3 Things to Watch in the Divisional Round

For the most part Wild Card weekend was owned by the favorites but the Commanders and Rams had other ideas. Both completed upsets with the Rams winning in dominant fashion. Up next, we have the Divisional round which in my opinion is the best NFL weekend of the year.

Every single matchup has intrigue and should offer us another drama-filled weekend of football. Before the games start let’s go over 3 things we are looking forward to watching.

Can the Bills Stop the Ravens Dynamic Running Game?

Buffalo just might be the most complete team in the NFL right now. After the Broncos went up 7-0 on a beautiful bomb by Bo Nix, the Bills completely dominated the rest of the game. Josh Allen was once again near perfect and the balanced Bills offense controlled the clock. Allen had his wow moments including this 4th down touchdown to Ty Johnson.

A big key to this game will be the Buffalo run game. The Ravens defense is averaging a league low 3.6 YPC to running backs this season. If they can neutralize James Cook and make the Bills offense more one dimensional they have a good chance of winning. Again we’re talking about Josh Allen so easier said then done.

Speaking of running game, the Ravens once again ran all over their opponent last week. Baltimore stacked up 299 rushing yards against the Steelers defense to cruise to victory. In order for the Bills to advance they will need to shut down the Ravens run game and make Lamar Jackson one-dimensional. It should be fascinating to watch how this plays out.

Can the Rams Pull Off the Major Upset in Philly?

One of the most surprising results from Wild Card weekend was the Rams domination of the Vikings. This game was all LA from the start as they cruised to a 27-9 win on Monday night. The big story was the Rams young defense who sacked Sam Darnold 9 times and made his life miserable. This is the second consecutive bad game from Darnold and the potential free agent may have hurt is stock going into next year.

The Rams will need their defense to play at a high level again if they want to win in Philly. It’s a tough task for LA as they will be going cross-country in a raucous, cold-weather environment. Running back Kyren Williams will need to be used early and often as the Rams main focus should be to control the clock. If Saquon Barkley gets going it will be lights out on LA’s season.

Will the Commanders Continue Their Cinderella Run?

Jayden Daniels once more worked his late-game magic to lead the Commanders into the Divisional round. There are a ton of impressive stats to look at from Daniels’s historic rookie season but none more impressive than this. There have been 3 instances where a rookie QB has led his team to 0 punts and 0 turnovers and Daniels has all three. It’s unheard of for a rookie quarterback to have this much poise.

If the Commanders hope to continue this run they will need to go to Detroit and upset the high powered Lions. Detroit is a juggernaut on offense leading the league with 33.2 PTS/G. Their defense has its holes, so the Commanders will need to score on almost every possession. Also, don’t expect to see much punting in this game. These two teams love to go for it on 4th down as referenced in the chart below.

This type of aggressiveness can of course backfire but I love to see it. Control the ball as much as possible and the Commanders have a chance.

Detroit is getting healthy at the right time with running back David Montgomery set to make his return. The Washington defense has struggled to stop the run all season and they will need find ways to stop Montgomery and the electric Jahmyr Gibbs. As of now the O/U on this game is 55.5 so expect a high scoring shootout.