Are you ready for some football 🏈

2022-23 has been a long season in the NFL. I've watched my fair share of games and I'm not really surprised at all to see the playoffs shaping up how they have.

Although the Week 17 Bengals vs Bills game was canceled, which really sucks by the way. I was really hoping to see one of the two teams finally see their win streak end. Even without that game being played, both Buffalo and Cincinnati are at the top of the AFC.

Now that Week 18 is finished, so is the regular season. This means we are less than a week away from the start of the playoffs. It all begins with the Wild Card matchups.

Before we discuss who I think will win each of the first-round games, let's have a look at the standings for each division.

AFC

The Chiefs had another dominant season, as did the Bengals and Bills. The poor Texans looked awful all year and they were the worst in the AFC.

NFC

The Eagles were undefeated for most of the season but started to lose toward the end of their schedule. The 49ers have the longest active win streak and nearly passed the Eagles right at the end. The Vikings and Cowboys also came pretty close. If you're wondering who the worst team in the NFC was, it was easily the Chicago Bears.

Wild Card Matchups

We have some pretty awesome games lined up for this weekend. The first two games will be played Saturday. Then we have three games on Sunday and the last on Monday night.

Have a look at the matchups and times:

Now let's discuss who I think will win each of these games. You can comment below if you agree or disagree with my picks.

Seahawks vs 49ers

Although the 49ers have already beaten the Seahawks twice this season, for some reason I think they will choke and lose this game. Geno Smith just set the single-season record for passing yards on the Seahawks. I don't think he's worried about confidence and if he has a big game, they could very well flip the script. San Francisco will continue to play without their QB Jimmy Garoppolo, but Brock Purdy has been playing pretty well in his place. This will be a close game, but I'm hoping for the Seahawks to come out on top.

Chargers vs Jaguars

I like Trevor Lawrence and the Jags are on a nice little win streak. Justin Herbert and the Chargers on the other hand have just had it too easy in the second half of the season. 5 out of the last 7 games they've played have been against teams with losing records. They may be shocked by a Jaguars team that is picking up some serious steam late in the season. Both of these young QBs will be giving it their all to make a statement, but I think it'll be Lawrence and Jacksonville that have the better game.

Dolphins vs Bills

These are my two most-watched teams this year. Dolphins are my favorite and I just watch a lot of the Bills because my girlfriend claims she likes anything that's Buffalo. It just so happens they are in the same division and have already played twice this season. It's 1-1 so far and I'm really hoping that the Dolphins can somehow manage to get the upset win. It'll be tough though since the game is in Buffalo and the Dolphins have been struggling to score towards the end of this season. Here is to hoping that Tua is good to go and can play so that these Fins receivers can get back to having huge games. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Bills handle this one, but as a Dolphins fan, I have to pick them.

Giants vs Vikings

Justin Jefferson, need I say more? How do you expect a guy like that to let his team lose in the first round of the playoffs? It's just not going to happen. The Giants have been pretty good this year, but they did already lose once to the Vikings, although it was a close one. The Vikings have found a way to win, despite the odds. We say that comeback OT victory versus the Colts. It's magic like that which I think will take the Vikings far this year.

Ravens vs Bengals

The Bengals are my pick to win the Super Bowl this year, so I don't think the Ravens stand a chance in this game. The Bengals lost to the Ravens early this season, but that was before they started playing great. Now Cincinnati seems much more prepared to handle a tough game and that was shown when they won the second matchup against Baltimore. Although Baltimore's defense is always a problem, Joe Burrow will find a way to get his team points.

Cowboys vs Buccaneers

A Cowboys team who always seems to mess up in the playoffs. An aging Tom Brady who barely made the playoffs this year. This is the least predictable of the games in my opinion. The Cowboys have been playing great and scoring at will these last several weeks. We all know they have the ability to forget all prior success and just start sucking though. The Bucs have relied heavily on Brady's arm and I just don't think he has enough weapons to keep up with the scoring that Dallas could potentially continue.

FYI 🚨

My picks are mostly just based on my own hopes of who will win. I'm not doing deep analysis to figure out who should win statistically. The thing about that is, stats always change and upsets do happen. This is why I just go with my first instinct and try to support the teams I like to watch the most.

If you're curious how I hope the rest of the playoffs go, then have a look at this bracket I filled out.

Although I'd love for the Dolphins to win this Super Bowl, I'm not so sure they will survive past the second round. They have nothing but tough matchups ahead and if Tua doesn't stay healthy, they have no chance.

I think it'll be the Bengals who win it all this year. After losing in the Super Bowl last year versus the Rams, they are hungry for revenge knowing that they were so close last time.

I believe Joe Burrow will lead Cincinnati to be champions of Super Bowl LVII (57). This means the Bengals would finally have their first Super Bowl victory. We will have to wait and see how it all unfolds.

My NFTs: https://inji.com/@daltono/nfts