NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview: NFC

It’s a new year and the playoffs are here. The ‘real’ tournament in the NFL kicks off this weekend with the ultimate goal of Superbowl LIII in sight.

The NFC Wildcard matchups see the current Superbowl Champions Philadelphia Eagles travel to Chicago to take on the number three seeded Bears and the Seattle Seahawks head south to attempt to overhaul the Dallas Cowboys.

The first NFC playoff game takes place on Saturday night in Dallas as the Cowboys take on the Seattle Seahawks. The Dallas Cowboys finished the year top of the NFC East at 10-6, winning 7 out of their last 8 games to gain the number four seed. The Cowboys lost just one game at home in the entire Regular Season, showing just how big of a task the Seahawks have on their hands. The Cowboys are playing just as good as they were in 2016, Ezekiel Elliott has rushed for more than 1400 yards this season and Dak Prescott has a chemistry with Amari Coopers likened to Tony Romo’s with Jason Witten. The Seattle Seahawks finished the season 10-6 to clinch the fifth seed in the Playoffs and a trip to Dallas this weekend. Seattle just like the Cowboys have only lost a single game at home this season, but this won’t help them here as they will have to deal with the sell out Texas crowd. Russell Wilson has led this young team superbly and has used the ground offence in the best way possible with Seattle having the number one Rushing Offence, which comes up against the number five Rush Defence this weekend.

In the two team’s earlier matchup in Week three, the Cowboys came up short in Seattle losing 13-24, following a Wilson masterclass as Dallas was finding its feet in the early season. This game though, I believe will be a lot closer, a team that has had huge success at running the ball against a team that has had a lot of success stopping the run. The game could really come down to the two QBs and I’ve just got that feeling the Wilson may have the edge of a still inconsistent Prescott.

In the second NFC Wildcard playoff game the Philadelphia Eagles head north to take on the Chicago Bears. The Chicago Bears, led by first year Coach Matt Nagy, sit 12-4 winning the NFC North to capture the third seed in the NFC. Mitchell Trubisky has been a sensation in his second season throwing for more than 3000 yards along with having two RB’s with over 1000 yards in Tarik Cohen and Jordan Howard, who are bang in form at the right time. One of the Bears biggest weapons comes in the form of OLB Khalil Mack, who was acquired in an early season trade with the Oakland Raiders, Mack has been a hit in the windy city with 12.5 sacks and 47 tackles this season helping give the Bears the number three overall defence. The Bears are a force to be reckoned with but who better to take them on than the city that loves to be the underdog. The Philadelphia Eagles, current Superbowl Champions, scraped into the playoffs with a late season push under Superbowl MVP Nick Fole’s guidance (and some help from the Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings) to finish second in the NFC East behind the Dallas Cowboys and gain the final seed. With Carson Wentz gaining another late season injury, it was left to Foles to pick up the pieces and miraculously drag the reigning Champions to the postseason. After a slow start and an inconsistent season all round, the Eagles have settled down, Carson Wentz threw for over 3000 yards with Foles putting up 1500 yards as well.

To me, this game is set for a Chicago victory, but I never thought the Eagles would get far last year and look how that went. But this year does not feel the same as last year and I do feel that Chicago’s all-round balance will see them through this game.

The highest seed that progresses through Wild Card Weekend will head to the west coast to take on the LA Rams and the lowest seed must travel to Louisiana and the Superdome to attempt to beat the New Orleans Saints.

Link to the NFL’s preview of Seahawks at Cowboys - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScT9FN-XWFU

Link to the NFL’s preview of Eagles at Bears - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX3SZIK7UG4

The Seattle Seahawks take on the Dallas Cowboys at 8:15PM ET and 1:15AM GMT on Saturday night and the Philadelphia Eagles face the Chicago Bears at 4:40PM ET and 9:40PM GMT.