NFC Wild Card Preview: Super Bowl Contenders Look to Prove Themselves

Story posted January 13, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Jayson O'Connell

Going into the final week of the regular season, NFC playoff seeding was far from set. Only two teams were locked into their seed going into the week and three teams were in play to get the one seed.

Despite a lot of potential drama, there wasn’t much movement in the standings. The one change came when the Seahawks beat the Rams and the Lions beat Packers, allowing Seattle to sneak into the playoffs at the seven seed.

After all the week 18 action, the NFC Wild Card matches set and teams that are looking to make the Super Bowl must prove themselves against inferior competition.

The weekend will open on Saturday at 4 p.m. when Seattle goes to Levi Stadium to take on the San Francisco 49ers.
The Seahawks came into the season with the media considering them to be one of the worst teams in the NFL and their season has been a rollercoaster ever since.

They won five of six games between October and early November and followed it up by losing five of their next six.
Seattle was able to make the playoffs because of the quarterback play of Geno Smith.

Smith led all starters in completion percentage at 69.8% and now holds the franchise record for single season passing yards.

But the 49ers have debatably been the best team in football since Christian McCaffery joined the team.

Their defense has allowed the least rushing yards of any of the playoff teams and they’re solid in the pass game as well.

The success of San Francisco will come down to its quarterback play. Brock Purdy won’t have to make amazing plays to win this game.

Purdy just has to remain consistent and the 49ers should be able to win easily with the talent at their skill positions and their sound defense.

The Giants will head back to Minnesota for a Christmas Eve rematch against the Vikings.

It took a 61-yard field goal as time expired for the Vikings to beat the Giants so there's no doubt that this should be another close game.

Minnesota has an impressive record at 13-4 but haven’t had the most convincing wins and have had bad losses to go with it.

New York had two strong drives halted by turnovers in Minnesota territory. A blocked punt late in the fourth quarter also set up a Minnesota touchdown due to the short field.

Daniel Jones has proven he’s the franchise quarterback for the Giants. If they can clean up these mistakes, Jones’s play gives the Giants a good chance to advance.

The Wild Card round will conclude with a Monday Night matchup between the Cowboys and Buccaneers.

Tampa Bay’s season has been full of heart-breaking losses and very close wins with 10 of their games being decided by one possession.

All season they have struggled against strong competition by going 2-5 against current playoff teams. Those wins came against Dallas in week one and the 9-8 Seahawks.

Dallas is loaded with star power throughout the roster. But the Cowboys will only be able to go as far as quarterback Dak Prescott can take them.

Prescott has lit up the stat sheet at points but also is tied for the most interceptions in the league despite missing time with an injury.

It's hard to bet against Tom Brady in the playoffs. If Prescott continues to be careless with the ball, the Buccaneers may advance with an upset.

Jayson O’Connell is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jbo5216@psu.edu.