The NFL playoffs are here once again and it’s time to see what 14 of the best teams in the NFL are made of as they put their seasons on the line for good in Wild Card weekend.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions each won their way to a bye week in the first round of the playoffs, so 12 other teams will be duking it out for a chance to advance to the Divisional Round next weekend and a shot to play for the Conference Championship.
But who is going to win this weekend? We’ve got you covered with our Wild Card Round picks and score predictions for every single game, going in the order in which each game will be played.
NFL Wild Card Round Game Picks and Score Predictions
(5) Los Angeles Chargers @ (4) Houston Texans
Saturday, January 11, 4:30 PM ET (CBS/Paramount+)
This is easily my least favorite game to have to pick here in the first round of the playoffs. It just so happens to be the first game on the docket.
Last year’s Houston Texans team was an easy one to want to pick in the postseason. They were hot, CJ Stroud was playing at a very high level, and it took a buzzsaw to get them out of the playoffs. This year, it feels like they just limped into the dance after drifting through the season and benefitting from playing in a terrible division.
The Texans could make me look bad for saying this, but based on what we’ve seen so far, they look like the most overrated team in the postseason to me.
Now watch them go and win this game.
The Los Angeles Chargers not only made it to the playoffs in the first year of the Jim Harbaugh era but they managed to win 11 games and take the #5 seed. This was a coveted spot in the playoffs because the Texans felt like they were going to be a favorable matchup for anyone who could secure the top Wild Card spot.
And the Chargers took this spot from the Steelers.
I’m sticking to my guns on this one that the Texans are the most overrated team in the playoffs and that the Chargers won’t “Charger”, at least not in the Wild Card round.
Prediction: Chargers win 24-20
(6) Pittsburgh Steelers @ (3) Baltimore Ravens
Saturday, January 11, 8:00 PM ET (Prime Video)
Behind the Houston Texans, the Pittsburgh Steelers have got to be the most overrated team in the postseason this year.
The Steelers started off the year hot despite Russell Wilson recovering from a calf injury that he had been dealing with since the start of training camp, and even after they made the switch from Justin Fields to Wilson (which wasn’t a unanimously popular choice), they managed to look like one of the best overall teams in the AFC.
But the more Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith put on tape, the more NFL defenses became wise to the Steelers’ ways. The key for this team is simply the same as it has been for years now: The defense is going to have to keep this a tight game until the 4th quarter.
And at that point, who knows? Maybe Wilson can work some magic.
I’m not banking on it with the Steelers going to Baltimore to face off against the Ravens. Even winning one game in the last month of the season would have likely given Pittsburgh the much more favorable matchup of a road trip to Houston, but they lost not only their hold on the AFC North, they could barely hold onto the 6th seed. Thank goodness for the 13-6 win over Denver early this season…
The Ravens just look like a team that is too focused to get beat by an opponent they know this well. It will take the Steelers either dominating defensively and forcing a bunch of turnovers to win this game, perhaps Russell Wilson channeling the version of himself we saw early this year and winning a shootout.
In either scenario, I’m still taking the Ravens, who are favored by a whopping and borderline disrespectful 9.5 points.
Prediction: Ravens win 31-22
(7) Denver Broncos @ (2) Buffalo Bills
Sunday, January 12, 1:00 PM ET (CBS/Paramount+)
Buffalo Bills fans, you might just want to look away for this one. I’m calling a first-round upset in favor of the Denver Broncos.
The Buffalo Bills have been so good this season. They’ve done just about everything right. They beat the Kansas City Chiefs in what could turn out to be their “Super Bowl” of the year, and they’ve gotten to the point of being 8.5-point favorites over a young and hungry Denver Broncos team in the Wild Card round.
But there are reasons to believe the Broncos might be able to match up well with Buffalo if they are at their best on Sunday afternoon.
Denver has a quarterback playing just about as well as anybody this season in Bo Nix, who finished off his rookie year with 34 total touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and zero fumbles. Nix was in the mix for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year all year long and he’s hit a stride late in the season. We saw him go toe-to-toe with Joe Burrow, we saw him get the Broncos an 11-point lead on the road against Justin Herbert, and we saw him engineer what should have been a game-winning drive against the Chiefs on the road earlier this season.
The Broncos haven’t been able to finish the job against most of the “best” teams they have faced, but I can’t help but wonder if that could change.
The Bills rested their starters (understandably) in Week 18 as they prepped for this game. The Broncos actually went into Buffalo last year and beat the Bills, so maybe that game and some revenge will be on Buffalo’s minds.
It would be an uncharacteristic flub from Buffalo from what we’ve seen this season, but Denver has kept almost every game close and the Bills are 8-0 at home this year while the Broncos are due to win a one-score game.
Prediction: Broncos win 31-29
(7) Green Bay Packers @ (2) Philadelphia Eagles
Sunday, January 12, 4:30 PM ET (FOX)
Here in the Wild Card Round we have a rematch between two teams we saw go head to head in the first week of the NFL season in a matchup played in Brazil.
The Philadelphia Eagles are playing host to the Green Bay Packers and this showdown should be one of the most entertaining of the weekend. The Eagles have been playing great football all year but they’ve suffered some unfortunate injuries the last few weeks including quarterback Jalen Hurts missing time due to a concussion.
The Packers have also been hit by the injury bug at times this season and will now be without wide receiver Christian Watson for this game in Philly.
With what each team is expected to have available this coming weekend, I can’t help but feel that the pendulum is swinging heavily in Philadelphia’s direction. The Packers were road warriors in last year’s postseason and they nearly pulled off an upset of the 49ers to get to the NFC Championship Game. It didn’t happen because of the kicking game.
This year, the Packers are going to have to do it all again and it starts with the dynamic Philadelphia offense and a Vic Fangio-coached Eagles defense that has been able to bounce back in a big way in 2024, ranking 2nd in points allowed after being one of the worst defenses in the league last year.
Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs have each been such dynamic additions to the Eagles and Packers offenses respectively, and these teams are going to lean heavily on them to win this one. I think the Eagles win this one by a touchdown.
Prediction: Eagles win 27-21
(6) Washington Commanders @ (3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sunday, January 12, 8:00 PM ET (NBC/Peacock)
We’ve seen a couple of Jekyll and Hyde performances from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in recent weeks and this team felt like it was going to potentially blow it against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon.
Obviously, that didn’t happen, and the Bucs were not only able to win but help wide receiver Mike Evans extend his 1,000-yard streak to 11-straight seasons, an absolutely ridiculous accomplishment for the future Hall of Famer.
But can the Bucs parlay the win in Week 18 into another playoff win with Baker Mayfield at the helm? Mayfield has been such a great fit for this Bucs team and he’s been able to thrive this season thanks to the addition of the dynamic presence at running back in rookie Bucky Irving. Irving has been sensational for Tampa Bay, adding a much-needed presence out of the backfield and preventing this Bucs team from being overly one-dimensional.
The Washington Commanders are coming to Tampa Bay with the likely NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels, who has been clutch for his team down the stretch. We saw it in a shootout against the Philadelphia Eagles and we saw it in a shootout against the Atlanta Falcons.
Daniels has come through in big situations to make plays for his team. But there’s also some concern here for Washington because this is a Dan Quinn-coached team in the postseason, and he’s been notorious for blowing it big-time in the playoffs.
Can he get the monkey off his back?
Vegas is expecting this to be a high-scoring game with an over-under of 50.5. I don’t know if the Bucs have the pass rush to deal with Daniels but they are the more battle-tested of the two teams.
Prediction: Buccaneers win 34-29
(5) Minnesota Vikings @ (4) Los Angeles Rams
Monday, January 13, 8:00 PM ET (ESPN/ABC/ESPN+)
It's going to be important not to have a bad recency bias with the Minnesota Vikings because we've been singing their praises so much this season. There's no doubt that the Vikings have a great team and there's also no doubt that what we just saw in a crucial game from Sam Darnold was alarming.
The Vikings haven't had many games like that from Darnold this year, and even when he hasn't played well, they've mostly been able to overcome it by winning anyway. Kevin O'Connell is the master of the one-score game, or at least right up there with Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs.
But the Vikings have a fascinating draw for the Wild Card Round of the playoffs going up against O'Connell's former boss, Sean McVay. The Los Angeles Rams have been one of those teams that I highlight almost every single week on this site in one way or another as a dangerous team that could potentially upset someone in this kind of situation.
While the Vikings are unfairly the 5th seed after all they've accomplished this year, I'm not so sure that loss against Detroit didn't cost them a trip past the first round of the postseason.
The Rams were able to win five of their last six games to close out the 2024 season, and they did so with their defense getting hot at the exact right time. We saw them sit some starters and key players in the regular season finale against the Seahawks, but before that, the Rams hadn't even given up 10 points in a month.
The last time they gave up more than nine points was a shootout against the Buffalo Bills...which they won.
This Rams team has a couple of key factors playing in its favor. They are playing at home. They have a head coach and quarterback who have won it all before. And the home team's head coach is the "master" to the visiting coach's "apprentice". Even the oddsmakers are torn on this one with the Vikings a 1.5-point road favorite.
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Prediction: Rams win 27-23