NFL Playoff Preview

Tyler Thomas

January 4, 2013

The NFL’s regular season ended last weekend. Now, only 12 teams remain (none of which are the Steelers), 6 from the AFC and 6 from the NFC. This weekend, there are 4 wild card games, 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.

The first game is on NBC at 4:30, between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Houston Texans. The Bengals are the 6th seed with a 10-6 record, and the Texans are the 3rd seed. If the Steelers would have beaten the Bengals in week 16, it is very likely that they would be playing the Texans. The Texans were rolling at one point in the season with a record of 11-1 after 12 weeks. Since then, they have gone 1-3, to finish the season 12-4. This game should be won by Houston, which is the better team. But, the Bengals definitely have a chance to win, as the Texans ended 2012 badly.

Next is the Minnesota Vikings at the Green Bay Packers at 8:00 on Saturday. This will be a great game because these two teams played last week. The Vikings won over the Packers last week to clinch a playoff spot, while dropping the Packers from the second seed to the third seed. This game could go either way, and I suspect that the Packers’ defense will be the deciding factor because Adrian Peterson ran all over them last week.

On Sunday, there are two more games, the first one is at 1:00 between the Indianapolis Colts and the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are seeded 4th and the Colts are seeded 5th. This game could go either way. The Ravens have a lot of weapons and have Ray Lewis returning for his final playoff run before retirement. The Colts, the worst team in the league last year, have been lifted by rookie QB Andrew Luck and have a real chance of making a playoff run.

The last game of the weekend is at 4:15 on Sunday, and is between the Washington Redskins and the Seattle Seahawks, two more teams with rookie QBs. Robert Griffin III and Russel Wilson both had extraordinary years as rookies and look to lead their team to a victory.

The playoffs are sure to feature exciting match-ups in all rounds. Denver, New England, Atlanta, and San Francisco will all have first round byes, and will play the winners of the wild card games on Jan 12-13.

About the Contributor

Tyler Thomas, Staff Writer

Imagine this, an honor roll student who actively participates in school clubs/sports. Believe it or not, there's a name for a student of this caliber, Tyler Thomas. He is a senior at Bethel Park High School; he is an active member in journalism and chess club to be specific. The chief of justice himself, John Allemang, carefully handpicked students with special writing abilities one-by-one. For that reason, Tyler believes it is an honor to be recruited into such a perfect, well-rounded/boss club such as Hawk Eye, the online student newspaper. Other than afterschool activities, Tyler enjoys playing Halo Reach, listening to rap music, eating Subway, and hanging out with friends. Also, he participates in pickup sports games outside of school with his peers. Tyler manages to do all of this and still maintain a 4.0, while taking a plethora of advanced placement classes. To the naked eye, Tyler's resume seems mind-blowing, but quite frankly it's probably one of the best in Bethel Park. For the truth's sake, I can verify the fact that Tyler truly does commit to all of these activities; reason being, I'm there more than 90% of the time with him. It's good to have a best friend with the qualities that Tyler has. Outside of myself and our close friends, I wouldn't doubt Tyler setting a positive example, in other words, being a good role model to look up to. Written by: Gino Johnson, Staff Writer