NFL: Seahawks slide into our rankings
1. Baltimore Ravens (14-2, +0): The Ravens were off during wild card weekend after their league-best 14-2 record earned them a bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Baltimore hosts the Tennessee Titans (9-7, 1-0) on Saturday night. Lamar Jackson (3,127 yards, 36 touchdowns) comes into the game as the MVP favorite and the Ravens are 10.0-point favorites. They should be able to advance to the AFC title game next weekend.
2. San Francisco 49ers (13-3, +0): The 49ers won the NFC West on the final day of the regular season with their victory over the Seattle Seahawks. After having last week off, they get to face the Minnesota Vikings (10-6, 1-0) on their home field. George Kittle (1,053 yards, five touchdowns) is a player to keep an eye on going forward and the 49ers will look to reach the NFC championship game for the first time since 2012.
3. Green Bay Packers (13-3, +1): The Packers have won five straight games since their 37-8 loss versus the 49ers on the road. They have quietly looked really impressive over the last month of the regular season, and because of that, they were able to earn the bye. The Seahawks, on the other hand, squeaked by the Philadelphia Eagles 17-9. Green Bay will look for Aaron Rodgers (4,002 yards, 26 touchdowns) to out duel Russell Wilson at Lambeau Field.
4. Kansas City Chiefs (12-4, +1): The Chiefs come into their divisional round matchup with the Houston Texans as 10-point favorites and ESPN FPI gives Kansas City an 81.5% chance to come away with the victory. If they do so, it will likely be because of Patrick Mahomes (4,031 yards, 26 touchdowns), Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Damien Williams, and others. However, the defense will have to step up and create at least one turnover from Deshaun Watson.
5. Seattle Seahawks (11-5, +1): The Seahawks are the only team in our top five rankings that actually played a game last weekend as the others had bye weeks. Seattle earned a 17-9 victory over the Eagles behind Russell Wilson, who had 325 yards and one touchdown on 60% completion rate. D.K. Metcalf also added 160 yards in his playoff debut for the Seahawks. Seattle faces Green Bay on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 6:40 PM.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated.
