by Eric Fulton & Julian Spivey *This conversation has been edited for grammar and clarity. Julian Spivey: Let’s discuss some of the NFL Wild Card round games. It’s a new year, new coach, but the Chargers are evidently the same old Chargers based on their loss to the Houston Texans, something neither of us predicted. But are you surprised? Eric Fulton: I am not surprised the Chargers lost the game, even though I picked them to win. However, I am astonished that they lost by 20 points. Justin Herbert played his worst game of the season. The Chargers' defense kept the team in the game, forcing multiple turnovers, but the Texans played exceptionally well in the second half. I thought CJ Stroud was great. The touchdown Houston scored just before halftime was the game's turning point. JS: Yeah, Herbert threw more interceptions in this one game (4) than he had thrown all season (3). It’s outrageous. Has Herbert lost the right to be considered a top-tier QB in the league? EF: I would put Herbert at the top of the second tier as far as quarterbacks. He is not better than the four AFC QBs still playing in the playoffs. He is probably not better than at least four or five QBs in the NFC. So, he is probably anywhere from 10-12. But with Coach Harbaugh on his side, he will get better. I would not sell Herbert's stock just yet. JS: Well, I can’t believe in that guy until I see him win a playoff game. EF: To finish your point on Herbert, I believe he will win a playoff game under Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers will improve their team in the offseason. So, we shall see what happens going forward. JS: The Steelers looked like a dead team walking toward the end of the season, losing four straight. They didn’t have anything for Baltimore in Saturday night’s game. We both predicted the Ravens would win. Did anything surprise you from that game? EF: No surprise with the Ravens-Steelers game. The message in Pittsburgh is stale and getting old. It is time for a new voice. Mike Tomlin is a good head coach, but he has not coached a winning playoff game in a long time, and the Steelers need a new voice. JS: The Bills/Broncos matchup wasn’t much of a game. However, I don’t think many expected it to be. The Broncos were the biggest longshot of the weekend, and though they came out quickly and scored, it was all Broncos the rest of the way. Was there anything about Buffalo’s performance that worries you? EF: The only concern I have is that their receivers need to step up a little more, but I think they will play much better than they did when they played Baltimore earlier in the season. JS: I was hoping things would be a bit closer in the NFC Wild Card games, but in the first, the Green Bay Packers just seemed too beat up to really keep up with the Philadelphia Eagles, even though the Eagles didn’t play their best game of the year. What did you think about this game? EF: I am not surprised that the Eagles won. They are a good team. I will say Green Bay did play well on the defensive part. Jordan Love was not good. He had an elbow injury which did not help him. Saquon Barkley was great. Jalen Hurts is just coming off a concussion, but he should be fine for the next game. JS: The second game on Sunday was the closest game of the first two days of the playoffs. The Commanders and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels went to Tampa Bay and beat the Buccaneers. It’s Washington’s first playoff win in 20 years. Did this surprise you? EF: This was the hardest game to pick out of all the games because these were two evenly matched-teams. I knew Washington would play better than they did in week one. I am not surprised Washington won the game. I am glad the Commanders are back to being good. JS: It’s nice that Los Angelenos had something to celebrate and cheer for after such a horrific week of wildfires on Monday night with the Rams’ dominant performance over the Vikings. EF: I agree with everything you said. Great performance by the Rams all the way around. JS: The Vikings have to be the worst 14-3 team in NFL history, right? EF: I don't know if I would say the worst, overrated for sure. JS: So, who would you give Player of the Week honor to for the Wild Card round? EF: Lots of choices. Not easy to pick. I know the stats probably don't wow a lot, everyone, but Jayden Daniels is to win his first playoff game on the road for a franchise that has not won a playoff game in a generation. He has instantly put Washington back to the respect category in the NFL. JS: My answer for Player of the Week is cheating because I'm going with the entire Houston Texans defense. I just did not see them doing to the Chargers what they did. They made Justin Herbert look like the worst QB in the league. Four interceptions! He didn't even throw that many all season. JS: All right, we've reached the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. I feel like right now there are five serious contenders to win the Super Bowl: Kansas City, Detroit, Buffalo, Philadelphia and Baltimore. At least one of those teams will go home this week. The first game this weekend will be the Houston Texans (do people in Houston all go to bed at 8 pm? Why are the Texans ALWAYS the early game?) @ the Kansas City Chiefs. That game is on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 3:30 p.m. (CST) on ESPN/ABC. Do the Texans have another surprise in them, or do the Chiefs come off the bye week rested and ready for the win? EF: Houston played well in Kansas City in Week 16. I thought they would have a chance to upset the Chiefs, but it did not happen. I said it many times last year, and I will repeat myself. I will not bet against Kansas City in the playoffs. When Andy Reid has an extra week to prepare with Patrick Mahomes, Travis KelceSa and Chris Jones to rest and prepare their bodies for this grueling and challenging gauntlet in the playoffs, it is tough on the opponent. The Chiefs will be a little rusty out of the gate, but they will come through and rise to the challenge late and pull away with the win. JS: If there’s any year when the Chiefs look gullible in the postseason, it’s this year, which is wild considering they won 14 games, and one of their two losses was basically given away due to resting players in the final week. They play close, one-possession games nearly every week, it seems and often pull out wins in their final drive. If the Texans let them hang around, I’d fear KC doing it again. And that’s kind of what I expect. KC to keep it close and pull out the W at the end. JS: The second game on Saturday has the Washington Commanders going to Detroit to play the 15-2 Lions coming off the bye. This game will be at 7pm (CST) on Fox. How do you see it playing out? EF: This will be a wild, fun game. I believe this will be the first these two teams have played each other in the playoffs since 1991-92. But I am fired up watching this game. I do believe this is going to be a shootout. Washington is going into this with a ton of confidence and momentum. Detroit is coming into this rested but banged up. Both teams will be aggressive and go for it whenever they can. Having home field for the Lions is huge. I like both teams but I am going with the Lions to win a close, fun, exciting game. JS: Yeah, I’m going to agree with you on everything you said. I think it’ll be a close, fun game and the Commanders may surprise some folks by keeping it close until the end. But the Lions have to pull this one out. A one-and-done playoff appearance in what’s been the team’s greatest season, at least of the Super Bowl era, would be devastating. The Lions win a close one. JS: The first Divisional Round matchup on Sunday, Jan. 19 sees the Los Angeles Rams traveling to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles. That game will be on NBC at 2 pm (CST) and will be streaming on Peacock. The Eagles beat the Packers rather easily last weekend despite not looking their best. The Rams didn’t have much trouble with the Vikings. How do you see this one playing out? EF: The Rams' defense has been the story lately. They have played really well lately after giving up over 40 points against the Bills. But I don't know if the Rams' offense can match the play of the Eagles' offense. LA is now just a lot of Stafford/Nakua and not much else, while Philly has Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts, and A.J. Brown to go along with a great offensive line. This could be the blowout of the weekend. I have Eagles big in this one. JS: I’m not sure I’m as sold on it being a blowout as you are. I think the Rams are playing for more than just themselves right now, which might account for something. I still don’t think it’ll lead them to an upset. I don’t know what it is, despite Detroit having the better record. I’ve felt all season that Philly is the team to beat in the NFC. Maybe it’s they have more success in the postseason? But Philly wins against L.A. JS: The final game of the divisional round is Sunday at 5:30 on CBS/Paramount+ between the visiting Baltimore Ravens and the home team Buffalo Bills. Earlier, I said I felt like five teams could win the Super Bowl and at least one would be eliminated this week. Well, this is that matchup. This is the game of the weekend, no doubt, and I’m struggling to pick who I think will win. Let me hear your pick first and the reasoning, and maybe it’ll sway me. EF: This game is the hardest pick ever. These are two excellent teams, and it is a shame that they are only meeting for the right to go to the AFC Championship game. It is too hard. JS: Well, it doesn’t seem like you’re all that ready to make a pick either. I know that the Bills had the better season overall. But the Ravens just seem to have the better squad with their league-leading nine Pro Bowlers. I’m going to take Baltimore on the road in this one. EF: The Ravens did beat the Bills earlier in the season in Week 4. It was a 35-10 decisive win for Baltimore. I expect this game on Sunday to be much closer than that. The Ravens' defense had some trouble stopping teams earlier in the season, but they have improved greatly, and I think the pressure is more with the home team in this game. Two great quarterbacks. Two great running backs. Strong defenses. What more could you want? So far, the two of us have picked the three home teams. But I am going to agree with you and pick the Ravens to win.
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