2016 NFL Wildcard Playoffs: AFC Saturday!

Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Texans (Saturday, ESPN/ABC, 4:20pm ET)

With four teams from the AFC playing today, they offer some interesting matchups. In fact, in the first game up - Kansas City vs. Houston - I can honestly say I wouldn't have thought they'd have made it this far in 2016. The Chief started the 2016 season out with a thud...

Andy Reid's Chiefs barely beat Houston in Week 1, then took a pounding for the next five games. The point can be made though, that four of the five teams they lost to during this stretch are now in the playoffs. Still, it was a rough 1-5 start they overcame before going on a 10 game winning streak. Houston didn't look good at the start of the 2016 season, but then again, no team in the AFC South looked like they were going to set the world on fire?  Preseason favorite Indianapolis completely dissolved. Jacksonville and Tennessee were never really in the discussion. Winning the AFC South with a 9-7 record, Houston will take it any way they can get it...

My Pick - UPSET! Houston squeaks by - at home - with a last second field goal to stun K.C.: 29-26

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals (Saturday, CBS, 8:15pm ET)

The AFC North is a tough, nasty division. Pittsburgh travels to Cincinnati today, and it's going to be brutal in the trenches. With the rather shocking collapse of the Baltimore Ravens in 2015, this division has been a two team race from the beginning. They both lost once when they faced each other during the season, and the loses came on their home fields? Chilly weather this time of year normally plays a key roll when playing in Cincinnati; and right next to the Ohio River. It won't today, with rain not expected until after 8pm, CT. Wind won't be a factor either, which bodes well for the Steelers. They'll be without DeAngelo Hall, so their ground game looks rather bleak. Look for Ben Roethlisberger to come out firing (50+ attempts?). Controlling Antonio Brown, and Martavis Bryant leaving his big kid pants at home again, will be key for the Bengals.

The Bengals' A.J. McCarron will start at quarterback, and how he goes, so goes the post season hex for Cincinnati. Trouble in the post season haunts this team. Andy Dalton can rest easy if the Bengals fall today, but can head coach Marvin Lewis?

My Pick: Pittsburgh wins in a shoot out that goes into overtime: 42-36