Everything has aligned for the
Tennessee Titans to beat the
New England Patriots, but that's not my upset pick. To be honest, a
Titans victory wouldn't feel like an upset at all given the state of those two teams right now. Instead, I'm going to stick with the
Buffalo Bills, who I've been backing since last summer. Sean McDermott has a dangerous team that's built to win on the road in Houston with a stout defense, explosive run game and a young quarterback who's ready to take the next step.
The
New England Patriots and
Tennessee Titans are trending in opposite directions heading into Wild Card Weekend.
Tom Brady struggled down the stretch, while
Ryan Tannehill played some of the best football of his career. But as well as Tannehill has played, I expect the
Titans to lean on
Derrick Henry to extend drives and control the clock. This season's rushing champion has been incredible since Week 10, running for 896 yards and 10 touchdowns despite missing Week 16 with a hamstring injury. The
Titans have all the tools to stick it to New England. That's exactly what they'll do Saturday in Foxborough, ending the
Patriots' quest for a seventh Lombardi Trophy.
The lower seed feels like a near-favorite to me in three of these games. The
Vikings have the toughest task of the four lower seeds, as they have to visit the
Saints. However, the team most likely to earn an upset is Seattle. I mentioned in my
Offensive Player Rankings earlier in the week that
Russell Wilson has been the difference-maker for the
Seahawks this season. The banged-up
Philadelphia Eagles have done a great job getting to this point considering the number of injuries they have overcome, but I don't think they have enough juice to overcome Wilson and Co., even though Seattle is dealing with injury woes of its own.
The
Buffalo Bills will defeat the
Houston Texans thanks to Sean McDermott's No. 2 scoring defense. This unit allowed more than 24 points only once this season (Week 8 vs. Philly) and is built to quiet
Deshaun Watson and Co. The highlight of this game will be
Tre'Davious White shutting down
DeAndre Hopkins. White did not allow a single pass TD in coverage this season, and his 84 targets without allowing a TD are 30 more than the next-best CB (Denver's
Isaac Yiadom allowed zero TDs on 54 targets), per Pro Football Focus. The young cornerback is playing at a high level at the perfect time. He'll force Watson to try to make plays with his favorite target blanketed, ultimately causing Houston to fall short.
The
Seahawks are considered an "underdog" as a wild-card team this weekend, so technically, they would qualify as an upset candidate. Thus, I'm rolling with Pete Carroll,
Russell Wilson and Seattle to defeat the
Philadelphia Eagles. I mean, come on. The
Seahawks were
ONE INCH away from clinching the NFC West and hosting a game this weekend. They are the best road team of Wild Card Weekend and will advance to the Divisional Round.
