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it's officially the best time of the year. The NFL Playoffs are here. The quest for the Lombardi is 24 hours from opening with 14 teams ready to duke it out in do or die fashion. Months of build up brings us here, with a furious winter storm reeking havoc across the states, the gridiron is ready for the inclement weather to help define the opening round. We are ready for the first installment: Wild Card Weekend set to feast with a desert on Monday.
We have six do or die wars on the schedj- two on Saturday, three on Sunday, and that desert special on Monday. Six teams will see their seasons be for nothin', while six teams move forward in their quest for the coveted and prestigious Lombardi trophy. Get accustomed to the 2024 playoff bracket, if you haven't already:
Sound off those battle drums, it's time to watch some blood, sweat, and tears get shed across the battlefields. If the typical gridiron noise wasn't enough, we have gale warnings, blizzard warnings, severe winter-storm advisories, and straight up inclement weather set to sprinkle in some fun as well. Oh, we are set up nicely yah!
AFC Saturday Showdown brings the first wave of noise. Two battles, one in the tundra, and one in the dome. The first battle is a late afternooner ready to set the bar. Browns are in the playoffs for just the second time in the past 20 years, takin' on stud rookie QB C.J. Stroud and his young Texans squad led by rookie head coach DeMeco Ryans. A bar-setter indeed, and a high level one off paper.
The first matchup is super hot on the stove. Joe Flacco returns to the Big Dance, but he returns as lead man for a decade long adversary. Rookie C.J. Stroud faces another difficult obstacle goin' up against the menacing Browns' defense in his playoff debut. The rook will be the first one to tell you how important seeding is, as he would much rather battle that Browns' defense in his home dome in Houston rather than in the cold, frigid outside air in enemy territory in Cleveland. This should be a fist fight; I expect the game to be close throughout. Browns ruling out S Grant Delpit and possibly in line to rule out CB Denzel Ward is a big end of the week update just 24 hours prior to gametime. If both those cats are unable to roll on Saturday, the pressure gets heavy on the shoulders of Myles Garrett & Za'Darius Smith to break Houston's barriers to force difficulties on Stroud. Martin Emerson Jr. is going to need to have a big game over top and on the outside to keep Stroud from connecting with Nico Collins for damaging results. Win or lose, one thing will be certain- DeMeco Ryans will grow as a coach after his first playoff experience under a headset as a HC.
The second war will give us an entirely different vibe in Kansas City. A rematch of the WK-9 slobber-knocker in Frankfurt goes down on a new playing board... inside a frozen tundra with an expected wind chill of (-)25 to 30 below freezing. Kansas City has a high of 8 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of -9 on Saturday bringing the expected kickoff temp' to zero according to the Weather Channel app. Awful forecast news for the Dolphins. Christian Wilkins; Cheetah; and other Dolphins are chimin' that they will go shirtless in pregame... I don't know about all that. This game is going to be frigid-frigid, but these cats are built different.
You can bet your a** the game will be competitive and entertaining. Both teams need to be sharp on game management and balance. Mike McDaniel and the Miami staff especially. They must work balance to allow De'Von Achane and hopefully Raheem Mostert (currently questionable) to be difference makers on offense. Chiefs will look for Joe Thuney and Creed Humphrey to dominate in the trench to allow Isiah Pacheco to punish the banged up Dolphins front-seven. Fins also won't have Xavier Howard... and Jevon Holland, like Mostert, is currently questionable on the injury report. Kansas City creatin' early success in the run game could be crucial for the pass game to succeed. This game should be rock solid, and the weather makes it all the better. Playoff football at it's finest. Frost bite, helmet cracks, and cold-hearted war. Run it through our veins.
The playoff gridiron delivers a triple-header of straight noise on our Sunday. All three matchups are infested with big time storylines, highly acclaimed reunions, and more possible winter warfare. Sub freezin' weather with possible blizzard temptations to strike the first game in Buffalo, Mike McCarthy welcomes the team who fired him to the Lone Star, and the Jared Goff/Matthew Stafford trade comes full circle in the grandest way possible to deliver us a potential banger in primetime.
The more I read updates on the potential Sunday afternoon weather in Buffalo, the more of an evil-grinch smile I get. The forecast (if you can believe it) is showin' possible wind gusts over 65 miles per hour and a chance for a foot plus of snow to drop in Orchard Park.
Highmark Stadium loves givin' us winter warfare in the playoffs. Buffalo looks to give Bills fans a different result than the one in last year's playoff loss against the Bengals in the snow. Steelers look for the weather to help them even the scale against arguably a better roster in Buffalo, more importantly against a huge separation of skill among the starting QB matchup. Smash mouth football. A game that truly comes down to who wants it more. I for one, hope the forecast sticks to fact rather than cap... I love winter warfare.
The second installment will be locked inside AT&T Stadium as the Pack travel to Arlington to take on the Cowboys to renew one of the more memorable playoff rivalries in NFL history. Sunday's war will be the ninth postseason meeting between the Packers and Cowboys, which is tied for the most in NFL history. The previous eight meetings have been split between the two delivering us classic after classic with a slew of unforgettable moments that sit in football galore for eternity. The Ice Bowl. The '90s blood-war. Dez Bryant's catch. AR12. Now, the NFL's No. 1 and No. 2 quarterbacks with the most touchdown passes are set to deliver another epic installment in this playoff rivalry. We also see former Packers' head coach Mike McCarthy, who coached the last two rivalry installments for the Pack, be on the other sideline in a revenge game for being fired in-season by Green Bay (2018). Cowboys were far more superior in the regular season compared to the Packers, but that was in the past. We hit reset. With all the storylines and the playoff vibes- we can still see a competitive banger in Arlington. History speaks.
The third installment could be the loudest of the three. A primetime slobber-knocker is in-store as the Lions welcome the Rams to Ford Field for the first home playoff game in Detroit in 30 years. The Silverdome was the last stadium to witness the roar of Detroit create playoff atmosphere. The city is ready to break sound barriers once again, as the players in Honolulu blue are ready to change decade long narratives. On top of playoff atmosphere in it's loudest form of noise, we have an unprecedented reunion & a trade reach full orbit to create a movie type storyline. Matthew Stafford returns to Detroit... in the Wild Card playoff round. Jared Goff welcomes his old coach and team into his new den with Gibbs, LaPorta, Melifonwu, and Jameson Williams stalkin' like hyenas around him. Chirpin' gratitude and thanks. You can't write it up any better than that. A QB for QB trade comes full circle to have all players involved (6 draftees) face each other in playoff warfare. Should be a banger of a game. I see a shootout in the D with Goff and Stafford going back and fourth with nuclear shots. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Puka Nacua are ready to show out. This is going to be DAMN good. I can't seem to find any patience... run this all the way UP!
The alarms are soundin' as the Buccaneers are rushing to set their defense gates with a returning enemy comin' back up the waters to end them for good. The final clash of the first chapter is a WK-3 rematch between the Eagles and Bucs to be decided in a dark rainy storm. When I say rematch, I mean this is a carbon-copy from the WK-3 matchup, but under do or die circumstances. Monday Night. Primetime. Raymond James Stadium. Run it back.
Football gods don't plan on the Bucs/Eagles to miss all the weather fun. If you're playin' outside, then you will face some weather fun says the spirits. Rain on rain is expected Monday Night in Tampa, we will see on the accuracy of that claim, but if true, then we will have three straight days of playoff warfare be settled in inclement weather. There goes my grinch grin again. Rainy weather or not, this is an appealing game. One I hope will deliver some goods as a stand alone on MNF. The first matchup wasn't a great watch, quite sloppy to be frank... it was WK-3 so whatever. Tampa Bay is not the same team they were in that loss, but they are coming off just a 9-0 win over the Panthers last week while the Eagles are playing the worst ball of their season going into the playoffs. We will get an opportunity to witness one of two tales: a super sloppy mess in the rain or two teams throw away the regular season to put it all on the line in rainy playoff warfare to lite the skies. As fans, all we can do is hope for the second option there. Hopefully the game is a barn-burner and not a halftime snoozer.
One more sleep and the gates open. One more sleep and the quest for the Lombardi is officially live. Fans of the 12 teams playin' in the opening round: take the hours leadin' up with caution and the correct preparation. Stay hydrated, eat, and rest your voices. If you feel the need to speak any level of confidence for your warriors, make sure you have some wood around to knock on. You will thank me later, because your a**es are going to be strapped in for an emotional rollercoaster... it's playoff time cha heard! Let there be madness.
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