Baltimore Beatdown Game Picks: Wild Card

The regular season might be over, but the fun is only just beginning. Our staff is hitting the ground running by continuing to pick the winners of each game in the playoffs, beginning first with six — yes, six — wild card matchups this weekend.

Join in on the action by checking out the analysis of our team’s predictions and make your own selections below!

Final standings (regular season):

1. BB readers (179-77)
2. Vasilis (173-83)
3. Dustin (170-86)
4. Spencer (169-87)
5. Kyle (168-88)
6. Frank, Adrian (167-89)
7. Peter (166-90)
8. Jakob (162-94)

Consensus Selections —

The staff is in agreement on the following two games in Round 1:

• Bills > Colts (BUF -6.5)
• Buccaneers > Washington (TB -8.5)

Just two of out the six wild card matchups saw a unanimous winner selected, which speaks to the competitive and unpredictable nature of the postseason.

The first is the early afternoon matchup on Saturday between the Bills and Colts, where Buffalo is favored by 6.5 points. Indianapolis, the No. 7 seed in the AFC, is seeking to pull off a miraculous upset over perhaps the hottest team in the NFL. The Bills have not lost since November 15 and won nine straight games to finish the season with a 13-3 record.

Our staff evidently likes the Bills momentum to continue into this weekend, where they’ll be playing in front of fans (limited capacity) for the first time all season.

Additionally, all of our writers envision the Buccaneers defeating the Washington Football Team in a 4-5 matchup on Saturday night. Tampa Bay is a healthy 8.5-point favorite over Washington, who won the NFC East despite winning only seven games on the year.

Washington’s defense is one of the top-ranked units in the NFL, but their up against a tall task in Tom Brady and Bruce Arian’s offense. Brady and the Buccaneers ended the season on a four-game win streak while scoring a combined 101 points between Weeks 16 and 17.

Lone Wolf Selections —

The following writers were alone with these predictions for Round 1:

• Kyle likes the Rams to defeat the Seahawks on the road (LAR +3) and the Bears to upset the Saints in New Orleans (CHI +10)
• Vasilis is picking the Titans to beat the Ravens (TEN +3.5)
• Jakob sees the Browns knocking off the Steelers in a divisional showdown (CLE +6)

Kyle makes up two of the four total lone wolf picks this weekend. First, he was alone in picking the Rams to beat the Seahawks. Los Angeles is a three-point underdog after losing two of their final three games to end the season, whereas the Seahawks seized a division title and secured the No. 3 seed in the NFC. Whether Jared Goff or John Wolford starts at quarterback for the Rams remains to be seen, but either way their top-ranked defense should give them a chance to be competitive. Only Kyle, though, sees them pulling off an upset.

Similarly, Kyle was also the only writer to pick the Bears over the Saints. New Orleans is the biggest favorite of the week and are looking to exercise their playoff demons. The Saints have lost three straight playoff games, with all three being decided on the final play in dramatic fashion. Mitchell Trubisky and Chicago are a double-digit underdog but won three of their final four games to secure a postseason berth.

In perhaps the marquee matchup of the weekend, Vasilis is the only writer picking against the Ravens in a playoff rematch in Tennessee. The Titans are an underdog of 3.5 points and everyone but Vasilis is picking Baltimore to win.

Jakob is also on the list this week as the only writer to pick the Browns to beat the Steelers in a potential divisional upset. Cleveland was originally a four-point underdog but Pittsburgh is now favored by six points following the Browns COVID-19 outbreak earlier this week. In their first playoff game since 2002, the Browns will be without the services of HC Kevin Stefanski on the sidelines — a difficult hurdle to overcome against an experienced and battle-tested team like the Steelers.