NFL Wild Card Preview

"Kiss this, if you don't like Tony Romo." (Getty)

It's playoff time Stubborn OXen fans.  As is customary in the Wild Card Round, neither of our teams are playing.  The Patriots because they have their traditional bye week viewing party.  And the Jets because they have their traditional year-end golf outing.

However, there are still four games on the schedule.  While we agree on all four, I think we both also think that the games could go either way in anyone of them.  In fact, after our phone conversation about the picks, we both agreed that we knew we were going to miss something on one of these games.  Not all four will go according to plan.

Nonetheless, here's who we have in the Wild Card Round this weekend:

Stally's Eight-Point Pick
@Dallas over Detroit

Stally: The Cowboys are the best team not to have earned a bye in the Wild Card Round.  Which is a pretty blunt statement considering that five teams went 12-4, including Dallas, and the other four are on bye this week.  They played great on the road, going 8-0, but struggled with a 4-4 record at home. That seems to be an odd statistic, so odd, in fact, that I don't think it holds too much merit as a reason why Dallas should be worried.

In the case of Detroit, it's not particularly strong on the road, having gone only 4-4 itself.  The biggest issue, as Austen will get into, is the quarterback differential.  I've long been of the mindset that Tony Romo is a very strong quarterback that gets a bad rap based on poor luck.  Having relied on Matthew Stafford in fantasy football this year, and having had his poor performance tank my season, I don't hold him in the same regard as I do Romo.  Then again, Detroit is a classless bunch of goons, so I don't hold any of them in high regard.  The lack of a suspension of DT Ndamukong Suh after trying to break Aaron Rodgers ankle last week is offensive to competitive sport.

Score Prediction
Dallas 34, Detroit 17

Austen: The Cowboys have been the biggest surprise in the NFL this season. This is an all around dominant offense with the best offensive line in the league. The matchup between the Dallas O-line and the Lions' defensive line is one of the best of the weekend. These are the strength of both teams going against each other. This is the game to watch of the weekend. 

What it comes down to is that Tony Romo has been consistently fantastic this season where as Matthew Stafford has been maddeningly erratic. Stafford is an atrocious 0-17 on the road against teams with a winning record in his career (no, you did not read that incorrectly) and I do not see that changing against one of the hottest teams in the NFL. 

Score Prediction
Dallas 27, Detroit 16

Austen's Eight-Point Pick
@Carolina over Arizona

Austen: I went back and forth between taking the Panthers or the Colts. Objectively, the Panthers have been the much better team over the last month as the Colts have struggled mightily on both offense and defense in December.

While Arizona has been one of the best stories in the NFL, I think their luck will finally run out. A road game with a third-string quarterback who has been down right terrible almost always leads to disaster. If this game was in the desert, I'd consider taking the Cardinals, but a trip out east might be too much for this banged up team to overcome. 

Bruce Arians should win the Coach of the Year again, but I simply cannot bet on Ryan Lindley taking down a team that has been on fire as of late. 

Score Prediction
Carolina 24, Arizona 13

Stally: What bum luck for Arizona!  Once vying to be the best team in the league, it lost its top two quarterbacks, and its hold on the competitive NFC West.  Now the Cardinals will need to head on the road with a terrible quarterback to play the underdog role against a miserable NFC South opponent that rallied from 3-8-1 with four wins to take the paltry division.

The sad thing is that despite Arizona being 11-5 and Carolina being 7-8-1, there's nothing to disagree with Austen about.  The Panthers do look like the better team right now and deserve to be favored by nearly a touchdown (six points was the final spread).

Score Prediction
Carolina 20, Arizona 6

Stally's Four-Point Pick
@Indianapolis over Cincinnati

Stally: I hate this!  All season long, I looked forward to picking against the average Colts in the first round.  They play a horrendous schedule and lost miserably to just about any team worth anything in the NFL (Denver, Pittsburgh, New England, Dallas).  But, they drew the Bengals, so I have to pick the Colts.

Indianapolis defeated Cincinnati 27-0 in mid-October and it's hard to see the Bengals doing a whole lot better this time around.  The discrepancy in quarterbacks in this one is dumbfounding.  Colts QB Andrew Luck is carving out a name for himself as a clutch performer, and Bengals QB Andy Dalton is quickly earning an image as one of the least clutch QBs in the league.  He seems to lose almost every big game, and this Sunday's matchup won't be any different.  The Bengals have officially listed star WR A.J. Green as being "out," which will kill any chance Dalton had of breaking his chump slump.

Score Prediction
Indianapolis 38, Cincinnati 13

Austen: The entire Colts offense has tanked as of late and there are numerous problems with their defense. Andrew Luck is amazing, but not many teams can win in the playoffs when their offensive and defensive lines struggle as much as the Colts have this season. 

That being said, A.J. Green is out for this game and Andy Dalton has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the league this year, and might be the worst prime time quarterback in the history of the NFL. As much as I want to take the Bengals to win their first playoff game since 1990, I cannot go against Luck and his magic. 

Score Prediction
Indianapolis 28, Cincinnati 24

Austen's Four-Point Pick
@Pittsburgh over Baltimore

Austen: I really hate trying to predict these games. NFC North matchups are always infuriating since they are pretty much always decided by one turnover and about three points. Despite Le'Veon Bell being out of this game, I trust Big Ben and his offense much more than Joe Flacco and his.

The Ravens have the better defense and could make it a rough day for Roethlisberger, but he is in the midst of his best season and I think he makes enough big plays to his explosive receivers to win a close one. 

Score Prediction
Pittsburgh 24, Baltimore 23

Stally: The loss of RB Le'Veon Bell will certainly hurt the Steelers.  With him healthy, a case could be made that Pittsburgh is among the elite teams in the league.  I don't think I could say the same for Baltimore.

The Ravens were consistently good all season, but aren't really great at a whole lot.  Their rushing defense did rank fourth in the league, but Austen already established the with Bell out, Roethlisberger will likely throw more at a Baltimore pass defense that ranked 23rd.

It should be close.  As a Patriots fan, I certainly have some favoritism toward the Steelers, whom the Pats own in the playoffs, as opposed to Baltimore, which serves as New England's kryptonite (along with the New York Giants).  But, I honestly do have faith that the home team is the better one and will win.

Score Prediction
Pittsburgh 23, Baltimore 17