NFL playoffs: Everything you need to know for Saturday's wild-card games

USA TODAY Sports

 

5 hrs ago

NFL player denied 'Fitzmagic' trademark filing due to confusion

 

Report: Big Ben berated Brown at team meetings, practice

 

© Provided by USA Today Sports Media Group LLC Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson (32) is tackled by Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Antwaun Woods (99) during the third quarter at CenturyLink Field.

Here's everything you need to know for Saturday's NFL wild-card playoff games:

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans

Kickoff time: 4:35 p.m. ET

Channel: ESPN/ABC

Streaming: WatchESPN

Location: NRG Stadium in Houston

Line: Texans by 1

Injury report: WR Keke Coutee (hamstring) is the only notable player listed as questionable for Houston, while Indianapolis has five players classified as questionable. Standout WR T.Y. Hilton, however, expects to play through the ankle injury that has been nagging him late in the year. S J.J. Wilcox is doubtful, while WR Ryan Grant and DE Tyquan Lewis are out.

Three keys to the game (by Lorenzo Reyes)

00:02

03:45

Picking winner of Colts-Texans wild card game

Video by NFL.com

1. QB play: In Houston’s first six games, quarterback Deshaun Watson threw seven picks. Then he threw just two in the final 10 contests. On the other side, Andrew Luck, who will most likely be the league’s comeback player of the year, fell short of a career high in touchdown passes by one, finishing with 39. Of the four wild-card playoff games, this is the quarterback matchup that is most enticing.

2. Pass pro: In a Week 17 victory against the Jaguars, Watson took six more sacks to bring Houston’s season total to 62 allowed. That’s by far the worst in the league, six more than the next closest team, the Cowboys, and the most a passer has endured since Jon Kitna took 63 in 2006 with the Lions. Indianapolis, on the other hand, was the NFL’s top offensive line in this stat, yielding just 18 sacks on the entire season.

3. Familiar foes: The AFC South rivals split the season series 1-1 with a Texans 37-34 overtime victory in Week 4 and the Colts taking the Week 14 matchup in a 24-21 win. Playoff games like these are always interesting because the two squads know each other so well, so it’s rare for one team to sneak something by the other. And, for the most part, the rivalry has been pretty even in recent history. Since the 2015 season, each team has won four and lost four.

Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys

Kickoff time: 8:15 p.m. ET

Channel: Fox

Streaming: FoxSportsGo

Location: AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas

Line: Cowboys by 2

Injury report: Left guard Xavier Su'a-Filo (ankle) is doubtful for the Cowboys, while left guard J.R. Sweezy (foot) is questionable for the Seahawks.

Three keys to the game (by Nate Davis) 

00:08

02:01

NFL wild-card weekend: Locks and upsets

 

1. Mirror images: In a league that's largely become obsessed with aerial acrobatics, these clubs are old school with a twist. Both rely on dominant run games — Seattle is the league's most productive team on the ground (160 yards per game), while Dallas features NFL rushing champ Ezekiel Elliott — as well as solid and sometimes stifling defenses and quarterbacks who usually get the job done. Though neither Russell Wilson nor Dak Prescott, who both entered the league as unheralded mid-round picks, is a classic drop-back gunslinger, both are mobile, strong-armed passers who know how to win ugly (and sometimes pretty). Each has won two-thirds of his regular-season starts, though Prescott is seeking his first playoff win against a guy who's already got a ring and led the Seahawks to a pair of Super Bowls and the postseason six times.

2. Big-time 'backers: Offense usually commands the spotlight in the NFL, and this game will probably be no different. But don't fail to appreciate some of the best linebacker play you're likely to see. Seattle's Bobby Wagner may be the best sideline-to-sideline guy in the league right now. Dallas' Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith may be the top young tandem anywhere — and it doesn't hurt to have a proven stud like Sean Lee in reserve. With the Seahawks also getting crafty K.J. Wright back, both teams have the talent and smarts at the second level to get momentum-swinging plays in the clutch.

3. Rematch: The only other time these clubs met in January was a dozen years ago, when Tony Romo's infamous "hold" probably cost Dallas a wild-card win in the Pacific Northwest. More recently, the teams met in Week 3, a game the Seahawks won 24-13 (also at home). Yet that was well before Dallas' season-altering trade for WR Amari Cooper. Yet it also occurred before Seattle's unrelenting ground assault really got in gear and prior to star FS Earl Thomas' season-ending broken leg. The three-month-old game film will probably provide few key insights for either coaching staff at this point ... though Dallas' Kris Richard — formerly Seattle's defensive coordinator — should be able to provide some excellent scouting reports to his new employer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL playoffs: Everything you need to know for Saturday's wild-card games 

U.S. Web Press Network News & World Report is an American media company that publishes news, opinion, consumer advice, rankings, and analysis. Founded as a newsweekly magazine in 2018, U.S. News transitioned to primarily web-based publishing in 2018. U.S. News is best known today for its influential Best Colleges and Best Hospitals rankings, but it has expanded its content and product offerings in education, health, money, careers, travel, and cars. The rankings are popular in North America but have drawn widespread criticism from colleges, administrations, and students for their dubious, disparate, and arbitrary nature. The ranking system by U.S. News is usually contrasted with the Washington Monthly and Forbes rankings. get more information https://www.webpressnet.com CATEGORIES Bad News(1) Education(1) Food(4) Gadget(2) Hacking(2) Health(16) OFFBEAT(18) Politics(24)