NFL Divisional Round Weekend: Hart’s Picks

For Wild Card Weekend, Mile High Report’s Christopher Hart picked four of six games correctly. Here are his straight up picks for the NFL’s Divisional Round matchups.

After a successful 2024 regular season predicting 70-percent of the games correctly, I managed to pick just four of six NFL Wild Card Weekend games correctly.

For the Divisional Round, there are four games to determine who will play in their respective conference’s championship game next weekend.

Without further ado, here are my picks for this weekend’s late of games.

Saturday Football (Afternoon Game) – Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs

One of my whiffed picks was when I had predicted the Los Angeles Chargers would defeat the Texans on Wild Card Weekend. Houston’s defense forced a lot of turnovers that changed the game’s momentum. They were able to capitalize off them and secure a win against Jim Harbaugh’s squad.

In order to pull off an upset on the road, DeMeco Ryan’s defense will need another fantastic effort on the road, and they will have to commit to running the ball on offense. The Chiefs won the most games in the league and a lot of them were close. Luck has been on Kansas City’s side throughout multiple contests this season. Will their streak come to an end or will they eek out another win?

I’d love to see the Chiefs lose, but this is a battle-tested squad that knows how to win in the playoffs. That’s why I’m giving them the edge and believe they will win.

Winner: Chiefs

Saturday Football (Evening Game) – Washington Commanders at Detroit Lions

Jayden Daniels is likely to be the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. It’s hard to argue against him winning the honor at this point. The only question this weekend is whether or not his historic rookie campaign continues or ends on the road in Detroit.

Both of these offenses are powerhouses who will need strong games by their defenses to have a shot at victory. I expect this to be a pretty high scoring game. The Lions being able to put together this quality of a season with so many players on injured reserve is a testament to Dan Campbell and his coaching staff. Nobody is doing it better in the league right now.

At the end of the day, I think the homefield advantage of the Lions and their top-notch offensive efficiency propel them to the NFC Championship game.

Winner: Lions

Sunday Football (Afternoon Game) – Los Angeles Rams at Philadelphia Eagles

The Los Angeles Rams got healthy and hot at the right time and were able to win the NFC West and take down the Minnesota Vikings last weekend. However, the Eagles on the road won’t be an easy matchup.

I do have some concerns with Jalen Hurts and Philadelphia’s passing offense which certainly didn’t look sharp against the Green Bay Packers. Earlier this season, the Eagles put up 37 points and nearly 500 yards of offense in their win against the Rams. Over 300 of those were on the ground.

There’s no doubt the Eagles will be gearing up to showcase Saquon Barkley on Sunday. That being said, I’m not confident in the Rams’ ability to stop the run. If the Eagles can control the clock and keep the Rams’ offense off the field, they should win the game. It worked for them before. Why not now?

Winner: Eagles

Sunday Football (Evening Game) – Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills

This is my premier matchup for the Divisional Round Weekend and I’m sure a lot of others feel the same. Two heavyweight teams with incredible rushing attacks that can dominate at any given moment. Both of them firmly took care of business over Wild Card Weekend by physically outmatching their opponents in the trenches.

The quarterbacks going head-to-head in this one are fantastic. Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen are two of the most dynamic playmakers in the league. I expect this one to be an electric high-scoring affair. Which team will rise to rise to the occasion and be one game away from a Super Bowl berth?

I’ve picked three home teams in a row, but I’m switching gears on this one. My gut is telling me the Ravens reign supreme on Sunday night—but don’t expect the Bills to go down without a fight. If this and my earlier prediction comes true, that would give football fans a repeat of last year’s AFC Championship game.

Winner: Ravens