Kel Macdowell
Staff Writer
The 2019 NFL regular season has been a long and hard fought season that has come to an end and the remaining teams are beginning to prepare for the playoffs. Meanwhile, teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers have an extra week to prepare as the rest of the teams get ready for Wild Card Weekend. The AFC matchups for this upcoming weekend are the Buffalo Bills playing the Houston Texans along with the New England Patriots up against the Tennessee Titans on January 4th. January 5th has action-packed games with Minnesota Vikings visiting the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Seattle Seahawks. The winners of each game will move on to one of the four teams with a bye on Wild Card Weekend. Teams will have to get their offenses going from the start and their defenses to enter the game with a steady focus. Key players for wild card weekend in each matchup are Deshaun Watson for the Houston Texans, Stephon Gilmore for the New England Patriots, Michael Thomas for the New Orleans Saints, and Marshawn Lynch for the Seattle Seahawks.
Looking ahead of Wild Card Weekend, the first round bye superstars have a point to prove in their matchups. Regardless of whichever team is left, they will not have an easier path after this weekend. First round bye teams are star-studded and they all have players who can turn it on and become the difference maker. When these players are in the zone, there's no stopping them. The players are the ones to look out for. Patrick Mahomes who was the 2018 NFL MVP from the Kansas City Chiefs is ready to make a deep playoff run after a knee injury earlier this season. The next player is Lamar Jackson, 2019 NFL MVP front runner, from the Baltimore Ravens.For the 49ers, we have George Kittle who holds the record for most receiving yards in a season by a tight end. Finally there's Aaron Jones, who tied with Christian McCaffrey for most touchdowns in the regular season this year, for the Green Bay Packers.
Roberto Escamilla contributed to this article.
