NFL Playoffs Wildcard Round Open Thread

We’ve seen two great games to start the playoffs, how will day two compare? Well there could be two pretty good games to watch:

1:00 game: Chargers at Bengals-

Will the Packers go undefeated?

San Diego squeaked into the playoffs as the 6th seed and will have to travel to face the Bengals today. While it won’t be as cold as some of the games played this weekend, the Chargers will be facing far colder temperatures then they’d see at home. That definitely works in the Bengals favor (in addition to basic homefield advantage). Cincinnati won the regular season match-up between these two teams last month and that game was played in San Diego. The Chargers defense played well and kept it close, but can they repeat that performance on the road?

Prediction: Bengals 24-13

4:40 game: 49ers at Packers-

The 49ers are 12-4 yet have to travel to face the 8-7-1 Packers, since Green Bay won their division. The 49ers have won the last three meetings versus the Packers including a divisional round match-up last year in the post season (though that was in San Francisco). The weather figures to be a big factor here as they are calling for temperatures in the single digits and with the wind chill factor it could feel like -20 degrees. They are also calling for a chance of snow during the game which could further complicate things. The good news for the Packers is they have Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb back, the bad news is Clay Matthews is out with a broken thumb. The 49ers Colin Kaepernick has killed the Packers in his only two starts, and he gets his receiver Michael Crabtree back for this contest.

Prediction: 49ers 27-20

What do you think will happen?