand earlier this season.
The week ends with Green Bay taking on Washington in what is expected by bookmakers to be the closest game of the wildcard round. The Packers are $1.86 favourites to score an away win despite recording very poor results leading into the playoffs.
All four away teams are favoured in the wildcard round which will make for some interesting betting, especially seeing as betting on home underdogs is a successful NFL betting strategy.
Peterson’s career incomplete without Super Bowl victory
Top NFL running back Adrian Peterson will play his first home playoff game in six years this weekend and he believes his career would be incomplete without a Super Bowl win.
Peterson was the rushing champion this season when he finished the regular season with 1,486 yards and he intends to play for years to come in order to surpass Emmitt Smith’s 6,680 career yard record. If Peterson breaks that record without a Super Bowl ring, he said “it wouldn’t sit well.”
“Any sport that you play, you want to get that gold medal, you want to win that basketball title, the World Series, you want to win,” Peterson told ESPN.com.
“It’s all about winning a championship, any sport you play. It’s not about going out there and breaking every record, and you’re happy and you can settle with that. It would definitely be unfulfilling.
“[If I win a title], I can ride off in paradise – once I got that ring, having those memories, something to show my kids and my grandkids, and accomplishing the ultimate goal. Since I was seven years old, I dreamed about playing in the NFL and winning a championship. I didn’t dream about Emmitt Smith’s record until I got older and I was able to see records and different milestones I could surpass.”
Peterson came close to playing in a Super Bowl in 2009 and he states the memories of that loss still haunt him, but he wants to make sure the younger players in the Vikings take their opportunities.
“Anytime you’re one game away from going to the Super Bowl and you lose in that fashion – when you know you were the better team – it haunts you,” Peterson said. “It’s something that, now, since it was so long ago, it’s not right there at the top of your brain, but it’s always got a spot there in the back.
“You can kind of take things for granted…That’s something that, as veteran guys, we want to make sure we preach to these young guys: Make sure you take advantage of these opportunities, because they’re slim to none.”
Peterson and the Vikings will be looking to take those opportunities when they face the Seattle Seahawks this Monday. The Vikings are $2.87 underdogs with Sportsbet.com.au despite having the better record and the home ground advantage.
Packers coach confident ahead of playoffs
Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy isn’t mixing his words as his team comes into Washington needing the win to survive in the playoffs.
The Packers (10-6) have looked shaky in the second half of the season and a rare home loss to the Vikings last week has fans and punters concerned, but McCarthy’s confidence isn’t shaken.
“We’re going to Washington to win,” McCarthy said. “I mean, we’re in the playoffs. We’re fully aware of what people may think about us. That frankly was the message today, we like our opportunity. We’ve earned the opportunity.”
The Packers offense, led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, has been struggling to put up the big numbers which made them a feared opponent.
“I don’t really care what they think of us,” McCarthy said. “I have to address those things, because it’s part of my job. And I’ll just probably stop right there.
“Like I said, it’s the postseason. We’ve had a chance to clean up our house and get it ready to showcase who the hell we are.”
The Packers offense finished 23rd in total yards this season and 25th in passing yards, a statistic unfathomable with the likes of Rodgers at the helm. McCarthy knows his best players will have to perform better for them to win on Monday.
“They understand they have to answer questions, and it’s part of their job responsibility,” McCarthy said. “But you know, negative energy and drama, that’s not my thing, I don’t like it, I don’t care for it, I don’t like people like that, but we understand that goes with the job, and that’s the way we’ll approach it.”
The Packers are paying $1.86 at CrownBet.com.au to defeat the Washington Redskins ($1.99) which enter the playoffs with an inferior 9-7 record, but they hold the advantage of playing at home.
Steelers’ Bryant happy to be challenged
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant was issued a challenge by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to “toughen up” entering this Sunday’s clash against the Cincinnati Bengals.
On a radio show in Pittsburgh this week, Roethlisberger said Bryant had to “get tough, and you’ve got to make tough plays and you’ve got to make tough catches.”
Bryant has welcomed the comments, stating that “I’m happy he issued the challenge. I accept it.”
Bryant is now eager to show Big Ben just what he’s made of as he gets ready to face a tough pass defense against the Bengals.
“If he feels you need to step up your game, it’s his job to call you out,” Bryant said of Roethlisberger. “I’m happy he did it. It woke me up. I’m ready to work…He wants to see me be great.”
Roethlisberger’s teammates don’t mind being called out and defensive end Cam Heyward said the Steelers expect a lot out of each other.
“We’re all trying to win here – we’re not worrying about feelings,” Heyward said. “He’s our leader. I support him in whatever decision he makes. He’s been there. He’s won two Super Bowls. You’ve really got to buckle down and listen to a guy like that.”
The Steelers are firm favourites at $1.68 with WilliamHill.com.au with the status of Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton still questionable.
