Wild Card Weekend

Happy New Year! And what better way to kick off 2015 than with tons and tons of football. After some great college bowl games over the past few days, it’s time for the big boys to take their turn. It’s time for the NFL Playoffs and you know what that means. Welcome to Binge Sports and our wall to wall coverage of the road to the Super Bowl. It’s Wild Card weekend and eight teams are set to do battle. I’m going to keep the breakdowns light as there’s not much we don’t already know about these teams. But I’ll give you a reason or two to watch each game and of course give you a chance to vote for the winners. But before we get to the games, let’s see how you did in picking the division winners.

AFC East: New England Patriots-88%

AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers-75%

AFC South: Indianapolis Colts-50%

AFC West: Denver Broncos-100%

NFC East: Dallas Cowboys-33%

NFC North: Green Bay Packers-67%

NFC South: Carolina Panthers-0%

NFC West: Seattle Seahawks-50%

Overall, you picked 58% correctly. The lack of faith in the Dallas Cowboys, the chaos of the dreadful NFC South, and the surprisingly low percentage for the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks dragged your total down, but not bad. You’ll have a chance in a few moments to make up for it, so let’s get to this weekend’s games, which will be listed in the order they’ll be played, starting on Saturday afternoon in the NFC.

ARIZONA CARDINALS (11-5, 2nd in NFC West)

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CAROLINA PANTHERS (7-8-1, won NFC South)

When: Saturday, January 3rd, 2015-4:35E/3:35C-ESPN

Current Line: Panthers favored by 6.5

Why You Should Watch: Well, the big reason to watch here is simply because it’s the first game. I do find it funny that a team that’s under .500 is favored in a playoff game. But the Panthers domination of the Falcons last week showed that they can be an exciting team to watch. The Cardinals are just running on fumes these days. After an amazing start to the season, injuries at the quarterback position have really hindered this team. They’re going to have to rely on their defense to win this game.

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BALTIMORE RAVENS (10-6, 3rd in AFC North)

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PITTSBURGH STEELERS (11-5, won AFC North)

When: Saturday, January 3rd, 2015-8:15E/7:15C-NBC

Current Line: Steelers favored by 3

Why You Should Watch: Because it’s the Ravens and the Steelers. I really shouldn’t have to say much more than that. This rivalry has been one of the best in football for years and this should be another good game. Pittsburgh has been playing very well lately, but I’m sure they won’t be underestimating the Ravens. And it’s always nice to watch two Super Bowl winning quarterbacks have at it.

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CINCINNATI BENGALS (10-5-1, 2nd in AFC North)

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INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (11-5, won AFC South)

When: Sunday, January 4, 2015-1:05E/12:05C-CBS

Current Line: Colts favored by 3

Why You Should Watch: Because watching Andrew Luck work is fun. Hopefully, we’ll get a better game than we did in week 7 when the Colts dominated the Bengals 27-0. The Bengals are going to need to have a better offensive game than they have the last three postseasons to have any kind of chance here.

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DETROIT LIONS (11-5, 2nd in NFC North)

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DALLAS COWBOYS (12-4, won NFC East)

When: Sunday, January 4, 2015-4:40E/3:40C-FOX

Current Line: Cowboys favored by 6.5

Why You Should Watch: Because this is probably the best matchup of the weekend. Watching Detroit’s defense against a very potent Cowboys offense should be amazing, especially now that Ndamukong Suh has won his appeal and will play on Sunday. Can Tony Romo keep rolling after having one of the best Decembers in NFL history? We’ll find out in the weekend’s final game.

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And there you have it. We’ve got some great match-ups here and we should get a hell of a weekend. If you feel the need to justify your picks, you can do so below or hit me up @BingeSports and/or @THElukenorris. We’ll be back soon with continuing coverage of the NFL Playoffs as well as the upcoming national championship game in college football. Enjoy.