The NFL Roundup 2018 - Wild Card Weekend: Day Two

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Once again, Wild Card Weekend lived up to its namesake, since yesterday’s slate of games delivered some incredible and thrilling moments and in all honesty, I think we can expect more of the same today. Because Sunday features more teams hungry to prove their worth and they too want nothing more than to hoist the Lombardi, and they’re willing to give it their all to come one step closer to holding that incredible trophy in their hands. So, with that in mind, let’s get right down to it and preview what to expect from today’s matchups. 

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AFC WILD CARD MATCHUP
Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars
EverBank Field – Jacksonville, FL
1:05 p.m. EST – CBS

HOW THESE TEAMS REACHED THE PLAYOFFS
This game features two teams that took two vastly different paths to the postseason. Jacksonville arrived here by wowing the football world with quality performance after quality performance on the field, allowing for the Jaguars to enjoy their first playoff appearance, and Division Title in eighteen years. But as for the Bills, well they unfortunately made the playoffs with a stroke of luck, because without that big time win from the Bengals, they simply would not be here considering that their season was filled to the brim with inconsistency on both offense and defense, and a touch of drama at the quarterback position as well.
 
KEYS TO THE GAME
Every year it seems there are a pair of teams in the playoffs that the fans don’t quite think are worthy enough to be there, and this game features those exact teams. Because Jacksonville’s overall reputation has everyone wondering if they’re for real this year, and Buffalo basically backed into the tournament. So really, the key to this game, is for one of these teams to show us they belong in the postseason, and whichever squad plays flawless football today, with beautiful execution on the field, not only gets a shot at the Divisional Round, but some well-deserved respect as well.

NFC WILD CARD MATCHUP
Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints
Mercedes-Benz Superdome – New Orleans, LA
4:40 p.m. EST – FOX

HOW THESE TEAMS REACHED THE PLAYOFFS
Everybody loves it when a scrappy team that can hang in any game makes the playoffs, and oddly enough, this game features two such teams. Because the Carolina Panthers found themselves in some tough games this year, and were able to grind it out to earn the win and the same goes for the New Orleans Saints, but their path to the playoffs was slightly different, considering the fact that their season started out in near disaster with an 0-2 start before they pulled together an impressive eight game win streak. But aside from their plucky attitudes, the real magic when it comes to both of these teams is their prolific offensive play, since these squads can seemingly score at will.
 
KEYS TO THE GAME
There is in fact, quite the interesting twist when it comes to this game, in that, this is the third meeting this season between these two teams and in the two prior matchups, New Orleans was able to beat the Panthers by no less than ten points. Which means, the Saints are walking into this one with plenty of confidence and swagger which means psychology is the key to this game. If the Panthers can keep the fact they’ve lost to this team all season long out of their minds and just do their thing on the field, they’ve got a shot at winning this one no problem. But, if New Orleans gets under Carolina’s skin and rattles them, then they’re headed to the Divisional Round. Either way, this game could be quite the impressive matchup and don’t be surprised in the slightest if this one ends up being a shoot-out.