The NFL playoffs are into the divisional round and the games will pick up on Saturday and Sunday for the AFC and NFC matchups.
The first game of the weekend has the New England Patriots hosting the Kansas City Chiefs and that game will be from Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. The matchup starts at 4:35 pm ET and has TV coverage from CBS for the game. The second matchup on Saturday has the Green Bay Packers visiting the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The game starts at 8:15 pm ET and TV coverage will be on NBC.
The NFC kicks things off on Sunday with the Seattle Seahawks taking on the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. The game will start at 1:05 pm ET and has TV coverage from FOX. The final game of the divisional round has the Pittsburgh Steelers taking on the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The matchup starts at 4:40 pm ET and will have TV coverage on CBS.
The Chiefs come into the game against the Patriots having won 11 straight games and they will put that streak on the line against the Patriots. The team is playing great defense and they come in after shutting out the Texans last week. The Patriots have Rob Gronkowski coming in banged up, while Jeremy Maclin could be in question with an ankle injury for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs and Patriots matchup is the only game that is not a rematch from the regular season in 2015. The Packers and Cardinals are playing for the second time in a manner of weeks and that matchup was a dominating win for Arizona. The Packers have seemed to regain form after winning over the Redskins last week, but now they have to face a team that just beat them and really knocked around Aaron Rodgers by putting up eight sacks.
The Seahawks and the Panthers played back in Week Six and that matchup saw Carolina come back against Seattle to win. The game will be in North Carolina this time around and the Seahawks come in after a miracle win against the Vikings. Marshawn Lynch missed that game and the team is hoping that he can return for this one.
The Steelers and Broncos played down the back stretch of the season, but Peyton Manning was not healthy for Denver and Pittsburgh won that game. Brock Osweiler is back on the bench and Manning will be under center, while the Steelers will be without key players due to injuries. The Steelers will have DeAngelo Williams and Antonio Brown out, while Ben Roethlisberger is dealing with a sore shoulder.
Predictions:
Patriots win over Chiefs
Cardinals win over Packers
Seahawks win over Panthers
Broncos win over Steelers
