Wild Card Weekend is upon us in the NFL!  12 teams will try and stake their claim for entry into Super Bowl LI in Houston, TX.  The favorites are the 2 number 1 seeds in the AFC and NFC respectively, the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys.

But there are 10 other teams that will have something to say about that.  Those teams include the Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins of the AFC, while the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants and Detroit Lions will do battle in the NFC.

After a 14 year absence, the Oakland Raiders have returned to the post season.  After being the doormats of the league for almost a decade and a half, the silver and black came storming back this season under the leadership of head coach Jack Del Rio and their field general and MVP candidate Derek Carr.

Oakland was headed for the division title and a first round bye until tragedy struck in week 16 against the Indianapolis Colts.  On what appeared to be a routine tackle Carr broke his fibula in the 4th quarter and was ruled out for the remainder of the regular season and post season.

As a result the Raiders went into their last regular season game in Denver with a chance to win the division and get that first round bye, but they appeared flat and uninspired without Carr and had to go on the road to Houston.  Even more deflating was the loss of their 2nd string QB Matt McGloin.  That left them with rookie Connor Cook who had not played in a game all season.

On Saturday the situation proved to be to much for the rookie as the Raiders were dominated by Houston’s league leading defense, 27-14.

In the NFC, the Lions went into Seattle to try and get a win against the surging Seahawks.  The Lions were rolling along in position to secure a first round bye when their leader Matthew Stafford suffered a torn tendon in the middle finger of his throwing hand.

As a result, the Lions dropped their last 3 games of the season and limped into the playoffs as the 6th seed.  On Saturday night the offense couldn’t get anything going and the defense was unable to stop Thomas Rawls and the Seattle run game as the Seahawks punished the Lions by a score of 26-6.

But this game was not without controversy.  As is typical in most games in Seattle the referees decided to swallow their whistles when it came to calls being made against the hometown Seahawks.  On Seattle’s first TD, Paul Richardson made a fantastic one-handed catch but the refs missed the facemask. On another play in which Thomas Rawls took off on a long run, there was an obvious block in the back by golden boy Russell Wilson that also was not called.

These are not surprises, as it seems to be par for the course on big games played in Seattle.  I think we all remember the “Fail Mary” and the ball that was intentionally batted out of the back of the end zone against Detroit last season.

In Sunday’s matchups we’ll have the Steelers taking on the Dolphins and looking for revenge after Miami thoroughly dominated them during their week 6 matchup.  And in the other matchup, the Giants will travel to Lambeau to take on the Packers.  And the Giants have been victorious in their last 2 post season visits to Green Bay.  This should be a good one.

So get your favorite snacks and drinks on deck, make sure those jerseys are clean, and get ready for some great football.