Wild-card weekend has wild development: visitors favored

Interestingly, the only two times the team who won the division did not win the Wild Card matchup were the two times that the rematch involved teams from AFC North – a year ago between the Ravens and Steelers, and 2005 between the Bengals and Steelers. Is he hiding his appearance after another wild night??

Pittsburgh at Denver: Which Peyton Manning will show up, the one who led the Broncos to seven consecutive wins to start the season or the one who got benched after turning the ball over four times in Week 9? Nelson has been Rodgers go-to target for the past few seasons, and his presence is sorely missed.

At least reporters aren’t stalking Johnny ManzieBREAKING!

While it may seem wrong that an 11-5 team has to travel to the home stadium of a 9-7 team, that is the way the National Football League playoffs are now setup. During that very same span, Hopkins has put up a 35-472-2 line for the Houston Texans.

But I can’t pick that, not with Kansas City riding a 10-game winning streak, not if I picture Justin Houston blasting after Brian Hoyer, not if I just picture Brian Hoyer doing anything.

After starting the season at 6-0, the Packers have not played like a good football team. Alex Smith and company look to get the Chiefs their first playoff win since 1994.

If McCarron remains the starter for Saturday, it will be hard for the Bengals to keep up with the Steelers.

Pittsburgh has injury problems of its own with running back DeAngelo Williams nursing a sprained right ankle. The Chiefs have allowed an average of 12.8 points per game and have enjoyed a plus-16 turnover differential during their streak. Antonio Brown finished second among receivers with 1,834 yards.

The attention grabber: You can start a conversation by simply saying the Bengals have no shot at winning this game.

Counting past numbers, the odds are stacked against the home team. McCutiepie should be able to toss it around against the Steel D (30th against the pass), but his running backs may have a tougher time (fifth against the run).

Watt played a role in 18 sacks, 34 hits and 37 hurries over 592 pass-rush snaps and had 76 tackles (29 for losses), batted down eight passes, forced three fumbles and recovered one. Humidity was 95 percent, and there were 8 miles per hour winds. The Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since Joe Montana was the quarterback in the 1993 season.

Seattle’s defense hasn’t been the “Legion of Boom” this year, but with the Vikings already weak offense, plus the freezing cold temperatures which are projected, the Seahawks defense could be in for a big game.

I have good news. A jacket may be required to watch this game on TV.

Adrian Peterson is the only real weapon that the team has.

Don’t expect a high-scoring affair.

KC is 0-4 against-the-spread (2-2 straight-up) as a favorite in the postseason.

The Packers are 3-7 straight-up and 5-4-1 against-the-spread in their last ten playoff games as underdogs. A big part of the quarterback’s revival was getting in sync with WR Doug Baldwin, who had 11 catches for scores in the final six games.

Surprisingly, Washington was one of the league’s best home teams with a 6-2 record, and even as they didn’t fare well against winning squads, this will be the franchise’s first playoff home game in 3 years, and so a packed stadium should be expected. They beat us at our place; we beat them at their place.

The Green Bay Packers have been given the benefit of the doubt all season long, but I’m not giving it to them this week.

Here’s a look at all four wild-card ballgames. Old shoe-type funk, not the George Clinton type. Vontaze Burfict had three personal-foul infractions in that game. He ended the season with the fewest passing yards in a non-injury season since he got the job in 2008.