{"id":2499,"date":"2016-01-10T06:41:45","date_gmt":"2016-01-10T11:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bigredsportsmachine.com\/?p=2499"},"modified":"2016-01-10T07:12:20","modified_gmt":"2016-01-10T12:12:20","slug":"wildcard-weekend-nfc-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bigredsportsmachine.com\/?p=2499","title":{"rendered":"Wildcard Weekend: NFC Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Oh<\/a>

Oh yeah!<\/p><\/div>\n

Fantasy season may be over, but the real season\u2019s just beginning!\u00a0 Nothing better than playoff football, and we mean NFL playoff football\u2026not that lame watered down college nonsense.\u00a0 Note:\u00a0 when you resort to blaming poor ratings<\/a> because of Star Wars, you know you\u2019re out of options.\u00a0 Shit, Luke Skywalker could show up to my house and I\u2019ll be like, \u201cLuke, use the force and shut your mouth until halftime.\u00a0 The game\u2019s on!\u201d<\/p>\n

Roid Rage, fresh off of winning The Machine\u2019s season-long ATS picks (over me by one game!),\u00a0split the games yesterday\u00a0with\u00a0his expert analysis of the AFC games<\/a>. \u00a0Seriously, what the hell happened at the end of the Cincy\/Pitt game? \u00a0Is the City of Cincinnati on fire? \u00a0Prediction: \u00a0Marvin Lewis gets fired. \u00a0Anyway, it\u2019s time for some NFC action.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get right to it.<\/p>\n

Seattle (10-6) @ Minnesota (11-5), Sunday 1:00 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Line:\u00a0 MIN +5.0, O\/U 39.5<\/p>\n

A home dog?\u00a0 In the playoffs?\u00a0 That must be a mistake, right?\u00a0 That hasn\u2019t happened since\u2026well yesterday, when both playoff games featured home dogs.\u00a0 Home dog or not, The Machine\u2019s a firm believer in past performance being a good predictor of future events\u2026especially when that past performance happened last month.\u00a0 And that brings us to the Seahawks and Vikings.<\/p>\n

Remember way back when, in December, when the 6-5 Seahawks went to Minny to face the 8-3 Vikings.\u00a0 The Vikings had all the hype, as they had only lost one game at home all year.\u00a0 Well, the Seahawks absolutely throttled the Vikings, scoring the first 35 points en route to a 38-7 dismantling of the Vikings.<\/p>\n

\"No<\/a>

No Beastmode, no problem.<\/p><\/div>\n

This game comes down to who do you trust more:\u00a0 An upstart team or the defending Super Bowl Champions?\u00a0 This one\u2019s a no brainer.\u00a0 The Machine\u2019s money is on Seattle.\u00a0 No Beastmode?\u00a0 No problem.\u00a0 Thomas Rawls ran for over a 100 yards and a touchdown the last time they played\u2026and Minnesota has no answers for the read\/option, which we normally hate, but admit the Seahawks run to perfection.<\/p>\n

For Minnesota to have any chance, they have to feed AP the ball.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care how far behind they get.\u00a0 AP only had 18 yards on 8 carries last month.\u00a0 That ain\u2019t gonna do it.\u00a0 AP needs to have 20+ touches.<\/p>\n

Simply put:\u00a0 The Seahawks are on a roll.\u00a0 Winners of 6 of their last 7 (and 8 of their last 10), Seattle\u2019s coming into the playoffs as the hottest team.\u00a0 Not even the frigid cold Minnesota winter can cool them off, which brings us to our other point:\u00a0 the weather.\u00a0 This could be one of the coldest games in NFL history.\u00a0 How cold, you ask?\u00a0 Special underwear cold<\/a>\u2026temperatures are expected to reach 20 below with wind chill.\u00a0 This again, will place a huge importance on ball control and time of possession.\u00a0 Seattle ranks 4th<\/sup> in the league in time of possession, while Minnesota sits at 17th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/strong>: Seattle 20, Minnesota 10<\/p>\n

\"You<\/a>

You may want to dress a little warmer…or not.<\/p><\/div>\n

Green Bay (10-6) @ Washington (9-7)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Line:\u00a0 GB +1, O\/U 45, Sunday 4:40 PM<\/p>\n

If we told you the team that\u2019s going to win is the team with the quarterback that has thrown for more yards and has a better QBR and higher QB rating, you\u2019d think Green Bay, right?\u00a0 I mean, Green Bay has All-World Aaron Rodgers.\u00a0 Certainly he\u2019s had a better year than Gus Frerotte-in-training Kirk Cousins?\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 Right?<\/p>\n

WRONG!\u00a0 Gus\u2026err\u2026Kirk has quietly put together one of the best performances of any QB in the league this year\u2026and he\u2019s done it with far less of a supporting cast.\u00a0 And who can forget his now infamous rallying cry:<\/p>\n