AFC Wild Card Round Preview

The AFC Wild Card Round has two evenly matched games going over the first weekend. The New York Jets will travel to Indianapolis looking for revenge after the Colts eliminated them last season in the AFC Championship game. The experienced Ravens once again are back on the road and will travel to Kansas City to take on the young but extremely talented Kansas City Chiefs. Regardless of the Winners that come out of the Wild Card Round, they will have to face the two favorites in the conference in the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots.

The Baltimore Ravens will bring their experienced defense into the hostile environment of Arrowhead Stadium. Ed Reed will be available for the game despite an injury in the last game of the season and the loss of his brother earlier in the week. The Ageless Ray Lewis leads the defensive unit and will need to show up to slow down the best running team in the league in the Kansas City Chiefs. The Ravens offense has been a disappointment this season and will need to step it up if the Ravens are to win this game on the road.

The Kansas City Chiefs will have an advantage playing on their home field for their first playoff games since 2006. The Chiefs played their best defense at home and were 7-1 on their home field. The only loss on their home field was a meaningless game in the last week of the season against the Oakland Raiders. Behind the running of Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, the Chiefs led the NFL with 164.2 yards per game. The Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel will need to shake off a bad performance against the Oakland Raiders. Cassel did throw for 27 touchdowns on the season and wide receiver Derrick Bowe.

The New York Jets load head Coach Rex Ryan has stated that his inability to beat the Indianapolis Colts is now personal with all the Colts players. Ryan has every reason to feel that way with only one win in seven tries against the Colts and quarterback Peyton Manning. The only win coming last season after the Colts Head coach Jim Caldwell pulled the starters out of the game against the Jets last season to rest the starters for the playoffs. The jets quarterback mark Sanchez is nursing a sore shoulder and has steadily regressed during the regular season. The Jets defense has stepped it over the last three games holding their opponents to just 287 yards per game.

The Indianapolis Colts won their last four games of the regular season to win 10 games and make the playoffs. The Colts suffered injuries all season long on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. The Colts just continued to find ways to win. Joseph Addai came two weeks ago and the return has now given the Colts a running game that was non-existent for much of the regular season. The Colts run defense has drastically improved over the last three games of the regular season holding their oppenents to just 66 yards.

Back to Article Listing