After a rather crazy NFL Wild Card Weekend, which included moving the Pittsburgh Steelers–Buffalo Bills from Sunday to Monday due to heavy snow in western New York, we’re on to the NFL Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Four underdogs covered the spread with 3 winning outright — Houston Texans (11-7), Green Bay Packers (10-8) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-8), and 5 of the 6 games were decided by 14 or more points.
This weekend, we’ll also get our 1st look at the Baltimore Ravens (13-4) and San Francisco 49ers (12-5) as the top seeds enjoyed byes in the opening round.
The weather forecast is slightly better this weekend. In Baltimore, it will be bone-chilling cold Saturday afternoon for the Ravens-Texans matchup and with temperatures in the upper 20’s and sustained winds from 14-17 MPH, with gusts to 20-25 MPH. But there no call for precipitation. Still, the passing and kicking games should be affected.
In Santa Clara, we’ll have a sloppy field when the 49ers host the Packers with a coastal low pressure system tracking inland from the Pacific Ocean expected to bring a steady amount of rain, while winds blow at 8-11 MPH.
On Sunday, the Buccaneers and Detroit Lions (13-5) will be indoors, safe from the elements.
In Orchard Park, N.Y., the Bills (12-6) host the Kansas City Chiefs (12-6). Snow won’t be an issue, at least during gametime, but we’ll have helmet-cracking temperatures in the low 20’s with a wind chill in the single digits.